Kits vs Stash
 

Getting tired of going thru my stash to sew up patterns I have. Does this happen to you? Do you take time out and just buy a quilt to give your brain a break?

My aim is to use up as much of my stash as possible. I never buy pre cuts or kits. I would never buy a quilt.

I'm on a mission to use up fabric I have so I don't buy kits. I like the process of picking out fabrics that work together and like the original look of scrappy from-my-stash-fabrics.

After I make a stash quilt, I usually go for a coordinated quilt out of precuts, just to give it a break and just sew. I love scrappies but they do have a tendency to mess up the sewing room.

For years after DH died I was unable to do much sewing. I started buying some kits for the first time, to see if that would get me back into quilting. It did help, but I also wound up with some kits that I now have little interest in. I'm finally getting back into the mode of using my stash, and I find that much more rewarding.

I've been gifted a few kits but I have paid them forward so to speak. Recently, I was given 2-3 panels. I'd never worked with a panel but I did do one.. Quick fix for a baby quilt. Now that my family is growing, I have 2 more reasons to use the remaing 2 panels. I currently have a scrappy quilt that I am making for myself. I've saved fabric from each of the projects I've made so that is where I pull from.

I've never bought a kit, preferring to do my own fabric selection, but I do buy fat quarter bundles or jelly rolls once in a while. I like to make a coordinated quilt now and then. It is nice to do both scrappy and coordinated.

I have kits for those times I want/need something more detailed to focus my brain on. I’m currently working on a BOM that I get once a month. It’s been nice to work on, as it’s the only project I have been able to do so far this year.

I must admit I have lots of kits - sometimes I buy them just for the fabric when a kit is on sale. Other times it’s just because I like the fabric selection and don’t have to make too many decisions- just have to sew.

I have never purchased a kit. I inherited a very large stash and have been working at whittling it down. I look at the cost of the kit and think about all the fabric I have and shake my head no. Recently I was given a kit by a quilter who is cleaning out her stash of many unused kits. It is quite lovely and will be a shill challenge er. It will be my 2021 "Kick off the new year" quilt.

If you are more comfortable with kits, Juliemn1, then revel in them. We all approach quilts and quilting in different ways. My daughter is a kit only person, because at this stage of her life she does not want the stash growing around her. She will inherit my sewing room eventually and have plenty of stash....... but not too soon I hope. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wink.png

I have a healthy stash so I rarely buy a large quilt kit but I have a lot of kits for small quilts and when I see a pattern I really want I make a kit from my stash so I will be good to go when I want to start a new project. It works for me😁

I did buy one block of the month, then began to panic when I saw such tiny dabs of fabric that was sent, so I bit on the half yard of each to make sure I could finish it. Well, an extra half yard was way too much in all but one of the colors. I think there are at least 4 finished tops plus a huge tub of scraps. In quilting, every cut you make makes more scraps. And I've used this board to unload several boxes of my precious scraps.

My LA mentor moved and gifted me her extra stash. I just parked it in the closet and am amazed when I actually go through it, what a nice stash that is.

I've been given a couple kits over the years, and one just sits on the edge of my cutting/ sewing /everything table saying "Sew me!" It's done that all summer, too. I do a lot of scrap quilts and I agree with a previous post that it sure makes a mess in the sewing room.

I have a modest stash and hope to keep it that way. I did purchase a kit when I first started quilting ... it was on display at a quilt show but haven’t since. BTW, I did finish and gift it...

I love Amanda Jean’s book “No Scrap Left Behind” and try to do one or two a year just to get rid of leftover pieces from other projects.

I have a very large stash, but just this year at our local Humane Society thrift store, there was a bed sized kit, unopened, for $14.00, so I did buy it, I mean, how could you go wrong? LOL As of right now, it's still a top, but I don't think I would buy another, they're too matchy matchy.

I've bought a few kits over the years but I don't like them all that much. I buy a lot of FQ bundles and use them mostly. I have yardage too but don't really need any more. (until I can't find what I need of course haha) I use it mostly for backings and also to go with my bundles. FQ bundles really speak to me!
I get so excited when I get one. I love the way they all coordinate.

Playing with color is how I got into quilting in the first place, so choosing fabric is one of my favorite parts of quilting, so not a kit person. I have helped sew them for a friend, but don't think I ever bought one for myself.

I typically work in scrap quilts where I have dozens/hundreds of fabrics, but I have a box of "potential projects fabrics" that is groups of fabric that will work well together but don't have a plan yet. When I'm looking for something new to do, I look at that box first to see if anything moves me. I've got some striking black and reds, a juvenile collection, a set of dog fabrics, several others, probably about 10? projects in there just waiting to find the right outlet.

Once I kit them out they become UFOs/WIPs and don't last long because they are officially on my to-do list. Kitted, for me means the fabrics have been gathered, the pattern chosen and drafted and everything is pretty much ready to go, just needing my labor and time to complete.

I've had a lot of troubles motivating myself this year. I usually do about 6 tops per year. Not this year... I haven't done anything this year I had planned to do last year. That's ok, I've done some things and those projects and fabrics will still be there next year, including the kits. It's nice that the only real deadlines I face are ones that I create.

I've been quilting a long time now, some 40 years and I've done a lot. Most of what I've done is completely original, or at least based on traditional blocks. For the last 20 years particularly, I very rarely ever copy someone else's project or buy a pattern, have gotten rid of most of my books as well other than a few reference materials and favorites. Mostly I start with a vision and draft and start cutting/sewing. I do have a style and preferences, but one thing I don't have is problem choosing fabrics. Kits in general (or specifically that just include someone else's choices of fabrics) are not for me -- but if you give me that kit of fabric I can figure out something to make with it.

This year though -- guess I'm getting tired of my style :) I did the Round Robin with the fervent hope that the center I started would come back not looking like my work.

I'm going to do the Bonnie Hunter Mystery again, just to be pushed into having something to do and keep moving. It's kind of freeing going into a project knowing in advance you probably aren't going to love it 100%, but that you are willing to learn something and see what happens.

As for kits I've boughten 1 in my life and once I started it the recipent decided she wanted a larger quilt so I added fabrics from my stash that complimented it but then I was left with what to do for the border. Luckily I was able to find a couple fat qtrs. As for pre-cuts and kits I'd rather used from my stash. This way I can make it the colors/fabrics I want and make it my own instead of just like 1,000 others looking the same.

I have a lot of kits. And I also have a big stash, stored in giant Rubbermaid bins. I’ll still buy and use kits because it’s nice to have the fabrics all pulled together and you just have to start cutting and sewing. Whereas if I use my stash, it’s a lot of effort to pull out all the different fabrics from the individual bins (and then put them all away!). I’ve resigned myself to the fact I’ll never use up my stash anyway.

I generally enjoy figuring out fabric choices from my stash, with maybe a sprinkle of 'new' depending on finances and feeling. But I can definitely see the attractions of kits.

Closest I have come so far was buying a bundle of fat quarters made up as a 'starter set' (I forget the proper term) to go along with a pattern - the bundle was not intended to supply all of the fabric for the quilt, just give a jumping off point/some fresh to use in addition to existing stash. I enjoyed that.

So I'd be open to buying a kit for something I really liked. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

I have, and sometimes I really enjoy just grabbing one and getting to cutting with no figuring. Half the time I don't even have a pattern so I'm figuring yardage along with everything else. So oftentimes actually using a pattern is a big treat for me.

I only buy kits when I can get a really good deal. Right now I have a 40% off one item coupon from my LQS - and I love using that to buy a kit. I hope to get there this weekend and will be looking to see what they have in stock.

I quilt from my stash as much as possible anymore. I have been doing my best not to buy any new fabrics. I have never really though about buying a kit. I see many pretty ones but find myself thinking "I can do that"! I have a very large stash so I need to use some of this before I spend more money.

I've bought a few kits (3) and have 'busted up' one already and used the fabric in different projects -I can't be trusted to not change my mind! Also, like Iceblossom I have 'kitted' together fabrics I think will work together, and hope that I come up with a plan when the urge strikes me. I've designed most of the quilts I've worked on so far. Sometimes I'll take the center of a small wall quilt and build around it - I did 3 small centers from Alex Anderson's 'Start Quilting' book, and made 2 of them larger throws with some extra bits. I guess I didn't realize how much I don't follow the rules when I quilt! I enjoy color so much, I just always buy what pleases my eye, kit or not, then I tend to change it around and have fun.

I have never bought a kit. For me, part of the process of making a quilt is shopping for the right fabric for the pattern and person if I'm gifting it. Honestly, in all the shops and shows I've been to, I have never even looked at a kit. To much other eye candy I guess.😚.......

I have bought only one kit and it is still wrapped up nicely in its package. I really prefer to use fabrics from my stash because then I know if I have enough fabric to make the pattern. I have never bought jelly rolls as I feel they are not really all 2 1/2" wide fabrics.

I buy kits on sale all the time as the fabric I like is usually cheaper in a kit. I buy kits with full yardage or whole pre cuts so I can use the fabric for other patterns.

I haven't bought a kit since the first year I started quilting, about 10 years ago. I absolutely love shopping for just the right fabrics for a quilt. However, I have bought a bit for my stash when local shops have gone out of business, and a friend gave me her stash of mostly fat quarters some years ago. So, I have quite a few, like hundreds, of short cuts, but not many larger pieces. This makes it hard to use only my stash, unless it's a totally scrappy quilt.

I have made 3 quilts this year from my stash and you can't tell anything has been used. I wanted quick gifts for my 3 DDs and I ordered kits from Jordan Fabrics for table runners in the log cabin pattern. I was very pleased with the quality and the designs of the fabric. This is the first time I have ordered kits but I'm sure it won't be the last. I have 2 boxes full of Christmas scraps but nothing seemed to blend together. I may make a scrappy Christmas throw with some of the stash.

There's actually a couple reasons why I don't buy kits.

Number one, my fiancé and I are on such a shoestring budget that I just can't afford to get a kit. When I decide to do a quilt, it will take me a couple of months just to get the fabric together, then another month to buy batting, then yet another to buy the backing. Since I bought a bolt of Muslin, that should change things up a bit, but not by much.

Number two, when I do find a quilt kit that I find interest in, nine times out of ten, I'm not thrilled with the color choices and I pass it by. I'd much rather work in EQ, pick my own colors and fabrics and make a quilt that way. If I feel that my brain needs a break from quilting, I work up something easy like a nine-patch or do up HST's. If I need a bigger break, I break out either my crochet hooks or knitting needles and play in some yarn for a bit.

I've heard on this board some people will make their own kits for something like having surgery etc, so they can sew but not have to do all the other stuff like cutting, etc. Good idea.

I have used several kits, several patterns and pulled from my stash or shopped over the years, bought pre cuts....then had to figure out how to use them (seems in precuts always have something left over that did not get used.), and just started making scrap squares...like 9 patches...then figured out how to use them once made, done some improve blocks....everything is good...mixing it up is fine....currently...like just polling stuff from stash and stitching....made 7 flannel lap quilts...each of which was different, and made from scraps....cut scraps to uniform sizes....made blocks...then figured out what to do with them....the last scrappy lap quilt and all the left overs in it....I was trying to channel how quilts where originally made, of bits of fabric salvaged from other things, to create useful quilts... It was fun. I think I will do the mystery quilt this year...using fabrics I already have...and because I don't have to think what to do...just wait for the next clue...

I have never ordered a kit, because I have enough to last a lifetime of 50 more yrs if that would be possible.

My very first quilt was made from a kit. I still love the colors and my animals love it too. I've only bought one other kit and while we use the quilt every day, it's definitely not my favorite. I prefer to use my stash now. It gets my creative juices flowing.

I am almost the only quilter I know without much of a stash. I am a minimalist by nature, and having stacks of fabrics isn’t something I do. I buy fabric for a specific purpose, be it for a quilt or a garment or a bag. I do occasionally buy kits, but I don’t always make the quilt the kit is for. I sometimes do part of it that way, then change the layout or size or borders or ... I do have a few totes full of scraps though, and I am gradually cutting those up into smaller pieces like 2 1/2” squares or larger. Hopefully I will get motivated to make a scrap quilt or five.

I'm also one of those who like to use what I have and get my creative juices flowing. I always think, once I use up most of my stash, then I will buy a kit. Don't think that will ever happen.

I rarely buy kits. I used to work at the LQS and I made kits to sell in the store. Now, when I am sorting my stash, I will put together my own kits out of the fabrics I have on hand. Then next time I look at it...sometimes I wonder what I was thinking and take them apart. I like to chose my own fabrics when I chose a pattern.

When I started quilting, I bought 2 kits- a baby size (triangles), and a queen size (log cabin). After that I decided to start choosing my own fabrics for patterns. I now tend to do much the same, with a kit from stash to change things up. :)

I have somehow ended up with quite a few kits, though it was never my intention to buy kits, LOL. Sometimes I'll see a kit I like and they'll offer the option of just buying the pattern, and then I'll buy that rather than the kit. It seems they offer that option less and less nowadays. I once bought a kit for the fabric, because no one had any of the yardage anymore (it was vastly reduced). I do regret buying a couple of the kits, as they no longer appeal to me.

I haven't made any of the kits yet, as I intend to work through my stash first. I figure (if all goes well) that I will end my quilting days making up those kits.

I just bought another kit with my 40% coupon. This one is rather scrappy and came with 32 fat eighths, a charm pack and a package of laser cut pieces ready for applique. Its a Christmas quilt so as soon as I get it all washed, I can get to playing. I checked and shrinkage of the smaller cuts won't cause any problems. BTW - this is a pattern from 2019 so the fabric is not current.

This is a good example of when I'll buy a kit
1. I really like it exactly how it is in the kit.
2. Decent discount
3. Lots of coordinating fabric, especially smaller yardage that I can't buy in that small of a measure
4. A pattern that I would not want to draft up myself
5. Older kit and fabric is not available anymore