Joset

you have to just get in that stash and dig it is amazing what a person fines lol

Linda1

I have way too much fabric (if there is such a thing) and I now buy notions. I am almost 68 and and I don't think I will live long enough to cut and sew it into quilts. lol

Ellageo

well, I sorta felt the same way, then I used an 'UgLy' piece of fabric to sample a block...OH MY GOODNESS!! It came out beautiful! So, instead of thinking none of the fabric 'fits', try it! you may like it, I did! LOL

paoberle

I agree with you. I now just buy what I need. I used to buy material with no idea what I was going to use it for. Once I realized that I was frequently unable to find the piece I needed in my stash, I stopped the random buying. I cannot afford to have money sitting in my closet just because I like the material. I am slowly whittling down my stash and no longer buying without a project in mind.

lfletcher

I have a stash because when I first started I thought I was suppose to have one. Most of my fabric was bought on sale and I do try to use it first for any new project, but I always end up buying new. Styles and tastes change, so if I had it to do over, I would only buy fabric for a current project. I am trying to make a lot of scrappy quilts to use up my stash, but they don't take a lot of fabric. One thing you can do with a stash is piece them to make backs.

ManiacQuilter2

This is exactly what I do. I am making placemats with my church group. We received donation of odds &ends from
a manufacturer and I am using my stash with the donations to create some really nice placemats. When they get completed, I will post a picture. We are making them to be delivered around Christmas for Meal on Wheels.

merryamethyst

My stash is like my tubes of paint.. when i have an idea for a project, i pull out the fabrics i think will be suitable, see how they all work together, and get going with my cutter.

like some of the others said, when i need tostart on a project, i need to start IMMEDIATELY .

Each fabric in my stash was chosen by me for the quality of the fabric, color and pattern if any. I have some pieces that were gifted to me, not my personal taste, but they can all be slotted in.

I rarely follow a pattern, and even if i do, i need to make it my own with my own fabrics.

I recently organized my stash as well. the 1/2 - 2 yards were all ruler folded and sorted and graded by color and occupy 6 shelves of a cupboard , the longer lengths were also ruler folded, but are in two deeper cupboards. when i went looking for 30 fabrics from three color familes, i found them all in my stash!

I also realized where the gaps were in my stash, so any future purchases will have to fit in there. not now though, 2014 is the year of Zero Stash Addition

lclang

A stash is where you go at 2:00 a.m. when you need another piece for the quilt you are working on. I am working from my stash right now and only buying what I need to fill in if I don't have something that works. I am needing to reduce the stash as I have three cupboards and two shelving units full of fabrics that need to be used up.

DebbE

My stash is a combination from 40 years - from grandmother, mother in law, lots of yard sales & Goodwill finds, and tons of fabrics I bought years ago when I was all over the place meeting clients (so lots of quilt shop visits) and I was making lots of money. I have been cutting up my scraps into standard sizes for the better part of 2 years now (in between quilting, etc). I have a wonderful selection now of 'pre cuts' that I 'shop' from when I'm going to make a quilt. Scrappy quilts are my absolute favorites, and its wonderful being able to just pull fabrics together for my project and just go. Once done, my scrappy quilts have fabrics from the 40's all the way through today (because of course I still buy new when I find something I can't live without). It makes for a interesting quilt. I have all my yardage sorted by color, Christmas, metallic, baby & children, Australian, batik, "All Creatures Great & Small" where I have animals, birds, fish, etc, and misc. Makes it very easy to pull what I need from each section. Try making some scrappy quilts for a while, and I bet you start really enjoying the variety of fabrics you have.

Sewnoma

My stash gives me warm fuzzies. I'm ready for the zombie apocalypse, I have enough fabric that I can stay safely indoors and sew while the zombies eat all my neighbor's brains. LOL

I buy fabric that I like when I see it because I know next time I go it might be gone. I have a list of over 40 quilts I want to make eventually, and usually fabric I buy gets mentally earmarked for one of those quilts.

Sometimes it's just because I have to have it...I love robots, for example, and novelty prints change so quickly! I have a whole collection of robot toys on my shelf above my desk at work and whenever I see robot fabric that isn't TOO childish, I buy it. I've made 2 robot quilts out of my stash that have gone to charity but the "best" robot fabrics I'm saving for a quilt for myself.

When I go on vacation, I buy fabrics as my souvenirs. I try to come up with a theme so they'll all go together. We went to Hawaii last year and of course I had to buy Hawaiian fabrics while I was there, enough for 2 quilts. I have those all together, waiting for me to get time to make them. I have a quilting road trip to Oregon coming soon; I have no idea what my theme is going to end up being but I fully intend to buy enough fabric on that trip for at least one quilt! And of course, any robot fabric I find along the way.