Why did I buy that fabric?
 

I finally decided to zig zag bundles of fat quarters for prewashing so they will be ready to sew into projects. Last night found two bundles I bought on line that fall under the category of either "what was I thinking", "too cheap to pass up", or "forgot to check what was in the bundle." Luckily if you cut ugly fabric small enough it does become usable...lol

I think we all do that at least oncehttps://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/biggrin.png

In my stash I have a number of fabrics that fall into that category.

I'm riding that bus with all of you!

I do a periodic purging of any fabric I don't love. It frees me up both physically and psychologically!
It truly does. I get to work with fabrics I love and at the same time donate to people in need. Win win.

I had a piece of what I thought was "ugly" fabric & didn't know what to do with it. So, I made it into a rope bowl & loved how it turned out.

That is beautiful---might try that on some of my ugly ones !

Nice! Nothing like turning lemons into lemonade.

I used "what was I thinking" fabrics in a number of ways. I do use them in log cabins or other places where I cut them into small pieces and they work great. If they are larger pieces, I sometimes use them for backing. I just used a "what was I thinking fabric when I needed more orange and pink squares. I just cut 2 1/2" square out of the orange and pink parts of the fabric. Worked great! I've also used those fabrics as base fabrics when I'm doing wearable art. I don't get rid of them because I have so many uses for them!

I do this too. I feel freer, thrift store makes a few $$, and someone gets a good deal. Can't win bigger than that. I also love the rope bowl. Might have to try that.

Julienm1 - you definitely made me lol! I certainly purchased many fabrics in my "learning to craft and quilt" days - what was I thinking? https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...s/confused.png Makes me realize how our styles and preferences change over time!
I have given some away but I have used a lot in many craft project, bag making, strips, test patterns and yes it's true "if you cut it small enough" it looks better https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/biggrin.png

The rope bowl turned out great. I use all my fabrics, don't think any is too ugly to use. I mainly donate and don't know how they are liked, they will still be warm. Which is the main reason I make them. I would use any of them if I could store them all.

Is there room in that boat for me???? One thing I found with those fat quarters is the wrong side may be more subdued and before I donate, I check the wrong side. Works especially well when I am looking for a specific color but the front design is all wrong but the back may be just the color I need.
Rope bowls are a great way to use up that "what was I thinking" fabric not just fat quarters. "Leftover" and "what am I going to do with this" holiday fabric is a perfect example that when cut in strips and wrapped around rope, the design just disappears.
Using in string quilts works well too.

Guilty! Just did it this morning. MSQC has a Mystery Free Spirit fat quarter bundle on special today. I thought “what a deal!” And in a few clicks with PayPal it is mine. Then I thought, “Did I use the last Mystery FQ bundle?” The answer would be no.

Love the rope bowl idea!

Saw a tute on-line today on making fabric baskets. Ah ha moment. Use some of those FQ to make baskets. Can use 2, 4, 6 of those what-the-h**l FQ. Now just need to find that super stiff interfacing.

I had a similar problem, when I first started quilting, I had a couple of friends that went nuts and got me a bunch of fabric. Some of it was gorgeous and I had no issue using them, but then they also got some that were questionable, not so much the design on the fabric, more like what the fabric actually was. Since they couldn't remember what the fabric was or where they even got it, I put them in the bottom of my fabric organizer and figured at some point in time, I'd use them.

Skip ahead almost six years later when I decide I'm going to get back into quilting and I'm going through my stash, I realize I had a lot of fabric that I just couldn't remember what I bought it for or when going through what they got me, what they were made of. Fiancé suggested throwing them out, which some I did do that with because a mouse got into my organizer and made a nice little nest. I wanted to get better fabric and I knew I was going to have to weed out what I had, so I grabbed all of my fabric, threw it on my dining room table and started cutting them down. Some I saved back for scraps to audition blocks I was interested in, the rest, I stash busted our nine-patch quilt with. It's comfy, it's warm, the fabric was used and it made me feel a lot better and a lot more accomplished because I made something with it all.

Railroad, a lot of us probably have questionable fabric in our stash. I worked at a call center and on down time I was able to cut my scraps into usable sizes. Obviously I got questionable looks from co-workers but the way I looked at it, I was being paid to organize my stash.
Odd fabrics look different when "cut up".

Been there...done that. I spend a couple of days the first of January organizing my sewing room and purging unnecessary and unwanted items...including ugly fabric.

Just finished washing/pressing/folding 100 ?able fat quarters hoping ideas for projects. Only thing that I could think of was fabric boxes. Maybe I need to fondle them a little more? Yeh, I think so. Off go get more coffee for inspiration motivation...lol

Oh crap! Move one piece of fabric and found 10 more FQs hiding. Coffee will have to wait.

I am with all of you on buying fabric that I have no idea why I bought it.
Osewme-very pretty cloth bowl.

Just found this video - I like her commentary and there is a free "ugly fabric" quilt pattern included

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RePQz1eN5Ko

So many of us have the "uglies" in our stash!

I subscribe to her channel. Just love her view points and common sense suggestions. Just wish I would have found her when I started quilting. Would have avoided lots of mistakes...not only the ugly fabric issue...lol

We all do that "don't remember when or why I bought this fabric or FQ's". I was just going thru my bins of fabric yesterday to pull some out for a lady that requested certain colors of fabric and I came across fabric I don't remember buying. I had 2 ladies from a little sewing group that we had (6 ladies) moved out of state and ask the rest of us to come and go thru their stash and take what we wanted. Yahoo!! Like I needed more fabric but I think that is where I got some of this fabric.

Strip quilt bases; charity quilts; small fussy cuts; offer up for exchange when we can meet again.
Or stash it away for a few years until your tastes change! I have gone through periods of hating a certain color, or despising batiks, and recovered to now enjoy using both!