I was a customers house yesterday and noticed that she had quilts and "quilty things" all over the house. We started talking about quilting and she proudly took me up to her sewing room. Her sewing room was beautiful with the exception of one thing. No fabric. I looked at her and jokeingly said- Where do you keep your stash? She said- Oh, I don't really have a stash- I just buy the fabric I need for a project. Now, this isn't someone who drags out her machine once a year- this woman works on machine piecing and hand quilts everything on an average of 3 or 4 times a week. So my question is. How many of you do not have a stash? I have to say her sewing room was unusually tidy. You can see bits of my stash everywhere as I have ran out of places to tuck it! :oops:

My stash is everywhere. i am trying to find places to tuck it away.

Unheard of! How can you sew and not have a stash? What does she do with her leftovers? Such a waste if she just pitches them. I love my stash.

i admire her.

Wow! Let's all send her some scraps!

How could you sew and not have scraps?

thats crazy! you know she has to have something left. Tell her to save it all for you. you will throw it out for her..lol

I don't have a large "stash". There's always beautful fabrics in the stores and I don't see a need to collect fabric UNLESS I really love it. I do love novelties but I limit my purchases to Route 66, Hot Air Balloons and dog themes. Even so, my stash is small...I don't do scrappy quilts tho I have plent of "scraps". I give them away once I fill a bag.
sandy

i'm thinking she's a clean freak and doesn't like clutter.

you can't quilt all the time and not have a scrap bin.

with the cost of fabric i don't throw away my scraps - the scraps cost just as much as the fabric i just put in a quilt.

i think she throws things away because she doesn't like mess.

i've only seen one really tidy sewing room and she was a clean freak and even had a hard time sewing in the room because she didn't want to make a mess.

i have my stash in a walk in closet and i couldn't work without a stash.

i work at all hours and don't want to run to a store to get something or even worse i can't find what i need.

Here at the Quilting Psychology Institute, we would diagnose her as "stash-impaired". There is therapy for that condition.

I sew EVERY DAY I have made ten "larger than lap quilts" so far this year and I have NO stash! To me it is clutter, unused wasted money! I have the ability and the financial means to buy whatever I want really, however I would really rather not have my house look like a fabric store puked. lol

Huh. My stash does not look like that! Each to her own. We all are comfortable with different things.

I am trying to reduce my stash. I have seen pictures of stashes that rival a fabric store, mine is NO where near that. In 2011 I am allowing myself to buy the 4 B's...backing, background, border, and batting. So far I have made two twin quilts, two over size throws, and I am working on another twin and a crib.
D

I guess I am not a neat freak. I have a stash and my sewing room is farily tidy but still has a few threads and scraps on the floor.

Bless her heart! I couldn't do it! :)

I am the most unorganized person in the world. I have quite a bit of stash and it is pretty organized but that is the only thing. All my scraps are here and there and everywhere. Wish I could make myself be more organized but I don't think thats possible.

To all the neat people out there. If you need a place to send your scraps - I'd be glad to take them off your hands. I'm a scrappy person on a pretty low fabric budget and want to do a ton of scrap quilts. Please don't 'toss' them.

To each his/her own...I love my quilt clutter!

One of my guild members keeps quilt leftovers into a pizza box and stores it in her huge 12ft high sewing room cabinet. Wants to keep them in case she might have to repair a quilt she made because of wear and tear, etc.
Of course she also has a sewing room about half the size of the downstairs of my house so she could "hide" her stash almost anywhere and it would be hidden.

My stash fits in two plastic shoe boxes. While I admire all the beautiful fabric displayed on the board, I don't want to accumulate it. Too much clutter freaks me out and I don't want to invest that much money in a hobby in advance. I don't mind spending on fabric for a project, but spending on "someday" projects makes me nervous. What if there is no someday? What if I have a crisis and need that money for more important things and I've spent it on fabric.

Right this minute I have $70 of fabric in my cart at Connecting Threads that would be part of what I need for 2 quilts I'd like to make. Even though it is on sale, I'm having a hard time pushing the buy button because that would make me have fabric for two quilts at a time.

What does the clutter free person do with her scraps?

I can see coming out "really close" if one is super organized, but it seems like there would be some odds and ends left over.

My favorite place is the remnant bin, and if you time it right - you get the best fabric and best deals! I try to control my stash - difficult but necessary. It is easier if I'm planning something around a theme because you cannot always find the fabric. I agree - fabric does speak to you. Like so many others I "round-up" the yardage - it sure helped with my errors and I have a smaller stash!

i don't think i could function without my stash :)

She's holding out, it's probably in the attic :lol:

I think we are birds of a feather. Depending on the size of the leftover piece it either goes into a single bin; which I typically go to for school / scouting projects; or goes into a bag for guild ladies who make scrappy quilts for the local childrens hospital.

Not me!!! I have to have it LOL

Yesterday I went to one Fabric Store and Today I am debating another :)

I say get it while I can, cause when I was out of work and wanted to work on a project, I was thrilled that I had everything I needed to do so.

robin

I have a HUGE stash----my "reward" for de-stashing was someone bringing me TWENTY FIVE boxes of fabric that were going to be thrown out--
Mostly NOT cottons--but have made totes for gifts, and several lap quilts and more in progress--and gave away a lot of poly knits to rug makers...
would go nuts without a stash....

I try and keep my stash to a minimum because there are sooooo many new fabrics on the market. I just finished three scrappy quilts and am ready to get rid of some of my scraps. But like some one said, "You paid 7-9 dollars a yard for that fabric do not throw it away" lol.

lol!

My stash makes me HAPPY! When down and can't figure out what to do, look, touch, fondle! Then something comes to mind. Threads on floor don't bother me, means I've been productive. Save everything. Tub of men's ties, ziploc bags of 1.5" HST's, 1.5" squares, tub of jeans for cutting out, bags of scraps to be cut down and sewen together (everything is for future projects). OMG I'd go into a panic attack if I threw something away that I could use. LMAO

I have found that everytime I get rid of something that that's exactly what I needed down the road to use. Even that little piece would look great in an applique.

Of course, I have a stash but I must add that my good, quilting buddy is like this lady. She only buys fabric for the project at hand and keeps them in labeled plastic containers for each project. I could never be so organized..... :mrgreen:

lol

Not my thing... glad we all get to choose!! Can't imaging not having something I could go with at any time... and that dosen't seem to be a problem right now ;) :shock: :-P :-P :thumbup:

LOL @ don't want my home looking like a fabric store puked

My home is very neat and clean..I have a large stash and added 27 yards to it last night..all on sale of course. Just because you have a large stash doesn't mean you have a trashy unkept home. You have to catch the deals if you like to save money on fabrics...for more fabrics...lol

I live 30 miles from the nears fabric shop 60miles from the best and X money is not alway hand. If I don't have a stach there would be no sewing for me and sewing for me is my lifeline.

this seems like the type of person that "gets the job done" (Bless her heart, i wish it was me).... and then goes on to the next...i think some of us delight in the fabric choice and collection of color and pattern, as much as the stitching... (ie.. ME)... Whatever floats our boats right??

My goodness, I didn't think that was possible. How on earth can someone quilt on a regular basis and have a no stash situation? Does she never buy extra fabric, just in case? Or does she never change her mind midway of making a quilt and decide another fabric/print/tone would be better? I don't understand this no stash phenomenon....

I think we might just be "long lost Sisters"....right down to the Cat in your Avatar... he looks just like out dear OOgie who died 2 years back at 21yrs. old... :)barbara

I don't have a stash either. I buy what I need for a project and I use the scraps to make strip blocks. When I get enough strip blocks to make a quilt I put one together. I've been told I just haven't caught the bug yet but I don't really think I will. I live in a very small house and have limited funds to quilt. So I only buy what I need. I shop around and buy on sale. When I get everything I need I get to work on a project. My MIL quilts like crazy but I see her porch with over a 100 totes full of fabric that she will never use up and I just can't bring myself to do that. All I see is a big waste of money. When I ask her why she bought all that fabric she says that she liked it when she bought it but her taste has changed and most of it she doesn't like any more. So I guess it's how you look at things. I have this thing about being wasteful. I really don't buy anything unless I need it and I try to reuse things as much as I can. My grandmother quilted when I grew up and never bought a piece of fabric to make a quilt in her life. She used our old clothes and blankets and made wonderful quilts.

Yep, I bet her house is alot neater than mine, lol!