{"id":383,"date":"2010-05-30T15:05:19","date_gmt":"2010-05-30T15:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2010-05-30T15:16:35","modified_gmt":"2010-05-30T15:16:35","slug":"the-battle-of-the-stash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/?p=383","title":{"rendered":"The battle of the stash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I’m still plodding along making Whirligig<\/em> blocks – lots of Flying Geese and Hourglass blocks. I seem to be using such a lot of fabric – all from my stash – and it’s incredibly satisfying. I think I actually feel virtuous. That doesn’t happen very often \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

However, I have noticed something very strange. Maybe this is something that you have come across too. Although I have taken yards and yards and yards of fabric out of my stash cupboard, the contents of the cupboard still look the same. I have a big pile of fabric on the floor and yet when I look at the cupboard, to be perfectly honest I can hardly see where the fabric came from and it’s starting to disconcert me a little. I’m not altogether convinced that when I fold up all the pieces I haven’t used I will be able to fit them back in again. This stash is scary…<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell me, I know. Owning a stash is one of the defining features of a quilter. It goes hand in hand with backache, dubious eyesight, hunched shoulders and that manic glint which flits across the face at the mere mention of a fabric shop within a twenty mile radius. Add a seriously depleted bank balance; wardrobes full of little squitty bits of fabric; books, books and more books and thread in every colour from magenta to lime green. It is part and parcel of who we as quilters are.<\/p>\n

My stash is beginning to worry me \u2013 I dare not work out just how many yards there actually are lurking in the wardrobe. My goal is to use it all before I die, but I now see that somewhere along the line I have miscalculated. Even if I had the time to quilt constantly, I think I\u2019m now fighting a losing battle. The stash is going to win. And what\u2019s worse, I can\u2019t even remember how it got to this state.<\/p>\n

What if we ever have to move house? If I box it all up, Peter will realize that, even with a rudimentary knowledge of fabric pricing, this lot is probably equivalent to a kitchen extension. Guilt will out.<\/p>\n

A while ago – probably the last time the stash scared the doodah out of me – I volunteered to make a squillion lavender bags for the church bazaar, thinking that would get things down to manageable levels. I recruited my daughters (tempted by the thrill of using a sewing machine) to make the darned things \u2013 and they worked their socks off, they really did, for days\u2026 but when I went back to the wardrobe afterwards I realized that I couldn\u2019t even tell where the fabric had gone from.<\/p>\n

I am filled with admiration for my quilting Canadian sister-in-law, who manages only to buy fabric for her latest project. Can you imagine? A quilter who makes beautiful quilts and who has the self-discipline not to have a stash \u2013 or only a baby stash in a cardboard box.<\/p>\n

Of course this means that she is missing out on one of the true pleasures of the stashaholic. The day when I embark on a new quilt made using only fabrics I already possess. Is there anything better than the wonderful feeling of using up the stash? I’m right there now as I write – and it truly is heaven.<\/p>\n

The exhilaration of finally cutting slices out of the gorgeous fabric I bought 15 years ago in New England and have saved for something really special; the snippets of glorious silks found cheap in a San Francisco fabric emporium more years ago than I will admit to; the wacky fabric I dyed myself late at night when my non-sleeping babies had finally zonked out. The fabrics which I have stroked for years and dreamed about what wonderful things I could transform them into.<\/p>\n

What would quilting be without a stash, – indeed is it even truly possible to be a quilter without a stash?<\/p>\n

I guess I can live with the guilt,<\/p>\n

happy stitching!<\/p>\n

Helen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m still plodding along making Whirligig blocks – lots of Flying Geese and Hourglass blocks. I seem to be using such a lot of fabric – all from my stash – and it’s incredibly satisfying. I think I actually feel virtuous. That doesn’t happen very often \ud83d\ude42 However, I have noticed something very strange. Maybe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pQtrc-6b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389,"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions\/389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runquiltknitwrite.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}