I want to make quilts that I love making, & using, & giving, and I want to use every last bit of the fabric I have here at home!!
I know I don't store/ create/ sew in an orderly fashion.....AND I have found that sometimes it's v. tricky searching for that one particular fabric...you just know it's there, but where ??!?!??!!?
I did try to sort my stash out one day ages ago with the view of getting things under control.
I had read that book "Sunday Morning Quilts" .....sort, store & use every last bit of your Treasured Fabrics. Hey, that sounded just like me!!!! no matter what fabric colour/ age/ collection/ designer.... I keep it, & do try to mix it all up, & do try to use it.
There was a whole section in the book about sorting your scraps, and they recommended sorting by colour which seemed to me like a really great place to start. So I purchased several more white plastic containers from the supermarket & began to sort! I must confess, it was a bit over whelming.....I have ugly fabrics from way back, fabrics that I love & use over & over, fabrics I never use, & fabrics that, sadly, are just background fill ins or it'll- do- type of fabrics!!! BUT no matter, scrap quilting to me is about using all of this lovely fabric!!!..... somehow, somewhere.....and making something pretty & useful out of all the bits & pieces that are causing a right mess in the spare bedroom!!!
Well...I've made a start!!! How do others cope in this modern age with new fabric so
easily at hand (either from shops or via internet), and it's all so overwhelmingly inspiring?!?!?!
I group mine by colour, but then have a separate cubbyhole for bigger pieces like backings. I have two scrap boxes - one for scraps I will use and one for scraps I take to school when we do sewing projects. My collection is nowhere near as big as yours though!
ReplyDeleteI'm greatly comforted (and pretty impressed) by the state of your stash! Sometimes I think I might be becoming a fabric collector rather than a quilter - I just need to retire so I can sew more ;-)
ReplyDeleteI had to have a chuckle reading your comments! I can relate to all that so well. I cannot throw away any fabric because I may be able to use it someday. (and I do use it, and want to use it - just don't have enough time). As a result I have cupboards full of dressmaking fabric, and now quilting fabric. I can't resist it - like Megan I fear I am becoming a collector rather than a quilter. I have lovely open shelves in the sewing room where I store all my new fabrics and this gives me great pleasure to just look at it. Under those shelves I have baskets of solids, little bits, big bits, old fashioned bits etc. It is nice to know I am not alone!
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