I tend to save too much 'just in case'. Cleaning out the house after my mom passed and finding myself too swamped in 'stuff that might come in handy' to comfortably sew has had an effect on me. Wish the effect came faster and lasted longer!! :o I'd have more useful space and more time to do things in that space instead wasting time shifting things from place to place and trying to decide what to toss/donate/give away to quilty friends. I am ruthless with rotary cutter blades, although I wasn't always. Got a good object lesson in how dull blades affect not only your enjoyment but your accuracy. Cured me. Wish I wasn't such a slow learner!

Deb, some seam rippers aren't sharp right from the notion isle at the store. I have a few of them.

There are minimalists and hoarders. Neither can be convinced; one to save, and one to throw away. I am somewhere in the middle, leaning towards minimalist. I always have a conflict in my mind; should I save, or donate or throw away.

My MOM, now dead was born in 1914 and saved eveything. It made me more determined to never do that. If my stuff doesn't fit into drawers or closets out of sight - out it goes.

I am definitely an avid recycler and regifter. If I cannot or will not use it, I regift, recycle or donate to others. I figure someone else may find it useful even if I do not. Storage space is finite for me so I figure why not use this space for things I am gonna wear or use.

For example, a stranger I met in Joann's, after us talking for a bit, wanted to give me some 'quilt' fabric. Of course I said yes I will take it. When I picked it up there was 'basement smell' to it and a lot of it was not my type of quilting material. I picked out a coupla pieces I could use and dropped a trash bag full at the Goodwill. I am sure some other quilter will find that fabric and feel they have hit the jackpot.

Sometimes at estate sales, if I can get quilty items or shirts in a bag sale, I will pick up what I can stuff in the bag, keep what I will use and do a PIF on this board for the rest. After the holidays, I have several PIF's that I need to do to thin my stash. Sorting through some of my bins for fabric to make holiday gifts this year, I found fabric that will need new homes.

Make piles:

Keep
Give to a quilting friend
Garage Sale
Salvation Army or other thrift store

You'll probably find very little to actually throw away. In fact, the whole point of most of this thread is how to make use of what you have without trashing it. At least I hope that's what most of us are getting out of the many ideas that have been posted.

Now for my own "Nightmare": We have a shipment of things that were in storage over twenty years while we were living abroad. They are now in a local storage unit and one of the things near the top of the 2015 Things To Do List is go through that stuff. A lot of it is stuff our then teenagers wanted to keep. Somehow I doubt they still want any of it back. OTOH, as old as some of that "stuff" is, some of it might now be considered "collectible" *LOL*

Maybe you'll be seeing me on eBay! :D

I decided that I was tired of taking care of stuff. This last fall, I started cleaning out the stuff that we had not used for quilt awhile. I took it to a local auction barn. Didn't make a whole lot but it sure feels good to get rid of the clutter. Still have a few more things to get rid of. I feel so free to not have so much to take care of. I even got rid of a lot of my Mom's stuff.

I can't really say how much because I used what I had on hand, vinegar, Borax, Ororban, bars of Dial soap and hanging them outside in mesh bags. But finally the odors are gone, unfortunately the ironing is not gone lol.

I used it all and finally after hanging outside for a week in a mesh bag the odors are gone. HOORAY! Just need to iron it all BOO! LOL