I have a lot of stash. It actually makes me anxious. There’s fabric that I’m not sure I’ll ever use, but I hold on to it because my tastes have changed over the years.

Oh yes, I clearly feel the same about everything you said. I did love shopping for fabric and have way more than I will ever use. I have donated quite a lot of it when I moved and now I have a great time sewing. I have room now and can layout the blocks and view every step. In the past couple of weeks I have finished 5 quilt tops and working on more unfinished projects I started. It feels great to see these items nearing the quilt it stage. In my shopping days I lacked buying quilt backings so I will have to go out soon and shop for some but a limited budget has forced me to think more creatively. Yippee, I am enjoying the process and don’t worry about when I am gone. I know my kids will put my stuff either to good use or to a good cause. So just have fun while you can. Worry never gets us anywhere, just headaches. Peaceful times to all. <3

I recently went to a garage sale that was advertised in my local newspaper (smallish town) and said garage full of fabric. I was quite disappointed when I got there (very early) that it was All double knit. I overheard the "lady" having it tell a customer - "daddy let Momma buy all of this fabric because it made her happy."

My stash isn’t very large at all. I tend to buy fabric for the project I am working on. So in that way, it’s more expensive. I found I don’t like my “dream” fabrics I bought 10 years ago...what was I thinking?!

Hello Quilters, I am glad to have found a message board quite by accident. I live in a rural small town so there are little opportunities to interact with like minded individuals. Thank you for this new opportunity to make friends.

Welcome - there is a lot of knowledge available here.

Dealing with emotional issues? Gather fabric. Beats booze. And when you're gone, the kids can have a giant garage sale or a big tax-deductible donation. With booze, they get nothing left over.

My feelings about my stash (and it is ummm…. bordering intervention status) depends on whether it's night time or day time. Some things keep me awake at night and seem a whole lot better in the morning. Night time bring out all kinds of insecurities and thoughts about someday moving, running away from home (LOL), someone other than another quilter discovering my hoard. But I'm awake more than I sleep so I'm OK with it.

Haha, great way to look at it! :D

I have a huge stash that I probably will not finish using before I die, but it makes me happy to remember where I bought the material and why. I have enough fabric to last the rest of my life, unless I need to buy a special piece to go with some I already have. I worked hard for the $$$$ to buy it, and I enjoy it, and I have given instructions for how to dispose of it should I die before I use it all (which is probable). I have cleaned up after my children for years, and it they have to dispose of my fabric, well, I apologize, but I am still keeping and using it.

bearisgray - you spoke to my heart. I have acquired way more fabric than I need and for many of the same reasons you gave. I find I am now giving it away to reduce my stash. Many fabrics I just don't like any more. Others frustrate me because I do not have enough of it to do what I want. I do find joy in giving it away. I have given a lot to a lady who makes pillows and quilts for veterans with the American Legion. And several of my friends have benefitted from my stash reduction. If I had it to do over, I would find a pattern I like and then buy the fabric I need for it with maybe a "little" extra for goofs. This is what I am now trying to do. It made me feel good to know I was not alone in this.

Hi and welcome from a North Carolina little old lady quilter! You'll find many friends here!

You are all amateurs! LOL I have a room that is bursting with fabric! I'm not really a quilter, just a fabric collector. I like the acronym: SABLE=stash acquired beyond life expectancy. My favorite LQS was next door to my job so I was there for every sale. Gorgeous fat quarters in a barrel for $1.00. Generous rainbow and tone-matched collections of scraps in a bag for $2.00. I started small but the addiction set in. A stressful day at work and I'd lunch at the quilt store. I dropped $1,000 on their going-out-of-business sale. I then moved to Connecting Threads and visited that website for my lunchbreaks. They used to have half price sales on fat quarters all the time! I've done fabric purges several times and took bags to Salvation Army. I've donated to charities and advertised on Freecycle. I've created "Welcome to Quilting Kits" for friends with books, patterms, tools and cutting boards for those who expressed an interest. In 14 years of hoarding, I've enjoyed getting rid of it almost as much as I have acquiring it! During that time I've probably made a dozen quilts and two pillows. Now that I'm retired, I hope I can buckle down and actually sew! Thanks for the topic!

OMG where do i start, I have sew much fabric, she who dies with the most wins, yep, thats me, my kids r already having a fit, cause I'm not getting any younger and they do not want me to leave it for them to figure out what to do with it, but guess what, that is just what i am going to do, die and let them figure it out. I also have a lot of yarn at least 20 rubber maid storage containers full, and the books, I bet I could feed a lot of earwigs on the paper alone. Anyway, I will let the kids worry cause I am not, lol

I haven't been quilting as long as most and had started a stash, a few pieces of fabric I loved. Then a lady I work for loss a quilting friend.This friends children did not want anything their mother had,they gave all the fabric and craft stuff to the lady I work for.This lady gave it all to me.Then this lady moved 2 times,I helped her both times as she went to down sizing she gave me tubs of wonderful fabric. I have been blessed beyond measure with all the fabric.To try to make a long story short, I have a small business where I have older ladies as clients,these ladies quilt and are on a fixed income.I have been passing a great deal of the fabric on.This has been beyond anything I could ever imagined.I have said all this to say, If you have acquired more then you will ever use ,maybe you could pass some on.In no way have I passed all this fabric on, because I do quilt and give quilts away. There may be someone you know with a "need" to keep busy.But in no way should you feel bad at yourself for buying and using something that makes you happy.Do what makes you happy life is short.

Sure, some days I am overwhelmed, others I'm a go-getter. Some days I cut up fabric for a specific pattern, bag and put a copy of the pattern in the plastic bag. Kits take up WAY less space then the actual folded fabric. Plus is that I can cut the binding at the same time. I then take the leftover fabric and pas it down the line.

My kids area also not interested. So in my Trust I have a letter telling them Who gets first grab at my fabric. I do want them to keep certain machine as I pray that I'll be able to teach my closest GD, who started learning when she was 3.5 yrs. Mom is mad at me so she doesn't get to continue her lesson.

Having a Play it Forward plan will be very helpful in the end. BUT in the mean time, I'm cutting, bagging and sewing as much as I can. Not buying a lot either. I have More than enough to make a ton of quilts.

I am glad I built up my stash because now that I am retired, I don’t have to buy much.

Well said, same here. I am currently moving in stages to be near my son in Texas. As I go through my stuff, I can't believe the amount of fabric I have purchased! Most, if not all, I purchased on sale, so got more for my $$$$! I asked my husband, "what was I thinking", he just laughs and says you were thinking about all the fun you would have sewing after retiring from my job as a Prison Nurse. thankfully, I have a dedicated room in the new house - not sure it all is going to fit, but the garage can get the overflow. I also have a "stash" of sewing machines - those are going to be sold, new house just does not have the room for them (treadles, and old singers).

I have a stash that will out live me with out a doubt! Do I regret having this much fabric, "sometimes". The bigger challenge is how my tastes have changed over the years. What I do like is now I am working from my stash more than ever. I will still pick up fabrics here or there but only 'after' I have checked with what I already have. Of course I think of the money spend and them realize I have spent far less than many others. I got the majority of my fabrics from a woman's estate when she passed away. That would account for more than 2/3's. I have been selling some of it off slowly and am doing a large number of scrappy quilts as of late. I can't seem to part with even the smallest scrap. Would I do it again. Most likely. I have always been one to sew and I love my quilting to much. I want fabrics at a finger time when I am ready to go.

Right now my 8-1/2 year old grandson wants me to make him a shirt using a hawaiian print. Saturday we went out and I picked up Simplicity 8852 but it's not so easy to find hawaiian prints in New Hampshire, lol.[/QUOTE]

Butterfli19 - did you find a Hawaiian print. i have one in my stash I picked up in a give away. I would live to see it used. it is Maroon with pineapples. I can take a picture if ya would like. It's a time like this that i appreciate my stash :)

I am in your position. In addition to stash of fabric I have gathered 1000's of designs. Oh I am sure I will stitch this one. But when? 85 and time is running out. But my being able to choose a 6 inch scrap or larger and stitch something for a friend. Bring smiles. So, yes I have too much, BUT?

I like my stash. Having been an artist and crafter for all my life (even during my working years when I had a different career), I have a stash of spinning fibers, yarns, metal sheet for jewelry making, paints, markers, pastels, etc. and also the tools to go with several hobbies/near careers I have enjoyed over the years. I've been quilting off and on since about 1981 and have gone through periods where I only had fabric on hand for the quilt I was making at the time and periods where I had a larger stash than what I've now got. I joined the fabric moratorium several years ago just to help remind myself that I'm not getting any younger and my storage space isn't getting any bigger.

For me, having a not too large, but not too small stash means that I can pull out my fabrics and play whenever I want without having to pre-plan and then shop. That's what works for me at this point in my life. I periodically evaluate my stash to determine if it has holes that need to be plugged- neutrals and blenders often need to be replenished. Sometimes a quilt I'm working on needs something that's not available in my stash, so I get the fun of visiting the LQS without getting overwhelmed by (and possibly buying) all the beautiful fabrics they've got in stock.

I donated a bunch of yarn several years ago when DH and I decided that we were not likely to be weaving any more and sold the last of the looms, but I haven't yet felt a need to part with any of my fabric (other than by using it up). Probably if you added all my scraps and yardage together I'd have about 300-400 yards of fabric in my stash at any given time. That's down from a high of about 600 yards several years ago.

I think I'd probably get overwhelmed if I had more than that.

Edited to add- Come to think of it, I probably have some home dec and upholstery fabric stuck somewhere that I should get rid of....but it's probably not more than 10 yards or so... mainly scrap left over from various home dec projects over the years...

Rob

I recently started "cleaning out". I was shocked at the amount of flannel, polar fleece and quilting fabric that had either intentions that never materialized or had no distinct purpose planned, but I liked it. I donated LOTS to various charity groups, but still have full kits from multiple BOMs that appealed to me at the time.

When I purchase now, I have a distinct plan and work on it almost immediately.

My stash of fabrics is very small and may not truly qualify as a "stash". I do have fabrics I purchased with GC's I needed to use when Hancock's closed ... and unfortunately I'm not thrilled to use most of them. Selection was not the best by the time I got to the store.

From what I'm reading, I'm somewhat different ... meaning, I can actually spend an hour in a fabric store and not buy anything. I tend to look at the fabrics for inspiration but if nothing "speaks" to me, I just don't buy. Or sometimes I know exactly what I want to do but can't find the coordinating fabrics. And there are only a few stores to shop from in my area. I've been reading posts lately on how some of you are using up your scraps and you quilts are lovely. But when I look at my scraps, I feel I don't have enough coordinating colors to make a small quilt work. Haha. I'll continue to save them in hopes 1 day I'll be inspired.