Sorting stash......

Oh, dang!!! We're supposed to use our stash? I fondle it, play with it, buy more of it, squish it out, and buy yet more.

I th> whew!! I'm putting everything into 18 gallon tubs. So far I have one of

well, sometimes using stash becomes necessary. I did find a piece of fabric I was looking for the other day. Now to get the "quilt pink" block made and delivered.

Stash bashes are always fun! And it sounds like you have been having 'buckets' of fun. Angie and I are going to start on my stash again next Tuesday. We were going to give it a try this week but a few things got in the way. Next Tuesday I will be wired up on my IV therapy all day so it will be a good chance for Angie to get her first thrill of fondling my stash. Trust me though I have a 'long arm' grabber that will retrieve anything that looks like it is getting lost. julia

Now Mary, have you got my batiks packed up for me yet? Can't wait to see them! ;)

L

Batiks?? What's that?

When my husband was still in high school, he made me a large cedar chest in woodshop class. It is a cumbersome big thing and it has been a real albatross for the last 35 years, but I was too emotionally attached to it to get rid of it. Last year I had him move it to the den, and I bought tubs & decorative boxes to put inside and store fabric. The fabric smells kind of funky sometimes, but at least I have it all in one place.

Sherry

I need to do this...

I seriously need to sort out the stuff for the kids' sewing classes so that it's all together and easily accessible, the garb stash for costumes, and the straight garment stash. The quilting stash is separate, but it too needs sorting. Some of my boxes are stuffed to overflowing and a couple are empty... Certainly needs a good sort through! And labelling... Trouble is with the equivalent of 50 boxes of the stuff, where do I start?

one box at a time - get some teenagers to help by bribing them with chocolate cake after or something. Then sit on throne, pile of fabric at your side and let the teens put as appropriate in the tubs :-)

Thing is it's all so mixed up at the moment that I need to get the whole lot down out of the loft in order to see:

WHAT there is! HOW MUCH of each there is... HOW MANY MORE boxes I need to store it properly...

For example, I know there's a complete box worth of lining off cuts, but they are not all in the same place...

There are at least three boxes of curtain fabrics, some of which are remnants large enough to provide a pair of curtains for the sewing room or landing windows... Plus several bags of triangular bits, waterfall, and other oddments!

Then there are the bits I bought originally for curtains for the living room, but changed my mind and cut some off to cover the cushions... And a whole pile of sheeting I was going to make duvet covers out of but CBA when they are so cheap from Dunelm Mills...

And I do not know where it all is in the stacks! So you see the scale of the problem... I think I'll just tidy up the conservatory and sweep the floor out there, and then start shifting stuff... While the boxes are out I might get DH to put down some more of the flooring we have waiting...

I think it's got to the point where I can't get on with sewing because I don't know where the fabric I want to sew has got to! AARRGGHH!

I'd help but I'm too far away - this is why I suggested the pile of fabric - empty a few tubs onto the floor/a clean sheet and start with a few empty tubs

so start with box 1 - empty it onto the floor then do the same with a few more boxes and then start sorting , measuring etc. when you run out of boxes it's time to start counting - this is what I did when I had to box up my stash - 50 new tubs in varying sizes and I'm done (and broke LOL)

but I can see the whole thing could be overwhelming! it makes me glad that when it comes to fabric I'm anal about it being tidy

I just swept the conservatory floor - no need for a sheet! :)

Box 1!! I haven't got to box 1 yet, and there's a pile 4 feet high and

5 wide on the floor already - just the stuff that hasn't ever GOT to boxes! ;)

So am I - but I'm also naturally excitable and get VERY enthusiastic when hunting stuff out for projects! And twice recently I've burrowed to the far reaches of the stash: once for the chocolate stuff and once for the fleece for a friend's trial run at a fleece/serger combination (her hubby lived in the results on holiday in Wales a couple or three weeks back! :D )

Oh... Look what *I* found! The last yard or so of my bridesmaid dress fabric... Coo! That can be put aside for dolls clothes, I think...

This is fun! Hard work, but fun!

ok so I was being optimistic LOL I'm glad you are having fun rediscovering stuff! don't get lost ;-)

I'm doing a fairly quick sort this time around. I need to get it all boxed up and out of that room so I can clean carpet. When it gets put back out for easier access, I'll iron, fold and sort again.

I have my trusty ball of string... And Alan can tell where I am from the bumps and thumps and clonks!

Clang = I'm by the loft hatch chucking stuff down, and something hit the ladder

Clonk = I banged the ladder with a box on the way down!

THUMP! = a heavy bag of fabric hit the landing when I tossed it through the hatch!

Bumpbumpbumpbump = I'm sliding a pile of stacking crates down the stairs...

SHLUUUURRP! = I got to the bottom of a glass of Ikea's lingonberry cordial with ice... So I'm in the kitchen! :)

Tappetytaptapclickclickclick = I'm at the pooter, taking a breather!

OuchBugger! = I broke the seventh nail...

Muffledthumpingnoisesoff = I'm shifting the last boxes from the far end of the loft to the hatch for the next gravity assisted lowering...

Almost there now - I can hardly wait to start sorting!

Thanks for the morning laugh.

hehehe yes I'm sure that after all these years he could find you by the sound of a dropping pin

GO Kate GO!!

I got no floor in my stash hole, never mind a carpet... ;)

I'm NOT ironing miles of effing fabric, no way! ;P

No, after all these years he's going deaf! Dunno if he can blame me for that, though... He has tinitus and the high frequency hearing is shot. Gets very frustrating, but the thumping noises are getting through!

Sounds like you need Ginger to come to your rescue she is GOOD at it. REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD at it:)

Butterfly (you d>