Judith, I'm so sorry you lost your little friend. People who never had a furry family member don't have any idea how much it hurts. I'm still missing my little pooch and she died years ago.

Losing a pet is like losing a close family member, because that is what they are. I went through it a year and a half ago and I still miss her. I have since got a new love in my life, which helps. Waylon is another Great Dane and keeps me laughing. He loves to keep me company when I am in the basement sewing.

I have been doing some fabric buying the last couple weeks, but it has been backings for upcoming quilts. I am picky about my backings, like them to match the front if at all possible. But I do try to use stash when I can find something that will work. I make a lot of large, queen size quilts, so 9 yards is not always in the stash. Yesterday my MSQC order of backing for the collection Porcelain came. I still need to find just the right pattern for that one. And I got backing from Ebay for my little Regent Street Oh My Stars quilt. That one is all prepped and ready for the longarm. There is enough left for another small quilt to go with the leftover charms from that collection. So, you see, I am being mindful when I buy. Everything has a definite purpose when I purchase. And I, too, have fallen into the book buying trap. I put flags on the pages of the patterns I love, so I can quickly go to a pattern possibility.

Yesterday I did some rearranging of the stash and actually made room for the bolts I bought last week. So they are all put away neatly and the room looks good. I still have some clutter on the countertop near my rarely used sewing machines. That will be addressed in the next day or two.

Sillysusan, we are only as old as we feel, so they say, whoever "they" is. I think that often I have so much material to use and I will be darn if I will leave it all for someone else to pet, enjoy, sell, give away, etc. Once I started cleaning around and sorting and saw just what I have for stash I will not, will not, will not buy any more till I shop the stash and settle. Even if it isn't the exact of what I have in mind, I will settle and make do. I will, I will, I will.

Judith, I know the feelings of your loss and I am sorry you are feeling as you are. Because we love our fur babies so much it is a part of us, our family. I have learned not to react to someone when they say to me "its just a cat" because I know it isn't. My home is empty since I lost my two, one was 18 and 11 months later I lost the other that was almost 16. The oldest I rescued from a rushing stream in the spring, it was on the only patch of land in the middle and I had to wade to get it. He was only about 2 months so how in the world did he get there. They sure can cry when they want to, very loud, thankfully. The second one I found, the vet said it was around 2 weeks. I took it back and forth to work with me for months, hand feeding it all day. So I had them for a long time, and miss them dearly. I am glad I had the chance to enjoy them. Best to you hope the sewing helps.

Judith, I’m so sorry to hear about your furbaby.

Hugs,
Rob

Judith, I'm sorry for the loss of your dear companion. We miss them so much when they're gone.

I decided I needed to finish the En Provence quilt for a family that recently lost their wife/mother unexpectedly, so that is going to keep me tied up for quite a while. Usually I don't mind being a slow quilter, but in this case I wish I could move along more quickly.

I bought backing for two quilts this week, which means I now have backings on hand for all of my finished tops!

I'm an aholic... Food I barely control. Books are piling up. The UFO's are out of control. And fabric stash! This thread helps me to make sane purchases.

When choosing fabric for a new project, I start with the back and choose fabrics to go with the back. That way the stash deminishes by both the back and front fabrics.

Several years ago we lost 3 cats withing 4 months, 1 of them was totally unexpected. I was in a funk for months. Sorry for the loss of your fur baby. By the way, I agreed DH could have an indoor dog and I've grown to like dogs.

Very clever approach to destashing... I have a few bolts of fabric that I think I may try this approach..

Judith...so so sorry!

Judith, so sorry about the loss of your pet. We become so attached to them that it's like losing a member of the family. :(
I must confess that I bought fabric today to finish a quilt - needed borders and backing. It won't be stash, but it will be in the house until I give the quilt to my sister for Christmas. Then on to UFOs, which I hope to complete from my stash.

My condolences, Judith. They do leave pawprints on our hearts. I lost a 13 yo Siberian/Shiba Inu cross a year ago. I still have a 13 yo Border Collie/Lab cross. The little dog took the loss of the big one very hard. They were together 10 years.

A friend who has purchased multiple quilts from me over the years- usually for wedding gifts or for herself contacted me & asked for a star double wedding ring quilt for an October wedding. I dug out the pattern (2,020 pieces before borders) and figured I better get organized- it will take some time. I started pulling fabrics from the shelves ( & scrap drawers- I believe I’m only going to have to purchase 3 1/2 yards of background fabric. Everything else will come out of my stash! Yea! I think the prints/ colors add up to about 7 2/3 yards of stash being used.