Fabric Moratorium 2025
09-19-2025, 12:34 PM
#371
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 9,462
Well I fell in to a very financially smart fabric estate sale rabbit hole today but I resisted on so much in the end. I walked out with yards and yards of fabric for..... sit down...$20. I have to measure to be exact. A good number of pieces are large enough for backing. Time to measure.
I seem to recall that we get a pass for our birthday. Well mine was yesterday, so I am counting this purchase as my birthday present to me. Tee-Hee-Hee
Love the "eye candy won't give you cavities!" comment, Gemm. It is perfect for this group.
I seem to recall that we get a pass for our birthday. Well mine was yesterday, so I am counting this purchase as my birthday present to me. Tee-Hee-Hee
Love the "eye candy won't give you cavities!" comment, Gemm. It is perfect for this group.
Last edited by WMUTeach; 09-19-2025 at 12:40 PM.
09-19-2025, 03:09 PM
#372
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,261
There is indeed a birthday exemption. And technically, we aren't in effect from Black Friday until New Years. There was also a travel exemption, and a store closing was worth a free pass.
Should we have a separate thread for good buys? It doesn't seem so appropriate in this thread but inquiring minds want to know what goodies you got.
Sometimes it was amazing what my $20 could get me at the thrift stores or at the right estate sale.
Should we have a separate thread for good buys? It doesn't seem so appropriate in this thread but inquiring minds want to know what goodies you got.
Sometimes it was amazing what my $20 could get me at the thrift stores or at the right estate sale.
09-19-2025, 08:29 PM
#374
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 4,099
Been making scrap quilts. I let people know what colors I want and receive bags of scraps. Sorting the bags is treasure hunting. So much of it is quality 5 steps down from the stores I wouldn't shop. But there are gems.
Purchase wide backs.
Still have my treasured stash that made the move of 3000 miles cross country.
Traveled 1.5 hour to new -to- me guild. There's 4 shops in that vicinity. This makes it harder to stay on rationing. Will need to be ready for shopping when going to meetings.
Purchase wide backs.
Still have my treasured stash that made the move of 3000 miles cross country.
Traveled 1.5 hour to new -to- me guild. There's 4 shops in that vicinity. This makes it harder to stay on rationing. Will need to be ready for shopping when going to meetings.
09-20-2025, 01:36 AM
#375
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,261
I attached the remaining Makower strip ends to oversized triangles. Most likely I will trim them down to the size used in the quilt, and decapitate the crazy block next to it for a straight line for the borders Makes sense to me!
Today I have to decide if I am going to cut any skinny side borders from the parasol fabric, I would like a solid single edge of fabric to bind instead of the crazy cuts. Right now I have cut squares of it left for the crazy blocks and what remains as yardage is a square that will make too much binding, or I can cut a few strips for the side (maybe). Would actually like to do a skinny single border on all sides to bind off those crazy blocks but don't think I have enough just maybe enough for two sides. Again, need to do so math stuff... is so much harder when you don't know actual measurements. Again, this piece out of stash will be pretty much used up down to the selvedge so good stash usage.
Today I have to decide if I am going to cut any skinny side borders from the parasol fabric, I would like a solid single edge of fabric to bind instead of the crazy cuts. Right now I have cut squares of it left for the crazy blocks and what remains as yardage is a square that will make too much binding, or I can cut a few strips for the side (maybe). Would actually like to do a skinny single border on all sides to bind off those crazy blocks but don't think I have enough just maybe enough for two sides. Again, need to do so math stuff... is so much harder when you don't know actual measurements. Again, this piece out of stash will be pretty much used up down to the selvedge so good stash usage.
09-20-2025, 02:12 AM
#376
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,261
@WMUTeach I've been doing some thinking about fabric acquisition meta stuff. The whys and such.
I joined the Fabric Moratorium while I was still acquiring thrift and estate fabric but recognizing that while I may not have won the race of she with the most fabric, I at least placed and for me, I had too much. I've known people with entire rooms or basements or storage units full of fabric. I maintain there is nothing wrong with collecting fabric or anything else. I have changed a lot of my feelings about material goods including material, and I wish to curate and enjoy what I collect and not longer just hoard. I have decided that roughly a large closet of space is what I wish to fill with fabric at my command. That still leaves all the fabric in the world available should I need and I can let the world collect it for me.
Part of what I really enjoy bout my quilting, scrappy overall style, and stash is the putting together of the bits and pieces. I'd like to think that with a hefty budget that I can go into a store and put together a pretty darn awesome project with just enough yardage to allow for some mistakes or whatever. But I've been denied that hefty budget for most of my adult life. On the other hand, while I might moan about the math of it, I get really happy when my desires, my math, and my fabric all come together -- it is a real kick for me when something like this project comes along
With the thrift stores, I was typically buying at $1-2/yard or I think about $2-3 bucks a pound? Depending on how tight the year was, I tried to have $20 a week as a purely expendable budget, whether that was a lunch out, or my usual Thursday thrift store run. That was also my cheap entertainment, going to the various spots usually took about 4 hours. I had other things to look for than fabric, and you just never know what would be out there. Some days I'd come back with my $20, other days I'd come back with a car just full of stuff.
Anyway -- Short Enabler Form
Be aware of acquisition but congratulate yourself on maintaining a NEW fabric moratorium. I don't think you even need a birthday exemption for "used" fabric -- just Grats on the day and finds.
I joined the Fabric Moratorium while I was still acquiring thrift and estate fabric but recognizing that while I may not have won the race of she with the most fabric, I at least placed and for me, I had too much. I've known people with entire rooms or basements or storage units full of fabric. I maintain there is nothing wrong with collecting fabric or anything else. I have changed a lot of my feelings about material goods including material, and I wish to curate and enjoy what I collect and not longer just hoard. I have decided that roughly a large closet of space is what I wish to fill with fabric at my command. That still leaves all the fabric in the world available should I need and I can let the world collect it for me.
Part of what I really enjoy bout my quilting, scrappy overall style, and stash is the putting together of the bits and pieces. I'd like to think that with a hefty budget that I can go into a store and put together a pretty darn awesome project with just enough yardage to allow for some mistakes or whatever. But I've been denied that hefty budget for most of my adult life. On the other hand, while I might moan about the math of it, I get really happy when my desires, my math, and my fabric all come together -- it is a real kick for me when something like this project comes along
With the thrift stores, I was typically buying at $1-2/yard or I think about $2-3 bucks a pound? Depending on how tight the year was, I tried to have $20 a week as a purely expendable budget, whether that was a lunch out, or my usual Thursday thrift store run. That was also my cheap entertainment, going to the various spots usually took about 4 hours. I had other things to look for than fabric, and you just never know what would be out there. Some days I'd come back with my $20, other days I'd come back with a car just full of stuff.
Anyway -- Short Enabler Form
Be aware of acquisition but congratulate yourself on maintaining a NEW fabric moratorium. I don't think you even need a birthday exemption for "used" fabric -- just Grats on the day and finds.
Last edited by Iceblossom; 09-20-2025 at 02:14 AM.
09-20-2025, 08:55 AM
#377
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 9,462
I have been on a very serious reduction journey since I moved from house to condo nearly 10 years a go. The first few years did not show much reduction in stash, but when Covid arrived, I was no longer going to work daily and my part-time teaching online was assigned to full time faculty by command of the administration across the whole university. In the end, I was left with lots of time and lots of UFOs and lots of patterns I wanted to try. Thus I began to dig in and I finished just about one quilt per week for a year. Now, many of those were WIPs, UFOs or half finished quilts that were donated to me. Finishing those made a BIG difference in what was housed in my sewing room and allowed me to see that by using my 40 hour a week job time as quilting time I could accomplish more that I expected.
Yes, I have slowed down considerably because .... I want to and I have some other interests I want to pursue. Bottom line, when I moved into my condo, I had 7 of the big rubber maid tubs stuffed with fabric. and I am down to about four and a little more. I want to use up what I have and be able to accept unfinished quilts from others or have the freedom in my heart and soul to take advantage of free tables or estate sales. I also know that I do not have decades of time to be quilting and I don't want to leave a stash for some one else to dispose of. I have a yearly goal of fabric in each year. That keeps me "shopping my stash first". I mentally have about $75-$100 per month for quilting which usually is used for backing and now and again having a piece long armed.
I returned to the first posting of the 2025 Moratorium and re-read the guidelines and it was refreshing to be reminded again of the importance of doing what works for each of us as individuals. We each have our own comfort level of stash reduction. I am sticking to mine and you, dear quilty friends, are sticking to yours.
it is time to stop talking with my fingers and to get back to quilt making for the afternoon and evening.
Yes, I have slowed down considerably because .... I want to and I have some other interests I want to pursue. Bottom line, when I moved into my condo, I had 7 of the big rubber maid tubs stuffed with fabric. and I am down to about four and a little more. I want to use up what I have and be able to accept unfinished quilts from others or have the freedom in my heart and soul to take advantage of free tables or estate sales. I also know that I do not have decades of time to be quilting and I don't want to leave a stash for some one else to dispose of. I have a yearly goal of fabric in each year. That keeps me "shopping my stash first". I mentally have about $75-$100 per month for quilting which usually is used for backing and now and again having a piece long armed.
I returned to the first posting of the 2025 Moratorium and re-read the guidelines and it was refreshing to be reminded again of the importance of doing what works for each of us as individuals. We each have our own comfort level of stash reduction. I am sticking to mine and you, dear quilty friends, are sticking to yours.
it is time to stop talking with my fingers and to get back to quilt making for the afternoon and evening.
09-22-2025, 04:46 AM
#378
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Carroll, Iowa
Posts: 3,980
I'm happy to say that I only bought a backing that I really did need for a quilt top plus 2 1 yard pieces of flesh colored fabric for a applique wall hanging coming up. I went to Missouri Star Quilts in Hamilton, MO this past Friday and I was able to curb myself from buying out the town with just these 3 fabrics. I'm patting myself on the back as I've been known in the past not to be able to pass a fabric store without buying fabric.
09-22-2025, 10:25 AM
#379
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 9,462
Congratulations, Snooze! I can't imagine going to MSQ and bringing home more than what you did. Like you, I would have gone with a list of what is needed, so I did not buy from the heart and not only from my eyes. I am sure there were plenty of choices that were willing to jump in your shopping basket. Another time another trip and other options for other quilts.....first. 
09-22-2025, 04:45 PM
#380
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 926
Oh, WMU, I'm jealous of your $20 bonanza and totally agree that an exemption is more than reasonable! On a good day at a thrift store around here that will generally get me a maximum of 2.5m of fabric, possibly in bits or in the form of cool shirts or sheets. It's pretty standard to see fabric priced at about $8/m here, even if they're very random pieces or small or not very good quality. :-( I can't wait to see what you got and how you use it.
Iceblossom, you make a good point but I don't know that we necessarily need a separate thread for great deals or other fabric acquisitions, thank goodness. :-) The way I see it is that in spite of our best efforts, temptation is out there and sometimes it gets the better of us. What I find exciting and really helpful is hearing/seeing how people turn those acquisitions into success stories or even just reflections (as we've seen here in the last few days from WMU, Pet, and yourself) on what fabric and our stash means to us. It can also be really great to know (especially for those who might be newer to the FM thread) that just because you've acquired fabric you might not have technically needed it doesn't mean you've been kicked off the FM bus permanently - so many hands are reaching out to pull you back on when you're ready! :-)
Pet - sounds like you've set yourself up for quite a challenge but I'm glad you've found a new community to quilt with. :-)
Snooze - congratulations on what sounds like a brilliantly successful and fun trip to MSQC!
While reading the most recent posts, I almost feel like there is an element of kismet in many of our approaches to our stash. We recognize the value of what we have, we know there will be a place for it sometime, somewhere, even if we can't see it right away, and we can all celebrate together when the journey to its final destiny as a quilt or pillowcase or other project is realized. I'm often surprised by how I somehow manage to find fabrics that play nicely with each other when they came from so many sources, eras, designers... and it's so satisfying when they come together into a beautiful whole. I don't think I'll ever be stash-free but I wouldn't want to be - it's one of my favourite parts of quilting, so my goal is to simply keep it under control and within my storage space and to keep making quilts out of it. :-)
Iceblossom, you make a good point but I don't know that we necessarily need a separate thread for great deals or other fabric acquisitions, thank goodness. :-) The way I see it is that in spite of our best efforts, temptation is out there and sometimes it gets the better of us. What I find exciting and really helpful is hearing/seeing how people turn those acquisitions into success stories or even just reflections (as we've seen here in the last few days from WMU, Pet, and yourself) on what fabric and our stash means to us. It can also be really great to know (especially for those who might be newer to the FM thread) that just because you've acquired fabric you might not have technically needed it doesn't mean you've been kicked off the FM bus permanently - so many hands are reaching out to pull you back on when you're ready! :-)
Pet - sounds like you've set yourself up for quite a challenge but I'm glad you've found a new community to quilt with. :-)
Snooze - congratulations on what sounds like a brilliantly successful and fun trip to MSQC!
While reading the most recent posts, I almost feel like there is an element of kismet in many of our approaches to our stash. We recognize the value of what we have, we know there will be a place for it sometime, somewhere, even if we can't see it right away, and we can all celebrate together when the journey to its final destiny as a quilt or pillowcase or other project is realized. I'm often surprised by how I somehow manage to find fabrics that play nicely with each other when they came from so many sources, eras, designers... and it's so satisfying when they come together into a beautiful whole. I don't think I'll ever be stash-free but I wouldn't want to be - it's one of my favourite parts of quilting, so my goal is to simply keep it under control and within my storage space and to keep making quilts out of it. :-)
