Fear not, I have no intention of boring you with my stash stats every week. I’ll check in periodically, but there will be plenty of times when there’s just nothing to say. But I thought I’d give a quick summary of the first week. Plus, Cara pointed out it was nothing short of neglectful blogging to talk stash with no pictures! (OK, I’m elaborating on what she actually said, but the point remains, I shall post pictures.)
For the week, I added twelve yards to my stash. OOPS! They were all purchased before I committed to doing this tracking project, but track them I shall. It included two yards of solid gray, one of which has already been put to use, as well as three yards of KONA BONE! I WILL FINISH THE TRIANGLES!
However, I am happy to report that I have used almost five and a half yards this week! I’ve got a top and back assembled for my baby girl’s quilt, and fabric cut for another baby quilt. Hooray! That left me with a net stash gain on the week, a little over 6.5 yards. Ah well.
The stash, as it stands today, is stored pretty neatly in four low, wide Rubbermaid bins that stack and fit nicely under the wacky bench/shelf in my sewing space. The bins measure about 17×27″, and are maybe 5 inches deep. Fabric pieces ranging from about a fat eighth up to maybe 3/4 of a yard are folded around a 5×6″ piece of cardboard that I use as a size template. Larger cuts (1 yard and up) are folded around a 6″ ruler and then folded in half (so the resulting bundle is roughly 6×12″).
The first bin is reds, oranges, and yellows. Yes, I do have a thing for polka dots. You want to make something of it?
Next is greens, blues, and purples. I have a substantial quantity of blue, yet never seem to be able to find quite the right shade. How does that happen?
Then we have brown, black, gray, and… miscellaneous. Multicolored prints that resist other categories, pre-cuts, a few random things that I want to keep together instead of separating into their respective color groupings, etc.
And, finally, the beautiful rainbow bin o’ solids. Oooh, so pretty…
This is, of course, separate from what I would consider “scraps.” To me, something gets tossed into the scrap bins if it cannot be easily and neatly folded around my little cardboard template. Sometimes that means a width-of-fabric strip that is maybe six inches wide, sometimes it could be a 2.5″ square. You can see my scrap bins on my first Triangle Madness post.
So, that’s my stash. How does yours look? Do you have a good storage system? Does mine seem gargantuan or paltry compared to yours?
Holy …have fun with that.
(I’d still buy fabric though. And you can make 18″ blocks and sew them together for quickie quilts…
jess recently posted..Hey- whatcha got in the basket
I’m sorry . . . you do not have a BIG stash. Mine fits in many more bins than that. That’s why I’m shopping at home this year.
Very nice and organized! I keep mine in drawers by color.
Laurel Johnson recently posted..Thursday Update
I know what you mean about the blues! But I have that problem with pink and yellow.
You’re totally going to get me to put up pics of my stash, aren’t you? But I mean, what if my husband reads my blog, huh? You don’t think he actually knows how much fabric I have, do you?
Kidding. He does. Kind of. Not really. But I’ll put pictures up. He almost never reads my blog anyway. (I hope).
~Angela~
Angela (Cottage Magpie) recently posted..Hello- Yellow! and Triangle Madness
I have two four-shelf bookcases for my “inventory.” (I’m not even going to bother calling it a stash.) One case holds pinks, purples, blues and greens. The other holds vintage-looking prints and white/creams, reds, yellows and oranges, and black/gray/browns. I also have a shelf unit for fleece, knits, the muslin collection, kiddie prints and non-cottons. All my holiday prints are in a box. There’s also a shoe-bag thing with clear pockets that hangs over the back of the door and holds cut pieces. And leftover jelly roll pieces. And cuts of fabrics that I mean to use for projects that I’ll “get to eventually.” Plus I have a popcorn tin that I use for actual scraps. The only good thing about my monstrous stash is that 90% of those pieces are labeled with their sizes.
Love those pics! I’d say you have a healthy stash. I mean, a girl has to have a selection from which to pull fabrics!
Cara @ Me? A Mom? recently posted..Old school
Well, it is all about quality vs. quantity. I can fit my stash into a bin and a half, but I don’t love all of the prints. In fact, I probably love half. That is the half I never cut in to
You have excellent quality in your quantity!! And polka-dots go with everything!!
Melanie recently posted..Sweater Refashion
Great fabrics! I absolutely love the polka dots!!
So I have a question, Liz: Does fabric won in a giveaway count as “In” ? And can “Out” mean used on a quilt, even if the quilt is not finished or hasn’t left the studio for a new home and therefore is still, technically, “in”?
Trying to be good,
Susan
Susan McKey recently posted..warmth and color
I love the way you have your small fabric folded and stashed in clear shoe boxes. You are able to see what you have easier. I have 10″ squared folded flat in mine and have no idea what colors are there. Thanks for your idea.
[...] When I saw Liz at Goddess in Progress Quilts post showing her stash, I thought, why not? So here’s [...]