petthefabric

My fabric aquisition has changed methods. In some ways more deliberate. In other ways more collecting.

Projects these past 3 years have been more charity; any free/inexpensive donations welcome. It stretches my creativity to find match of fabric to project This gets anything. I still have quality standards. Working on trash nets trash. Waste of time. BIG back of scraps shifts out to a hand full of usable material. Always have critter bed in progress.

Random acquisition also results in random pieces to start the next charity project. Net result is very small pieces of unmatched variety.

And, I've been quilting by check using wide backs. More acquisition and leftovers of odd shapes.

I'm evaluating if I want to continue this direction.
Pros: fellowship with other charity quilters. Quilt group is very into this. And I need the fellowship since becoming single.
Pro: destination for projects other than my closet
Pro: doing something for a needy person.
Pro: busy work I can put my mind on mental health

Cons: my creative quilting is languishing.
Con: My "beautiful" fabric sits on shelf unused.

At this time, my mental health and fellowship are most important.
Scatter in a very small creative project. Made a Christmas wallhanging with panel. Quick project. Panel=purchase. Additions, including back/binding, from stash. And it's already on wall to enjoy.

WMUTeach

Lena, I have my2026 list too. My fingers are crossed that I don't find any more or.....make any more UFOs. Sometimes I can almost taste the excitement to start a new quilt from what I find hiding in my sewing room closet. So far I have been able to contain it until I finish one UFO and one 2.5" square quilt this December. I am looking forward to being free of a basket of unfinished work that have been haunting me for years.

Gemm

WMU and Lena - Last year, I joined the UFO challenge group at our guild (they call it PHD = Projects Half-Done). It was great - very welcoming and I was really motivated to get a few things finished up and out of the house and I met my goals. However, I decided to take a break this year because life got a lot more chaotic and most of my UFOs are now bigger projects and while I don't mind being challenged, I do like to have at least a slim chance of success! I do enjoy lurking on the UFO thread and I loved the chats/comments around the "number of the month" mystery.

Petthefabric - I live that "how to make these fabrics work together" tension every time I want to start a new project and I really enjoy it (most of the time). You're right, though - sometimes a fabric is just not worth including in a quilt because it's of poor quality or absolutely refuses to play nicely with anything else. This year I tried to use the latter fabrics in placemats - most of the time I could get enough together to make a single placemat and that works for Meals on Wheels donations.
You also mentioned what can be a serious drawback to the "adoption" method of fabric acquisition that I struggle with - there is definitely some pressure there to keep fabrics longer in hopes some congenial playmates will eventually come along! I don't find it really limits my creativity, however; on the contrary, having to make do with what I have has often pushed me to stretch my creative energy in new directions and I've had more successes than failures in my final projects. :-) I do love it when everything comes together into a cohesive whole and knowing this is possible keeps me happy with my eclectic stash.
I do want to encourage you for being so intentional and thoughtful about your needs right now - you are in a time of transition and this change is hard. This season can also be really challenging. Good for you for identifying what will give you the support, satisfaction, and comfort you need and crave right now and also for continuing to put one foot in front of the other (whether that's the foot at the end of your leg or the one attached to your sewing machine!). Be gentle with yourself.

WMUTeach

Pet, your Post # 471 is encouraging. Thank you for sharing your heart with us. You laid out your rationale for "why" you quilt with the fabric you have at your fingertips at this moment in time beautifully. We should all be so thoughtful. From time to time.it is good to reassess why we are knee deep in fabric, attending multiple group meetings a week and spending hours in front of our machines. I also am a singleton, have been for years, but it has only been in the past few years, since COVID, that I have acknowledged to myself that it is the fellowship that I crave and not necessarily the items that I create.or that we in the group create. Mental healthiness is important. It is as vital as a small stash or a large stash or no stash at all. (Can't imagine the latter.)

I have shifted my attitude about "making" too. I am now in a different place of life and just want to leave a legacy of finished work and minimal stash. The Moratorium and UFO groups have provided me with the motivation to meet my current focus of finishing what I have started and using both the fabric and creativity I have been blessed with

Lena1952

Gemm, my guild has a one Monthly Goal club (OMG) that I belong to. We write down in numerical order a project and the goal to be completed that month. I took a very complicated wall hanging pattern and divided it into monthly sections ( month 1 - 10 stars, month 2 - 8 trees, etc) By the end of the year, I had all the components and the next year added them to my OMG list to sew them together, quilt and bind using three months of my OMG list. I had purchased the book and kit many years ago and just couldn’t seem to get started. By breaking it up over several months it finally came together. And allowed me time in between to work on small more artist endeavors. My intention when I joined the group was even if I only finish a few of those goals, I will be that much closer to getting it done. By breaking it into small sections it didn’t feel like such a task. Maybe this type of program would be helpful to others. I know I found it to work well for me.

Gemm

Lena, that "break it down" approach is exactly why I had so much success with my year in the PHD program at our guild. Most of my stated goals were actually steps to completion of a project (see photo) which gave me a couple of months, on average, to actually finish each one. Our PHD leaders were so encouraging - they allowed missed months, changes, and substitutions and were always so excited when you brought in a finished project to show them. :-) I will do it again, I'm sure, when I feel I have the time and energy to add another "need to do" to my schedule!

Snooze2978

So far this year, I've only had to buy a backing or two but I buy enough so I know I'll have large scraps left over but I normally have to buy at least 3.5 x 108" backing anyway as the UFOs that are getting quilted this year are over 100" square so to be safe I buy that extra 1/2 yd. I have made 1 king quilt and 6 oversized lap quilts out of my yardage and mostly scraps so I'm finally seeing space on my shelves.

I also have another queen size quilt on the design wall partially finished but still out of my stash and some embroidery blocks I made 20+ years ago so I'm using up embroidery stuff also. And of course with this quilt, I have lots of large scraps leftover but I still have some throw pillows to make up to go with the quilt so I'm not quite done with those scraps.

I have 2 oversized lap quilts to make in 2026 but again will use what I have and I think I might already have backings for these so I won't need to order new ones.

Gemm

Way to go, Snooze on getting fabric out of your stash, and it's nice to think you already have backings ready to go in the new year!

WMUTeach

Snooze, you have used an amazing amount of fabric! Such large quilts and of course the 108 is a smart choice. Then to use the scraps is a bonus. Three Cheers for you!

Gemm

I've stalled in the sewing room - seasonal/domestic distractions reign supreme but I just wanted to throw a little word of encouragement/recognition/celebration for all of you who are still sewing and getting fabric out of your stash in these last few weeks of the year! You're amazing! :-D