Not buying any new fabric !!
02-05-2015, 07:53 AM
#51
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
Posts: 16,105
I do this. If I only had $5-10 I would go to the fabric store and get what I could on sale. Now I stand back and look at my stash. I don't have as much as many on this board but have gone over my budget for the last 3 months. I can not warrant another purchase. Doesn't mean I won't though 
02-05-2015, 08:32 AM
#52
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Rocky Mountains of Idaho
Posts: 1,454
02-05-2015, 08:34 AM
#53
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ft. Wayne
Posts: 640
For those of you that have fabric beyond what you want, there are many of us that make charity quilts to donate, and your extra fabric could be put to a good use. IMHO charity quilts should be as pretty and well made as those we make for our families. But buying good fabric to sew charity quilts can be prohibitively expensive for some. Sharing our extras can help many people as well as making the giver feel good about sharing.
02-05-2015, 08:35 AM
#54
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Rocky Mountains of Idaho
Posts: 1,454
Our guild just helped to sell the fabric of a woman who passed away. Many items still had tags and we charged 50%, still we sold $17,000.00 and there is a ton left. The money will go to her son and I'm so thankful he came to us and he will get some of his moms money. She had way toooooo much and it showed me to STOP buying and use up what I have
02-05-2015, 08:43 AM
#55
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 7,312
I have a friend who is a hoarder. I have not understood why she buys and buys and her house is full as well as about 20 storage units. Now I do ! A shelf in my sewing room broke so DH needs to fix it. I have fabric stored in bins on the shelves and they are too heavy. I knew that I had FQ's, yardage and scrapes all mixed together so I figured I would clean the bins out. So far, I have gone through the red, green, brown, yellow and orange and the purple and turquoise fabric bins. I must have 500 FQ, about 50 Fat 8ths and three grocery sacks of scrapes to be cut up. Now that still leaves me the black and white, the patriotic, 2 bins of Christmas, 2 bins of children, 1 bin of mixed, one bin of floral and 2 very large bins of blue. None of these have solids in them, that is another area of the room. I think there is another bin, but I am afraid now to go into that room and check it out. I also have FQ's in the chest in the guest bedroom with all my charm squares. There has to be about 50-75 FQ of my Kaffe Fassett fabric as well as my Liberty of London Fat Sixteenth's. And believe it or not, all this except the chest are in my sewing room which is a small ex-bedroom. So now I am more than a little ashamed of all I have, I will never ever use up all my fabric. I have made a rule now that I will not buy any more fabric -other than the background or borders for my quilts. It comes at a good time as I have made all my family members quilts in their desired designs/fabrics and now I am free to use what I have. I am wondering if there is a 12 step group I can go to ?
Seriously, I redid my sewing room this past summer and put my fabric on comic book boards and organized fat quarters, paired fabric up with patterns, etc. I was astonished and somewhat embarrassed at how much fabric I had. My one consolation: both my niece and her 11 year old daughter are getting into quilting so I have a feeling that my stash will see significant reductions in the future!
02-05-2015, 08:57 AM
#56
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: I live on a farm near Fargo
Posts: 384
I laughed when I read your post and wanted to say, "So, what is your problem? What you have is normal for a quilter." Well not really. I bought many collections while I was working. I told myself once I retired I would not have the money. Almost 3 years since I retired and am still buying but I do tell myself that I will only by to finish quilts and for backing. But, I love it. I love planning and love dreaming. I live 35 miles from my LQS so buy a lot on line. My UPS man comes right to my door and we are on first name basis. Enjoy the fabric but keep it organized. Who knows? We could have a 3 day blizzard and I am happy in my sewing room.
02-05-2015, 09:18 AM
#57
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 903
I believe that I can have too much fabric - because once in a while it makes me feel overwhelmed, and wasteful to some degree. Everyone has their own tolerance level. I don't want to spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on fabric that I'm not going to use. I do love having lots of things to choose from as scrappy is the most fun for me - but sometimes it bugs me to have so much invested just sitting there. So call me conflicted! I just reorganized for the umpteenth time yesterday and have a whole bin of scraps to give away, so I'm feeling better about the whole thing.
02-05-2015, 09:32 AM
#58
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas currently
Posts: 1,222
12 Step Program....step right this way, I'll take some of what you don't really want. And, if you're like me, the amount you don't want would probably fit in a regular mailing envelop that requires only one stamp.
02-05-2015, 12:07 PM
#59
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: St. Louis suburbs
Posts: 6,084
I am almost finished cleaning out my fabric bins. I found many fabrics that I know I will not ever use and don't like them. I am too busy to go back through all my bins again right now, but I have plans on pulling out these fabrics and giving them away. I bought almost every single one of them from thrift stores as I travel, and most of them were bought when I was a new quilter 8 or 9 years ago, I thought I needed everything for my stash. Now I realize that I have definite thoughts about my kind of quilting and that horrible yellow with red and purple flowers isn't going to work, all 3 yards of it. I am very glad I went through my fabrics as I found some lovely pieces I forgot all about. And I found out that I only had duplicates of fabrics by one designer only: Mary Engelbreit. I decided there are many things I want to do in the world besides buying fabrics so I am limiting myself to blenders and solids for my quilts. My motto for 2015 is "Less is More" so I guess it starts with fabric buying.
02-05-2015, 01:06 PM
#60
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 229
Just take it one day at a time. And keep telling yourself, I will use my stash. You are very lucky to have such a stash. Especially with the price of fabric now. So just give yourself a pat on the back for planning ahead. 
I hope you find lots of fun things to do with your stash. 
I hope you find lots of fun things to do with your stash. 
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