When is a stash TOO BIG??
03-01-2011, 04:03 PM
#75
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: California, USA
Posts: 1,325
I am sure that hoarding fabric is nothing new and probably not a healty habit. But, with the cost of fabric predicting to go up to $20/yd, I am very glad that I have a very large stash. My prediction is that there will a lot of trading of fabric coming up in the next few years to be able to afford the fabric we need for our quilts.
It is, however, unfortunate that your friend at her age is still collecting a lot of fabric. What it really means is that when she passes she will have a lot of fabric and supplies for someone else to clean up.
That said, it is her money to spend any way that makes her happy with the days she has left. Who know she could live to be over a 100 years old, like my grandfather, who lived 2 months short of 103 years of age.
More power to her and to you for helping her get organized. That takes a lot of patience.
It is, however, unfortunate that your friend at her age is still collecting a lot of fabric. What it really means is that when she passes she will have a lot of fabric and supplies for someone else to clean up.
That said, it is her money to spend any way that makes her happy with the days she has left. Who know she could live to be over a 100 years old, like my grandfather, who lived 2 months short of 103 years of age.
More power to her and to you for helping her get organized. That takes a lot of patience.
03-01-2011, 04:15 PM
#76
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Cleveland OH
Posts: 3,220
Originally Posted by emmah
I try to limit myself to what I can keep on my hutch in my sewing room. I use 2 of the drawers below for backings (longer yardage), and the third has interfacing and heat n bond and freezer paper. I keep my scraps in two plastic drawer bins on the top of the drawer section and all the rest of the fabric IN PLAIN SIGHT on the shelves above. I try to discipline myself to a one-out, one-in policy--that is, if I finish some project then I have leeway to buy something else if I feel like it. (My mother once said "You will never live long enough to use all this stuff.)
03-01-2011, 05:01 PM
#79
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Central Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Posts: 7,695
Originally Posted by Pamela Artman
I have two tall bookcases, each shelf filled with piles of fabric, plus 9 drawers of scraps, a wall shelf of fat quarters, and a tall narrow set of shelves that hold all my tapestry fabrics for purses and totes. I don't buy much fabric anymore because I feel I have a good size stash, but at times, I think there are still spaces in my shelves that could be filled and a couple colors that I could use more of. I've vowed not to outgrow my shelves! Recently, I've started to ask myself when is a stash too big? I have been organizing an older friend's sewing room and sorting and folding her fabric. I've been working at it 3-4 hours every week or two for almost a year. She has soooooo much fabric, boxes and boxes and shelves and shelves and piles and piles - so much you can hardly walk in her sewing room. As I fold fabric and arrange on shelves by color, I start thinking I'm getting close to being done and suddenly there appears more boxes of fabric! I spent the night with her a few months ago and saw even more boxes of fabric in her guest room. I've seen some boxes in her bedroom too, and in the upstairs hallway and a second storage room upstairs. I separate her fabric into yardage, fat quarters and scraps (less than 1/4 yard). So far, I've filled 2 and a half huge boxes with scraps, a box with fat quarters, and two walls of floor to ceiling shelves with folded fabrics. Many of her fabrics are 10 yard pieces. She has many fabrics that are "vintage", thin, or just plain ugly. She is 84 and of course will never use even 1% of her fabric before she dies. And still, she buys more. She has 2 shelves, (8 piles) of white and cream background fabrics, mostly in 10 yard pieces. I just laugh and shake my head sometimes... she is a true hoarder! I look at my stash and ask myself, am I becoming the same way? When is a stash a good size, usable, valuable, and has hopes of being put to use in my lifetime, and when does a stash get too big and wasteful?
03-01-2011, 05:03 PM
#80
Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Beijing, China
Posts: 27
Great list of "when to stop" rules! What I like most about it is that it can be interpreted differently for each quilter--one may have a very large, but perfectly organized and accessible stash, while someone else may have a smaller but totally chaotic stash. I probably fall in the middle. Terrific guidelines for "stashing"! Thanks! :thumbup:
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