Lena, this is a free wheeling group. Count or not count the guild project. It is all up to you. Good for you on removing the 6.5 yards. It lightens the stash "load" and made just a little free space for oxygen. You can feel good about the 3 fat quarters too because they may be in now, but they will be OUT in your future project.

I am so encouraged by the great stories and attitudes. Short and long-term goals and reports, celebrations and slip-ups, and once again I'm reminded of why I enjoy this thread so much! Thanks, everyone, for sharing!

Congratulations to everyone who managed to get something out the door this month or resisted adding to the stash. To those of you (us) who have had a bit of a bumpy road at the beginning of our journeys, jump back on the wagon if you slipped off and remember that you can always find encouragement, ideas, and sympathy here. :-)

I am happy to report that I did spend a bit of time going through my fabric haul and have found a respectable stack of it will fit in with the string block project I'm working on right now (post #55). Hopefully that means quickly in and quickly out! :-)

I had a donation of fabric to me so I got some of the fabric I had and no intention of using donated it so it was a pass it on

That's so funny. This thread is to make us think of why we're accumulating fabric. Taking part in a fun activity is total justification.

So I'm going to a fun activity: Sew n Tell....... at a LQS. Maybe by tomorrow I can think up some justification to purchase. Ya think? Maybe?

This is great, Belfry - I am a lot slower and less productive than many of you and so my measurement really only counts at the end of the year because I just don't have enough to measure as I go along. :-) I'm really glad AND somewhat regretting reporting those ten pounds of fabric... it seems like such a lot when you put it like that!

This is great - way to go, Lena! I agree with others who have no issue with this challenge as well as with those who reminded us that you can adjust the "rules" of the moratorium to work with what your quilting journey will be this year. We're really just a support group who loves using up fabric and hearing stories of others who are doing the same. :-D

The little cartoon devil on my shoulder read this and saw a completed scrap project returned to the donor with a bag of even smaller scraps that were still left over from that one! Tee hee!

That's impressive! It's great that you can identify fabric that you may have fallen out of love with and let it go. :-)

I believe you probably can, Pet... the real question (and the boring, nagging one) is should you? ;-)

Ugh. I had a gift certificate for one of my local shops (I have 7 in under 45 minutes! Well 7 if you include 2 Mennonite shops - they don't have the ambiance of a LQS, but sure have a lot of fabric at great prices!) and it will expire in a couple of months. The old fashioned, written slip kind of GC, as they don't take credit cards. Rather than lose it, I decided I'd use it as I was just down the road on another errand.

Let's just say that I might have expanded my neutrals a bit. I mean, it's not awful - less than 3 yards, but the GC was only for one of those... Neutrals are my downfall. I love how fun they are now. Little prints, dots, I have no willpower.

What a nice gift, peaceandjoy. And so many shops close to you! If I travel about 45 minutes, I easily could stop at 15-20 shops. Amish country with lots of little shops but also Yoder's, and Lolly's. Yup, I am close to Shipshewana, Indiana. I make the trip about once a month for a quilt group meeting. Temptation of course but I am much better at buying what I NEED vs what catches my eye. Enjoy your new acquisitions and put them to use in something on your To Do list. In the door and out the door helps reduce the stash.

I believe you probably can, Pet... the real question (and the boring, nagging one) is should you? ;-)[/QUOTE]

Reporting in: I didn't go. Life happens. Plans got changed. Last month I purchased a roll of tape to organize thread spools. This month, I purchased white sticks for my Bohin Mechanical Pencil.

And those scraps that come my way, 1) chopped up for animal beds, 2) passed onto the donation table at guild. I'm getting brutal-they must be USABLE.

Another note: there's a new use for the shelves of fabric in this house. Our new fur baby is trying them out for sleeping locations. And she's making a mess all over the floor of her discards. We love our fur babies.

That is the key, USABLE. My heart hurts when someone offers me scrap fabric or scrap batting and I say, "That was so kind of you to think of me but no thank you, I just can't use it." Their faces drop because they were sure I would take their "stuff".

New mantra for this group could be USABLE, USABLE, USABLE. ;)