It must be a summer time thing, Rff1010, I seemed to be stalled too. So many starts and waaay to many unfinished. I have three tops finished and can't seem to move them to the the layering/quilting stage. I keep making excuses. This needs to be done, that needs to be done. Squirrel, another project needs attention. Squirrel #2 just ran by. You get the picture. The positive is that all three tops/ flimsies are completely from scraps and stash. That is a good thing, now to FINISH just one. :)

It's probably a good thing I did not officially join this challenge. I have been SO BAD!! There's just been so many good deals thrown in my direction....I just had to take advantage of them. Oh well, my sewing room is not overflowing, yet. I'm newly retired and I'm sewing as fast as I can. I'll heed all your advice and try to keep a lid on my spending!:)

Just finished an UFO (posted a picture on the UFO challenge thread). The only fabric out with this UFO is my backing fabric. The fabric for this quilt was pre-cut and then sent out monthly for the B.O.M. So, 4.5 yards out of my stash ........

Spam reported.

Stash overload
 

I haven't been on here in a long time. I am just unwinding. My daughter and I recently acquired a friends entire stash. She worked at a Quilting shop until it closed, then she became very ill. She passed a few weeks ago. The stash is monumental. So far we have brought in 8 full vehicle loads. Daughter has a pickup, I have a Honda SUV, they were filled to the brim each load. We have donated some to charity, some to a friend, sold some and still going through it. Daughter listed some for sale online, somewhere, I don't really know. Anyway, we have a stash. It makes my home look like a hoarders house. Really! Just letting off a little steam, not mad, just wondering when it will get all cleared and how long before we can actually sew something again.

Congratulations, Momo! A curated stash. And my sympathy for all of the work that is ahead to bring the stash down to manageable size. I inherited a large stash too but not as big as yours. Smile and get stitching donation quilts. Keep your local Project Linus on speed dial or who ever you can donate finished quilts to. Tee-Hee-Hee

Hi everyone! I didn’t join this challenge officially, because I felt like I didn’t stand a chance at sticking to it. Now I’m rethinking my approach. Maybe if I am trying to buy no fabric, I’ll at least buy less? I now have a significant stash and a huge project list- probably a couple years worth at the rate I work. Each new purchase I’ve made has been for a new project, and so the list grew. I’m going to refrain from buying anything intended to support a project that’s not already on my list, and do my best to complete projects from stash (realistically I’ll occasionally need to buy backing/batting or a coordinating fabric if I run out).

All my fabric purchases are online and usually made when I want to be quilting but am too tired. So I’m kicking off my moratorium by staying off fabric sales sites. If I don’t need fabric, I don’t need to be casually browsing fabric sites.

Well, it is time to show off a finish. All from stash. A quilting friend cut theses tumbler blocks from her stash, she passed them on to another friend who made a quilt and passed the leftovers to me. I made another another top and used stash for back. I still have leftovers. Oh well, I will cut them into 2.5" squares and put them into another quilt. None the less, out of my stash and off to Project Linus later this year.

Nice job @WMUTeach ! The source fabric sounds a bit like a sourdough starter:
It never gets used up: just diluted, shared, and repurposed.

Yes, the sourdough reference works for a good giggle.

Hi QuiltingPandaBear - you definitely belong here!!! Welcome! :-)

It sounds like you've got a great idea to start your Fabric Moratorium journey with, and don't worry - we don't judge! We're here for the companionship, support and encouragement as well as for the destashing adventures so please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas as you start down this path - I'm sure many of us will be able to relate. :-)

Buckeye quilter, It's so hard to resist a good deal! What is also good is that you're obviously working on using up some of the fabric in your sewing room, new or not, so just keep doing that! There are no official papers you have to sign and casual moratorium members are great to have around - I'm sure you have ideas to share!

I've been away from the board for a couple of weeks now and am just realizing how far behind I've fallen - thanks to all of you who have been keeping things active around here!

Rff1010 - way to go for getting something done in spite of being stalled. Sometimes it's a good thing to allow the stall to turn into a break if it becomes something that is stressing you out. I love the idea of the BWG+colour quilt - I have picked up quite a few black/white black/tan fabric scraps since I got back into quilting and that might be a good way to use them up. I'll keep it in mind.

WMU - great finish and congratulations for managing to evade the squirrel attacks to get it done! There seems to be a serious squirrel population in my neck of the woods, too... ;-)

Momo - glad to have you here and congratulations/sorry about your recent acquisition - this must be difficult for you on several levels but it sounds like you've made a good start at getting a handle on it. I believe someone else mentioned Project Linus, but there are other charities around as well who would probably be grateful to receive some of the bounty. I'm not affiliated with them, but Quilts for Survivors has recently put out a call for backings and bindings - I'm not sure where you are located (edit: went back and checked and Alabama is definitely not very close to Ontario, Canada!) so sending the fabric to them might not be an option, but perhaps a local guild could guide you to a local charity with similar needs? Hopefully you are soon able to reclaim your space.

Wow - how quickly a month goes by! Hope the silence on the thread means you're all eye-deep in stash material that is getting used up in beautiful creations!

It's been a busy month for me - lots going on including a visit from family I haven't seen in over 20 years. Part of my goal for this was to send a couple of quilts back with the family for my goddaughter's new baby - one to celebrate her birth and one for her first Christmas/Birthday (she's a December baby). It was close, but I got them both done. Other than a somewhat naughty acquisition of some coral-coloured inspiration fabric (from the free table at a guild meeting) and needing to buy some WOW backing for the heart because the piece from my stash that I had planned to use was stained (love discovering things like that when you are ready to work on a Saturday night :-P), the rest came from my stash. I'm calling it a win!

I don't know how much of my stash fabric is going to get used up in the next little bit - I've signed up for a PHD (projects half-done) challenge/support group with the guild and am going to try to get a couple of my UFOs out of storage and into circulation (for those of you who also have more UFOs than you care to admit to, there is also a thread for that on QB!). Most of my tops end up getting put away with backing and binding ready to go (the actual quilting is usually where I falter) so I probably won't even be able to reduce stash by making fun backings. However, I do also have boxes of curated fabric collections (mostly around a colour scheme) ready to go for new stash-busting projects, so perhaps if the quilting flu hits again I will allow myself to sneak some more piecing in there somewhere. :-)

If you've been busy using up stash, I know I'm not the only one who would love to hear about and see what you've done! :-)

I started a new project (maybe it seems counterintuitive as I’m also on the UFO challenge thread) but I really felt the need to have something smaller going on where I could feel and see progress. I have about a dozen UFOs but they are large.

I decided as a Christmas gift to make my MIL a set of quilted wall decorations she could swap out. She lives in a retirement community and one of her great joys is re decorating the little table and wall outside her front door regularly. I bought a flag hanger that can hold up to 13” width and have been collecting and drafting patterns for 12-13” hangings. I am trying to keep these generally simple, as simple as a framed 12” quilt block. They will be made entirely from stash, will go together pretty quickly, work as palate cleansers when my current projects are stale or stuck,

I started the first one yesterday and it’s a scrappy heart: a great way to destash some pink (not a color I favor but I have a lot of it). I may also piece some pink and purple for the backing to use it up!

QuiltingPandaBear, that's lovely (both the hanging and the gift idea)! I also appreciate your describing these small projects as "palate cleansers" - that's exactly what I need right now, and you've got me excited to find a little project to work on before I tackle one of the more intimidating ones. Thanks! :-)

I've been neglecting this thread all year; I got involved (as always) with the Bonnie Hunter winter mystery, which I can never justify calling a stash project, since I always end up buying fabric for that (although this year, I did use up every bit of brighter red I had in the house and a good bit of navy). I am still working on that project and nowhere near done, as I had many health-related road blocks that have slowed me down.

I did get involved with two other sew alongs at the beginning of the year (the Bear Creek Friendship mystery and the Andover designers Made and Found BOW), and am thrilled with the amount of stash I've used for those.

I've been slipping a little as far as not buying fabric, so I thought I'd better start stopping in here regularly again, to bolster my resolve!

I can say that so far this year, I have used more stash than what I have brought in, althought not by very much when I tally it all up. Anyway, I'm working on my 3rd UFO and that will be more stash out, including backing fabric.

joe'smom, I'm also still plugging along on Bonnie's Indigo Way mystery and no where near the finish line.

I have lost just short of 50 yards of fabric this 2024 sewing year. A little here a little there, but mostly from donation quilts. I have three WIP that should move my numbers up.. Last year I hit 100 yards out the door and honestly I did have to purchase a wide wide back cut, and a bolt of white on white, both on sale. My stash of WoW is nearly gone and I use it a lot.

@WMUTeach that is an amazing volume, you are a prolific quilter! the big thing that made me realize I had to stop buying was how slow I am to finish things. At 50 yards a year I could burn through this stash I’ve accumulated a heck of a lot faster lol. Great job turning fabric on the shelf into donations of love.

Well of course the first one I finish for my mini wall hangings is not the first one I started, because even on mini projects I can’t work in a linear first in first out fashion. But here it is.

Oh this is so true.:) I have pieces I have started years ago. Often I will be in the middle of a project and I yell "SQUIRREL" and away I go on another fascinating pattern and what do you know I finish squirrel chasing before the others that I have started. For me, I need to be intrigued with the project to progress from start to finish without any "squirrels" distracting me. I am sewing today and trying desperately to focus and not be distracted by those charming furry nut lov'in squirrels.

I'm happy to say I still haven't bought any fabric to ad to my stash and even used quite a bit of my stash for a quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. Her dinosaur pattern called for 36 fat quarters but since I was using my stash I went thru my fat quarters first, then my large scrap pile, then finally yardage. Her pattern wastes so much fabric in my opinion but again I did use larger pieces than just fat quarters too so I made use of the larger scraps for the binding, I stitched up all the cutoffs into HST and will be using them on the sides to widen it a bit as this will go on a toddler's bed. I made the larger size quilt.

I also finally finished a flimsey that's been up on the design wall, again using only from my stash. Just needed to add the 2 sashings and border, the binding is already made so that's ready to be quilted. It was only on the design wall for 3 years. Lost my mojo but since working on the dino blocks, I think I've got it back. Have a quilt on the frame that's been sitting there 2/3s finished since April 2023 so maybe I'll get up the nerve to finish it too. Have 7 other quilt tops waiting to be quilted so I've got my winter planned, now if only I can make my goal of finishing them so I can start more quilt patterns sitting in the back of my brain.

Here is my August finish using just scraps. The colored triangles were given to me "I'm sure you can make something out of these." Of course I accepted them and added odds and ends of white on white for the other side of the HST. Ta-Da a lap quilt for donation. The challenge is that I have enough colored triangles to make two more. Tee-Hee-Hee. So this means four yards of fabric out of my scrap stash this month.;)

QuiltingPandaBear , I love the hanger for your lovely wall hanging. Where can I get one, please?

@aashley333 its an Amazon purchase

link: https://a.co/d/j0GsYEq

Another mini hanging completed!

These don’t put much of a dent in the scrap pile, but they give a nice sense of having completed something. Also a great way to improve basic skills in a low stakes environment (scrap fabric and a grateful and non critical recipient). My binding skills will be so much better a
by the time I finish this project, I’m sure of it!

I started work on a Christmas-themed one with ornaments from a cut and sew panel, some metallic fabrics, and ribbon. Running into some challenges in machine appliqué but again: learning and using scraps.

Some great stories and shares - thanks, everyone!

Just wondering, WMUTeach - wherever do you manage to find WoW on sale? It's about the only fabric that is on my exemption list and every time I see a general sale advertised I notice the WoW and other neutrals are excluded :-( /sigh On the bright side, I've been into a fabric store three times in the last 6 weeks and haven't bought a thing - go me!

And Snooze2978, I'd love to see how you're going to use the HSTs to widen that quilt. I'm working on clearing out a bundle of baby flannels I've been hoarding since the 90s and am trying to figure out what to do with some HSTs that were hidden between the larger pieces. Small pieces of flannel aren't very much fun to work with. :-P

I find WOF at local quilt shops as well as JoAnn's. I was in Shipshewana this morning visitig the two major shops in town, Lolly's and Yoder's, both had bolts on sale from 10% to 50% off the original cost of the fabric. But I find it in local shops in my home town all the time at 20-30% off original price. I just purchased a bolt of WoW from Fort Worth Fabric Studio for about $6.00 per yard online. I have also see it from MSQ in their three yard cut sales.

(Shhhh don't tell any one but I peruse the the give away table at my quilt group meetings for odd small cuts of WoW and I take any thing from odd jelly roll strips to weird pieces from someones project left-overs. If it is at least 2.5", I will allow it to jump into my take home bag and put it to use. You may have noticed that I like using WoW in my scrappy quilts to just set off the colors of my other scraps.)

WMU - I know someone else who looks for the WoW and other neutrals on the free table! ;-) Thanks for the tips, although ordering fabric cross-border hasn't really offered me much of a savings yet, which means I am managing not to buy fabric online at present. Happily I've got enough project kits on the go and enough bits and pieces in my neutrals box that I don't have to panic quite yet. :-)

Another weekend another lil wall hanging completed. I got to use part of an old cut and sew panel for the ornaments and finally cut into a beautiful holiday metallics fat quart bundle I bought a few years ago then set aside waiting for “the perfect project.” It was a joy to get to use some of it and I went through each piece and discovered it included some beautiful panels which I didn’t remember at all. Now I’m inspired to make more with it.

What a charming little hanging. You are now ready for the holidays or maybe gift giving. Using up what is at hand must feel good even if it is little bits.

Thanks, Panda, for the link. Sooo many choices!

Love the tumbler quilt!

Thanks. There are more tumblers in a bag that came from an acquaintance who had used all she wanted to use. Enough for at least one more quilt and perhaps two depending on how I create the quilt.;)

Two celebrations and a confession coming up!

Attached are pictures of two flannel baby quilts that are going to our guild's community quilts program. The squares top was actually made back in the late 1990s when a friend of mine was having a baby girl... except it turned out it was a boy! The flimsy was popped into a paper bag and tucked away in the back of a closet. I found it recently along with the bag of flannels I'd used for it and decided that I had found my latest "get this stuff out of my house" project. I have enough of the fabric to make one more little quilt, I think, but a bit of a family crisis has kept me hopping and away from the sewing room these last couple of weeks. Soon...

And the confession - I did pick up some fabrics from the guild free table. However, almost all of them are WoW and other neutrals so I'm not feeling at all guilty! :-D

Yeah on the find and finish. It's OK to pick from the give away table when you can add it to an unfinished project an get them both out the door. OK, my opinion only, but if it leads to a success then why not.

Gemm, those are lovely, and so encouraging to hear a 'get this out of the house' report!

(I don't think I had realized that free fabric fell under our moratorium umbrella.)

Hi Joe'smom - everyone is welcome to interpret what the moratorium means to them. I'd like to think that our primary goal here is to help people feel good about using the fabric they have (and getting some breathing room in their sewing spaces, too). :-) I get a lot of my fabrics from thrifting or the free table, and while I love starting with a collection of unconnected fabrics when planning out a quilt, I find that it can be challenging to bring some of the super-random things I've collected together into a coherent and pleasing quilt. However, that doesn't stop me from just adding to my stash because "I might want to make a quilt with a lot of yellow in it one day and there's all this yellow fabric here..." This is why I'm trying to be a bit more sensible about what I grab for free because if it's just going to sit in a box, it's not going to help with destashing. :-D