Stash Talk

Just yesterday I decided that my stash was becoming out of control, so I decided that it was time to organize! How timely because today's Sew, Mama, Sew blog post is all about people's stash habits. My quilting cottons are mainly stored in 2 large plastic storage drawers. Here's a before picture of the top drawer. Anything that didn't fit in the drawers got piled on top (or to the sides, or around the bottoms, or....wherever):

It was starting to get difficult to find things, so I decided to sort and fold it. Here's the bottom drawer now:

Wow! Check me out! Here's a little questionnaire from Sew, Mama, Sew that got me thinking 'bout my stash:

What do you usually sew? Quilts and Home Dec items

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? whatever is there or about 1 yard

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need? both

Are you a pre-washer? Not for myself. I will most likely pre-wash for a swap

Do you iron it? Yes

How do you sort it? I have novelties, holiday, stripes/plaids/dots, asian, batiks and then different colors

Do you have any special folding techniques? With selvage on the side and raw edge facing me, I wrap the fabric around my 5" wide acrylic ruler and then fold to get a square roughly 7" in length

How do you store your fabric? Under my cutting table in plastic storage drawers

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash? Participate in swaps! Or join a FQ of the month club, which sends you a certain amount of FQ's each month. Both of these definitely get me out of my comfort zone.

When do you say enough is enough? It hasn't happened yet

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects? Scrappy strip quilts

What’s your definition of the perfect stash? One that makes you smile and gives you butterflies every time you look at it!

Thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for getting me in touch with my stash.