I have been wanting for a while now to have a serious look at my stash. A number of people I read keep a log of how much comes in and goes out - which is something I wanted to try. One of my goals this year is to use more than I buy and to whittle down my scraps. So I hauled out my stash, every piece of it, and sorted, assessed, measured and organized. I had estimated that everything, fat quarters and larger, would be about 100 yards. I was wrong... It was more but still quite reasonable, though given the limited storage space and budget I have, I wouldn't want it to grow much larger.
I pulled all my solids since I'm in the Simply Solids Bee and wanted to have an idea of exactly what I had and where my colour holes were... Turns out I had no pink. Seriously? So I added some.
They're now in a box, sort of file-like, with my charm packs and a single junior jelly roll.
They are all now neatly tucked back onto my shelf and I have a much more clear idea of what I have and how much of it. Yay!!
As for scraps, while they are loosely organized, from less than an FQ to crumbs, I still have some major work to do and I wonder how I'm going to track usage of them since they're, well, not worth measuring in any conventional way. (I'm not calculating the surface area of each little crumb - are you kidding me? I'm not THAT crazy.) So far, I think I might turn to weight. I can whittle them down by pounds... Can you imagine? "Hey, gals! I dropped five lbs!" or "I couldn't stop chewing on my stash and I gained eight pounds!!" Heehee.
Stash at start of January: 134.25 yards
In since: 23.5 yards
Out as of Feb 5th: 25.5 yards (most of this on stuff I haven't shown you yet...)
Net: -2 yards
Stash count: 132.25 yards, unknown lbs of scraps.
And I made another Guild Bag, using the tutorial I wrote last week. :-) Addictive!
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| Much happier with my zipper this time! |
It's all so pretty!
ReplyDeleteOkay, you're making me mad Carly! Stop being so organized! LOL! Love your new guild bag too!
ReplyDeleteStunning guild bag! Wow!
ReplyDeleteCarly! Can you come to my house and sort and measure and fold all my fabric please? Yours is so neatly done. Some of mine are like leaning towers of Pisa! I am afraid of ammassing too much of a stash. I change my preferences too often.
ReplyDeleteHow are you keeping track of it all? Just the total measurements or do you have it written down somewhere what the names and colors of everything is too?
I think I'd be scared,.. actually, I know I'm scared to see how much stash I have. I don't know if I could sit down and measure everything and yeah. Compared to many people my stash isn't enormous, but it's more than I want. One of my goals for the year too is to have more out (or in use) than in. I guess I'll see :D
ReplyDeleteYour neat little stacks look so fantastic. I have my stacked fairly neatly, but still not nearly so nicely :D
I love your bag. I won a fq bundle of Outfoxed. If you decide what to do with yours, let me know. I have not decided yet either.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I have fabric that I'm not ready to cut into yet too. Love your neat stacks too (not a euphemism!)
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but I really want to do this too! I really need to reorganise my fabric anyway, so it would be a good time to do it i guess. I'm a wee bit scared of how many yards I actually have though ;o)
ReplyDeleteI have a few collections I don't want to split up but I'm hesitant to cut into - 1001 peeps is one for sure, I love that collection so, so much!
Both the beautiful folding and the very moderate stash size are inspirational! Love the box of solids :)
ReplyDeleteI love your new bag too! Awesome.
ReplyDeleteI also support your inventory-ing.
Love your new bag! They are both fabulous! I just sorted through my fabric too. Did not measure, guestamate, or weigh said fabric. What fun!
ReplyDeleteHow did you get your scraps into those PERFECT FLAT piles???! I would be ashamed to show you my scrap shelf....ha! Your zipper does look a bit better, you must have been dreading it!
ReplyDeleteYou must use the Sheldon Cooper system of folding cloth! (Big Bang Theory for those who don't know Sheldon) My terrible mess of Tuesday is evolving into a neat pile, but not inventoried... I need a new bag, yours inspires me to get making one for myself, even tho it is just after 5am - a good time to sew...
ReplyDeleteMy count jumped considerably this weekend (a few big sale splurges) But I have wanted to do this by counting all my yardage to start with, but I'm afraid mine would be in the thousands (!). For scraps, I count them by area of the end project, so for your bag, if it was all scraps, figure roughly the amount of yardage it would take if it was all one fabric and count that as scraps used.
ReplyDeleteCarly, this endeavor of yours deserves comment. I can't believe that you were so organized. It's like sorting Lego into little piles of like pieces. Inspiring, sort of. It might spur me on to try to organize a bit more, I might start by beginning a list of wip's....
ReplyDeleteif you ever need help inventorying i'll be happy to help. i mean it carly. i just can't be held responsible for some jumping into my bag. :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE that bag. : )
ReplyDelete