meldmac

I just barely started and I already think I'm addicted.

jcrow

You sound just like me. I have every nook and cranny filled to the brim. I went through my room and reorganized and it didn't give me any extra room. I had a big giveaway on my blog and everyone who entered (11 women) won a quilt kit and I still have a full room.

I offered a woman here to give her a couple of kits, but found that after last year giving 14 kits away to a woman who retired and giving some kits to other people, I finally have no EXTRA kits! But my room is plum full of kits I love and fabric lines and scraps and yardage. I have 3 dressers (one taller than me), 2 bookcases that are giant, lots of huge rubbermaid tubs, lots of different containers, all full of fabric and kits.

That said, I get lots of emails from online stores and open them and go the their stores and put things in my shopping cart and at the very last minute I click off of the "purchase" page. Sometimes I purchase, then feel guilty. I have way more than enough to last a lifetime. I'm getting better, but I found if I really like a fabric, really really like it, I better buy it now because in a week or two it will be all gone and I won't be able to find it.

Part of quilting is loving fabric and part of loving fabric is owning the fabric you love! How can you resist it?

SewCrazy4Quilts

Originally Posted by auntpiggylpn
This is exactly what made me stop buying "just because"! It took me almost a full week, working at it for a minimum of 6 hours a day to get all my fabric organized and my sewing area (which is a 9' X 10' room with a small walk in closet) put together. I purchased 40 sheets of acid free foam core board from the Dollar Tree, cut it into 9 pieces and wrapped the majority of my fabrics that were over 1 yard in length. I used all 360 pieces and still had fabric that I had to ruler fold. Anything less than 1 yard got folded and put into a Sterilite 5 drawer plastic thingy. And I still have fabric in plastic bins. That was in July of 2012. I made up my mind that I had enough and if Iwasn't going to use the fabric after I bought it, then it was a waste of my money. I have managed to make 2 quilts completely out of my stash and have only purchased the needed amount of a fabric if I don't have anything in my stash that will work. I still go to the quilt shows, my favorite LQS, Joann's, Hancock Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, and any quilt shop that I come across in my travels. I still like to window shop and see the new fabrics. The only impulse buy I have had in the past 6 months was a FQ bundle at the APQS quilt show in Grand Rapids and that was only because I was told to buy it! I am still a fabric addict and probably will be forever. I just know that it is a shame to buy beautiful fabrics and have them sit on a shelf or in a plastic tub.



This really resonates with me. I feel as if I'll never use all the fabric I already have, and much of it is lovely fabric. I think I'll use you as inspiration to help me cut back on buying. Thanks!



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Wow. I meant it originally to be funny. But now I see I may have a real color addiction (Ask me about my MASSIVE nail polish collection). Thank you so much for your wise words ladies. They are really sinking in.

auntpiggylpn

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Wow. I meant it originally to be funny. But now I see I may have a real color addiction (Ask me about my MASSIVE nail polish collection). Thank you so much for your wise words ladies. They are really sinking in.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I don't think anyone feels that this thread was a plea for help!!! Talking about our issues is really cathartic (at least for me). I belong to another forum and someone posted a thread today that asked how many yards of fabric was in your personal stash. I did a rough guesstimate and I know that I have at least 1000 yards in my quilting room alone. That doesn't count the pre cuts or the plastic tubs that are in the spare bedroom and garage. Now, all this fabric is wonderful and beautiful but what good is it if it just sits on a shelf or in a tub? And I can't say that if it was the only fabric on my shelf that I would use it for the most current project. I love walking into my room and seeing the fabrics all lined up; it makes me happy. So that being said: I don't have to use every piece of fabric that I own. And I will still buy more fabrics because it makes me happy. What I will do is be more selective in my purchasing. This is just my personal decision because I know it is right for me. I have donated a huge amount of fabric in the past 6 mos. and that makes me happy. And I know the people who got the fabric don't have the resources to get even a 10th of what I have and will do something with it and that makes them happy which in turn makes me happy. So all in all, I am a happy fabric collector!!!

Now let's not even think about discussing button collecting; that will just open up a whole new can of worms!!!!!

slbram17

You are definitely not alone. Maybe realizing that your fabric will outlast you or that you are fast running out of storage space....

It's hard not to buy new fabric. I mostly try to use what I have because I bought so much fabric when it was on sale, never realizing how much it was growing.

slbram17

I can't believe how expensive fabric is now. Even Walmart's fabric is pricey ...who would have guessed??

GrannieAnnie

I have no idea what you are talking about, says grannie with her fingers crossed behind her back!

rebeljane

What are you crazy, stop buying fabric, NEVER lol

carolaug

I find that cleaning my sewing room and reorganizing my stash does wonders...I always find many, many fabrics that I totally forgot that I have. I also love making scrappy quilts now....I hate waste so one of my problems was having tons of scraps...I like theme quilts so found it hard to use them in scrap quilts if I did not want them to be a theme...so now I am cutting the pieces into postage size and will be making a postage stamp quilt...when ever is not big enough for 2 1/2 inch square I am now throwing it out...even though I know if could be used for something else..I need to get control of the scraps....also I am trying to use up my scraps - do a scrappy quilt after every quilt I make...stay out of stores - beeline to just what I need and do not look at the clearance or sale areas...its not a bargin if I do not need it. I also found that one of the best places for fabric is my closet...and the hubbys...he has lots of 100 percent cotton dress shirts.

Silver Needle

I only buy for complete projects I have in mind for a specific gift or charity.