ibex94

I am a follower of that quilter. It is definitely easier to learn how to quit buying in this board than by yourself reading blogs.

f anyone feels shame or the need to hide their purchases from other family, that is not a good thing. Shame is an evil feeling.

But to me, it all boils down to whether or not we feel we have an excessive fabric accumulation and what we want to do about it. My husband thinks I have too much fabric. I don't. At the same time, I want to put more energy into creating, not just accumulating. Before, I figured while I have an income, now is the time to load up on fabrics that I love. When my income is only retirement funds, then I can be more creative. This board woke me up to a new challenge -- getting more creative now instead of later. Thank you all!

I'm on the verge of retirement. I want to stop buying just so I can retire. I want no more debt. Not buying fabric lets me pay down my credit cards. I have learned through the years of fabric loving that there will always be sales, there will always be something new on the horizon that makes my heart sing, and somehow, I will survive if I don't buy it then and there. I'm feeling pretty positive all around and that is because of the great community we have in here. Reading a blog can inspire but sharing ideas with one another makes changes a lot easier to happen.

BTW, I've moved a rocking chair into the wagon. I'm pretty comfy. You are all welcome a turn in it!

joe'smom

I have to disclose at the outset that this person irritates the heck out of me (and I mean absolutely no disparagement to those who like her). I find her very condescending (unless she really believes she's writing to 5-year olds). My second disclosure is that I've sensed that my stash is much smaller than what many people have; I've only been quilting for about 10 years and am unable to bend much, or to lift, so no stash hidden away in the basement, no stash in bins, etc. Everything I have I can see and reach easily, so it isn't overwhelming (apart from scraps, which I haven't dealt with yet, but if it turns out I'm not equal to it, I know who will take them).

My initial reaction is that the author has misidentified the problem she's addressing. What she seems to me to be talking about is addiction, or at least a psychological dependency. It sounds like she had a problem and has witnessed it in others, and she's mistakenly pinpointed the fabric, or the 'culture,' as the danger, rather than personal behavior and choices. Of course, I agree that anyone feeling overwhelmed by their stash needs to reexamine their habits, and anyone feeling shame probably has an issue, and anyone feeling, 'if I don't buy it now, I'll never be able to buy pretty fabric again' has a distorted view. But I also think there are lots of quilters who are collecting stash within their means and space and doing it responsibly and joyfully. A stash is necessary to a certain kind of quilting, but perhaps not to this new model of quilting that the author envisions.

I had also observed to myself that the day of the small local quilt shop is over; I think that's mostly because of the internet. Being a person with energy issues, I've never been able to participate in quilting activities outside of the house, so the kind of shop the author describes wouldn't interest me. The small local quilt shop model was perfect for me: go in with a specific need, enjoy the company of friendly, happy quilters, get some help if needed, leave with the perfect backing. But in our current world, I think that smaller, slower-paced model was doomed. I'm so thankful I became acquainted with quilting before my local shop closed! I might not have continued with it minus their friendly encouragement.

So in summary, I agree that addiction is bad, but discipline (which this thread has helped me develop) is priceless, and quilting, fabric and manageable stashes are great. But I can see where the old-fashioned concept of quilting might seem outdated to millenials. After all, it was a different world that many of us grew up in. It may be that traditional quilting fades out due to environmental concerns; in that case, thank heavens for our stashes!

(I don't know why part of my post seems to be in lighter print.)

WMUTeach

Interesting article with a strong perspective. Very little of it pertains to me because I have walked the road to de-stash for quit a while. I determined in the past 6 or 7 years to not leave a stash for my children to care for when I am gone. That is my first goal, period. I was blessed with my sister-in-law's stash when she passed away. That was more than 20 years ago and I am still finding pieces large and small that were hers. I learned a lesson from a master quilter who had more fabric than she could use. I trust that using so very much of her stash has honored her and her drive to create. I seldom accept large donations from others and I walk past the guild fabric donation table.

With my push to use what I have first and only buy what is needed, over time I have developed more personal discipline to not "shop". I go into a LQS and buy what is needed. Often a backing or small cuts of additional colors to compliment what I already have for a specific quilt. I don't over buy unless it is something that I KNOW I will use. That is something that I do not recall being part of the article. Know your tastes, your personal drive to experiment and know what thrills your eyes but what you would not use.

I am now at the place that most of my stash fits into the space I have designated for it. Trust me I have plenty but I am comfortable with the amount of stash I have, as the author of the article stated. Some of you may recall that twice in the past two or three years, I have given myself the "go ahead" to purchase all the fabric for two different quilts. Both were for myself. It was a beautiful treat the I felt I had earned by using and donating quilts that were all from what was on hand. Oh it was such fun to start from scratch. Even with the plan to buy all new fabric for my quilts, I found that I still rummaged through my stash for some pieces before shopping. Why buy what is already on hand?

I also love this group, we fall off the wagon, we jump off the wagon, we crawl back on the wagon with cool stuff to finish projects or to make new ones and we watch the scenery as the wagon drives down the road from our comfy seat or rocking chair. I feel safe, secure and empowered by this group to catapult myself off to shop when I need to and or want to, but I am stimulated to search my stash first, using what is on hand, or shift my design to use more of what is only a closet away and to enjoy quilting. My stash is diminishing month by month. (I track what comes in and what goes out because I like to see the solid number evidence. Silly me I guess.) I am still working toward my goal of very little stash for my family have to distribute when I am gone except for finished quilts.

Thank you, Gemm, for the article and for the rest of you for your comments. We are indeed individuals with perspectives but we are all here together using our creative skills to make use of the blessings of fabric we have at hand. I am enjoying the wagon ride with all of you. A stimulating conversation.

Buckeye quilter

I've been lurking on this thread all year, trying to convince myself that I'm going to issue a fabric moratorium to me.....it hasn't happened, but I have considerably slowed down my shopping speed. What i got out of that article was 1) Excess 2) Shame 3) Being overwhelmed or paralyzed by excess fabric 4) Buyer's remorse 5) Falling out of love with fabric before we have a chance to use it. If your stash causes these things; your stash is too big. If it's 1 yard or 100 yards; it's too big because it's preventing you from enjoying quilting. I kinda went overboard with my purchases over the last 2 or 3 years, and I can feel it a bit. My sewing room is full, and I have slowed down my purchasing, but not stopped completely. I still feel happy and inspired every time I walk in my sewing room so I believe my stash is at a manageable level and her article does not apply to me.

My mother had an excessive, paralyzing stash. I finally agreed to help her "organize" her sewing room, but she did not want to get rid of anything! After an hour, all we accomplished was rearranging things and then I left. She kept asking 1 of us to help her "organize" it. I (being the tough love daughter) told her it didn't need organizing, she needed to get rid of 1/2 of it and if she wasn't getting rid of 1/2 of it, I wasn't walking in her sewing room. She had so much stuff packed in it, you could barely walk in it and I ended up being the one who had to clean out the sewing room when she went to assisted living (along with several other rooms because some of my siblings cleaned out NO rooms)

Bottom line: If your stash makes you happy and inspired, great! If your stash makes you feel shame, remorse, overwhelmed, paralyzed, or in debt- get rid of it! I think this thread encourages us to re-examine our stashes, and inspires us to be more creative with what we have and more mindful of what we need. And that's an attitude we can bring to other aspects of our lives. Happy quilting, lovely ladies (and gents!)

WMUTeach

Well said Buckeye with a good example of what we likely want to avoid. A wise summation.

Gemm

What a great conversation! Below, I have quoted some of the passages from your responses that have most resonated with me - thank you for sharing your thoughts with such candour, wisdom, and insight! We are all in different spaces/stages in our stash reduction journeys and I so appreciate hearing your experiences and perspectives. While, like Joe'smom, my first response to the article was a knee-jerk to the condescending tone I also heard, I found when I had taken the time to let it percolate in my brain I was able to process some of her comments and observations more objectively and I actually had a concrete response when I grabbed one of the piles of fabric I've been "auditioning" (and waffling over for weeks) to clear out of my stash and took it to the sewing table and started to cut. For me, this is huge. I can get really hung up on the idea that I have to love the quilt I'm making and that I need to be making the best use of the fabric I have and so I spend way too long trying to figure out how to do it and how to avoid regretting using a fabric that I might want to use later in a different project. In addition, I often imagine up something I just don't have the skills or materials to accomplish. I dream big! :-) The quilt I am making using the pattern I have committed to (now that I've cut about half the fabric into squares) might not work as well as I'd like, but I still think it will be a pretty quilt and this first step back into the world of actually making instead of just dreaming is an important one.

Thanks again, all!

WMUTeach

Here is my first quilt for June all from stash and ready for Project Linus. Finished at 48.5 X 61. Oh, I need to give it a wash before donating because I forgot to wash the red fabric before using. Fingers crossed and "color catchers" for sure. The red was given to me and I have no idea of its manufacturer. Just can't take a chance.

newbee3

very nice quilt love it

joe'smom

WMUTeach, that looks great! I love that second photo.

WMUTeach

Soooo, glad I washed the quilt and used a color catcher. It was a bleeder! The catcher was brilliant pink but the white is still snowy white. Yea! Now I can fold it up and add to the stack for Project Linus with more confidence. I will wash the rest of the fabric first. About two yards left. Oh and I also used it in another quilt. Drat, I will need to purchase more color catchers. Tee-Hee-Hee!