Quiltingboard Forums - Are we Hoarders or is it something else?

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there are two reasons that my stash is large. one... i want to have choices available when i choose my project. two... the fabrics were all purchased on sale... i love a sale.

I'm purchasing fabric now while I'm working. Might not be able to afford it when I retire. :)

Shelves full of fabric along my sewing room walls help to insulate it!

Can't help it, the fabric just multiplies like rabbits.....hubby was just ragging that I have bins on both sides of the basement now.....well one side I have fabric the other yarn...can't have enough projects going at one....

I live in the Northeast and it's freezing here, snow, snow, and more snow. I'll admit I have a large fabric stash. It's insulation for my sewing room ! lol

I finally, this year, started using some of my Christmas fabrics. Made 48 paper pieced, Christmas hot pads, a bunch of trivets, 8 Christmas table runners, and am working on a few aprons. But it seems like my Christmas fabric bins are even MORE full than when I started.

Non-quilters would call us hoarders. We're artists and fabric is our "paint".
SharonW in Texas

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarolynMT (Post 6461688)

Well as someone who just finally found a job this past year after being out of work for 4 yrs. I can say a stash comes in handy when you are no longer flush with cash to buy new fabrics :)

Carolyn I am glad you found work - the economy in New England has been in the tank for years.

What you said also resonated with me because I think that whether quilting is a hobby or a business, you need to keep some kind of inventory so you have materials on hand.

If someone just wanted to make one quilt, then great, buy the fabric and use it and be done with it, but this is an ongoing activity and I don't think it is economical to approach it as if it is a one-off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodney (Post 6462004)

I've just started quilting. So far I've only bought new fabric for the quilt I'm working on now. I've also bought used flannel shirts for my next quilt and if I see a fabric I like in the thrift store I'll pick it up for future projects. So far the daughter has claimed most of them. I also want to build a small inventory of different threads and other sewing essentials so I don't need to buy a bunch of stuff for every project. It doesn't hurt to keep an inventory of fabrics or other supplies you know you're likely to use on hand.
Rodney

I, too have started quilting fairly recently( due to medical reasons I now have the time). I have put together some "kits" of my own, but when I take a class at the guild, they say "oh just use fabric from your stash". That's when I really wish I had a stash! The girls I usually sew with all feel the same way, you have to love and caress that fabric and save it for something just right. I just lost a good friend in her 50's with a Huge stash...her Husband still hasn't decided what to do with it. That's when it makes you think about how much you have, but you can't live your life with that looming over your head. As long as the bills are paid and your kids/partner aren't ignored...whatever makes you happy!

Collectors!!!!! Some people collect coins,some collect stamps, we collect fabric and we can do something with it.

Hoarders don't give things away. They collect things thinking they will make something, but never do. According to the shows on television it seems with the hoarders there is always old food, pizza boxes, and other types of garbage laying on top of their collection. We fabric buyers I'm sure we wouldn't do that!!! We are a giving group so we are just collectors.