How to Destash Your Quilting Fabric
We love our stashes. We don't want to say goodbye to any of our fabric. Sometimes, we love looking at it so much that we can't even bring ourselves to quilt with certain fabrics. But sometimes, there are fabrics in our stash that deserve a new lease on life.
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It’s a common misconception that destashing is all about getting rid of fabric. This can bring up feelings of embarrassment or shame of the money and time that has been invested into buying and curating fabric. To some of you "destash" is a curse word, and you're thinking about closing this blog right now without reading further. But bear with me-- Destashing doesn't have to mean getting rid of fabric.
Destashing actually means focusing on the feeling you probably had when you first bought each precious piece of your stash: “Oh this is beautiful! I can’t wait to sew with this! Oth this is going to make the most beautiful quilt!”
When our fabric has sat too long with out “growing up” into a quilt or other project, I like to joke that it has exceeded it’s “shelf life.” Today, we’re going to talk about destashing as a way to give that fabric a bit of shine and purpose back, and hopefully get you excited all over again about sewing with it!
When To Destash
First things first, are you a good candidate for destashing?
Please note that these are suggestions only. If you are having any of the experiences below, you might consider destashing in one or more than one of the ways I'll be suggesting. For some quilters, destashing is never the right choice, and if that's you, it's okay!
You might want to destash if:
Your stash has outgrown the space you have to store it
No matter how hard you try, it feels impossible to keep your stash organized
When preparing to make a new quilt, you promise yourself to "shop your stash" but that feels so overwhelming, that you end up going to the store anyway
You have so much fabric that you're not even really sure WHAT you have, much less WHERE it all is
You are STABLE (Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy), and you're not sure what is going to happen to your fabric after your quilting days end. It might be best to rehome some of your fabric with quilting friends so it doesn't get tossed aside by family members who really don't know anything about quilting
Bottom line, if your stash feels overwhelming and / or if you feel frustrated by futile efforts to shop your stash, keep reading.
How to Destash
When I hear "destash" I used think of selling fabric or feeling forced to get rid of fabric I love. We will talk about selling fabric in a few minutes, but that's only one way you can destash, and I think you might like my other ideas better.
The first step for all of these ideas is to "take inventory." By that, I mean you need to get everything where you can see it and get organized. If you have a very large stash, this will be a big job. I suggest inviting a quilty friend over to help sort and fold. Wine, cake, chocolate, and pizza are all excellent bribery tools. LOL. You may also set small goals to sort just a section of your stash at a time.
At the bottom of this post, I’ll link some helpful resources for organizing your stash if you’re tackling this big job.
As you organize, set to one side anything you've fallen out of love with. You know, the "what was I thinking" fabrics, the "that's not my style anymore" fabrics, the "I'm so sick of that fabrics," and the "this doesn't match anything" fabrics. These are the fabrics you are going to "destash."
Repurpose
Remember what I said above: Destashing doesn't have to mean getting rid of fabric. Destashing means taking the fabrics that have exceeded their "shelf life" and giving them a job. To that end, here are some ways to use up some of that fabric in a jiffy:
Make some quick and easy projects. For example, pillowcases are useful for storing and transporting quilts as well as for sleeping or organizing the linen closet (store a set of sheets or towels inside a pillowcase so that all the pieces stay together and stack neatly on the shelf), and they use up over a yard of fabric!
Make practice sandwiches for free motion quilting. Two fat quarters and a bit of batting makes a perfect practice size. Use my homemade spray baste or some Hobbs fusible batting to make a whole pile of them to encourage yourself to practice your FMQ more often
Make backings. I know magazines and quilts shows everywhere have brainwashed us into thinking that the back of the quilt must perfectly match the front, but it doesn't. Fabric that needs a job will make excellent backing.
Share
Just because you can't seem to find what you're looking for when you shop your stash doesn't mean your friends can't! Invite your quilty friends to shop your stash when they need a backing or just a bit more purple or the perfect binding. You don't have to hand them the keys to the kingdom, but just invite them to let you know when they need something so you can check your stash before they head to the shop. If you are part of a guild, especially a large guild, ask if you can bring a pile of freebies to your next meeting. When a quilty friend has a birthday coming up or when the guild is doing a white elephant at Christmas, make a little fat quarter bundle from your stash instead of heading to the shop. At first it may feel hard to let go of the fabric you have so carefully collected and curated. But if these fabrics have lived their shelf life, you'll soon be happy to see them with a new purpose and happy to see the smiles they can bring to your friends.
Donate
Look for ways to contribute fabric for charity projects. To be perfectly honest, most charities are inundated with outdated fat quarters and poor quality fabrics. But if you have quilt shop quality cotton fabrics in large cuts (backing sizes), you can ask local and national charities, if they could use them. Additionally, you could make pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles, make simple and quick quilts for local projects, or contribute fabric for your guild's charity work.
Sell
Finally, you could consider reselling some of your stash. If you have sought after fabrics by "collectible" designers such as Tula Pink or Heather Ross, this might be a good option for you. This could also be a good choice if you have an established online store where you already serve other sewists or if you have a large social media following. From what I have observed online, most resellers price below the original price per yard, and either sell complete cuts of fabric, sell requiring one yard minimums, or they fabric by the pound (especially for smaller bits of fabric or stash). I recommend a bit of poking around on the internet to see what prices might be right for you if you are interested in selling fabric.
Resources
Use these resources to help you sort your stash, destash, and prepare to finish more projects from your stash
Quilting Rockstar Set List: This freebie is a PDF goal sheet to help you move your projects toward the finish line
FREEBIES: If you’re wanting to try your hand at FMQ or use up some scraps with foundation paper piecing, you’ll love our Quilting Rockstar Library Resources
PS Don't forget to pin this post so you can find it later!
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