Stash Busting

[Eileen K.]

I thought there was a prize for the quilter with the most fabric stash.

Yeah, but who wants to wait till they're dead? :twisted:

[Eileen K.]

Part of the reason my stash is so full (not to mention the collection of tools) is because some serious quilters/collectors died... so they may have won, but I got the prize!
Florence

[Mary K.]

Although I keep saying that I won't add more projects to my list until I finish ones that are ALREADY in work, I think I am going to participate in the new Challenge from show 406(?).... and I will ONLY pull from my stash! I.E.... a stash buster!

I am also planning to join the Cobb County Quilt Guild when I get moved to Atlanta - we'll see if they also make charity quilts that I can also share some of my stash with.

MK

[Mary K.]

I was absolutely not going to buy any more fabric after Road to California this past January. Then I saw Alex's Whisperings line (had to have one of each of everything!) and got involved with a batik swap and continued with my collecting polka dot fabrics. I now have more than 500 different half yard cuts with polka dots on them and I should be embarrassed to say that but I'm not. Shop owners see me coming and tell me about the latest polka dot fabrics. I have to buy them all, don't I?

Stash busters? Huh? What's that? :lol:

JoAnne in southern California

[Mary K.]

Joanne, I have been collecting strips forever. I haven't counted them but "lots" covers it. Maybe we should get together and make a "Morse Code Quilt" with dots and dashes. Betty Ann

[Julia L.]

But Eileen, what exactly does a stash busting group do?

[Julia L.]

Most stash buster groups encourage you to use up your stashes before buying more fabric.

You start by shopping your stash before you go to the store to buy more fabics. Pick out the focus fabric then look for accents... keep contrast in mind.

Problem I have come across is my tastes have changed... when I first started quilting I was influneced by TRADITIONALIST AND civil war fanatics... not know any better I went along with their taste instead of exploring mine... I now have a large collection of fabric I am not fond of ..... but I am using using up in scrapy quilts where it will not matter.

I have become more selective when I buy.... I MUST LOVE THE FABRIC... not just be greedy.

Anna

[Julia L.]

Although I keep saying that I won't add more projects to my list until I finish ones that are ALREADY in work, I think I am going to participate in the new Challenge from show 406(?).... and I will ONLY pull from my stash! I.E.... a stash buster!

I am also planning to join the Cobb County Quilt Guild when I get moved to Atlanta - we'll see if they also make charity quilts that I can also share some of my stash with.

MK

That could also be another challenge. A quilt made from the ugliest of your stash.

I am going to do this challenger too. I already have a preliminary draft of my quilt. Similar to Ricky's quilt I am going to base it on my community.

[Julia L.]

Here's just the pattern for using those ugly fabrics! Lyn Brown teaches a weekly class that I attend. Last year we swapped 8" squares of ugly fabrics. Here is one of her patterns:

http://lynbrown.com/?p=265#more-265

Those quilts turned out to be so beautiful. One of these days I'll get mine made.

Lyn also has several more free patterns on her site. http://www.lynbrown.com

JoAnne

[Eileen K.]

Check out http://www.quiltville.com
Bonnie Hunter has some great patterns for scrap quilts.

There's also a group called Heartstrings that makes string quilts for charity.

I'm not suggesting a group, per se, but rather a category where we can come and share our stash busting ideas, quilts, projects, whatever.

How does that sound?
eileenkny

[Eileen K.]

Thanks, thanks, thanks. I'm just crazy about scrap quilts and make many of them for charity. All the suggestions that you've offered on sites suggesting ways to use scraps are just wonderful. My challenge now is to find time to explore all these great sites AND make the quilts.

If I may add to the mix, may I suggest a couple of great book on scrap quilts: Spectacular Scraps (sorry I can't think of the author this moment) and Roberta Horton's Scrap Quilts -- the Art of Making Do.

Oh, dear, I almost forgot to add a wonderful book by Karen Combs called Combing Through Your Scraps. I attended a workshop she gave on this topic and it opened up a whole new world of scrap quilts for me. Really worth a look.

Eileen, I agree that a catagory on this topic would be very productive.

[Eileen K.]

Don't forget to use the TQS Quilt Gallery for inspiration. I did a search on the gallery using the word "scrap" in the Description box and "Voila!" 290 scrappy quilts were returned. 13 quilts were returned when I searched on "scraps" in the Fabrics Used "Other" box--be sure to click the category. Some of the 13 would not have been found on the other description search.

Also, I found a scrappy quilt pattern named on "Maverick Stars", on http://www.quiltville.com, that is definitely on my list of future quilts to make. Check it out! There are lots of other scrappy quilt patterns on this website at http://quiltville.com/scrapusersystem.shtml

Enjoy!

[Eileen K.]

I'm doing Beth Ferrier's 2009 BOM from her site. I plan on only using my stash for this. Wish me luck :lol: . Thank goodness it's posted one block at a time. I saw the Feathered Star for Sue Garman's 2009 BOM and it scared me off. I may just give it a shot though.

I got my June '09 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting the other day. On the cover is a scrap quilt that didn't just call to me, it was YELLING "Make me, make me"!!! It's called Pick and Choose and it's a variation of Jacob's Ladder. Oh yeah...I'm doing this one.

I keep WIPs in clean pizza boxes, each one labeled. My biggest one is the Shakespeare in the Park quilt by Judy Martin that I have to make. It's been haunting me for about 3 years now.

Anyone have 4 or 5 hours per day they can spare?
eileenkny

[Eileen K.]

Don't forget to use the TQS Quilt Gallery for inspiration. I did a search on the gallery using the word "scrap" in the Description box and "Voila!" 290 scrappy quilts were returned. 13 quilts were returned when I searched on "scraps" in the Fabrics Used "Other" box--be sure to click the category. Some of the 13 would not have been found on the other description search.

Also, I found a scrappy quilt pattern named on "Maverick Stars", on http://www.quiltville.com, that is definitely on my list of future quilts to make. Check it out! There are lots of other scrappy quilt patterns on this website at http://quiltville.com/scrapusersystem.shtml

Enjoy!

Nancy,
I've loved Bonnie's stuff for a long time. I tried to cut the strips, but then the ADHD kicked in and that's another thing I need some extra hours in my day for.
eileenkny

[Margo C.]

I keep WIPs in clean pizza boxes, each one labeled. My biggest one is the Shakespeare in the Park quilt by Judy Martin that I have to make. It's been haunting me for about 3 years now.

Eileen, check out Judy's website for pictures of quilts made from her books! Scroll down to The Creative Pattern book and look for Shakespeare in the Park.

http://www.judymartin.com/Viewer-Photos.cfm