Stash or Buy as Needed?
 

Which do you think is better?

Having a stash - (having more fabric on hand than one can use in a lifetime) ?

or

Buying only enough for a given project and all fabric on the premises will take up less than a cubic yard of space?

I have a small stash, thanks to a generous friend, so I only buy as needed, to either compliment what I have, or just what I need to do a certain pattern. Space and money are a major concern I have to work within. I also see no need in being overwhelmed with fabric and forgetting what's really in that mess.

I have a small stash of fabric and am very grateful for it but I'd rather have the space. If I could go back in time (before losing my job) I wish I had purchased everything it would take to complete a quilt and waited until I finished it to purchase for the next quilt. My taste has changed over the years but my funds have greatly diminished!

I have a very large stash and trying to use up what I can but ----don't you know it----I need just one certain fabric to match what I am making!!! Try explaining that to my DH when he says "with all of your fabric you don't have something to match?????!!!!" Long story short-my daughter and 3 DGD moved in and had to make my sewing room a bedroom and so had to buy a shed for back yard and sometimes I go shopping out in the shed and I am surprised to find fabric I don't even remember I have. Tons of fun to go shopping out there and not spending any money!!!

I was gifted lots of fabrics, but mostly small chunks under FQ size, a few years back. It was fun to get, but does take up a lot of room... I love quilting shops and we make some huge detours when on vacation just to check them out. I always try to buy at least 1 metre of fabric... so I collect with a theme idea each year. The last 2 years were the Row by Rows.... but a couple weeks ago I had to purchase fabric to keep adding borders to my peacock project. One fabric was $18.99/m and the other $20.99/m .... whew.... that's a lot of money, but hopefully the quilt will be worth it.
Long story.... short..... I guess I would choose not to have a stash if I was to start over....

I am very fortunate to have a nice stash. My dgd moved out so I took over the sunroom! I find that I love shopping in my own stash before I go out. I have it all organized which really helps.

I definitely think it's better to have a stash. I love all my fabric and love to "shop" from it. I'm a big Saturday evening and Sunday sewer so I keep a lot on hand since I can't run to the store to pick up extra. I do use my stash. The only fabrics I've bought besides something to go with a certain collection is once a year at Quilt Festival and I don't buy that much. Mostly its just if I see a collection that really catches my eye and I can picture using it in a project.

When I first got the quilting bug, I found great buys at estate sales and bought about 4 large totes of fabric I like at very reasonable prices (from 1 to 5 yards). Two years later, I've used almost none of them. Meanwhile, I've accumulated a large tote of new fabrics for planned projects and have used almost none of them. If I don't donate them, most of them will be in my estate sale.

I also have 5 small totes of "I spy" fabrics and squares, which I use regularly to swap with other "I spy" users. I've only made two "I spy" quilts.

I've come to the conclusion I like searching for fabric and buying it better than sewing. Given I've retired, that has to change.

My cousin, who is about my age, has 70 something quilts planned. She has the patterns, fabrics and backing for all of them. Plus, some are very complicated projects that will take hours and hours to complete. (She's working on 2 hexagon I spy quilts for her DGSs that are fussy cut with triangle corners between charms.) She told me last week that she'll never get all of her projects sewed.

So, my advice is not to buy fabric you don't have a project planned to use it in. Also, limit how many projects you have in the works as what you want to make will change over time.

bkay

Actually both! I have some purchased pre-assembled kits, also (kitting myself) fabrics I have bought that I keep with the pattern so it doesn't get used that need a couple more colors to make, and I have a good sized stash I acquired when two different fabric stores went out of business. (Hancock and Ben Franklin's) Sometimes you run across something that you can't leave without, right?
I also sew home dec and occasionally clothing. So, I have some tubs with that in them. I also have a very large tub with charity donation fabric too. And of course, a couple tubs with scraps from quilting cotton.

Hard as I try, I never seem to make a dent in it. But, I live outside town and when the snow flies I want to know I have something fun to work on.

I have a fabric stash but not by intention. I usually buy the fabric required for my project but I buy a little extra fabric to allow for mistakes in cutting. I have also bought the fabric required for a quilt and when I start to make the quilt I will realize that 1 or 2 of the fabrics just isn't working in the color scheme and so I buy some more fabric to replace them. After 37 years of quilting I have a larger stash than I imagined. I have made so many scrap quilts but I think the fabric breeds during the night when the lights go off because I barely make a dent in the stash.

I started quilting only a few years ago and was amazed how quickly my stash began to accumulate and then I was gifted a larger amount. Its very easy to get overwhelmed and I find unless I keep it very organized I don't use it as I should. I forget what I have and then end up buying more. Out of sight can be out of mind and sometimes what you have is not what you want to use. I have quit buying for the most part and only add solids, neutrals and blenders and I am trying really hard to work with what I have first then if after I go thru everything and I mean everything I let myself buy a bit more.

I see others struggle with their stash, can't find anything, find they don't like it anymore or are not using it. I think it depends on the person some like the rush of buying, some will use what they have first and others like to buy as they go and only maintain a small stash. Space, money and your own personality should guide you a bit.

It's really easy to get carried away so I find now I want just a moderate stash that I can keep up with, keep organized :not my strong suit at all, that still allows me to pull a project together. With a smaller stash I don't really feel guilty if I occasionally buy something.

I buy per project. It's a large part of the fun of making a new quilt! "Yay, new fabric!" My stash is all scraps and I use them to make 6" blocks that I see on line.

I have a big stash of ufo's. wish i would get busy and finish them. I like buy fabric only as needed but I usually buy more then needed so I have a med. size fabric stash to.

I think what's better might depend on the kind of quilting you prefer. I recently pulled a bunch of large floral prints from my stash along with coordinating fabrics, matched them with patterns and began making the tops, and I found that I wasn't as happy with these more spontaneous quilts as I've been with my planned quilts that spring from a specific idea or inspiration. So this leads me to believe that in the future, buying by project might be a better approach for me.

I think if you're a scrappy quilter, you pretty much need a stash.

I think it depends on what kind of quilts you like to make. My favorite quilts are "I Spy" so I collect the fabrics such as kids, animals, Christmas, Halloween, etc. And I like to make the GFG. I know that I am going to need fabrics to compliment the others, but I don't buy the coordinating fabrics until I need them I tried to "stock up" when there are sales but I found most of that didn't work within the quilts, or it was a few inches short of my needs and ended up giving a lot of it away. It is fun to buy for a new project.

Mostly I buy for a certain project, but within the last year my daughter found a bargain at a garage sale. Since she doesn't quilt, all of the cottons came to me. We started out with 6 large lawn and leaf trash bags, 2 of which were non-cottons that she kept, 1 bag was all flannel, mostly kid themed, 1 was yardage of good quality cotton, 1 was mostly fat quarters or larger, and 1 was scraps of all sizes. All of this for $40.00. It's taken me awhile to get it all organized as my sewing room was under construction, but just this week I was able to iron and cut into usable strips that bag of scraps. There is some scrappy quilts in my future!

i'm so glad i bought a stash while i was still working. i9 love petting the fabric as much as sewing with it

That's me! I've always said I was stockpiling fabric while I was working and had money so that if I fell on hard times, I could still quilt. And I do love looking at and petting my fabric. I'm going to start picking out fabrics for my next project this weekend. I love going thru all my fabrics and deciding what to use.

I have a pretty big stash. But I still buy pretty fabric. It sits out in piles in my sewing room, so I start using it, going to my stash to add fabrics. I think if I only worked from my stash, it would be harder for me to pull it all together. Unless it's reds and whites or blacks and whites, for instance. And I'm another one who bought and bought while working thinking I'd use all of that after retirement. It hasn't worked out that way.

I buy per project and that's how I got most of my stash..leftovers.
I DO buy the occasional piece of fabric when I can't stand to leave it behind, even if I don't have a plan for it, but not too often.

Watson

I have a pretty decent stash and I have really been using what I have, I also have lots of scraps cut into the sizes I use the most. From my stash and scraps I have made 15 project Linus quilts and I an currently working on 2 baby boy quilts for a friend of my daughter who is having twin boys. I did have to buy 1 yard of green for the border all mine looked to girly. I used to buy a lot more but I find that I tend to buy the same types all the time so before I go shopping in the LQS I shop my stash.

I have a (seems to me) pretty big stash, mostly 1-2 yds, maybe 8 big lengths for wide borders or backing, and a lot of 1/4 or less pieces including my scraps. I rarely buy purposefully but instead intuitively and usually find fabrics in stash that go well together, often unexpectedly. All this is not to say that I don't go looking for the "right" fabric for a project, but not too often. And I always buy (online) on sale, except for muslin and small quantities of solids, which I don't use much. And yes, there are fabrics I don't like much, but they go into backings or small pieces where only the color matters.

I am of the small as in tiny "stash". usually scraps/leftovers from other projects which I am using now. I don't have a huge monetary investment in anything so can buy what I want when I want it. I read of fellow quilters who become overwhelmed with all that fabric and end up giving a lot of it away when tastes change or when room runs out, (of course there are those who love having all that fabric) but I think it would overwhelm me and I don't want to feel any kind of pressure to use it or to think of all the money invested. So far this is working well for me.

yes..... have a small/medium stash of fabrics that I have found that I like and were discounted (very rarely buy full price for stash)....

then I have been known to supplement with full price as needed for a project.

I hope by the time I retire to have enough stash to not need much on a more limited budget

You always pose interesting questions. :)

First I have to say that I probably will not use mine in my lifetime. I nearly always buy because I like what I see.
However, I do need a large variety because I do machine applique a lot and need many different colors to make the pictures.

In comparison to some stashes I've seen mine is fairly small, somewhere in the range of 200 yards, not counting my scraps which probably add another hundred yards or so. About a third of what I have is fabric that I have purchased over the years and the rest is fabric that was gifted to me. Since I make either scrappy quilts or art quilts I like having a stash. It allows me to put things together in unexpected ways, sometimes it forces me to do so since I pretty much confine myself to using my stash. I don't have enough room to have a bigger stash, so I'm on the fabric moratorium, though I do occasionally fall off the wagon when I see some fabric that really calls to me.

Other than the occasional backing fabric or if there really isn't enough of anything in my stash that will do for borders or binding, I have never purchased fabric with a specific quilt or pattern in mind because I don't work that way. I tend to purchase fabric based on what I'm running low on in my stash--- usually solids or patterns that read as lights, sometimes darks. When I need to replenish those I take a trip to my LQS and root through their remnant bins.

Rob

I have a stash acquired from sales but awhile ago I transitioned to only project-specific buying. Going on nearly 9 months without buying fabric, my goal is to make it 2 years at least. The money is super tight right now which is helping me to get in the habit ;) The stash is great when one of the special little ones in my life digs thru my scraps and I need backing or coordinates or something, it's nice to just go in my fabric closet, dig for what I'm looking for, and start on my project!!

After some trial and error, I found it works best for me to buy fabric for a project. I do have plenty of extra fabric around from leftover fabric from planned projects as I do tend to buy extra, just in case. And I also have a few kits waiting that I've picked up at shows or just shopping. I try to use up left overs in smaller projects like table runners, then find I need to buy a few more special fabrics to finish. I have intentions of making more scrappy quilts, but so far haven't really done that.

Quiltingnan I agree with you! I love my "textile Collection " and I also pet it! I was in a shop waiting for my fabric to be cut. The owner said to me, " I can see you are a quilter because you are stroking the fabric!" She was absolutely right!

Well, my head, which is the part of me that pays the bills, balances the checkbook, and cleans and organizes the house, says it's better to buy as needed.

But my heart, which is the part of me that loves to dream, create, and experiment, says it's best to have a HUUUUUGE stash.

:thumbup:

I have a big stash. I enjoy looking at it and picking out fabric from it for my next project. I will never use it all before I'm gone, but my DD will inherit it and enjoy what is left. It is nice to have it because when ever I need a gift for someone, I can usually find what I want to use in my stash.

If I could quilt until I am 400 or 500 years old I might be able to use all my fabrics.
I am making quilts for kids that must be removed from their homes. I just made about my 10th for this year. I have made several quilts for others. I retired first of this year and I sew 4-5 hours a day.

I decided with whatever time I might have left I was going to make quilts and I have. I have donated quite a few and will continue as I can't keep them all. I do buy rements to go with fabrics I already have. My Daughter quilts also.

It's all relative! I have a stash, but not huge by any means. I buy for current projects, but I also buy when I find fabric that I "know" I will need for an upcoming project. I'm also guilty of buying fabric that speaks to me. I have no use for it right now, but knew I needed it. Then there is the fabric that just jumps into my cart. I am fortunate to be able to buy what/when I want. Many evenings I can be found petting and reorganizing my totes.

I buy for projects mostly. If I like a fabric line I pick a pattern I have and make a kit. I can tell you it doesn't make less room as I have tubs full of future kits I have made

I used to buy for "stash". However, I found that I have tons of stash and still don't know how I want to use it. AND, there are always new fabrics that I "want." I have really tried to limit myself in the last couple of years to buy only as I need it or if there's a specific project. It can become overwhelming.

Obviously I must thing having a stash is essential. Somehow what I have always needs a another piece that works better than what I have and then there is the stack that I'm "saving" for a special project. I am currently trying to remind myself that they do still make fabric and I need to use what I have on hand! I live 45 minutes from any resource for purchasing so at times it is nice to be able to find something in my stash. It reduces impulse buying, too.

I'm trying to shop first in my stash. You'd think it would be going down....not so.

Marcia

I like to buy what I see and like. Luckily I don't go into my local shops every day! Traveling. Quilt shows. I can't resist. As I am from garment sewing start, I have lots of fabric. My quilting stash is primarily precuts!!
As I am creating a sewing space I am trying to get all tubs gathered so I can see what I have. Might be too much to mentally handle!!
But, like you all, I love fabric!!!!

My good stash is all batiks. I'm trying to sew up my printed stash. It's tough, I've given most away. I almost always have to go purchase either binding or backing. I think it's better to purchase prints in layer cakes and jelly rolls. As for the batiks stash, I don't add to it anymore, one of these days, I will get to sew it.