Over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge, it's The Year of the Stash. I was all set to write my own manifesto, but today I'm sick and stuffy and finding it very hard to care. (That's a great reminder to get ideas into words while I'm still excited about them.)
So here's what I know in my sick stuffy haze:
For most of 2013 and 2014 I was stuck in survival mode. Survival mode sucks and I want to get out of it and try to stay out of it.
I can't keep shoving stash and projects into the sewing room. It's time to take a good hard look at my fabric and yarn and get it organized. I need to go through absolutely everything and I need to do that while inconveniencing the rest of the family as little as possible. That's going to mean a stolen hour or two here and there.
I'm not going to do any brutal purging. If it's awful quality or something I really can't stand, it'll go. (Big hunks of ugly cotton go into a special pile for Teenage Daughter's trial runs.) If it's something I might use someday, it'll stay. While I was in survival mode and knitting pair after pair of stockinette socks, I used a lot of that "someday I'll get to it" yarn, if only because it was there and it was a different color from the last pair. I'm glad that I used it up instead of only using the best stuff, because I wasn't having much fun with those socks. If I'm going to use the special stuff, I want to enjoy the process.
I am not on no-buy this year. I already shop my stash for most of my projects and I've been limiting my purchases for two years already.
I'll make up the rest of the rules as I go.
Weekly Stash Report
Fabric used this week: 1 1/4 yards
Fabric used year to date: 4 1/2 yards
Fabric added this week: 0
Fabric added year to date: 1 yard (+2 sheets)
Net used for 2016: 3 1/2 yards
Yarn used this Week: 750 yards
Yarn used year to Date: 400 yards
Yarn added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn added Year to Date: 0 yards
Net used for 2016: 1150 yards
This post is linked to Patchwork Times.
Love those socks on the cover. Sounds like you have the start of a good stash plan. I know I feel so good not that everything has a place and for the most part, is in it.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I've been looking for an applique pattern for months. I know I didn't get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteMy small sewing room is in the same shape. Every time I go to put something away I knock something over. Too much stuff, too little space, wrong furniture for storage. I'm glad you found your books.
My sewing space has moved 3 times since 2010 going from the largest bedroom to the smallest bedroom. It didn't all fit but it was there. Then I moved to the den in utter chaos. Finally I moved to my studio and am slowly moving everything into it. Very Slowly. I misplaced a piece of fabric I need to finish a very important quilt. Every time I go thru a box, I find scraps but not my fabric.
ReplyDeleteYour plans for stash organization sounds good. I'm needing to do something more with mine than just use it. But, that takes too much time, so I will continue to be on a fabric buying diet, (not to buy any), but use what I have. Maybe that will encourage me to straighten up the sewing studio more often. We'll see. Good luck with finding an hour or two to get yours tamed.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's not about having better organization, it's about having less stuff. It gives us the opportunity to enjoy the lovely things we do have. So glad you've decided to join in on The Year of The Stash!
ReplyDelete