Thanks for the well wishes everyone.

Love that quilt Battleaxe, now that I can finally see it!

worked on using up tiny scraps and skinny strings to make scarve to sell at earth day. Got 5 done this past weekend. All from stash and will also count as UFOs since I bought the stabilzer 2 years ago. Wil post pics in the ufo thread later today.

WOW! So many people did so much using just stash fabric! Great going!! I joined the "no new fabric" in late Feb. and now half way thru April, I bought only the one sheet I confessed to last month... It was an accident. I was shopping for a sheet for my bed at the Local Thrift Shop, and a volunteer mislabeled it. I was looking for a full sheet and this one was labeled full but was a queen size. I sincerely asked for y'alls forgiveness at the time and promised I would be extra careful in the future. That sheet is still in my stash. Since then, I made 6 baby quilts and finished 4 UFO's all out of my stash! It didn't make a dent in it. Alas... woe is me! :)

All's forgiven, SSusan! Honest mistake and a Qsize sheet will make good backings on several baby quilts!

I finally met up with our church quilting leader and was given a bunch of scraps and some yardage. Fortunately, some of it will go to a charity for diaper bags so it won't hang around my house for long.

I glanced through the fabric quickly but there are some wonderful pieced blocks sewn in a couple of strips with extra fabric to match the blocks and a lovely set of coordinating fabrics with a wreath wallhanging pattern tucked in with them. There's also a bag of lace which will probably go to the baby charity to be used in fundraiser projects.

None of it will go to my sewing room until it is sorted first in my office area. :)

Have fun Connie.
Love your scarf Rob!
Congrats on all the using of stash. I haven't used much but I haven't added any either (well lately:)).
It sounds like lots of people are busy playing with fabric. Teen and PaperPrincess have fun. Wish I was there with you:D

3 more days before I go on vacation. I already know that I will take a Hawaiian quilting class and there are two wonderful stores on Maui. Heaven help me be strong and not fill a second suitcase.....

Have a great time, Martina.

Thanks oksewglad. I will give it my best :)

Got a $50 gift certificate to the Maui Quilt Shop from a friend at work, so let the splurging commence.......

Have fun Martina! You get lots of passes, remember the travel exemption--use it!!!

Rob

Have a wonderful time. Hope the weather won't interfere, looks like they are getting a bit of rain...
I'm leaving for my quilt retreat tomorrow. Taking just a bit of cash and will try and be strong.

Have fun Martina! Sounds wonderful!

Have fun on your trip Martina and happy spending.

Safe travels, Martina!! Enjoy the islands and the quilt shops...

Paperprincess.....have fun at the retreat. I keep saying I'm going to do one of the those one day. Everyone always has such a great time.

Drove through Utah today.....saw 2 LQS by the highway but couldn't stop. Hopefully, I can on our return trip. LQS's in Idaho better have filled their shelves cuz I'm on my way, baby!!

I feel like it's been forever since I've been on this thread. Everyone is doing so good at using stash instead of purchasing. Way to go! Up until Tuesday I hadn't purchased any fabric this year and have made 7 tops. All from stash. But I've run out of olive green blender fabric which I use a lot. It just seems to go with everything. So... JoAnn's had a 60% coupon off their Keepsake Calico fabric. I've looked for olive blenders before when KC was on sale but they didn't have any. This time they did. I only purchased 3 yards and it will be used very quickly, so I don't really consider it adding to my stash.
Now I'd like to go another 3-1/2 months without making a fabric purchase. I am doing so much better these past two years since joining this thread. I appreciate the accountability but also the non-judgement I receive here when I do fall off the wagon (which is getting less often).

Congrates Belfrybat! Great job!!!! Keep up restraining from buying more.

Commerical alert: For those of you who like to do R/W/B projects or QOV quilts; there is a new swap on this board. You still have time to sing up for it. I think it's a great way to have 4-20 different blocks without having to make them all yourself. Look in the swap section on this board.

Teen great job drive by-ing those LQS. But remember, trips are exempted from your totals here. So enjoy your trip.

It's April 20th and I have successfully NOT purchased any fabric, thread, or sewing notions since January 1........none..nada...zilch. I can't claim all the success....I've been away from home since Christmas and really busy doing other things......so didn't go shopping at all. Now that I'm home......I am committed to using what I have and seeing how far that goes. So far, I've been able to use left-over batting scraps to piece for 5 Project Linus quilts (I had previously sewn the tops). I'm on a roll.......enjoying this tremendously!

Good job skipping those LQS- Teen
Belfrybat- Congratulations on only buying what you needed!
NoraB-Fantastic!!! No sewing notions, thread, fabric or batting-- that's got to be a record!



Rob

Back from my quilt retreat. Had a great time, got a lot done, but I did shop a bit. Is there a retreat exemption?

Everyone here has been doing so well on not adding to their stashes. Y'all are an inspiration for me to keep out of the LQS. I've been very good since I found y'all. Thanks for keeping me straight. :)

PP - yes, there is a quilt retreat exemption as we quilters are expected to support the local economy where ever we travel. Alas! No exemptions for me this year as I won't be going anywhere. :(

Absolutely there is definitely a retreat exemption, and the travel exemption would apply, too, so you are good to go!

Rob

Belfry, this brings up something that perhaps we should consider as a group. Would it be appropriate for someone who hasn't used all their exemptions or doesn't plan to use them to perhaps donate them to someone else? For example, if Paperprincess only used her retreat exemption but not her travel exemption, perhaps she could donate the travel exemption to you should you find yourself in a predicament where you need an exemption while not traveling.

Shall I make the motion? And if so, is there a second???

Sincerely,
Rob

In 2 days is my birthday, I'm going to a retreat, and it's more than 50 miles from home. Yippy! I have 3 exemptions all together. I'm really over buying fabric that will add to my stash. The fabric I get now is designated to a project completion. Also, my medication just took a jump in cost of ~$400/mo. Yesterday at the pharmasy I took a stomach punch that had me reeling.

As to giving my exemption to someone else:
1. Getting fabric to finish a specific project is already an exemption.
2. I think this thread speaks to getting fabric just because, it's amazing/beautiful/so cute/I can't live without it/I'm hurt/someone dumped on me. etc. For these there should be no extra exemptions.

Suck it up. We all fall off the wagon. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, admit it/own it, and then get on with life. SURPRISE... you're not perfect. And there's grace and mercy when you admit your errors. And later, you may even laugh at yourself.

Petthefabric, so sorry about the jump in your medication. I think our function here is to try to have our fabric purchases be mindful. If a quilt top is done, but nothing in stash is right for the backing, go ahead and buy what you need. If you have every fabric for a planned quilt but need sashing, and nothing in stash will work, then get what you need. But we all collected, inherited or were gifted these fabric collections. And that fabric wants a chance to get out and play, too.

Certainly, we all fall off the wagon. We aren’t perfect. But we can try to stop and think and realize that there will be another 20-30 new fabric lines in three months. There will be other new fabrics, and we may even like them better.

If we buy what we need, not what we want, we will all do OK.

Just playing, didn’t mean to offend.

Rob

Gosh, we are a pathetic bunch! We sound like we are in need of some strong OAAS meetings! (Over Abundance of Adorable Stash) :) :):)

You are silly, Susan. OAAS!

Well said!

Another laugh here, too. If we can't laugh at ourselves why bother?

Thanks for the much needed chuckles. This group is the greatest.
PaperPrincess glad you had fun.
Ouch petthefabric sorry about the jump in meds.

Well.....I still haven't purchased any fabric...it's getting tougher as the months go by. Missouri Star had free shipping yesterday, so I purchased Mary Ellen's Best Press and 2 cute little souvenier (?) bags to hold stuff in my purse. So, technically.....I'm still on the wagon. But......I can hear the fabric calling to me from the street! So, I'm just avoiding the quilt stores, JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby! Have a good week everyone!

I was on a retreat this past weekend, and took 4 projects with me to finish. But when I started to work on the first one, I realized that I had cut the fabric wrong, and didn't take any extra with me. And that was true of 2 projects (2 versions of one quilt). I thought all was lost - but a fellow quilter hadn't left town yet and was, conveniently, standing in the quilting store where my fabric resides. So I asked her to bring me 1/2 yard of the black & white fabrics I needed, and she graciously obliged. So, a bit of fabric purchased, but used almost immediately, and my retreat plans were saved. Two tops done. The project was a mystery quilt from the PEI (Prince Edward Island) Modern Quilt Guild. I did one with a light background, then decided I wanted to see it with a dark background too, so I did the mystery twice. Slightly different layouts for each - the mystery actually offered 4 layouts/sizes, and I tweaked two of them to come up with these. Once I get them quilted, they'll be donated to Victoria's Quilts.

Not quite a fall off the wagon - and since I didn't do the shopping myself, no risk of additional purchases :)

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Your quilts are awesome. Love them both. So glad that your were able to finish them at your retreat.

Beautiful quilts! Glad to hear you really didn't fall off the wagon. You had a very good excuse.

Good save, Krista!

Been working on my "stash" for a while now....Funny thing, 1/2 of it was gifted to me...yet I feel responsible to use it with every quilt I make!

If you like the fabric then using stash fabric is fun...

Like the star quilts, Krista!

Lovely tops Krista. You were really productive. I understand about the gifted fabric. Though I have found that the longer I sew, the more I enjoy the challenge of using fabric I wouldn't have picked.

That is so true elly66..it's fun to get out of my comfort zone, too. It has allowed me to look at new options in quilt making technique as well as design.