Fabric Moratorium 2023
06-02-2023, 08:12 PM
#311
Super Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Posts: 1,015
Originally Posted by WMUTeach
OK, I am going to count this one as a May finish. I got the last of the binding finished on June 1. OOPS!
All scraps from my stash. Most of the colored squares were charm squares that had been washed and shrink out of shape. They were donated to me by a friend who had to give up quilting. I squared them up to 4.5" added some additional squares and away I went. The backing was from yardage purchased in the early 2000's. Another donation quilt to a local homeless shelter.
All scraps from my stash. Most of the colored squares were charm squares that had been washed and shrink out of shape. They were donated to me by a friend who had to give up quilting. I squared them up to 4.5" added some additional squares and away I went. The backing was from yardage purchased in the early 2000's. Another donation quilt to a local homeless shelter.
06-02-2023, 09:27 PM
#312
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 590
I just wanted to pop in and say thanks to all of you who are keeping this thread going right now. My life has been really busy and demanding in the last couple of months and so my sewing machine is gathering dust because there are just too many other priorities requiring my attention. I have played with some fabric (mostly with the explanation of "I'm just putting it away") but am otherwise simply a dreamer and an occasional forum reader and Pinterest browser. Hopefully I'll be back creating soon.
I love your stories and shares and really appreciate being inspired even while I'm on a break. You are all amazing! :-)
I love your stories and shares and really appreciate being inspired even while I'm on a break. You are all amazing! :-)
06-03-2023, 08:28 AM
#313
Super Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ballwin, MO
Posts: 4,211
WMUTeach, that's a great checkerboard quilt!
I am doing well at not buying fabric, except for various whites for backgrounds for stash projects. Next for me, once I finally get my Chilhowie (BH mystery) off the wall, and my Harriet's Journey (which is on the wall underneath), is to finish piecing the several started projects that are lying around the house (a couple of sew-along samplers from two years ago, my uncompleted Frolic, a partially cut Quatrefoil, my blocks completed Cotton Boll, my needs-pieces-trimmed Orca Bay, and the covid Laundry Basket and Quilted Twins mysteries). But none of these really qualify for mentioning here, as they were mostly not stash projects (unless you consider that they've sat for so long, they have now become stash, haha).
I might make some headway if I can resist getting involved in this year's BH mystery (so far have not succeeded in staying away).
I am doing well at not buying fabric, except for various whites for backgrounds for stash projects. Next for me, once I finally get my Chilhowie (BH mystery) off the wall, and my Harriet's Journey (which is on the wall underneath), is to finish piecing the several started projects that are lying around the house (a couple of sew-along samplers from two years ago, my uncompleted Frolic, a partially cut Quatrefoil, my blocks completed Cotton Boll, my needs-pieces-trimmed Orca Bay, and the covid Laundry Basket and Quilted Twins mysteries). But none of these really qualify for mentioning here, as they were mostly not stash projects (unless you consider that they've sat for so long, they have now become stash, haha).
I might make some headway if I can resist getting involved in this year's BH mystery (so far have not succeeded in staying away).
06-03-2023, 01:47 PM
#314
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Oro Valley, AZ
Posts: 4,120
Well work and family have taken me away from my sewing machine but my EPP project has been keeping my hands busy. Just sent my BH Unity quilt to my long-arm quilter. It took me a while to finish it, only because I couldn't decide if I wanted to make it wider. After just watching it sit on my sewing table, I finally decided it was done! - it would be big enough for my bed. Other than some FQs, I have been rather good with not buying more fabric.
06-04-2023, 08:11 AM
#316
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,571
Beautiful finishes, all of you! The creative energy just bounces out of those pictures, too. Thank you for the inspiration! Keep the pictures coming.
I've been a good girl, absolutely no purchases at all this last month. This wagon is getting pretty comfortable right now. :-) If only I was actually creating.... One step at a time...
I've been a good girl, absolutely no purchases at all this last month. This wagon is getting pretty comfortable right now. :-) If only I was actually creating.... One step at a time...
06-04-2023, 06:13 PM
#317
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 7,394
Originally Posted by joe'smom
I am doing well at not buying fabric, except for various whites for backgrounds for stash projects. Next for me, once I finally get my Chilhowie (BH mystery) off the wall, and my Harriet's Journey (which is on the wall underneath), is to finish piecing the several started projects that are lying around the house (a couple of sew-along samplers from two years ago, my uncompleted Frolic, a partially cut Quatrefoil, my blocks completed Cotton Boll, my needs-pieces-trimmed Orca Bay, and the covid Laundry Basket and Quilted Twins mysteries). But none of these really qualify for mentioning here, as they were mostly not stash projects (unless you consider that they've sat for so long, they have now become stash, haha).
I might make some headway if I can resist getting involved in this year's BH mystery (so far have not succeeded in staying away).
06-10-2023, 08:01 PM
#319
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 590
Hi again, all - some great finishes and finishing stories shared!
I fell across this article today while looking for stash-busting ideas: Why Quilters Should Ditch Stash Culture.
I've read it and thought a bit about it and have to admit that there are some uncomfortable truths (in my often hypersensitive world, anyway) that she examines in her blog post. That being said, it makes me so grateful for this particular Fabric Moratorium thread on the QB forum because I think that we have formed a community where we already recognize the downside(s) to having a "larger than I really need" stash and the joy that can come from clearing some of that burden out of our lives, no matter how we do it. The encouragement and motivation that simmers up and bubbles over here is amazing and I am so inspired by the projects and strategies (and wagon evacuation confessions) that people share. :-)
I acknowledge that I am unlikely to ever be one of the people who buy fabric for a specific project and then gift/donate the leftovers and start with a clean slate on the next project. I do like having a stash. My experience of coming back to quilting during a pandemic where getting access to fabric was sometimes challenging and being able to rely on a few totes of fabric saved from 15-20 years ago has convinced me that I flourish when I have some raw materials to hand.
However, I also recognize that my stash is currently a bit of a problem because the patterns I have most recently been drawn to are not necessarily suited to the random collection I own and so I am tempted to go shopping. So far I've had a good month of saying "I really don't think I need to get anything new right now" and I'm trying to keep that up by looking forward to finding my next great quilt in the fabric I already have and saving a shopping trip for when I actually do need something that I will not have to feel guilty about. :-)
I fell across this article today while looking for stash-busting ideas: Why Quilters Should Ditch Stash Culture.
I've read it and thought a bit about it and have to admit that there are some uncomfortable truths (in my often hypersensitive world, anyway) that she examines in her blog post. That being said, it makes me so grateful for this particular Fabric Moratorium thread on the QB forum because I think that we have formed a community where we already recognize the downside(s) to having a "larger than I really need" stash and the joy that can come from clearing some of that burden out of our lives, no matter how we do it. The encouragement and motivation that simmers up and bubbles over here is amazing and I am so inspired by the projects and strategies (and wagon evacuation confessions) that people share. :-)
I acknowledge that I am unlikely to ever be one of the people who buy fabric for a specific project and then gift/donate the leftovers and start with a clean slate on the next project. I do like having a stash. My experience of coming back to quilting during a pandemic where getting access to fabric was sometimes challenging and being able to rely on a few totes of fabric saved from 15-20 years ago has convinced me that I flourish when I have some raw materials to hand.
However, I also recognize that my stash is currently a bit of a problem because the patterns I have most recently been drawn to are not necessarily suited to the random collection I own and so I am tempted to go shopping. So far I've had a good month of saying "I really don't think I need to get anything new right now" and I'm trying to keep that up by looking forward to finding my next great quilt in the fabric I already have and saving a shopping trip for when I actually do need something that I will not have to feel guilty about. :-)
