I received an e-mail from fellow blogger, Laurie over at Stone-Belle, asking about using scraps. She doesn’t use a lot of yardage and was wondering how to calculate her usage for the stash reports.
My feeling about all this is . . it doesn’t matter! Use what works for you. If you post a stash report that says “I used a lot of fabric this week” or “I used a little bit of fabric this week”, that’s fine with me! You can add pictures of blocks or strips or whatever you’ve accomplished during the week.
Stashbusting isn’t supposed to be about crunching numbers. Most of what I do is from a pattern with yardage requirements so I’m easily able to track my usage. If it isn’t easy . . then it’s not fun! Make it easy on yourself.
We all know what we need to do — whether it’s use a drawer full of 2″ strips or a shelf full of yardage or 10 bolts of fabric . . do what works for you!
If you don’t have a running total of your yardage used to date, that’s perfectly alright with me. If it makes you happy, it makes me very happy!
Stashbusting is stashbusting . . no matter how you calculate it or keep up with it. Even if your only method of keeping track is to look at your shelves and see that they’re not as full as they used to be! See how easy I am to get along with?
Just join us . . the more, the merrier! There will be no auditors coming in to check the accuracy of your reports. You’re doing this for YOU . . not for anyone else. The world is a cold and scary place these days. Quilting for us is fun, a way to reduce our stress, and feel good about something we’ve accomplished. Don’t make it hard on yourself. Let’s have fun and bust the stash at the same time.
Laila Mogensen says
I follow yours and others reporting on your stash. It’s fun to follow and a great idea to keep the stash small or big enough. I would like to keep an eye on mine, don’t think that I uses that much and keep buying new ;))
Happy Thoughts
Laila
Norma says
Well said, Judy! I also use a lot of scraps and not necessarily yardage. I don’t do formal tracking–I just try to stop buying more and increasing what I have. LOL I have some specific pieces that I purchased that I decided this summer to make into some tops–why am i saving this stuff? I feel I am stash busting when I make scrap quilts ad when I use the yardage pieces I fell in love with years ago and they end up in a quilt. You are so right when you said this has to be fun!
Karen L says
It’s always supposed to be fun…these days we have to find fun (ok less stress) whereever we can. Something I’ve noticed with me……is I stop to think (most of the time) before I buy. Do I have these fabrics similar to this in my stash?? Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes no…..and sometimes they just call my name so loudly that I can’t resist….and sometimes the fabric just jumps into my pile without me knowing how!!!!! I don’t see it as quanity….but quality time with something that southes our soul.
Karen L
Lori in SD says
Stashing busting reports keep me on track. I see when I buy fabric, when I use fabric, and if I’m making a dent in my stash. I love to read what others do, everyone has different goals. That’s OK–because we ARE all different!
gardenpat says
Although I don’t have a quilting blog, I will be happy to report each week my progress in stashbusting. I’ll include my flicker acct. link so you can see what I’ve been making as I stashbust. For example: for my 2008 stashbusting here is my photo link (soon to add 2 more quilts- 1 queen size for DD and 1 full size for a friend having cancer surgery).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25070585@N06/
Hope you like my stashbusting efforts! BTW- is it okay if this is how I show you my progress?
QltnRobin says
Hi Judy!
I have been following your BOM and noticed the 2009 stashbusting post. Well i have added mine to Mr Linky! So Im hoping I will be able to use more of my own instead of buying! Of course I havent bought anything new in a looooooong time. When I went to the recent quilt show in Spokane I only bought 1 fat quarter and 2 patterns, thats how determined I am! 🙂
Have a great day!
Robin
Karen (Misiz C) says
I’m glad you wrote this post. I stopped writing stash busting reports because I would forget to track usage or using scraps would be a frustrating exercise in estimating. What I have accomplished this past year is an attitude adjustment toward my stash. I LOVE the challenge of seeing what I can do with the stash. I’m finding my occasional purchases of fabric now lean toward 3-5 yard “background” fabrics that provide a canvas for all my beloved scraps. My stash is shrinking and that was my goal. I will start posting reports again …. minus the numbers. Thanks for reminding my why I was doing this.
Tamara Bobrosky says
Aloha from Hawaii, Judy! Yep, I’m here on my vacation. In reading your post I had to laugh at myself. I now understand about the “I need three, I’ll get five yards.” I went to the fabric warehouse here in Hilo to pick out fabrics for a class I’m taking when I get back home. I went way way over on yardage. I told myself it was because I didn’t have my supply list. But I knew for a fact that none of the yardage requirements was over 1 yard (we’re only making 4 placemats). But I asked for 5 or 6 yards of each! Sometimes I got more becuase it was the end of the bolt and I couldn’t bear to leave the “little” piece behind!
On a side note, I really like the fabric, it looks like Turkeys. You can see a pic at the bottom of this post:
http://bobroidery.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/vacation-day-3/
Ursula says
I think picking fabrics from my stash is sooo hard. I usually just give up and go fabric shopping or put everything back and do something non quilty. Lately I’ve been asking hubby for help and he just goes and picks this this and that and it usually goes. Hmm…go figure.
Patti says
OK – this post did it for me. I’m back in the game now that I know I can post reports like “emptied one shoebox of scraps”. I fell by the wayside earlier this year because I had no way to figure yardage because I make almost all scrappy quilts. So just now I’m writing a stashbusting post on my blog. I’ve printed and signed your pledge. As soon as the post is finished I’ll put a link to the post in the appropriate place. My goal is simple – have less fabric at the end of 2009 than I have right now. I can buy – but I want to use more than I buy. I was a total failure this year – I think I’m ahead by more than you are!