Fabric Moratorium 2022
12-28-2022, 05:43 PM
#362
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2022
Location: New England
Posts: 379
With prices on the rise and probably fewer sales if prices keep going this way, I decided to get all the fabric I needed to do the quilts that are on my project list, before the end of this year. I've ordered what I need and once it all arrives, I'll have enough projects planned and prepared to last me through the coming year, if not longer! I'm rather pleased, since I hit a lot of after Christmas sales to get exactly what I was looking for.
12-28-2022, 07:14 PM
#363
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 402
Great storage solution, rryder, and what fun to rebuild a stash just in time for a new year of quilting, petthefabric and quiltsfor.
I'm still struggling with getting anything done in the sewing room, but have had brief peeks into my stash now and then to remind myself of what is there. I found a random metre of strongly directional fabric that could be treated sort of like a panel (it's a bunch of trees and deer here and there) and have been looking at various "window" quilts to see if I feel like turning it into something useful like that. I think I had considered it as binding because the colours sort of work with a bunch of my stash, but I'm not feeling that way any more.
Sometimes I find my indecision frustrating, but underneath there is a small celebration going on that there are just so many options for using fabric when you're a quilter! :-D
I'm still struggling with getting anything done in the sewing room, but have had brief peeks into my stash now and then to remind myself of what is there. I found a random metre of strongly directional fabric that could be treated sort of like a panel (it's a bunch of trees and deer here and there) and have been looking at various "window" quilts to see if I feel like turning it into something useful like that. I think I had considered it as binding because the colours sort of work with a bunch of my stash, but I'm not feeling that way any more.
Sometimes I find my indecision frustrating, but underneath there is a small celebration going on that there are just so many options for using fabric when you're a quilter! :-D
12-30-2022, 07:19 PM
#364
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 402
So an "off the wagon" story to finish up the year... and a question arising from it.
I had to go to a local strip mall on an errand which proved disappointingly unsuccessful. Frustrated and feeling the need for some retail therapy, I looked left down the mall to the pet store... nope! Our dog's stocking was the largest one at Christmas, so she was definitely not needing anything new. I then looked right and saw the thrift store. Fatal, but fated? I went in to their little crafty corner and there was a bag of 10" squares calling my name. Sometimes these sealed bags can hide disappointments (like a wad of weird bargain-basement polyester folded inside) but this one was the real deal and there are some lovely pieces in there to flesh out my "small bits for scrappy-controlled quilting" collection. I haven't counted exactly how many squares were in there, but there are 31 different fabrics with some being unique and some with up to 6 or 7 squares. As an estimate, I'm thinking there are somewhere between 80 and 100 squares, so I'm feeling pretty good about having got change back from a $10 bill. :-)
I got home and was quite excited to share my thrifted find until the following question was posed about 30 seconds into my enthusiastic narration of my find and its virtues:
"But what are you going to do with it?"
Sigh.
I will admit that I have not created anything functional or useful since the middle of November and was already in a bit of a slump at that point, but I think that since I picked up quilting again at the beginning of Covid I have made about 14 quilts ranging from baby to king sized and a few smaller gifts like potholders and wall hangings along with a few flimsies that will hopefully see completion in 2023. Almost all of these were made with at least partial stash or thrifted/repurposed content. And yet this question was asked.
I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who is not surrounded by stash supporters and who has to deal with some of these disappointing responses now and then. So what are some of the "shake my head" moments you've had connected with your stash? Other than, of course, the question, "How did this all get here?" :-D
Also, while I think about it, I know Iceblossom is still pretty wrapped up in non-quilting life events and challenges, and so unless someone else wants to step up and take on the Fabric Moratorium thread for 2023, I will do my best to get it going and keep it active. Just send me a PM if you would like to do it. :-)
Happy New Year, everyone!
I had to go to a local strip mall on an errand which proved disappointingly unsuccessful. Frustrated and feeling the need for some retail therapy, I looked left down the mall to the pet store... nope! Our dog's stocking was the largest one at Christmas, so she was definitely not needing anything new. I then looked right and saw the thrift store. Fatal, but fated? I went in to their little crafty corner and there was a bag of 10" squares calling my name. Sometimes these sealed bags can hide disappointments (like a wad of weird bargain-basement polyester folded inside) but this one was the real deal and there are some lovely pieces in there to flesh out my "small bits for scrappy-controlled quilting" collection. I haven't counted exactly how many squares were in there, but there are 31 different fabrics with some being unique and some with up to 6 or 7 squares. As an estimate, I'm thinking there are somewhere between 80 and 100 squares, so I'm feeling pretty good about having got change back from a $10 bill. :-)
I got home and was quite excited to share my thrifted find until the following question was posed about 30 seconds into my enthusiastic narration of my find and its virtues:
"But what are you going to do with it?"
Sigh.
I will admit that I have not created anything functional or useful since the middle of November and was already in a bit of a slump at that point, but I think that since I picked up quilting again at the beginning of Covid I have made about 14 quilts ranging from baby to king sized and a few smaller gifts like potholders and wall hangings along with a few flimsies that will hopefully see completion in 2023. Almost all of these were made with at least partial stash or thrifted/repurposed content. And yet this question was asked.
I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who is not surrounded by stash supporters and who has to deal with some of these disappointing responses now and then. So what are some of the "shake my head" moments you've had connected with your stash? Other than, of course, the question, "How did this all get here?" :-D
Also, while I think about it, I know Iceblossom is still pretty wrapped up in non-quilting life events and challenges, and so unless someone else wants to step up and take on the Fabric Moratorium thread for 2023, I will do my best to get it going and keep it active. Just send me a PM if you would like to do it. :-)
Happy New Year, everyone!
Last edited by Gemm; 12-30-2022 at 07:33 PM.
12-30-2022, 07:43 PM
#365
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: West Central Texas
Posts: 2,586
I just read the last three pages in this thread and enjoyed your exploits very much. It's been about three years since I was active on this thread. However, I just was gifted with 4 large totes of fabric. Most of which is quilting cotton. I'm already awash in fabric, tucked into every nook and cranny, so next year will join this thread and the UFO one. I've done very little quilting this year, but am determined to make at least 25 simple quilts next year for charity, hopefully more, but don't want to set too high a goal. All from stash, even the backs. And I found 18 UFOs. <sigh> So, expect to see more of me in the coming year.
12-31-2022, 04:48 AM
#366
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 6,314
Gemm, I will be here for years and years of moratorium participation. My stash has been diminishing but I keep getting "donations" from quilters who can no longer quilt or who have passed away. The new choices are forcing creativity on my part but really my friends need to STOP GIVING FABRIC.(I also count it as a blessing. I have glorious fabric that I did not pay for.) I actually turned some away the other day, I rewarded myself with a big happy sigh and a pat on the back.
For that past six months I have been keeping a fabric IN, fabric Out chart. No big details and rounded/estimated numbers all the way. I find it encouraging to see over time how much is disappearing.. Now that I have done this for a few months is is easy, peasy. I measure my finished quilts, and divide that number by 1440 (square inches in a yard of fabric) I then multiply it by two because I have a top and back and that number goes in my little quilting journal. So far this year, I am to the positive. Hoping to do keep my fabric OUT higher than my fabric IN for a second year.
For that past six months I have been keeping a fabric IN, fabric Out chart. No big details and rounded/estimated numbers all the way. I find it encouraging to see over time how much is disappearing.. Now that I have done this for a few months is is easy, peasy. I measure my finished quilts, and divide that number by 1440 (square inches in a yard of fabric) I then multiply it by two because I have a top and back and that number goes in my little quilting journal. So far this year, I am to the positive. Hoping to do keep my fabric OUT higher than my fabric IN for a second year.
