Hey Grann - Yes, there is a travel exemption. If you are traveling then any fabric purchase is exempt from the moratorium. So you are good to go for your trip in April! Have fun.

Rob

I’m jumping on board again this year. I had great intentions last year but somewhere around April... I jumped off the train and curled up under a pile of fabric... I may or may not have stuck my fingers in my ears while muttering “train.... what train... I don’t hear a train”. Hopefully this year I can at least make it to June....

Thanks, Rob, didn't realize that. Can I use that exemption for today when my friends took me out to our LQS near Lancaster? My DD gave me a gift card, but it was from last year, so I felt it necessary to use it today. So I got 8 1/2 yards of black Moda marbles, 4 yards of ivory Grunge, and 4 yards of off white Miniature Gatherings. They will come in handy to fill out the stash fabric for the next few quilts. You can never have too many blenders, or sashing fabric.

Omg, thanks for the laugh. I think I was in denial part of the year. I'm glad I was in good company.

Judith, what’s that saying “denial is not just a river in Egypt”? But if it was a river do you think we could use the travel exemption when we visited? I swear we can use my stash to make a tent big enough to live under. there would be room enough for both of us and probably 50 of our closest friends.

argh... note to self.... you are supposed to REMAIN ON THE TRAIN!!

I promise I’m a work in progress.... is there a remedial program?

For 2020, I started using Asian fabrics from my stash. Todays project was ~20 large rectangles I'd cut years ago for a King Spread. Sure didn't estimate yardage incorrectly. So far it's 5 used. Maybe the rest can go on the back.

So many Asian fabrics are large prints-in my stash anyway. I may need to BUY (scarry) some fabric to coordinate.

Our friendship circle started today after hiatis in December. Sure have missed them. Went out to lunch.

Petthefabric, I'll also be using a lot of Asian fabrics with my metallic collection. One of the projects will be narrowed to only "gold embellished Asian prints" but that will still leave a lot left. Trying to think of one more top that is mostly metallic fabrics...

I was just gifted with a JR that is in autumn colors of Golds, oranges, etc. and i see that it has metallic accents. Will have to fighre out what to do with it, as I am not much of a metallic lover. Maybe i can use that off white dotty fabric i just got from Bluprint that has tiny gold metallic dots all over it.

Just got the new Connecting Threads catalog with so many tempting things in it. It may have to hit the trash bin before I weaken.

lol, I am so there with you. We will stay on the train. If we keep saying it, Hopefully, it Will happen.

Hey, (lol) I didn't get my CT catalog. Maybe that's a good thing. I will stay on the train, I will stay on the train.

I hope your blueprint fabric matches.

I hope you can find something that matches. Asian fabrics change drastically from line to line. I have never found them easy to match. And, since the really aren't a favorite of mine, I rarely use them.

Judith; you are so right. And they change with time. Some of mine are 20-30 yrs old. I spent several hours last night looking on line with no success. So it's back to my stash to figure out something else. Some pieces are several yds. Maybe some summer dresses are in order.

I'm in for 2020
 

Wasn't in last year, but read the posts and decided to see what I could accomplish. Have two tops ready to quilt from my stash, did need border for one as nothing I had worked. Made birthday quilt for my sister from stash just needed white batting, background was white. "Ribbons" Quilt completed using a five yard bundle from I don't remember where. So far only one quilt planned from stash, should be fun to see what everyone creates.

Although my stash isn’t large I have decided I need to get myself under control. Last year I tried to stay within a budget of $100/month.....I used up my yearly budget in less than 5 months.

I have six projects cut and ready to go, fabric for at least 10 other quilts, 6 or 7 tops in various states of completion plus 6 or 7 finished tops I need to quilt. I have printed out the list and it is on the board above my cutting table as a reminder that I have more than enough to keep me busy for 2020...and also so I can have the satisfaction of crossing items off the list!

What amazes me is how many emails I get every day from online vendors. This has been my biggest problem up to this point and I can’t decide if I want to unsubscribe so I am not tempted or keep them coming as a challenge to my resolve. What do you think?

well, it depends on how you define travel LOL!

I’m wondering if we need to establish a gift card exemption...

Rob

Send them into junk mail. You can find if needed but they won't be front and center to tempt. You also just need to break the habit. It will be hard but if you've been spending $100 month then your stash has plenty of choices!

I am back and ready to dive into my stash. I did well last year making quilts from my stash but I missed the encouragement of others. Although I don't have any plans to leave this world soon, I do have plans to not leave my children with a closet full of fabric to deal with. (I do plan on leaving lots of quilts!) So, I am in!

Hello everyone. I hope all had a great new year.

I’m back in. The last 3 months of the year I went crazy. So my goal this year only start or finish projects with my stash or scrap fabric. Yes I have several projects in the category.

Woohoo...is the travel exemption new this year? That works for me as that’s when I am more likely to fall off the wagon. Thanks Rob.
Kyquiltlover, we definitely want to see your quilts...even if you think they’re weird.

For those of you who kit quilts, can you share your process. Do you pick a pattern then cut all the pieces, etc?

here is how I kit my planned quilts. I usually have a precut in mind that I want to use,then find a pattern that I like for it. Then i cut all the pieces and put each section in a baggie lettered or numbered according to how it is used in the pattern, and then put it all in an artbin, and stack it on my cabinet in plain sight so I don't forget about. I also have several kits I have gotten, so I have them all cut and bagged. And since i dislike UFO's I make sure to see the project to completion, no unfinished tops stacked up. I prep the top for quilting and then stack the backing, batting, and top on a bed in the spare bedroom so they are ready and waiting to go on the longarm. Right now I have 2 ready to go. And I have 3 quilts to quilt for a friend, they are next after I finish my 2. this method is working well for me so far.

Thanks grann of 6. I think i have one "kit" bagged like this and need to make more up. One of my problems is I have several WIP's that involve smaller pieces....all planned out, but are lanquishing in lalalala land as I do get bored doing one thing over and over. I'm semi retired and don't have all the time I want to quilt either.

I find it a big help to have each fabric and its cuts in one baggie. I think other people do it differeently, but this works for me. then everything for that kit is in one large bag or artbin, along with the pattern. And I check off each step as I go.

Well, I have decided how I am going to attack my stashbusters my UFOs... I am going to alternate, one UFO gets done, then I am rewarded by using one of my stashbuster kits, or a new projects, but a UFO MUST be completed before going on to another project. I finished up my flannel brick quilt and it is ready for the longarm. So now I am starting on my black/white stashbuster quilt that I kitted up the other day. It should go pretty fast because the pieces are big.

I have to be in again this year. Last year was a blessing with this site and managed to not add to my stash until the end of December when I bought 3 jelly rolls for $9.00 each. I am going to try my hand at a jelly roll quilt. This year I am off and running on a major purchase. I finally broke down and bought a new Brother sewing machine. So happy. I looked and drooled over it a couple years ago, but could not talk myself into a $950 purchase. My old one is 25 years old, was a bargain at that time and came with several feet, and a table extension. I had a choice between two, a more expensive one with extra feet and table extension or the one I drooled over 2 years ago. Come to find out, my feet fit them still, and the extra feet I already have and the table I don't use, so went with the original drool. I love it. Now to use more of my fabric and my do my new jelly roll quilt. So I am one happy person. Good luck all, and happy new year.

And Grann of 6, I like your way of thinking. One UFO, then a new project. I think I will adopt that way of crafting for 2020. Thanks for the idea.

Grann of 6: I'm adopting your idea, "one UFO then I can work on something new [since I don't make kits for me]).

I'm glad to see people making plans to use stash rather than buying new fabric! For all who have UFOs, check out the 2020 UFO challenge, in this same section. It's a great place to get encouragement to finish those lingering projects. Plus, you can use stash & watch your fabric reserves dwindle. A win-win!

I made a list of places I want to visit on Black Friday then unsubscribed from everything - lead me not into temptation. The next thing I'm planning, after I make some more notes, is to clear all the cookies on my computer. This will lead to more work as I will have to reenter user names & passwords but I'm hoping it will remove all those annoying ads that pop up - no matter what I'm reading, there are pictures of jelly rolls, fat quarters... For the next several months, I will be shrinking from fabric ads as if they were porn or poison. That's what I need to do to stay on the wagon.

I used a similar plan last year and it worked well. Go girl, go!

Kitting, for me, is deciding on pattern I want to make first...then selecting fabric either from stash or buying new if I don't have what I need...then just placing it all in its own artbin...then I stack the artbin with other kitted projects. Then, I just grab it when I'm inspired to start on it. I don't pre-cut my fabrics because I may change my mind by the time I get to it and want to do something else with fabric. Sometimes, I may just have a focal fabric and, overtime, I pick up fabrics to add periodically. For example, it took me a year to buy all the fabric needed for one project. I think I carried swatches of colors to match up in my purse forever and whipped them out whenever I was out and about in the hope of finding the perfect fabric. This project is ready to go and will be my next one up.

Grann of 6 and Teen, thank you both for your thoughtful comments about kitting projects. I like both of your ideas and will incorporate them into my 2020 quilting plan. I will precut one and set it up in a project box as grann of 6 does...it will be a good project to take to Sit & Sews. I will also try one as Teen suggests and pick a pattern that I can use some stash. This will be a new and fun way to approach a couple of projects this year. I love this board for motivation and new ideas.

My pea brain never thought to make kits. Wow! What a great idea, thanks!
Rob, I think gift cards should be an exemption. haha

will be in this year too! Love reading all the comments

Jan 6 and already will be hopping off the wagon. My niece has decided on baby room colours.....grey with pink accents. As mentioned I do not have a large stash and virtually no pink....just a pit of grey. If she had only cooperated with a boy.....one of my clearance bin impulse buys was a layer cake perfect for a baby boy! I knew I would need to make a few purchases this year but I was hoping to make it through a couple of months at least!

I am in--again.

Quick Funny: Last year I signed up and immediately purchased 3 backing fabrics 4 days later. Here's to hoping I hold off for at least a month this year!

Conchalea, thanks for starting this one for us!

My process is to decide on a pattern and do all the cutting. What happens next depends on the pattern. Sometimes it makes sense to just stop there and bag the cut pieces with the pattern -- for example, with a big-piece, simple modern pattern that doesn't have traditional blocks. If it is a more complicated quilt I might construct all the units for the blocks and then bag, and sometimes it makes more sense to construct all the blocks and then bag them. Often what will decide me is the size of the finished component. I bag kits in plastic grocery bags and then put 4 or 5 of them in a box, so I want whatever pieces I bag to fit conveniently in that space without getting overly wrinkled. This all started for me a couple of years ago when I decided I didn't have room to store any more completed tops, but at the same time I felt impatient to deal with my stash.

Don't be too hard on yourself, Cattitude. If you buy only enough for your project and turn it around and out, it doesn't count as adding to stash even if you did buy something. Isn't it funny how with all this fabric we have, we always seem to need just one more? Same thing, Motor, if you use them then don't feel guilty.

Wish we were closer or at least in the same country, I'd let you shop my stash for pinks (have quite a bit) and grays -- not so many, they've come out as a fashion color just as I have stopped buying fabric. My next project does use a piece of grey background with small cherry blossoms, but I'm going more graphic with black and yellow.

Not ready to show a picture yet but I think it's rather funny in some ways but I also think it's going to work. I was going through my stash looking to see if I had one particular piece of fabric (I did, but I had turned it into bindiing for another project). And as I was looking for something that had black and yellow and was medium scale, out popped a piece of Minion fabric. I love the Minions (Despicable Me), they just crack me up. My sewing kit is a big Minions lunch box shaped thing. When I see Minion fabric I've picked up a piece or two, but they haven't made it out into too many quilts yet.

So I have a really strange collection of fabric I'm using for this project. One very large scale bold graphic black and yellow and white floral. One soft grey with black branches and yellow and white cherry blossoms, and one large but not really obvious floral of yellow and white and black outlines. Plus Minions! Black and white and yellow. It goes in just fine in terms of scale and colors even if not theme.

It's me trying to be bold and use things from a design sense instead of some "appropriateness" sense. It's the nice thing for me in terms of using up fabric that most of my projects are donations anyway, and at the very least it keeps someone warm. It lets me reach and take chances that I wouldn't take when I'm trying to make the perfect quilt for someone.

Besides, I shall release some of the merry mayhem of the Minions into the world! Mwahaha

Iceblossom, I too love the Minions. I've made some crocheted Minion hats & fingerless gloves.
Today I avoided a jump off the train. I've competed the red, pink, & white top & need a backing. I only went to Joanns, but they had nothing that appealed to me that might go with the top. So, I recalled some off-white fabric I have that I think is large enough. I walked out with no purchases! I will piece some batting for this quilt, & use only stash to complete it.

I had to buy backing for my just completed quilt top. Dang. I thought I had enough on the bolt but not so. Regardless, it should be used up post-haste.

Doing ok so far. One week down Yeah! I did buy fabric for a backing idea for one of my just finished quilt tops. Happy sewing everyone!

I am also in this. I have a lot of stash so I hope this helps me. Thank you for doing this!

I purchased 3/4 yard of soccer fabric today. I made 18 pillowcases for great grandchildren at Christmas. One who is a child of divorce was sad that she had to leave hers at her father's house - couldn't take it to her mother's. Easy fix - she has a b'day soon, so I will make another - just change the cuff and trim color for variety. It's an in and out, so it doesn't count. I'm pleased I went to JoAnn's and bought one piece.