ALEX'S FABRIC PURGE

[Helen M.]

Sorting out your fabrics is a great idea and I have mine in colour labelled boxes which helps to keep my sewing room tidy (well some of the time). During the summer on those wet rainy days we had so many of, I decided to go through each box and get rid of small scraps, old fabrics and those fabrics that I know I will never use.

By the time I was finished, I had filled a couple of those large black garbage bags. Now I didn't want to add to the landfill so I approached the local school and nursery class and they were delighted with the amount of fabric coming their way. School budgets are constantly being cut so any donations are usually acceptable.

A friend also took some for her daughter's nursery school and they used the fabric to make pennants for the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics. Some were used for decoration and others were sold to raise funds. If friends ask if I have a particular fabric (nursery, nautical, etc), I'm very happy to let them have a rummage through my boxes, thus reducing my stash and creating room for new fabrics. So a win win situation. Just think of a clear out as quilting housework, not the other kind.

Forsyth

[Helen M.]

hi alex and all,
i had this kind of familiar problem few months ago, margo suggested that i will put them on office trays, some of them i did, until i find the best solution for me!!!
and it was all the scraps !!!! that i had i cut to 2.5" strips then i put them on office trays by colors, all the rest that are very free will size and form by nature i gave to a quilt shop that have a lessons about colors!!! now i am free of stash until the next project. i am so happy now that much less clutter in my bonanza of fabrics

[Helen M.]

Alex wants feedback on whether purging is a good or bad idea. When your stash is out of control, you have no choice. I gave some of mine to a friend who is teaching male prison inmates to quilt. They can use any and everything. Their finished projects must be donated to a local charity, so it's a win-win for all.

Believe me, Alex, when I say that your sewing area did not look any worse than mine; and Mine has to accommodate my grown son when he visits. I can't keep piling fabric on the bed!!

[Nancy R.]

I think it's a good idea to purge -- I'm just not a very good person! :twisted:

Nancy

[Susan B.]

Purge, Ha! There may come a time when we can't buy more fabric and then we'll be sorry we ever purged. But it would be ok for Alex because then maybe I'll get some hand-me down

[Susan B.]

I find it great to purge my stash because it always feels like I'm looking at the same
material when I pull one out. Purging gives new material a chance to be seen and used.

Sue