Friday, March 6, 2020

Learning How to Destash / Beauties Pageant 72


I fancy myself an expert in organizing my life, and one of my strengths is getting rid of stuff. I do not let ill-fitting clothes, unused furnishings, or the like clutter my basement. I purge frequently. In the last week alone, I’ve sold a bookcase, donated a big bag of clothes, and recycled or tossed other items that weren’t suitable for reuse.

There is an exception here, and it’s one that likely will not surprise you: I can’t get rid of fabric. For some reason, I feel obligated to use all the fabric I have. After all, I saved it from the quilt shop; I should probably see each fat quarter and jelly roll through to its final destiny as a quilt, wall hanging, or bag.

I decided, though, that it’s time to part ways with my remnants of Blueberry Park, a collection that showcases Karen Lewis’s designs on Kona cotton. I started with a layer cake, a jelly roll, and some yardage, which provided the basis for the quilt at the top of this post.*


I enjoyed working with this collection but don’t foresee making another quilt with it. What is taking up space in my stash, however, could be the inspiration for someone else’s masterpiece, so I set up an account on FeelGood Fibers.

https://feelgoodfibers.com/

This new site is the brainchild of Kim Soper. (You may know Kim from her blog, Leland Ave Studios, or her award-winning quilts or the Creativity Project. She’s one of my favorite quilty humans.) FeelGood Fibers brings buyers and sellers of secondhand quilt-shop-quality fabric together on a site that also features articles about decluttering, self-care, and other subjects that may resonate with fabric lovers like you.

FeelGood Fibers is super intuitive to use. I set up my account in a few minutes and was soon on my way to posting my first listing. Yahoo!

Are you good at letting go of fabric? How do you decide what stays and what goes? Let us know how you wrangle the size of your stash in the comments below.

* This pattern, by Lynne Goldsworthy, is called Modern Medallions. It came as a standalone booklet polybagged with issue 30 of Love Patchwork and Quilting. Read more about this project of mine here. Of all the quilts I have gifted over the years, I miss this one the most!

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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.


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11 comments:

  1. I am definitely on board with being able to get rid of things around the house. In the past I have been able to donate fabric to organizations or guilds that make a lot of charity quilts, but I am definitely going to keep Feel Good Fibers in mind for my next fabric downsizing needs!

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  2. I am so with you!! it is so hard to part with fabric!! thanks for the link!! LOVE your finished quilt!!

    PS - want to come organize my Closet - ha ha!!

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  3. I am a fan of Kim's new venture. It is such a great idea and for this who love to shop all the destash accounts on Instagram, it sort of brings that together and creates a shopping heaven for pre-owned fabrics. I wish her great success!!

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  4. Hi Michelle! I am fairly adept at getting items not used out of the house, but fabrics? Umm, not so much. I have some from the beginning of time . . . or when I started quilting. My tastes have definitely changed and I should be checking out the website you shared. I will, undoubtedly, be buying though . . . ~smile~ Roseanne

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  5. Your quilt is beautiful, I love it! Thank you for the link, I will navigate throw it

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  6. I wonder what shipping would cost to me? I have a friend who loves Blueberry Park. Must go check it out.

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  7. Your quilt has a surprise in the middle. At first, all I saw was the arrows pointing inwards. Then at second look, I saw the star in the middle. Oh so interesting.

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  8. That quilt is beautiful!
    I have a hard time letting go of fabric too, but I do it. I sent a large box (and I mean large!) to the Navajo Nation for donation. I think I found that info on French General site.It felt so good to make some room and contribute to someone in need that I sent another box.

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  9. You know, I can't really relate to these stories and sites and challenges about "de-stashing," "dieting" from buying fabric, etc. It's not like I don't have a lot of fabric because, almost 20 years into this hobby, I definitely do. My stash is almost entirely fat quarters and half yard pieces of prints that I loved when I bought them, and I still love them today. I've started deliberately purchasing more solids to use with those prints, and I have all of it organized by color and style in wire bins beneath my cutting table that are easy to pull out and peruse when I'm pulling fabrics for a block or for an entire quilt. I think that putting my eyes and fingertips on all of it regularly, and often pulling out fabrics from 15 years ago in delight because they are now PERFECT for what I want makes me feel differently about my fabric stash than I might if I had fabric buried in giant tubs that I hadn't laid eyes on for years and didn't even know for sure what I had. Also my style preferences influence how I feel about my fabric stash, because I usually like to create "scrappy" quilts using as many different fabrics as possible -- but they are very controlled and while I do "consult the scrap bin," most of the fabrics in my scrappy quilts are from my stash of FQs, half yards, or fabrics deliberately purchased for that quilt in small quantities to mix in with what I already own. Now that I'm getting into appliqué more, I'm finding new possibilities for tiny bits of even the "ugliest" fabrics in my stash, for shadows or stems or little details or whatever. Actually, my fabric dilemmas are usually about wishing I'd bought MORE of a favorite print in my stash, because when the last tiny scrap gets used up and I know it's long discontinued, my heart breaks a little! ;-). SO... I'm glad you shared with us about Feel Good Fibers, because I can add it to my list of places to check when I'm hunting down discontinued fabrics! I've had some successes with Etsy and Ebay in the past. So just a suggestion for those who are selling there: instead of destashing with listings like "Red Bundle" or "Blue Bundle," please take the time to include designer and especially pattern names in your listings. I have been known to pay double the original retail price for an OOP (out of print) FQ when I really needed that exact fabric to finish a project that I'm too far into before I realize I'm short!

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  10. Sorry I missed joining your party this week. Oh boy oh boy oh boy do I love that beautiful star in the middle created by the arrow blocks. This entire quilt is amazing!

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