I hoard fabric. Help

Oh dear, I've just ordered a whole load of fat quarter packs from Hobbycraft . Well they were selling them at 20% off, so £5.60 for a pack of 6 fat quarters. I mean, it would have been daft not to buy them..... wouldn't it?

Generally I am not a hoarder, more known for getting rid of things than keeping BUT, DD got me back into making and doing a few years ago, plus DH, DD & self set up a hobby business selling at antique fairs, which means going to auction sales, and inevitably bidding on Lots, usually fabrics, not for the business - but because they go so cheaply!

Even DH returned from an auction with a huge plastic box full of knitting wool. His explanation? It was so cheap! I have managed to sell half of it on ebay but I am using the other half up knitting for charity. Our local homeless hostel is desperate for warm hats, scarves, gloves and sweaters, so I am knitting my way through that stash. Similarly charity shops can usually sell crafts. DD makes lavender bags and cushions, she gets cushion pads cheaply online and her local charity shop is delighted and they sell well.

I have recently heard of a rewarding answer to your dilemna. In the UK a group of parents from a local school have supported a small rural school in Africa. The children had nothing to keep their schoolbooks in. One mum worked out a pattern,handed it out to any one who could sew, collected fabric from one and all. They sent over hundreds of book bags to be distributed. Happy children and a worthwhile collective idea.

Juz wanna say hi everyone I've jus joined and can't wait to try all of the lovely craft work I can't figure out how to work a sewing machine so I prefer to hand stich/embroider but some of your ideas are great

www.redcross.org.uk/en/Get-involved/Our-shops/Our-specialist-shops/Haberdashery-shops

www.lovinghands.org.uk/

www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=charities+collecting+handicraft+fabric

There you go! If any of you can face it.

When DH retired I turned all his work shirts into quilts for garden benches as I don't like cleaning the benches every time I want to sit out side.

This thread should be entitled I am whoever and I am a Fabricoholic.

I don't do fabric but I know a lot of kntters with huge stashes of yarn.
4I wonder if the are any charities who could use this stuff, (if any of you can face getting rid of your stash.)

It would be good to see some of the work you lot have all done.
Could you try posting on the Picture thread? I am very impressed by this lovely work but I lack the patience.

Oh Lord, I wish you hadn't said that about the old shirts, suzied! Now I shall be collecting my son's old work shirts

I have a collection of shirts, too! Oh Lord, I had forgotten all about them.

I love fabric and have a cupboard full , but I always seem to lack the very thing I need for my next project and have to go and buy some more! I also have a couple of those clear ikea storage boxes full of my DH and DS 's old work shirts which are very good quality cotton from the likes of Thomas Pink, which would make up into a lovely quilt ( when I get round to it) I have used some of them for nightdresses for my DGDs. They always have a new nightie when they stay over!

I feel the same way AshTree .i love being able to do a quilt without having to shop as I knew that when DH retired I wouldn't have the freedom to go to quilt fairs or browse the materials in john lewis so I bought everything I liked and every shade of thread made by Gutermann before he retired. Now I have more than I suspect I will ever use. I liked the web site for the Linus project Tiggy especially a quilt based on a Chinese door which would use up the japanese fabrics I have. I do them for charity so I have to be interested or I flag. I'm sure Linus won't mind as it's for charity. I also think it's more for the clearer uppers to have to deal with. I don't want them cursing my bones or tossing everything into the skip. I know what you mean Jane Rowena there must have been a small fortune spent on threads and silks.

They breed, that's what it is...

A friend of mine started a class where they used embroidery threads on art works, as texture. It was way too expensive for many of her class, so I said I would sort out my silks. Well - I was horrified by how much I had when I sorted them all out together, from various hiding places. I not only had my own, I was presented with my mother's, as she had decamped to tapestry many years ago, and also with an aunt's. I must have thousands of pounds' worth - and that is after having sent a third of it all to my friend, who had enough to supply her whole class with!

Stansgran - I think you will very quickly get the hang of it and see how it is going !

I do have a list somewhere that I picked up in South Africa many years ago of 72 reasons to buy fabric.
I also remember a friend saying that stamp collectors will get their collections out and just look at them so why can we not just do the same with our fabric !

I made up a poem years ago too which went something like ..............

I've tried to use up all my bits but I would like to know
Why when I thought I'd used them all that they just seem to grow
I've used all this and I've used all that and swopped some with a friend
Drawers are over-stuffed you see - another quilt may be the end

Memory is playing tricks again as there were also a few more verses which have disappeared into the wild blue yonder.

Yes, I think one can have too much stash, but I find it so hard to get rid of it. I just love knowing that I have so many materials - fabrics, beads, buttons, ribbons, lace, paper flowers, brads, etc. etc. Most things I think of making hardly need a trip to the craft shops - I just have a rummage and nearly always find what I need.
Though last summer I did send my sister home from a visit with a big box of cross-stitch fabrics, some threads, patterns and other paraphernalia for her two granddaughters who love all things sewing. I know I'm never going to do cross-stitch again, I'm so over that! (I kept the majority of the embroidery threads though because I do use them for all sorts of things).

One can when it starts to spread to other areas of the house, and it eats into precious wardrobe space!

I looked at all of mine and asked myself - honestly, will I use all of this up in my lifetime? And the answer was, No. So half of it has to go. Along with posting it off to friends, I let DD have a rummage every time she comes up to stay, for craft projects with the DGCs.

I would also suggest bags and simple cushions to use up stash. Google Linus quilts if you are happy to make for charity. Ask locally if there are any charities that accept quilts or knitted goods.

I have a rather large stash of fabric, wool and other craft items. I am very lucky to have my own dedicated room so it is all stored tidily.

Can one actually have too much stash ?

Cut them into strips (3"x1") and peg a rug. If you're using lighter fabrics though best to cut them with pinking shears so they don't fray.

I think I will try doing that to see what happens. I generally send my quilts to a hospital shop in Tooting. I use my scraps by sewing them all together at the conclusion of each quilt. Pity you can't post a picture for me so I can see what you mean.

I have made inroads into my stash of fabric Stansgran by making quilts for Project Linus and have 21 ready to go. One of the quickest ones I make is very good at using up all those 'bits'.

Cut fabric into 2.5 inch wide strips - they can be any length and a good range of different fabrics works well.
Join all the strips together - you will end up with a VERY long strip (there is no need to iron all those seams)
Find the two ends (don't worry about it being twisted), put RS tog and sew together - this can take quite a while! When you get near to the end it may well be twisted so just cut as near to the end as you can to release the twist.
Repeat until it becomes rectangular - you will know when it is right.
Iron the whole thing and finish in your usual way.

It is difficult to say exactly how much fabric is needed but as a guide if a Jelly Roll was used it makes a single bed size quilt. Linus quilts can be any size which is just as well for me !

Three thousand? Goodness, and I thought I was bad!

MiL still can't get into two of the bedrooms in her new house. She phoned me the other night, having kindly donated a few elderly tomes to the local library.

I suggested that she donate them all, all 3000 of them (and it took DBH and I several years to get it down to that number). She was getting quite cross with me until I pointed out that she could always borrow them back any time she liked, and that they could house them all for her. I thought it was sheer genius.

Oops, I forgot I can't use Facebook emojis on here

Books! No definitely don't mention them! Thank heavens for Kindle - my book stash now takes up only virtual space ��

I recognise all these symptoms! I have no real answers, but I think it's a Magpie mentality!
x

I was going to make the DGDs dresses with the fabric I bought to make dresses for the DDs.
My yarn stash would go down (have knitted up some of it!) if I didn't keep buying more. The new stuff is so nice and tempting.
China inherited from both sides of the family is another hoard.
Books. Don't mention books.