This is all about my personal journey of quilting fabric collecting….and deciding– How much is too much?
I am the type of person that reacts to fabric. I usually am attracted to color and print. Then when I get closer, I get the fingers involved. If I really do enjoy it, I take a sniff {do you smell your fabric?!} or a quick rub on the face. That usually only happens with Minky though.
What draws me in is all of that combined…plus a few other factors but that is really about it. Color, print. Done.
This past week I have been taking stock of what I have in my Sewing Cottage. I have quite a few shelves and drawers as you know filled to over capacity of fabric. I have collected it for over 12 years {I know there are a few of you who have beat me on the collection years}. There is still fabric hanging around that I used in my first quilt!
{in my defense of this picture- this was seriously at it’s worse. I was moving things/tables around and there were piles everywhere! It is very crowded though}
There comes a time in ones quilting/sewing career when you just can’t look at that print anymore! But, to tell you the truth, I just can’t for some reason to let it go either.
Coming up with the decision that it was time to move on was hard… but I have been taking some moments {short, and quick} to pull off the shelves what I just don’t need, or will never use anymore. I have moved myself down half a shelf, and I already have one garbage bag FULL of fabric that is ready for a new home.
I don’t need any gasps from the ‘peanut gallery’ as Grandmas Phillips used to say– I feel the guilt already with this type of purging. I didn’t even do this when I moved 3 times! I was willing to box and carry every little strip of it! But, now is the time. I have waited long enough…the price of cotton is not going down, so there is no excuse to hoarding it any longer.
I am putting my big girl panties on, and facing the fact that it’s time to spend a little money on new, glorious, vibrant, and enchanting fabric. The kind that isn’t faded with sun. The kind that has the ‘new fabric’ smell. The kind that still has it’s original creases and folds.
The hard part now is picking out what I will be filling the shelves with now. What is catching my eye? Is it the color this time? Or the print? Or the designers name or line?
For some reason this is on the list of I love right now. I must be loving big prints, bright colors, and maybe even a little mystery!
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To help us {I am really meaning me} with stocking the shelves before all the money is spent on the Holidays, Craftsy is having a fantastic sale.
Craftsy fabric sale! Save up to 65% on fabric for 48 hours, November 15 & 16.
Now, if you aren’t too keen on picking out all by yourself fabric, How about joining their December Quilt Along! They take all the guess work out of picking fabric, and they have the pattern to go along with it! Can’t get much better than that.
Have you ever purged your fabric stash? How hard was it? I’d love to hear how you handled it….it’s not easy!
Becky Jorgensen is the creative quilter behind Patchwork Posse, the Patchwork Planner and her online quilt group Patchworkers Plus. You can find her patterns in books, magazines, and her quilt membership. Gather your quilting supplies, organize your sewing space, explore the process of disappearing quilt blocks, or finish a free quilt pattern. I'll help you use what you have, finish what you start and make your quilting journey fun!
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Oh, I know this problem well! Not only do I have trouble getting rid of fabric (it’s so pretty and has so many possibilities!!), but craft supplies in general. The sale coupons for the craft stores don’t help either. 😉 Good for you for purging. Now think about how much space you have for beautiful NEW fabric! 😉
I have the same dilemma. When I started quilting, I thought I needed a stash, so every time I went to the quilt store, I just bought random fabric that I liked. Now I have a closet full of fabric that I have no idea what I’ll ever do with, as it is either “dated” or doesn’t go with anything I want to do now. But then I read somewhere that if you don’t like a fabric, you haven’t cut it small enough. So, slowly but surely, I am starting to use my stash. I have two quilts on the go that will be made from only stash (no buying new fabric allowed!). One is Farmer’s Wife, and the other is a postage stamp. They are just quilts that I work on around other projects.
Thanks for feeling my pain. 🙂 It’s good to know I am not alone. That is a great idea to start cutting it up– I think I am past that, but might do something like that in the future.
Oh, I hear ya! I just moved all my fabrics too and after taking 2 months to unpack it all, I decided some has to go. Since there is always a call for charity quilts through my quilt guild, I decided to use some of the fabric this way. I have also donated some to other guild members to be used for the same purpose. ‘The fabric will be used for a good cause so I don’t need to feel guilty and I’m lightening my load!
Hello I would love to have the amount of fabric you have . I don’t think it is ever to much. As long as it is stored correctly . Have to protect it from dust and pets and Children. lol
I find it hard to cut the stuff I truly love.
5 years ago I had to clear up my sewing room because I was moving. Honestly, it was WORSE than your picture! I washed and folded each piece. Those that were blends or something I would never use I put in trash bags and donated to a local retirement home so they could use in their quilting group (they were overjoyed!). I started packing boxes and the fist few said “sewing room” and then the guilt crept in and I began labeling them “spare bedroom”. When loading the truck for moving, my brother was not fooled 😉 Anyway, when I got into a place that I actually had an assigned sewing room, I was able to unpack all the boxes, I was able to put the fabrics into plastic bins. Now I can pull out what I want an match and build projects without having to dig in piles or boxes to find anything. It was a cleansing experience and also bittersweet, but gave me more room to add to my stash without guilt 🙂
I worked at Cloth World and JoAnn Fabrics and accumulated a large stash of garment fabric. Decided I would never live long enough to use it so I brought a large amount to work. The college girls that worked with me were delighted and they took it all. I now quilt and have a large stash for that. Lol. Everything is organized by color but some days the room does get messy.
I hate to admit it, but I could stock a medium sized quilt shop with my stash. But, it seems I still never have that right shade or amount needed for some patterns I want to make.
I have decided not to build a stash. I will only buy and keep fabric that makes me happy. I also recently decided to buy, whenever possible, quality fabric because working with good fabric gives me pleasure while crappy, Joann on sale fabric, makes me grumpy. I am working on utilizing what I have on hand to use it up. The pattern may be simpler but someone will enjoy it as I give most of my modest quilts away to charities, such as Quilts for Kids. Now my mission is to acquire fabric with a destination in mind.