My Fabric Needs Me
 

When going through your stash looking for some fabric to make a new quilt? Do you ever have one fabric that you keep putting off making something with? I do, Every time I go through my stash looking for fabric to make a new quilt, I have this one fabric that keeps asking me if today is her turn. I keep saying not yet you are for something special. Will this fabric has been in my stash for 5 years now. So, I told her yes it's your turn. I will take you out of the closet and make something with you.

Funny you should ask..... I have been going through cabinets, drawers, and bins lately trying to get rid of those items I know I will never use. And out popped some Minion fabric that I HAD to have when it first came out. And so I thought it would make adorable pillow cases. It has been washed and ironed - just waiting for my return to my sewing room to cut and sew. (However, in the back of my mind I hear - But what about the quilt you want to make with it?)

I keep hoarding polka dots waiting for inspiration. Every once in awhile I'll want to hack into it for a piece here and there for other quilts but I don't. It's time is coming, though,mince I found a pattern. Won't make a dent in the stash but, who cares? Love me some polka dots!!

I have had some that just were " too pretty" for one project or another. But recently, l heard a daughter lament over the huge array of " things" she had to go through after her mom passed. And l have decided that a finished quilt made with these pretties would be much more appreciated by my non sewing children than a pile of pretty fabric.

YES! Those fabrics I just couldn't do without. I've decided I'd enjoy the fabric more if I got to work with it. So I've made 3 simple patterns and enjoyed looking at and petting the fabric.

I have some specialty fabric I bought from the designer at a quilt show. I love it but I don't know if I'll ever find a pattern that will work with it.

You are not alone...I finally used one of them to replace a picture that had faded. I know it will eventually fade, but in the meantime, I get to see it every day.

I was in that situation recently. I had some lovely fabric left from an art quilt I designed & finished. The fabric appealed to me so much that I bought it in all the colors the store had-red, purple, black, & light & navy blue. Some colors had big pieces left after my Doctor Who art quilt & I just kept hoarding it. Ocassionally I’d take it out, pet it, & croon, “My precious!” I decided it was silly to keep it hidden & when Mystery #19 came along it was time to use it! I used the red & both blues & I remembered how I enjoyed working with it. I’m very pleased with the look of the mystery blocks & am happy this favorite fabric will soon be on display! Don’t do like my late MIL who saved so many things for ‘some special day.’ We found so many wonderful things still with tags that she never wore or used, so she didn’t get to enjoy them at all. One item still had ‘Christmas 1953’ on the outer wrapping! It was as old as I, & never used. How sad.

i have a several yards I purchased on clearance when I was a new quilter. I was drawn to the line because it was named the same as one of my daughters. I have been passing it over for 6 years. I need to just start using it.

I have a 4 yard piece of red with small white flowers. It's been washed to remove the excess dye and then folded and put back in a drawer. I even bought the backing for it. A simple pattern would work wonderfully for it.....but alas....there it is still waiting after more than 5 years. Am I telling it "grow old with me...the best is yet to come"????

Yes I have precious pieces of fabric I have been hoarding. I have a large collection of Kaffe Fasset fabric I have been collecting fro years. It is just too pretty to cut up. I have finally found the perfect 2 projects for it.
I have a layer cake I really liked. It was the Grunge fabric line. I was saving it for something special. I pulled it out several times to make a quilt for my grandson. I kept putting it back because it wanted it for something special. I finally told myself if my cute little grandson isn't special, who is.
I am getting better about using up my special fabric that I like to pet.

French General speaks to me. It is so pretty I can't seem to find a pattern worthy. One of these days....

I have a six yard piece of bright yellow with hot pink batik I bought on clearance for a backing when I first started quilting. One of these days I will find the perfect pattern and fabrics for a top to honor its fabulousnous.

I have a collection of fabric that I just love and keep waiting for the right quilt pattern to highlight the beauty of the fabric. I take it out, look at it, decide the pieces of the blocks are too small to show it off, and pick some other fabric. I finally made a wall hanging quilt that I thought had big enough block pieces to show it off, but still have plenty left for another quilt. And I am back to "saving" the fabric. Maybe this thread will get me to pull it out and use it too.

I have some effervesense that is just too pretty to cut up. For those of you like me who can't spell, it is a dark background with lots of colorful bubbles.

That has happened to me a multitude of times. Some times, a piece will wait for years before it gets its chance to play.

Not just fabric. I am always torn in this kind of decision. On the one hand you should go ahead and enjoy it. On the other, if something happens, then it is gone or ruined and you don't have it for the special times. At my age I guess it is better to go ahead and enjoy. I hear my stash calling. LOL

Many years ago hubby and I were at an auction where we purchased box and boxes (1200+) well kept/clean feed sacks still sewn into bags. The only problem is; I can't seem to cut them up to make anything. I get them out ocassionaly to admire them and then put them away till next time. I did sell enough of the duplicates to pay for all the feed sacks I purchased but even that made me feel like a traitor. LOL

Yeah, I know how you all feel. Sometimes I just like touching and feeling and ironing fabric more than I have the incentive to use it in the 'wrong' pattern. That would be just horrible. It is funny, can't stand ironing the clothes I wear, but I wouldn't think twice about ironing my precious fabric. I'd say that I am a sick person, but I know there are a lot of you out there that understand me perfectly. :D

Yep, I understand that, too. Are they 30's type prints? By the way, my mother just loved using flour sack fabric for drying the dishes. That way you can use them without cutting them.

I bought a fabric I adored in preparation for the quilt I would make for that "When I am Old, I Shall Wear Purple" day, at age 60.
By the time I was 67 and the quilt wasn't yet made, I didn't like it any more.
Sold a bunch of it at one point, but now I'm 73 and I still have some and I still no longer love it. Sigh.
I try to no longer buy "oh, my gosh, I love that!" fabric, because I'm apparently fickle in my fabric tastes these days. :rolleyes:

Jan in VA

Where do you sell your fabric? I have thought about a sale at my house but afraid that people will think it is a yard sale and will want things for next to nothing. Do you sell on line -- ebay -- or where.

Oh yes! I have a pair of prints in one of my cabinets that "speak" to me every time I lay eyes on them. I added a third print about a month ago and am thinking that they are getting closer to the cutting table every day!

No, actually I have sold twice in my home, once in Austin TX and once here in VA. Both times I advertised with a local guild and asked members to make appointments and only come no more than 3 people at a time so that I could serve them properly. Cash only accepted. I treated the sale like a quilt shop and cut yardage as requested. There were also some fat quarters available. I charged only $3 per yard for most fabrics, $.75 for fat quarters. Believe it or not, I made over $1000 dollars both times, holding the sale for about 5 days each time.

When this kind of sale is open to actual quilters, I believe you will be more successful. The people I drew were unknown to me but were, to a person, kind, friendly, and considerate. I was not at all afraid to have them in my home. They often bought more than they had originally decided on while they waited for their friends to finish up having theirs cut and paying, LOL! And they went home and told their friends about the sale!

I had some of my own quilts lying about to encourage chatting and the feeling of comradery. Those were not for sale, though I did end up with a commission from showing them. :D

Am thinking very seriously about doing another one in a few months and have already selected out the fabrics I'm willing to part with.

Jan in VA

I have my bins set up in my fabric closet set up to fill the entire closet. Each time I open that closet there is a set of four fabrics I bought together that calls to me to do something with it. I have gotten out that fabric many times and been stumped by what to do with it. There are others that want to play with it, but, I just can't decide.

I am saying "yes" to everyone's post!! Although there are very few fabrics in my stash that don't speak to me anymore.

Jan in VA---your "private quilt shop" sale is a great idea!

I don't think there is a quilter/fabric lover who doesn't have many fabrics they buy and never use due to either not wanting to cut, not the right pattern or UGH why did I buy that in the first place. I know like many others I'm determined not to buy anymore fabrics until I put a dent in all that I have...How often have we said that too!

Thanks, Jan. I have been putting mine in plastic bags with the yardage written on the outside. Thought I would also add the price on the tag. Mostly mine is 2 yds or less. Thanks for your input.

I get really sick of fabric and my taste changes. I will go crazy over something and if I don't use it fairly soon it ends up in that place where a lot of my fabric ends up- buried! And then I'll realize I don't like it anymore.
So for me the answer is use it while I'm still loving it!

I USED to do that - but no more. I'm starting to use the oldest first.. in something - ANYTHING. I had to ask myself: How much more do I have to have to get my own episode of ''HORADERS". I have SABLE. Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy. USE YOUR FABRIC.

I have 2 yards of laser printed fabric that I just can't cut up. I have to find something to do with it.

Watson

I have a piece of fabric that was part of a drive by fabric drop off. It was an incredibly ugly pink linen weave fabric. I used fluid acrylic paints to "dye" it and now it is so gorgeous I can't seem to find the right way to use it. It is heavier than quilting fabric, and when I first painted it I had decided to use it in one of my art quilts, but so far I haven't been able to make myself cut it...:rolleyes:

Rob

Frame it and put it up as art on your walls. You get to see it all the time, and love looking at it.

My case is sort of the opposite. I was gifted with some of a deceased quilter's stash. There was a lot of gloomy, unattractive prints (well, to me) from the about the 70's. I bought some bright, cheerful, modern fabrics to counteract the gloom for making scrappy quilt patterns. But-- when I choose fabric from my stash to sew, I'm constantly choosing the new pretty stuff to use, and I pass over the old stuff. It's quite an effort to keep using what I've got, rather than choosing to buy something cuter...

Any fabric that I really don't care for gets put into the "Backing" tote. I've got a wide variety of fabrics from a wide range of years, and very little of it do I really not like.

This thread is what got me motivated to start using some of my border prints - and giving myself permission to use those fabrics that I love so much I'm almost afraid to use them as then I won't have them anymore! But there will always been new fabrics that I'll fall in love with too.

in the 90's I was mad about the Hoffman's black with gold ink.
I also tackled fabric dying.
And I couldn't use either type, too pretty, too much hard work with the hand dyes.

Miniature Magazine was still published then, all paper pieced patterns I think.
Well anyway, I pieced 3" embellished hearts with the Hoffman and the hand dyed as sashing, borders and backing and sent it in to one of their international quilting contests.

I can't remember now what famous quilter judge it was but the note came back with something like 'would have been a winner, but the fabrics don't go together'. Which is what I'd written about on the entry. and why I'd made it ;)