kosmos

I agree with with Astramorgine that some people like to exagerate for attension, and if that is the case here she is getting it. At least 6 pages.

I have never seen that TV show when and where does it come on?

mpspeedy

I will admit that I have more fabric than I will ever use up. I am making an effort to use all of it but keep buying more. Just last year I gathered up at least 5 containers, boxes and plastic tubs full of " garment sewing" fabric and donated it to our local Vo Tech for their textile program. I have three step-children whoose children have reached an age when they no longer want Grandmom's homemade things. My only daughter has yet to produce any grandchildren. If she ever does I have an excuse to purchase more fabric at that time. I make at least a dozen or more Linus quilts each month so that gives me an outlet and an excuse to purchase more fabric. My stash is fairly organized and protected in containers. I still have a little room left for more. I am also guilty of collecting decorative threads, embroidery thread and serger thread as well as sewing thread. I do use all of them on my various projects. Of course I have a wide array of various embroidery stabilizers also. My goodies are confined to spaces that we don't need for living so I think I am still OK.

Corky

I also have boxes of ribbons, zippers, velcro, decorative thread, embellishments, probably way too many, but at least they are well organized and labeled. I do use them and it is nice to have a variety of what you need on hand.. that said, I am getting rid of lots of my cross stitch books and patterns. There are plenty of cute ones on the WWW for free should I ever get the urge to do that again. I'm keeping my flosses because I still like to do embroidery. I think it is a matter of asking yourself: Will I ever use this? If the answer is "probably not" or "maybe someday" then get rid of it. I figure it is worth it to buy it again if I need it in 10 years!!!

melissaB

I feel much better after hearing what this lady's hubby bought her. My hubby purchased at auction a 2 bedroom house and had it moved to our farm for my sewing studio! My sewing "collection" had moved around our house and was overtaking the dining room when I had three small kids. We were planning on making it our "guest house" as well for visiting grandparents however there was a big flood after a frozen pipe burst one winter and we never quite recovered from that before we moved to NC to help take care of the grands.
My daughter used to refer to it as "mommy's little house" because the kids and I spent time there while I sewed and then went "home" across the field to "daddy's big house!" I miss my space and since we still own the property some of my stash still remains there. I too am in "the use it or get rid of it "mode.
A "stash" is something you pull from for your next project or may have projects ready to go. It changes over time. Hoarding has too much emotions attached to it, (I remember buying this with Aunt Ethel in 1984) and involves keeping instead of using.
I'm with you girls ready to do an "intervention" on this poor lady. We need to help her out so she can live and breath. I'll sit her at her sewing machine, one of us can pick out fabric, one of us can cut and we'll get her to actually make a quilt! LOL
Happy stitches everyone!

annieshane

I agree with you. This lady appears to have a problem. A friend and I started a quilt group at our church to make lap quilts for charity. We were self funding out of our own stashes and then were blessed with a few pick-up loads of fabric donated by one of our member's husband after she died. Sadly, we had to throw approximately 1/4 of it in the trash because it was ruined. It broke our hearts. We could just imagine the number of quilts that would have kept others warm with that ruined fabric.

I truly understand the feeling one has when beautiful fabrics are before you, but enough is enough. I have refused to buy any more fabrics until I have reduced my stash. Seems that all I took to the church didn't make a dent. My poor husband never complained, but I am sure he was thinking I was on the way to hoarding. My only defese is at that time I was sewing and marketing American Girl doll clothes and had a very good business. I was buying lots of fabrics by the bolt. Yep, have a long way to go before I can go shopping again. If I could just figure out out to make a living with sewing so I could retire and stay home.

shequilts

I'll bet that lady spends most of her time "shopping" and not actually sewing.. I've seen this before, she can't quilt, so she aquires, and then brags about the large stash.

I have a fairly large stash but have figured out that I want to buy more NOW fabrics. I can't justify it when I have yards and yards of perfectly good, pretty fabric. My solution is to sell what I can and then reinvest in something new. If I don't sell any, I don't buy any!

annieshane

Selling part of the "stash" sounds like a good idea! Keep thinking I will sew enough to reduce the piles, just doesn't go down quickly enough.

Might try selling off some of it. Good idea!

Corky

It certainly can get out of hand quickly. I try to ask myself "how much do I love it", "do I have a project planned for it right now" and "don't I already have something similar?" I can usually resist but not always. Before I go on 'shop hops' with my quilting buddies I spend some hours in my sewing room going through my stash. It puts my abundance front and center in my mind which helps me resist. Another trick I play on myself is to choose one piece or color to look for and that helps me focus. Otherwise I am like a kid in a candy store: I want everything! I have also taken pictures of my stash (just quickie pics) so I can see what I have and don't buy the same thing again (unless I love it, of course) here are some examples of what I mean by pics of my stash. I can access these on my iphone while we are in the quilt shop easily since they are with similar types/colors.

annieshane

I am on my way to your stash! Those colors are lovely. Can truly understand your passion. Had not thought of photos on my phone. That is a great idea.

Have fun with those awesome fabrics.

melissaB

Hi, all!
I love the idea of pics on phone for shop hop time. I try to do a "theme" or limit the # of my shop hop purchases. I carry a loose leaf notebook with those clear open top pages to have copies of projects and their yardages so I can buy what I am needing to either complete or start them. My kids have grown up with me hopping and have always been allowed one fat quarter at each shop in a coordinating group or theme. People sometimes where horrified when I walked in shops with three under 10 in tow but then were surprised when they all were talking about their fabric! My oldest son is 18 and like the other two knows how to sew, knit and cross stitch! My youngest son at 12 started his first shop hop quilt this year. He liked the blocks better than me and I was doing purses with daughter (15) this summer.
My hubby has always been good to me too about my "stuff", he doesn't share my quilt passion but has been known to take me to quilt shows and even take me to on a birthday trip to VA that included a quilt shop I wanted to shop at. He goes to TN on business and has gone to two shops there for me and bought necessary fabric. (Which must of been really funny because we're talking a big guy who could be cast as a "bubba" in movies! LOL)
Stashes are for using and I am trying to really get into mine this year. I made two Priest's stoles in January and used 90% from my stash fabric. It was great.
Keep stitching, stay warm and happy!