A Stash Pact

I am a fabric addict. My sewing room is literally bursting at the seams with fabric and since my son was born, scrapbooking supplies. My friend Lucia and I have shared our fabric/scrapping obsession over the years, and we both came to a conclusion earlier this year. We no longer enjoy adding to the fabric (or scrapping) stash. Both of us easily have enough fabric to quilt for the next 10 years (backs, binding, and everything!) and never buy another yard. I probably wouldn’t even run out of thread or batting for the first 2 or 3 years. My sewing room is so crowded with supplies, quilt tops, projects, and the chaos of a crawling/cruising/active baby boy that I can hardly even move around in it, much less sew productively. And I really want to sew again every day, obsessively, like I used to. I have so many ideas and the energy to create again.

So Lucia and I made a stash pact. Anything we sew or scrap this year should come from our own stash. We each made a short list of “cheats” – things we can buy without feeling guilty. It’s actually been pretty liberating. I’ve already been piecing scrappy blocks, making bibs, and rag quilts for my son. It has given me the freedom to cut into some precious fabrics that have been folded up and saved for “The Right Project.”

Including this beautiful stack:

It’s the original Flower Sugar from Lecien (circa 2009, I think?) plus some black and white prints. I omitted the mostly white Flower Sugar prints because they are too light for the quilt I have in mind. I’m also thinking about adding in some solids. You can never go wrong with solids…though Ben seemed to like the fabric combination as is:

-Lisa