catsigler Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 A friend asked me this question today, and it made me think about how I ended up with many thousands of dollars worth of fabric that somebody will have to deal with after I die. So, at her request, I'm asking you gals, hoping that some of you at least have a more sensible approach to stash-building than I do. She is taking a trip to buy fabric on Saturday. I also recall that Diane Gaudynski claims to have no stash, says she buys what she needs for whatever project she's working on... Or did she say she has no UFOs, only works on one project at a time. I forget... Please weigh in and help my friend. It's too late for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PATST Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 12/4 I don't have any hints on 'what to buy' -- I went through my totes of fabric last week-end (not really through, just kind of 'scanned') --I think it is too late for me to. I do have a question, though --- when you find a fabric that you just know you need but you don't know what for, how much do you buy? It seems like so often I have the perfect fabric for a project but not enough to do what I need. Patsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore1223 Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I usually buy three yards if I really like it. That's usually enought to do a border. If I really, really love it.....I get 5. There's no hope for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 When I first started I would only buy for the project that I was working on...then I read somewhere that "quilters" needed fabric stashes So I started to build my collection (I am sure I have a very modest stash compared to some of you (currently mine fills the tubs that fit under my 12 ft Liberty table) but I am starting to run out of room there and have no spare closets until the kids start to leave home (about 10 more years, lol). I usually only buy 1/2 yd- 1 yd cuts if I like something (I like scrap quilts) or larger cuts if I have a specific quilt pattern in mind. Use to buy full price then I discovered some great deals on the internet and now I stash build mostly with sale fabric only ($3.98 ayd or less). I try to buy fabrics that are to my taste and I buy a lot of fabrics that read more like solids/ tonals than really busy prints of many colors...this way they are more universal and have a better chance of being used some day. My goal is to some day quilt only for me and then make charity & family quilts using my stash. I figure by then DH will be retired and we will be on fixed incomes and there will be very little $$ for buying fabric. This also give me the incentive and reason to build my stash now while I am bringing in an income, lol!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennan100 Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I buy for the current project or two. But I always buy more than I'll need for that project so left overs go into the stash. I do very little piecing so I don't have a huge stash, and what I do have I often find over at my mothers in her stash....since she's the piecer I think that's only fair! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I became a fabric addict many moons ago. I don't know the correct answer, sometimes I buy for a project but mostly I buy what makes me smile and go wow!! I ususally buy 3 yards if I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. You can't go wrong with solids and nice prints, but if the pattern makes you smile it's a keeper.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen G Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I find fabric is something like clothing--very trendy. What I loved 10 years ago I probably have cooled to. Except for basics like creams and beiges I buy very little fabric over and above the current project I am working on. When I find a quilt I just have to make I find the thrill is in the search and love going to fabric stores to find the perfect fabric. I also have a small sewing room that is not conducive to mega fabric collections. However, there is always those must have pieces that you know you will use. This past spring my MIL had a heart attack, and she decided to downsize her life. She had 34 of those large plastic tubs filled with fabric which we downsized to about 10 tubs. Some of the fabric was years and years old and she even had a lot of fortrel which she made quilts out of. She now is more excited to quilt as her fabric is in a much more manageable stash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.A Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 Great question but there is no right answer. You have to think about what kind of quilts you want to make (Amish, scrappy, two color, children's, large, small, art or traditional) and even then, your tastes & interests will likely change if you stick with quilting long enough. The quilt police will never give me a ticket for insufficient fabric...I have more than I can possibly use in this lifetime and I am a prolific quilter. But I still enjoy the thrill of the hunt and I buy new fabric all the time. DH is used to it by now... we agreed that he will always need golf balls and ammunition, I will always need fabric and threads. I buy half yards of most fabrics if I don't have a project in mind. I buy one yard cuts of stripes and of tonals (I've found that what I use most is tone on tone fabrics that read like solids). I buy three yards if it looks like borders or the back to a small quilt and I'll get 5 - 8 yards for backings. Whew! No wonder I have this storage issue..... Nancy in Tucson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 If its a fabric that I will use over and over like a great background or a everything print or color I will likely buy the whole bolt or at least 6 yards. If its something that I know I will use for a project and maybe like for something else whatever the project calls for plus 3-4 yards extra. If its just a sparkle of something that I like, but won't use much of, 1/2 - 1 yard MAYBE....more than likely just a fat quarter of it. I know that I go to the nutty side of the buying spectrum, but a girl has to have eye candy laying around...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaMissy Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 This is a great question. If she is new to quilting I would build my stash with basics that are always needed. Creams, whites etc. it seems I never have enough neutrals. I would buy blendable marbles in different shades. Then I would only buy for a specific project which is what I pretty much do now. I have a large but managable stash and use my fq's for applique. Missy in Florida Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrystitcher Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I'm with JoAnn, I buy now while I'm working because someday I plan to be able to just quilt and then there will be no income. As far as buying fabric, I'm a fat quarter junkie. I also love scrap quilts so it works for me. That way I get to buy all the pretty fabric I want at a reasonable cost. If I really, really like it, I will buy 3 yards. Your friend will find her own sense of buying after she's quilting for a while. Sharon The Country Stitcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ammueller7 Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 when you find a fabric that you just know you need but you don't know what for, how much do you buy? In answer to that one - I have a standard thing that I say "if you really really like the fabric you buy 14 yards - not quite a bolt - but 14 yards!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmiequilts Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 Oh well my stash started when I was 16 and worked at a small fabric shop in Lake Hiawatha, NJ called 'The Stitchery'. I was into garment making then and oh it was so much fun to get the new lines of fabric and make samples for the shop! Even better all of the patterns, notions & fabrics for the samples were free! All I had to do was make something and let it hang in the shop for a time. I still have some of those fabrics and that would have been 1972-73! I think that I dressed my entire family from those samples! I buy what I like, sometimes it's for a specific project, mostly not, just something I may need some day! 3 yards min. if I like it alot, never less that a half yard. Luckily I still teach at my LQS and get a discount! I admit it I am a sick woman, DH knows this and hardly ever says a word, sadly my to DSs that live home don't question Mom's addiction either! Working in the shops opened me up to so many ideas from other quilters and it's so much fun to choose a fabric that's not 'me' and make something beautiful. Even with my hundreds of yards of fabric I can choose fabrics for a project and still not have ONE fabric that I need! Oh well then it's on to shopping. I don't drink, gamble or run around so as addictions go mine's pretty harmless and with the economy the way that it is I'm not buying as freely, which is a good excuse to work from my stash. :cool: One more note, if we have a frigid winter I have enough fabric to insulate the inside walls and keep us even warmer! :P:cool: So buy what inspires you, that you can afford, I think that having at least some beautiful fabrics just sitting there to inspire you is a wonderful thing! Fabric lovers unite! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarieBrewer Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 If I like it but don't know what to do w/it, I buy 2 yards. I rarely buy fat quarters anymore unless they are one heck of a bargain. Too much money in them at $2.50 a fat qtr. If I really, really like the fabric, I buy 4 yards and justify it by saying that it will help make a scrappy backing fabric. I really like the pieced backings. They plain ones are so boring. My stash isn't too big and I go through periods where I say I will not keep buying fabrics and let them sit. Who am I kidding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pojo Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I am horrible with my stash. In fact I have our local quilt shoppe cutting me about 1500 dollars worth of Hoffman Christmas and newest lines of faric. I love anything Hoffman puts out and find I "just have to have some of that" when she shows me the new things. Hoffman's are my vice and I usually buy 3 yards at onetime because my other obsession is it will never be there when I decide to do something with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyLynn Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I just love fabric and if I get in a funk, I will go the LQS, 50 miles away, and just touch and feel it, many times not even buying, to get out of that funk. I am a sale shopper, so usually hit the sale bin first. Altho, this week I just bought my first full bolt, ordered it and took the whole thing. But have many plans for that bolt. And because I like fabric so much, I do have a bunch. I always tell my students, if you like it buy as much as you can afford. So getting them hooked too.... I often say that when I die, I just want to be cremated with all my fabric and my son, gotta love this kid, says " WELL THAT WILL BE A BIG A** FIRE" So not sure if he means because of the fabric or my size. Don't ask him, just smile;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgstroud Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I too am a scrap quilter, so started building a stash long ago....but it seems that you never have exactly what you need to finish a project so often will buy for binding or whatever, but like Joann I don't buy regular priced fabric unless it's a piece I need to finish something ( up here in Canada our fabric runs around $15/ meter( unless it's on sale) so I have been buying for my stash on the internet, at around $4 - 6/ yd, even with shipping and customs it is still cheaper. I have bought lots of fat quarters, and lots of 1/2 - 1 yd pieces.....I can buy 1yd over the internet for the price of a fat quarter here......and if I have some ideas of projects I want to do I'll buy with that in mind. Lately I decided to quit buying and use up some of my stash doing "strip' quilts, etc....which are quick, and fun. Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merryjo2003 Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 OMG!!! It's too late for me. It's too late for Mom also! She's always laughing about "when she goes", how my sister and I are going to have to deal with her stash. My sister does do some sewing and a little quilting, but nothing like Mom and me. To top it off, one of Mom's neighbors decided she was giving up quilting and toted her whole stash to Mom's. Now she has double! My problem is 30 plus years of collecting fabric. I have over 35 quilt tops of my own to quilt and focal fabrics for at least 20 more. I always tell myself NO MORE FABRIC, but then I see something I can't live without............you all know what I'm talking about. I just finished trying to organize my sewing studio and have had a really good look at my stash. I really wonder where all that fabric came from. I never buy under 2 yards. I heard Alex Anderson say you buy quarter and half yards of fabric and I thought she was crazy. Even so, You just never have that right shade of...........so off you go to the fabric store.:P I guess I could have worse addictions. I could drink or smoke or.........but it wouldn't be as fun. Might be less expensive though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmiequilts Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 Oh I think that drinking and smoking would be much more expensive, think of the 'sin' taxes on those items, the gov. hasn't figured out that cotton fabric is an addicition so they haven't added any extra taxes, yet! Then of course you'd have the health issues, I think the worse we can get is a sore back from buying too much at once! :D I'm so happy to see that fabricaholics are all over the world! My DF told her husband that when she dies I am to be in charge of sorting and dealing with all of her sewing machines and stash. She only has sons and they don't quilt! Yikes, I don't know how to deal with my own stash and 5 machines plus Millie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 My DMIL told me that she is leaving me her "sewing room" in her will when she dies. This entales her Bernina 200E her Bernina serger all of her "Threads" mags (I think she has over 20 years of that mag laying around..her fav sewing mag) all of her sewing patterns and her fabric stash...unfortunately her stash is not cotton fabrics it is various fabrics from wool to silk what will a quilter do with that. Anways she has 3 daughters and 2 sons and none of them ever shared her passion for sewing so I get it by default because she wants the stuff to go to someone who will appreciate what she has in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonnieReece Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I am using fabrics that are not suitable for quilt tops for any reason, as backs. I cut them into strips the width of my large ruller (8.5") and sew them together. Even the ugliest fabric seems to work doing it this way. I winter in Mexico so this year, I brought down 11 boxes of fabric that are not my favorites to force me to use those. Yes, I have a serious stash and am trying to reduce it so my kids don't have to deal with so much. If this picture somes though, it shows one of the quilts from my "surplus". I am happy with it and will be even better when it is quilted. Bonnie Reece in sunny, warm Loreto, Mexico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nora123 Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I quilt with vintage cotton fabric and feed sacks. My backing is usually a solid repro or repro 30's. For me it is a matter of finding a source to buy my textiles from. Personally I don't think you can have to much fabric. Nora, Millennium Washougal WA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollyrw Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I generally buy what strikes me and the more I like it, the more I buy. One thing I don't think anybody mentioned is "value". Try to buy a good variety of lights, mediums, and darks. Most people tend to have more mediums in their stash. A couple of years ago I set about diversifying my stash. Every time I went into a quilt shop I made myself find at least one light/light and one dark/dark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraJ Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I've only been addicted to fabric for 2.5 years (wouldn't know it by looking at my fabric closet!) But...I buy blenders, blenders, blenders. If I find a stand out fabric I absolutely love - I buy like the ladies above, 3-5 yards. I have enough blenders to have fun with it if I don't buy fabrics that go with it. I purchased large zip lock bags and take the stand out fabric along with matching blenders and make a pack of it for a future quilt. Those go in a large bin. I think we're all on the quest as to "she who has the most fabric when she passes - WINS!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 Pojo, I love Hoffman collections too. If only I had bought more of the red fabric with gold feathers and scrolls on it in the 2007 Christmas line. I'm starting to agree with the buying 14 yards if you really love it theory! But I usually buy 3 yards so I have enough for borders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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