How big for stash fabric?
 

So I found a picture of someone's stash, and once I stopped drooling, a question popped up in my mind. I like to buy fabrics when they are on sale, or if I have a coupon, or they are having a special, as I am sure we all do.

My question; If I am buying specifically for my stash, how big is a good size piece for strictly stash pieces? A yard, two yards? half yards?

What say you, knowers of way more info than I?

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I buy at least one yard, sometimes more depending on the price. The one yard lets me use the fabric in participating in FQ swaps and have some left for myself. I make mostly scrap or I-Spy quilts. If I really like it and it is a really good bargain, I'll buy 5 yards so I have enough for backing. I also buy from estate sales or garage sales or stash reduction sales, so from those I take what I can get. I wish mine was this organized. Good luck! Building stash can become an obsession.

I'm sure you will get many answers...but for me, if it's a larger print that I think will be good for a border, 2-3 yds. For anything else, I often only buy 1-2 yd. I have a bunch of FQs from when I first started building up my stash, but often want more than that. If it's a favorite color that you think you might use often, and a good deal comes along, you might want to stock up. I use a ton of blues/greens, so I don't mind getting a little more. Sometimes it goes in the top, sometimes in the back.

I guess it may also depend on your style...if you like scrappy quilts, smaller amounts are fine. If you prefer a less scrappy quilt, try to get a couple of yards so you have enough for whatever pattern you may have thoughts about using it for.

i do have an extensive stash---i (generally) decide everything on a very individual basis---if it looks like it would make great borders- or is a border print i usually will pick up 3 yards so i can cut borders lengthwise=not have to piece them.
if i love it & think it would make a great backing or background i will buy 6-10 yards (or the bolt)
if i like it but really don't know what i would do with it- just want a piece of it that may come in handy i buy either a fq or 1/2 yard. when i look at any fabric that (catches my eye) i generally immediately start envisioning the possibilites---lots of blocks, appliques, borders, backgrounds, sashings, a blender that could be used over & over again in numerous projects....then i decide how much of it i think i should get. i very very seldom purchase pre-cuts or anything less than 1 yard-

I think after a while you get a sense of what you might use that fabric for someday..or it is the perfect addition to fabrics already in your stash..my general rule never less than a yard, more commonly 2 yds. thinking of borders or backings, and batiks if i really like them or they are not usually found other than online at least 3 yds..this is what i probably do most often when buying fabric for "piecing stash" backing stash is a whole other topic...lol

I do not have much of a stash, because the patterns in fabric change as do my thoughts. So I like to buy whats new on the market for my latest project. However, that being said I do keep tone on tones in my stash and when I do buy I like to get 2-3 yds so I have enought to work with when I do need it. "Blenders" are always a good choice, right now I am fixed on willow by Timeless treasure. Love that fabric.

I like to buy color coordinated fabrics that go together. Getting usually 1-3 yards of each depending on the fabric.

If I think its going into a border .. 3 yards. If its just so pretty 2-3 yards if its to be the "show case fabric" . If its a great bargain like a nice cream on cream or white on white... the whole bolt or at least 6 yards. If its just a blender .. 1 yard.

I used to buy on speculation and started with smaller amounts. Then I started buying some 2-3 yard pieces. Now, we are facing downsizing and I am working on using up the stuff I like but don't love. The stuff I love is my retirement stash. I feel comforted by having a certain amount of stuff stashed away but am getting to the point where I feel like I really do have too much and knowing that we'll be moving from a house to a two bedroom condo makes using it a realistic plan.
Oh, and I remember reading that Alex Anderson buys a third of a yard instead of a fat quarter. Considers that more useful.

I buy fat quarter bundles or jelly rolls or layer cakes and usually 2 coordinating fabrics from the line that I love for sashing and borders and binding. I buy usually 2 yards and 3 yards. Then I find something for the backing at my LQS. I'm not good with matching colors yet. I've been quilting since 1992, but colors are hard for me to mix together. What I think matches, the gals at the LQS say don't match, so that's why I buy fabric lines unfortunately. Maybe someday I will understand color better. I buy kits a lot too so I don't have to select fabric.

Not big enough!!! LOL

i used to buy 1 yards. but now i buy 3. no piece is too small for a stash. after all, we take small piece of fabric and turn them into beauty, right?

I would say at lease 3 yards because most patterns call for over 2 yards. I would do 5 if I really like it I can use it for a border

You stopped drooling? I'm still drooling over that stash. Oh my, I wish I had the resources to put something like that together. I'd say at least a yard but if its on sale and you like it, buy 3-4. I've bought over 10 yards of a fabric I like because I keep coming up with new ideas I want to try with that specific print. Also, you never know if you'll be able to get more later on.

wow can you please come to my house and organize me i would love to be able to find something once in awhile.
although my hubby would think aliens stole his wife lol it would be awesome to be that organized.
carla m

I always buy 2 yards. If I LOVE it I will buy more. Nothing like a year or two later you decide to use it and are short a little and can't find it anywhere.
I love the stash you posted.

It depends on price and what it is. If its tone on tones/blenders that I can see will be great background usually 5 or more.

When I first started quilting I mostly bought quarter yards. In a few years I found that I had lots of variety, but not very much of any one thing. Three years ago I made a decision. 2 yards at least, unless I am in love with it, in which case it could be 3 or 4.

I was buying 1 yard, but when prices went up, I started getting half yards. Then I noticed that I had been buying mostly dark colors, so I started buying 2 yards of the lighter colors. Sometimes I get larger pieces. I see the wisdom in that for borders and backing.

I am a 2 - 3 yard person.... but as many of us have found out .... when searching in my stash ... the pattern calls for more then what I have. HUMPH Oh well, just another reason to find more fabric. ;)

I like fat quarters to piece the top, 1/2 yards or 1 1/4 yard for borders, and 4 yards, 6 or 12 yards for backs, 1-1/2 yard for binding and 2 yards for sashing. I might also buy 3-4 yards of one color to tie all scraps together.

I used to buy 2 yard, but graduated to 3

The "gals at your local quilt shop" are not the quilt police. In fact they don't exist. Put together combinations that are pleasing to YOU!
I had the same question early on and realized there is no quick simple answer and it depends on the type of fabric, color, print, and how you will use it. It starts to come in to focus a lot better the longer you are into quilting because you know what you like, what you are drawn to and how you use certain fabrics. I personally love me a striped binding on the bias. For that you need a little more to allow for the diagonal cutting. Basics and blenders probably 2 yd. Cutting borders the length wise way is an excellent idea. No stretching and wavy borders. What an eye opener for me! A friend taught me that at a retreat and I still thank her for that. Worth buying that extra fabric or seam them. Piece your backs - add orphan blocks left over from the front - they are doing that all over the blogs right now. Scrappy bindings!!! Love them. Currently I am switching over to a more "modern quilt" look so am adding to my stash all the time. There are a couple of fabrics that I wish I had more of that are out of print. If you think a fabric is one of those for you, buy extra. You won't be able to get it forever. But there are yummy great fabrics coming out all the time.

If I know it will only be used in a top, I get 2 yards. If I think it may be used for a backing for a lap size quilt, I will get 4 or 5. If I REALLY like it and it is a good deal, I may get all they have.

Looking at my stash, most of my fabrics started out as at least 1 - 3 yard cuts, unless they were originally remnants. The only precuts I have purchased have been batik jelly rolls and a couple of interesting fat quarter bundles from the sale bin.
I'm finding that the fabrics I most often need more of are the fabrics that will work well for backgrounds or for sashings or borders. I have lots of medium to dark value fabrics, lots of focus fabrics, but not as many lights or blenders, especially in the colors I use most often. So now I know what I need to keep in mind when I go shopping. What I'm most likely to come home with? Probably more focus fabrics. LOL!

I've been passionately quilting for over 20 years and have a large stash. I started out trying to get a variety of colors, a yard or two yards each, after hearing a lecture on building a stash. Sooner or later, I can use most anything, but some of the early fabrics are still waiting for their quilt. I do make a lot of scrap and string quilts for charity and a few coordinated quilts for me or gifts. I do not use or buy many fat quarters, surprisingly. Until recent years, I could never see what good they would do in a quilt.

In earlier years, I bought what appealed to me, usually novelty fabrics, and then found I did not have coordinating fabrics, especially the tone-on-tone and other support fabrics. In the past ten years, I've concentrated on having one primary focus fabric (a bolt of it), additional focus fabrics in the same colorways (3-4 yards of each) and a wide variety of support fabrics, mostly batiks. This works very well for building quilts, and I wish I had known earlier to buy groups of coordinating fabrics together earlier. It makes the most sense. Now, I carry the main focus fabrics with me when I shop. I buy those at times, but otherwise, only what I need for a project.

If I could add to my stash now, it would be backing fabric, TOTs. and neutrals. I always need those. I wish I had bought more of those, plus thread, when I had the income to support it.

It is important to me to understand color theory as a quilter and I have taken a number of classes. That helps considerably to use what I have in the stash without having to buy more. One great resource for color as represented is equilter.com, as their design board and swatches are true to color and it is easy to get what you expect there. They also tell you what the colors are in amazing detail. I've never been disappointed there, whereas when I go somewhere like fabric.com, who don't seem to have reliable scanning of fabrics, I am always surprised and usually disappointed with what they send - if they aren't out of it and haven't said so. I highly recommend the use of a color wheel and I carry one with me to shop.


That said, I notice that your wonderful stash -- I'm assuming that is your stash rather than a picture you found -- centers on blues, pinks, and yellows. You have a few blue greens and yellow-greens and neutrals. Those will work nicely together and if you don't want to introduce other colors, you should be all set. I do notice, however, that while you have lights and mediums, you don't have a lot of darker values. You also don't have accents that I see. An accent for blue would be orange, a complementary color. For yellow, it would be violet, for pink (tinted reds), it would be green. The blue-greens and yellow greens could use a blue-violet, yellow-orange or a red-orange accent.

Unable to answer your question; amazed at the stash.

She who has the most fabric wins, but you are the organizing winner ! :)

I just have to ask, how long did it take for you to acquire this amount of fabric.....I can't stop drooling......

I buy a yard or two for general stash. If it is for binding that would be enough. I like your organization in the picture.

No answer about the stash but your storage area looks fantastic. :thumbup: I am still in the plastic tote stage:(

Is that you stash????? Holy cow, that's a store.

I have a hugh stash. I can't seem to stop buying when I go to the store. I am working on staying away from the stores and really concentrating on my stash. Oh I slip sometimes, but I am trying to really cut back. If it's on sale they have me and I only buy on sale. I'm a fabricholic.

Looks to me like you've got your stash. Pull from it and start quilting! Keeping your stash to a reasonable, controllable size helps you know what you have. Then, as you pull from your stash to start piecing, you can add other contrast fabrics to the ones you've pull out, as needed, and keep your stash under control. Your current, very organized, stash looks lovely!

I always have to get myself into a discussion of this kind. lol. Keep in mind the size of quilts you make. I make up to really biggggg King size as most of my kids and others that want to acquire one on my " masterpirces" use this size bed. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO The backing has to be more that 5 yards as most suggest on this thread. To make a long story short. I buy as much as I can afford at one time.

Her original post says it isn't her stash.

Just to be clear, this is not my stash, I wish! I found that picture of someone else's stash. But it inspired my question about building a stash. Thank you all for your advice. and I am realizing that I don't need to be trying to make something like this. I have way too many UFO's as it is. LOL But I knew I could count on the ladies here to have some great insight into reasoning of getting bigger pieces.

i think it depends on how much I like the fabric. If it is something I can use for the theme in a quilt I always get 4 yards. other pieces I like, I can get by with a yard