I was forced to stop buying when we retired and are now on Social Security. BUT.....I had been buying kits and fabric for years and years!! Now I am going back to what I have and its like Christmas! I call it my savings account that I can finally tap into !! LOL Some of my kits are so old they call for templates!

15 months and 18 days but the end is in sight. One of my GDs picked out a piece of stash and it needs a couple solids to go with it and the other 2 GDs quilts need 2 different shades of pink to finish them. DIL and 3 GDs and I are planning a trip to Springfield for school cloths and shoes -Hancocks and as many thrift stores as we can. We already have a list of addresses and she has a GPS. So all we need now are our comfy shoes.

If Connecting Threads would stop sending e-mails about their sales I might be able to stop buying! Yesterday I spent $183.00 on their Mirage fabric for backings. On sale for $2.96 per yard. I purchased enough for seven quilts. I also bought some for other projects. I think that will be it for a long while.

While not a conscious effort, since having lost our house and with it my huge sewing/fabric stash room, I was forced to "purge" nearly half of my fabric and other supplies. However, in 2 years I doubt that I have spent $50 on fabric/quilting supplies, and I was able to make the family reunion quilt without buying background/backing fabric, as even my niece supplied the batting - a nice feeling. Now I am concentrating on making baby quilts, placemats, table runners, totes, bags,etc., etc., to get ready for a craft fair in Nov. I willneed to buy more batting and fusible fleece though, but it's nice to use up the fabric I bought when I was working and could afford it.

I made the same resolution and haven't bought any 'new' fabric...I have bought pieces from Vinney's...and I have an order ready in the shopping cart at Connecting Threads just waiting. I'm trying to talk myself out of buying!!!

I have never had a stash like most quilters and sewers do, but I had a small stash of fashion fabrics and quilting fabrics. We moved recently and got rid of or sold nearly everything. I kept my machines and some of my fabrics, but sold the rest. I must have sold a thousand dollars worth of fabric and books and magazines for $100! The lady who bought them was ECSTATIC, and I don't blame her one bit! I thought about charging more but this move was so sudden and happening so quick that we were really in a huge time crunch and everything was priced to SELL, lol.

So now I just have a few different fabrics, and to be honest, after realizing how much fabric I just had laying around that I didn't use for years, I don't find it difficult to resist fabric sales. If I don't have a project waiting for it, I don't buy it, simple as that. It may be the most AMAZING fabric EVER, but you know what? I always come across another perfect fabric at some point or another too!

Yeah, ain't Connecting Threads just awful and mean!??!?? I saw their message yesterday about their sale on Mirage fabric. The timing was simply AWFUL! ;-)

I hit the delete button.

I'm also unsubscribing from a lot of the other online stores' announcement emails. Not all, but a lot.

I started almost 2 years ago and can honestly say that I have only slipped twice, and only for 1 project each! I have used just my stash for the rest of my quilting, about 12 quilts! For a couple of them I needed to buy 1 fabric to complete the project or a backing! Withe the price of fabrics today, I am so glad I had such a huge stash! I understand that the price of cotton has come down but it will probably be a while, if ever, we see a price change!

I have been doing the same...did by 2 yards of white border fabric since I have been using so much of my scraps to make quilts. I have a lot of fabric!! I did also have to have a 1/2 yard of the Cat in the Hat...thinking I need a few more of those panels...for my future grandkids

I tried but failed. I love fabric. A local lady that taught quilting was sick and her children cleared her things out. I purchased 6 boxes @10 per box. I did ask are you sure you want to sell all her things.? They wanted it all gone ,now. I felt so sad. I hope my fabric that I love isn't treated that way.

I forgot to add that to help myself I choose not to go on Shop Hops. Then LQS had bolts of 4dallor fabric for sale to clear her inventory, I didn't go. My friends spent big bucks. I have been taking classes with any extra money. That helps me feel that I am treating myself with an aim to improve my skill.

I moved recently and I'm in the process of organizing my stash. Never realized I had soooooooo much. My DH says I could open a store. It's also hard to organize when there's so much. It has really slowed down my purchases. I fell off the wagon earlier this week when I saw fabric on sale for a third of what I paid for it. I only purchased 8 yards.....

I KNOW, I saw that email this morning and instantly thought of this thread.

I have not done a complete moratorium, but my purchasing has decreased significantly. Primarily I'm getting that one fabric that I need to finish a project...you know the one that there's just not the right one there (or if there is some, it's not enough). I have picked up a few clearance items and an impulse buy or two here on the board. And a couple of pieces that just screamed a particular person's name...

lol I think you came to The Quilters Workshop the day it ended !!!!

I started organizing my stash, and like many others have said, was shocked. I pulled the bright batiks (just the brights) and made a king, 2 queen and 1 twin sized quilt--still have fabric left. I only bought a couple 1/4 yards to add variety to the second queen and some additional WoW. I have now pulled the blues. I have made a twin and am working on a Dresden plate. I also broke down and bought batting. With all the white in quilts, the natural batting was not right.

I havent bought fabric...without a purpose...for well over a year now...I have a HUGE stash and only buy anything I need now if on sale or with a coupon. I have saved a ton of money by NOT buying any that I wanted without a purpose. I have become more frugal(if that's possible). I coupon on everything...my groceries and fabric especially. A woman and her husband who were behind me in the grocery lane yesterday commented they had never seen a man who shopped so well and organized. Everything I bought was on sale except a few meat items and had coupons for almost everything. When I started using coupons my grocery bills dropped 40 to 60%. Items go on sale in 3 months increments and I buy enough to last that long. As for fabric I have enough to last for 30 years...I made 8 quilts for Christmas gifts last year...all from my stash. Only fabric I buy right now is for my 30s collection and I only buy 1/4 yard at a time. BTW...Yesterday my groceries for the month before coupons came to $244.00. I paid $111.00

Oh, don't I know it! Who in their right mind could pass up those Mirages?!? Not I! They are beyond yummy! And at under $3??? You can't buy muslin that cheap!!!

I was just thinking about all the kits I have stashed in my stash earlier today. I need to get to making some of them. The nice thing about having so much fabric, when you "discover" some that you'd forgot you bought! But then you run across the piece that makes you say "What in the world was I thinking???"... LOL!

I have drastically reduced my purchases but it seems you always need that one color you don't have in your stash. I can't cut down much more, shop sales only, mostly discount stores, don't order on line, never in large quantities, you can only cut down so much. But I could make quilts for more years than I have left just from the scraps I have stashed in one closet!!

Our first show was rained out. The second show was the first time it had been held and they did not advertise nor did they post any signs so it was kind of a flop too. I'm hoping when the weather cools that we'll be able to do a show that actually makes some money! I was surprised that my 'bling things' weren't more popular. They are great for marking your scissors, decorating your purse handles or zippers and I even have some that are connected to cell phone straps. I hoping for an improved market in the fall!

Fall is usually better for selling..Try the online live auction Tophatter,,,things like yours seem to sell well

Well, inspired by this topic, I created a Stash-buster challenge. See the link in my sig file. I hope you'll join me.

I tried the moratorium thing one year. I didn't buy any fabrics except what I absolutely had to have to finish a project. But at the end of that year I spent a good $400 on the year end sales. So now I just buy 2 or 3 yards of something I absolutely love every two or three months and I end up spending a lot less over the year.

My New Year's resolution was not to buy any fabric unless I had a specific project in mind . . . so I ended up buying several kits. I like your idea of a total moratorium.

OOPs Guess who went to Joannes today?? But I only bought fabric for a backpack my daughter wanted (at least the fabric purchase) Of course I had to get batting at 50% off and the 25% off full purchase that is...and well the little rotating cutting mat for cutting my hexagons just jumped into my cart on it's own...I can't really count the thread either since I really needed it!! But I still got out of there under $100!! 62.50 to be exact!

I did real good for a few months, I only bought fabric if I had a specific quilt to make. But this last weekend I fell off the wagon and rolled down the hill!! JoAnn's had a coupon for 25% off entire order - I saved $166.00 (no patterns or tools)! I spent $126. Then I went to Hobby Lobby, they had a great sale, then I went to Walmart & saw some remnants at a good price. Now that I've had my fix, I should be able to behave myself and sew down my stash again.

I "try" not buy any "new" fabric but if some fabric at a yard sale jumps into my hand, I have to give it a good home. It's only right, you shouldn't leave an orphaned fabric. LOL

I too have been on a fabric diet lately! I have a huge stash and too many projects backed up.

Like a lot of you I am concerned at the projected rise in fabric prices. If cottons go up much more, then I think the quilting industry could crash. I do not see younger quilters coming along in numbers anywhere near large enough to replace the aging demographic in quilting. Machines and tools are more expensive than ever....I think if fabric prices rise we could see this hobby pass out of the reach of most women, particularly those who are still raising families.

I wonder what quilt store owners are thinking these days! They must have some kind of plan for the future.

What a super idea! Thanks for thinking of that! I need all the help I can get... the quicker I use up my stash, the more room I'll have for new stuff!

I will say that keeping to this moratorium is really helping me focus on finishing up projects that are "almost done". Feels great.

Quilters may have to go back to their roots and use what you can find to make quilts instead of using new fabrics. I wiil never have that problem. I have so much fabric, I could never use it my life time.

I've started taking my husband's shirts-- the 100% cotton ones-- and cutting them into 5" squares for later using in HSTs.