Oh my...

Did you ever play Truth or Dare?  It was quite the thing when I was about 11 and if memory serves, it usually involved boys or cigarettes.  

I don't think I ever completely out-grew the "oh yeah?  You don't think I would do that... you think I'm chicken?" stage of my development.  It isn't bravado or cheekiness, I just have this issue with folks trying to tell me what to do.  It's been a lifelong problem... just ask my parents.  

So when friends didn't think I'd have the nerve to show this to you... of course I had to do it.  

But first I need to tell you how it came about.  This past week, because I had nothing better to do... okay, I couldn't find what I was looking for and dire measures were required.  So I started cleaning out "my stash".  

I know the organizational gurus recommend regular weeding and pruning of closets, drawers and such but really, this is fabric.  It's historical.  We've got emotional attachments to some of it.  And some of it just might be worth a fortune -- just check out the folks selling "OOP" fat quarters on Etsy.  But a regular review is still beneficial because it let me know what I've got, and more importantly, where to find it when I need it.  

Since I was starting to sort anyway, I decided to also do a bit of re-organization and improvement.  Have you seen those pictures and blog posts from quilters who organized their fabric by folding/rolling it bolt-style on a ruler to make everything a relatively uniform size?  That's what I did.

Isn't it pretty?

Of course I raised a blister flipping that ruler to roll/fold everything but it was definitely worth it as everything is neat and organized - mostly.  I think keeping it this way will be far easier than getting it this way.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure and honesty -- to keep it real -- this is what was left after the purge.  

Yes, the purge... make that The Purge.  (I really do fear that years from now, quilt historians will remember April 2012 as the date of The Purge.  It lasted three long days... but now it's done.)  

Even before this, I knew this to be true -- Hello.  My name is Carrie and I have WAY too much fabric.  More than I'll use in a lifetime.  More than any one quilter will ever need or use.    

But the reality is that I have fabric that I'll never use, fabric that I've outgrown, fabric that makes me question my sanity and ask "what on earth was I thinking?"  I had fabric dating back 25 years, back to when I first started quilting.  The only saving grace - if there is one - is that by cleaning out my closets, I can donate the fabric to groups that will happily use it to make something wonderful.  So into bags it went, destined for a local guild/group that does a whole lot of sewing for charity.  Lots and lots of bags.  And a few boxes.    

This was the trunk of my car.  (I knew I was saving TJs bags for something.)

This was the backseat.  

Note:  I want it entered into the record that I drive a small -- okay, small-ish -- car.  (Huh?  Yes, it is the same car and trunk that I have bragged about as having a super-large trunk... something about superior German engineering in my VW... whatever.)

I took everything to my super nice and very kind quilter as she knows all the ladies who do the charity sewing.  While I had warned her several times, and given her a couple of chances to bail on me, she burst out laughing when she saw the contents of my car.  It took us less than five minutes to empty the car and deposit everything in her living room.

I labeled these pictures "oy vey" and it definitely fits.  

I didn't weigh the bags or even count them as that would have meant mentally calculating the amount of yardage, and then the aggregate cost of it all.  I don't want to know.

The purpose of all this is two-fold.  I already told you the first reason, I was "dared" to post the pictures.  The other reason is that in chatting with friends about this, I know that I'm not alone.  I'm not the only one with too much fabric that she'll never, ever use, and I'm not the only one who wants/needs to clear out the clutter.  It took time that I would rather have spent doing something else but it was necessary and now its done.  And it feels great to have it behind me. 

Especially because I found something I knew I had... something I couldn't find.  

Mel Fisher found the Atocha.  I found Flea Market Fancy fat quarters... the original.  

And no, they won't be available on Etsy as OOP fabric.  (OOP = out of print.)

I also never outgrew the "finders, keepers" stage of my development.  Just as my brother.

Comments

[Brenda]

Love all your fabric. Would love to have your stash. How nice of you to donate the fabric to charity quilts. I'm sure they appreciated it and it will bless so many.:)

[Monica]

Are you TRYING to give me a heart attack?! While I regulary (...ok...only when my friend guilts me into it) purge my stash, I don't know that I'd have the strength to purge that much at one shot. When I think about all the money I've blown on fabric, it makes it hard to part with the fabric...even when I hate it.

So you Carrie are my hero! Maybe one day I'll be as brave as you.

On a side note, are you interested in adopting? I'm already grown and out of the house...LOL.

[Renée]

Carrie can you come over and detox my fabric? pretty please? or maybe that should be a dare or double dare!?!?!?

[Sandie @ crazy'boutquilts]

LOL if I dared you to send me the green shelf, would you? :-D I need to do some organizing too~ all winter I dropped it where it fit, now the shelves are empty. ;-) Have fun in your new to you stash!! ;-)

[Lesley]

You now have such a pretty stash! And good for you for donating the fabric ...I'm sure it will be much appreciated!

[Julia P]

Another great post. I've been de-cluttering my sewing space and was shocked to realize how much fabric I had stashed away in various locations! I actually lost count after 300 and sadly I'm not even finished. And then, I'll have to do something about my paper craft collections!

[Megan K]

Woohoo! Good for you! It must feel great to look at your stash now and know that it only contains the fabrics you love. Heh, those charity quilters don't even know what all's about to hit them.

[Jen]

Congrats on a successful "un-hoarding" experience! I recently did the same (although my stash is considerably smaller to begin with!) I LOVE the colors that you've got left!

[Anna]

When I folded my fabric with a ruler...I felt peace and in the end I swore I heard a choir of angels sing!

[Mary]

Oh man would I love a peek at what was in the bags! Your such a generous heart and giving soul. Looks like you left my colors on the shelves...yum!

[Jayne]

Carrie, this wouldn't be the first time that you and I have been on the same wavelength. If you have the time, take a look at the blog I just posted today concerning one's stash.

jaynesquiltingroom.blogspot.com

I linked to you; hope you don't mind.

Now, next on my list, is to dive into the stash and get it as organized as yours is! Well done!

[Thimbleanna]

You're hysterical! I spent days folding my fabric a few years ago and I love it -- you will too. Mine has stayed neatly folded for the most part. Now that you have all that extra space, you can buy new fabric! I look at my stash and I KNOW that I'll NEVER use it all -- but every market there's more and more beautiful fabric and it kills me to leave it behind. I need an intervention.

Btw -- you left out an important key about truth or dare way back then. Boys or cigarettes or ... removing clothing! ;-D

[Michele]

I think every quilter is guilty of the STABLE--STash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.
Good for you that you were able to give some away to some very lucky organizations!

[Florence Kensek]

God bless all those wonderful people who make quilts to donate! And God bless all those wonderful people like you who generously donate their fabric! Florence

[Susan bailey]

Wow that was some stash! Thankfully you were able to share so much with others. You blessed a lot of lives with your generosity!

[Bari Jo]

Wow! That was inspiring! What a great, guilt free way to lighten the load also! And hey, now you can get more since you have extra space! :O) right? With new stuff coming out this year! I keep seeing these great purge posts - I guess it only hurts in the beginning and then once you cross over to the other side, you are glad you did it - I need to try it! Way to go!

[Darlene]

Start saving TJ bags for me, please! LOL

[Chris]

What a fabulous donation. All I can think of is the great charity stuff that people will be able to produce with good fabric and not the ugly stuff no-one wants. Thank you xxx

[barb]

great idea - I'm right behind you after 20 years, I'll never use some of this!
Your shelves looks beautiful!

[laurie]

NEVER, ever apologize for your fabric stash. That said, I have donated almost that much fabric to guilds for charity quilts too. Unfortunately, most of my donation was in "scraps". Those ladies were good sports to accept it.

Wardrobes and fabric stashed do need to be culled of the "I'm never going to use this stuff" stuff. It's healthy. But in no way does this give anyone permission to question the size of one's fabric stash. The stash is holy. Would anyone tell Monet that they couldn't use yellow paint? No. Nor should anyone question the size of a person's fabric stash. As for my beloved scraps - they will be gone only if someone pries them out of my cold dead hands.

As for the "neatly folded" part of this post. I am envious and a little suspicious. If I was a meaner person I would say it borders on the obsessive compulsive range of human activity. But I'm not. I am just flat out envious. How will you ever sew anything? It's too pretty to touch?

[Auntie Pami]

So sad to see it go, but tastes change. That is one of the reasons I have a serger and a longarm. I really like making kids quilts.

[Elaine]

Wow - I spent yesterday RE-organizing my stash - then read your blog them AM! Great minds think alike! My "I'll never use this fabric" is going to the guild (you were our speaker/teacher in 2010) for their $1/bag at the quilt show in October! I win and they win!! lol Love your blog - thanks for sharing!! Your generosity is overwhelming! I know - I was a recipient!!

[Susan]

What a blessing for those ladies! They will have so much to work with and inspire them! And I LOVE your stash and the way you have organized it. Care to do a tutorial on how you folded it? I'd like to organize my fabric the same way.

[Ginny Worden]

Okay, I keep saying I'm going to purge, so thanks for the pictures and the much neede incentive to get at it. I hope my stash shelf will look as attractive.

[Heartsdesire]

I've been doing the same thing. After seeing the same tip on The Painted Quilt blog last week, I pulled all my yardage off the shelves and got to work. And work it was. But everything is folded now and I feel so much better. Trouble is, my creativity has been stifled. I don't want to take anything off the shelves because it looks so nice.lol

[Linda Kay Smith]

Wow, you're really brave to start such a big project and persistent to see it through. My stash is fairly small compared to yours but I do need to purge and re-organize mine and your photos and story really encourage me. I love how organized your fabric looks being folded so uniformly. Thanks for the inspiration and a smile this morning!

[cindy]

What a brave person you are! The next time I hear a lady mention that her group makes charity quilts, I'm going to get her info so I can donate some of my stash to that group. Thanks for sharing.

[AnnieO]

I nearly gasped! Wow, I hope you get a good writeoff for that part of your fabric life you so generously donated :) I'm cheap, so a lot of my stash is fat quarters and remnants. Your bolt-folded soft library makes my heart beat speed up! Enjoy!

[Susan J.]

It feels good to lose all of that weight, doesn't it? I know, because I just boxed up a ton of my fabric to purge as well. I feel lighter already. Enjoy the neatly folded fabrics. They look beautiful!

[Mary]

Wow. Just wow. Where in the world was all that fabric stored? Wow.

[Deb A]

I'm pretty sure I have about three life times of fabric/kits in my possession and really need to do a decluttering and get rid of the stuff that I've outgrown. Can you show us how you folded your fabric? It looks amazing and I would love to have my cabinets/shelves look that neat! Good for you that you've got it all done, and think of all those lucky folks that will get a quilt from your donation!

[Linda P]

Don't you love being organized instead of just writing about it?? Mine looks sort of like that only I had to do slightly larger than the ruler width......... yeah, right!!
Quite a generous donation, and since we just did our taxes - you can make note for next year!!! *wink!!
My first husband (before the Atocha) and my step father worked on Mel Fishers treasure dives. Those were off the east coast of FL.

[Wendy]

Well first of all, I'm happy for you that you found what you were looking for, (I seem to that a lot these days...looking for things I know I have but just can't put my hands on it) and that you got yourself organized and all that lovely fabric folded and colour coordinated. I'm also happy that quilting angels somewhere will have some lovely fabric to work with for their charity quilts (because it is so much more fun to work with nice fabric)... but I am REALLY happy you put most of the fabric in "can't see through" paper bags, because I was almost at the point of drooling on my keyboard over what you stacked and kept and to have been subjected to that much more...well I'm not sure I would have done well. All kidding aside, you are so kind to have shared the wealth for a worthy cause. Bravo Carrie!

[Hazle]

Oh. my! It does look very pretty indeed. I would love to have that kind of space to show off my (much smaller) fabrics. I confess I don't 'get' the fuss over FMF, but I don't 'get' a lot of other stuff either. But that's me. :-) I'm glad that you found what you were looking for--is maddening, no, to *know* you have it somewhere but not able to put your hand on it.
What wonderful quilts those charity ladies will be able to make thanks to your generosity, and spread the joy of quilts.
*hugs*
Hazle

[Archie the wonder dog]

Your stash looks great - so neat and tidy! It's really generous of you to share your unwanted fabric rather than selling it or hanging on to it 'just in case'. Have you decided what you're going to make with your FMF or are you going to 'put it somewhere safe' for another few years?!

[pam]

I don't know what I envy more, the organized shelves or the stuff gone from your house!

[Patty F.]

Hi Carrie,

I am on call for the hospital this weekend and since I have a 30 minute response time, this sounds like a great (and much needed ) project for my stash.

I also live in Phoenix and need to know where to donate... can your quilter divulge the recipients of your "house cleaning?"

[Michele Dore]

Well done Carrie.
It probably feels like a huge weight of a big job lifted off your mind. I sent 5 boxes of fabric home with my sister last time she was here. I gave away all Asian fabrics that I never used to the guild opportunity committee. While I adore to look at the Kaffe Fassett fabrics, I have only made one quilt with them and it was enough. 30's repros? Also done.
Once I really committed to the style of quilting I prefer, to the look and feel of vintage and quilts that were like old friends it was easy to let go of the stuff laying abandoned in drawers and shelves. Not all of the fabric was from the category of was what was I thinking, but there were definitely a large representation of some of those.
Truthfully there is probably about 25% of my stash I could still cull and maybe one day this summer I will tackle that when it's too hot to go outside and the AC is keeping it cool in my sewing room. I just haven't said goodbye to them yet, but it's coming.
The folding and stacking system is probably the most time intensive part of the organization but is also my sanity saver. I can see it all, can take out a fabric without unearthing a mound of stuff and slide it right back in again to its colour family.
I found that it didn't make me want to go out and buy a bunch of new fabrics. I was happy with what was here, rediscovered old friends, and re-ignited a passion for sewing quilts.
Thanks for listening.

[Janet]

I've only been quilting probably 15 yrs.;however, I also have a stash and you're making me jealous! Honestly, donating is a great idea - thanks!

[Mama Spark]

I am so happy to know I am not the only one! I fear my car should be packed up and donations made too. I would have to take a few weeks of work to do all the destashing I really need to do! Thanks for sharing, you have encouraged me to get to work!

[Joann McLean]

I'm green with envy of your beautiful stash as well as all the bags that you donated. I have sewn all my life but had to resist purchasing for a few years after hubby lost his job. Now that he is back at work PT, I've just started quilting and really had no idea that nice fabric had become so expensive. On our limited income I can only dream about ever having more than what I need for one quilt at a time...but I sure love visiting your blog and others to see all the pretties that everyone aquires on their quilting journey.

[Carol]

Thanks for the motivation Carrie...I really need to do that...those stacks on the shelf are beautiful! LOVE it!

[ina]

lol, Hi, my name is Ina and I'm a quiltaholic. You know what I loved BEST about this post? 1) I'm not alone and 2) I feel a LOT better about the size of my stash

Come on, put that Flea Market Fancy up on Etsy...you could donate the money to charity! It would be fun to see how much it could bring in...come on, you know you want to...

[Gale Lavers]

Congratulations on the organizing of your wonderful fabrics, and on donating the rest to such a wonderful cause.

[sherri]

As always...you have inspired me...the picture of your wonderfully organized stash is so wonderful. I bought some wire baskets a little while ago and still haven't used them. But I will, very soon...and I hope to make a good donation of fabric that I know I'll never use. Most of what I've purchased in the last 5 years will stay...but way back when I started quilting...in the 90's...some of that will be much better off donated to a charity...since I know I won't be using it!

[High School Diploma]

I appreciate your help. You really helped me.