Being able to let go of stuff I will never, ever use
 

It is still hard for me to let some things go -

But there are a couple of posters on here that do seem to be able to just discard "it" - if "it" is no longer useful or works for them.

I am working on developing more of that attitude.

I do realize that some quilters do not have the resources to ditch a project that is not going well - but for those that can -
why not?

Keeping "something" that isn't working isn't that much different from keeping something long enough in the refrigerator to actually get icky enough to feel okay about throwing it out.

For a long time, I justified my fabric buying and associated purchases by saying I didn't travel, go out, drink, smoke, or gamble. But if I had done those things - I would have memories - and not "stuff" to move around!

I am working on it!

I have gotten more selective about what I will bring home. And I will NEVER knowingly put a "bad behaving" fabric in a quilt or other garment. Or donate a bleeder. Much as discarding fabric pains me, that will go into my BILs rag bag - he's a mechanic - uses it until it gets icky, and then burns it. (He has a burn pit - about 3 feet wide, 3 feet deep, and 20 feet long)

To me, this is a perfect solution for fabric that is not useful for sewing - I've cut some of those kinds of fabrics into strips to use as garden ties but they can be really hard to find a use for. Giving your unusables to your BIL is a great way of giving them some value and purpose. Way to go, Bearisgray!

I have a hard time letting go of some things. I've gotten good at finding uses for them and that makes me feel better about that. Last weekend I used up 4 pieces yardage to make pajama pants. I needed some new pajama pants so it was a win-win for me

I don't have that much quilting stuff (no stash to speak of, some scraps and leftover yardage) but I still keep things that have no use to me now but evoke memories. For example, the baby things my mother knitted for my children over 50 years ago. No one will want them. I get comfort from that small box of treasures. When I die they will be donated but I think they will end up in a scrap bag to be recycled. Things like that. I am good about not having a cluttered house or closets of modern things, but, those other types of items it isn't enough to take a picture and keep the memory. I want the thing too right now.

Bear, I might seem like one of those Wonderkin that can let stuff go, but it's because I've been living that way since 2001, it's a looonnnggg process. This last week I morphed some things I once said why get rid of them. But I also don't have any kids and my nieces and nephews are well into their 40-50's, they have their own junk.
So I took down all my souviner spoons and racks, and the china teacups that were my grandmothers. 5 big racks of spoons gone and boy did that open up the stairwell.
I kept the rack my dad made me, 40 very special spoons and 8 teacups, they lookk so shiny and pretty.

the racks afre up for sale on craigslist, I guess people like them for hanging jewelry.
the spoons and cups??
this is where I'm going with one group, Chimes.

I set my sand collection free last vacation. I loved that collection and it really was pretty, two keeper guides. But I finally thought of a way to let it go, it worked for me and I have wonderful and funny memories of doing so.

Next up? My father's big bowl of polished pocket rocks he picked up. Also something I love that means a lot to me, but stuff has to go, and they won't mean anything to anyone else. Next cemetery visit (we go twice a year) I'm going to put them around the base of his stone. Makes me smile just thinking about it. Letting go doesn't always mean sell or donate.

Every so often, I go thru areas of my sewing room and wonder why I have what I have there. Then I think about whether I'll ever use it and if I can't think of a reason, it goes into a container for our thrift shop if it's items they take. So far I've gone thru most of my fabrics and if the fabric doesn't sing to me, it got tossed into the container. I came out with 8 large brown paper bags full of fabrics that didnt sing to me, some were quilting cottons, some were dress fabrics. I do this every couple months or so as I get older. I also go thru the house and do the same, less dust catcher as I hate dusting anyway.

I have been giving away a LOT of fabric. Just took a large tote to a retreat and none of it came home with me - woo hoo! My tastes have changed dramatically; so the repros and muted colors that I once loved just sit in my way. Perhaps not literally - my husband put all fabric in bins and moved it to the basement, a whole other topic. But they weigh on me in that when I try to find something, I have to dig though, or in that I wonder what will happen when I am gone.

Our house is FULL of "stuff". When my inl-aws passed, a lot of their things came to our house and were put in the basement. Nothing that we need, or will be used - just stuff that he cannot get rid of. It's kind of a family thing - they kept everything. Every card ever received, for example. Every gift ever given. If it wasn't used bc not the right style or size, it didn't matter; gifts were not ever moved along, they were kept.

With significant health challenges and joint issues (Ehlers Danlos), it is concerning to me. I literally could not get this stuff out of the basement if something should happen to him before me. I have told him who to contact for my sewing things - a handful of friends who are in the same guilds I am in, who know which charity projects the guilds work on so would take things, or if people want to just take something to use it themselves. I guess if I am left to deal with it, I will be paying "3 Men and a Truck" or similar company to come and take it away.

I don't really look at what was spent on these things that I give away as a loss. Almost always, I was shopping with friends, so enjoyed the day with them. Or, on a trip. Some people collect shoes. I collected fabric. Even if it wasn't used, I enjoyed the day that it came home with me. If I went to a movie, or a play, I would spend money and not have anything other than memories, right? We are not in debt and have what we need.

Like many people, I have a lot of guilt about things I cannot control - but my fabric isn't one of them, lol.

I'm like Snooze2978 and have a donation box permanently open and use it to drop things into as I decide they no longer need to be in the house. I live nearly 3 hours from a city and sometimes it seems I take as much in with me on a shopping trip as I bring home. I've learned which thrift shops specialize in which items and sort my donations accordingly to suit them.
That said, I moved into this house with a pickup truck and small trailer of stuff. We have outbuildings and every one is full of stuff. Almost all my husband's but nevertheless it needs to be dealt with at some point. When we are hauling away the garbage he comments that every item we take away is something we hauled in as this property was undeveloped when he bought it. We have a neighbour whose health forced him to move back to Germany so his children could help with his care. He left with a suitcase and a trunk, abandoning everything else to be sold as-is with the house. The house just sits on the market and I think because it's such an overwhelming project to think of going through all the stuff. I don't want to burden my children with my junk.
I'm appreciating the thoughts of others on this whole topic and think it will help me become more creative and pro-active in ensuring I don't leave a legacy of overwhelming detritus.

By the way - how do people create that @name thing?

I went through my kit bins this morning. I have lots of quilt kits all bought on sale or clearance from decades ago. A queen size quilt kit for $40! Never see that again. I have complete BOM kits that were $8 a month from shops no longer in business now. I don't mind letting go knowing I'm not letting go of a small fortune to feel guilty about. I know I will never make the quilt or use the fabric. Most all are civil war type fabric or 30's. I am donating all to my guild's donation group. They can sew them or sell them. There were 21 quilt kits. The space the bins were in is now empty. Looks less cluttered and cleaner.

I'm so sick of "stuff" I could scream! The older I get the less I want around. And I don't want to saddle my 3 boys with all that crap.
I know what they want and the rest of it I'm slowly working on. I use to collect and now I'm the total opposite.
When I walk in a room and there's a lot going on it actually makes me nervous! I'm into minimalism for sure.