Fabric Stash/Scraps
 

Since we moved from a 3-bedroom house to a 2-bedroom apt. a little over a year ago, unfortunately I had to get rid of almost half of my fabric collection. Because I quilt and have made 12 or more raffle quilts for my church fair, people give me fabric from their stashes, when my sister passed away I inherited her stash, plus other sources in addition to my fabric shop/quilt shop purchases. It was the hardest thing I have had to do, after leaving our home of 33 years, but I gave the majority to my best friend who passed a lot to a women who belongs to Caring Covers, a group that makes quilts for children in hospitals, etc. My DH wanted me to get rid of all of it, but I finally stood my ground and said "enough is enough", I'm not getting rid of any more fabric. In July I made the family reunion quilt without buying additional fabric - my family members sent fabric (this year's color was navy blue in memory of my sister who passed away 2 years ago - each family has a color so we can tell who belongs to whom), I had th3 background fabric and thanks to my BF who saved a very large piece of fabric, I had the backing fabric as well and my niece donated the batting. She was also the one who won the quilt. Funny how things work out. But in moving I discovered 12 hand pieced blocks that I had forgotten about, plus 2 block of the month quilt, a precut kitty quilt and lots, lots more. Now that my back is better, I hope to be able to do lots more quilting before Christmas. It's always good to know that when I want to make a quilt, I have lots of fabric to choose from without going out. However, I just had a craft fair, so the money I made will go towards my next fabric/quilt shop visit.

I am so happy for you! I'm still dreaming of a sewing/quilting room. Enjoy all your fabric treasures as you find them once again! :-)

My stash is usually organized loosely by color. It is easy then for me to make a mental note to get more red or yellow, or perhaps lighter and darker ranges of blues, greens, and purples. I don't like having mostly medium colors because then it all blends together rather blandly. I don't buy theme fabrics any more as I tire of them quickly. I usually end up donating those to others who appreciate them more.

Thats an awesome idea because I have been wanting to experiment with machine quilting..I will do that along with scrappy quilt I saw. Then i'll donate them, I had premie twins 12 yrs ago so I believe in the NICU programs!!!

Me too, also....to all of the above. I had my stash in cubbies just as I liked it and felt all organized....and then an unexpected move, and I am STILL recovering.....AAARRRGGGGHH!! There...I feel better..... :)

Welcome to the boad, Rachel. You are gonna love it here. My stash looks pretty much like yours. I'm often surprise what I find tucked away and yes, I keep buying new. To me, fabric is sort of like money, you just never have enough. LOL

I have very little stash because I am such a new quilter. I do have a plastic bin of strips that are all roughly 2 1/2 inches wide. I look at the bin and think about what to do with them. I don't have much in the way of a yardage stash. I did indulge the other day though. I purchased 4 1/2 yards (all that was on the bolt) of a fabric because I just loved the colors. It was at a quilt shop and on sale for $4 a yard. I am currently unemployed, so this was a HUGE splurge for me, but I could not help myself. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but for now, I will just enjoy looking at it in my quilt room.

What a great idea!!! I have scraps of juvenile fabric that I didn't know what to do with .....BUT now I do!!

I think most of us when we go back and look for a fabric we need run across something and say, "what was I thinking?" bit i am sure I had a great idea for it!!