Tuesday 3 January 2012

Final Stash Use Report for 2011 & PIPS 2012


In 2011, like in many years before it, I have been trying to reduce my stash of fabrics by sewing more and buying less new fabrics. After every month I counted how much I had bought after all, and calculated how much I had used. My numbers for December are 4.8 m bought new fabrics, and 3.25 m used. Six months of the whole year were "positive" for me, I used more fabric than I bought. But the closing of my favourite fabric shop meant a disaster for my good intentions: I bought 19 m of fabrics when the discount sale started, and when the prices dropped to 70 % off the original in June, I bought 25.4 m more. No way could I sew so many quilts! In the following five months I controlled myself and only bought 1.85 m in all. Still the final figures for 2011 are

       Bought: 71.7 m
       Used:    66.1 m

Luckily I have decided not to count the fabrics finding their way to me from other sources than shops.

I hope others made better results! Buying new fabrics is fun, but when the stash is growing in an uncontrollable way (fabrics pouring in from other people's cupboards, attics and boxes), all I can do is try to be more productive and find projects where I can use the fabrics hiding in my boxes and containers. Challenges are the best medicine for this problem, and Stephanie from Loft Creations has a very nice challenge called PIPS:


Jump to Stephanie's post about the challenge by clicking the sewing machine and read all about it. No signing in is needed, just join the fun and show your Projects In Process when you have finished them. I can think of a few right now that really needed dusting off, but I have also joined Melanie and others in making Lynette Anderson's Scandinavian Christmas BOM. I hope to find suitable fabrics in my stash for it.

Here is something I made in December:


A light shopping bag for DD, using a bit from the same old curtain I used for my own Bag Club bag in the Autumn:


 
Yesterday we had finally some snow, more than just cover the grass, so it is beginning to look like winter. With the snow missing, I have enjoyed white Christmas flowers, these lovely scented hyacinths

and my first ever Christmas Rose (Helleborus):


With the flowers I wish you all a Happy New Year 2012, filled with energy and good projects!

11 comments:

  1. Wow, you did use a lot of fabric from your stash! And hey, a girl can't just leave fabrics she loves with 70% off.
    I've joined Pips 2012 too. Always good to be encouraged by others (o:
    Lovely to see your autumn bag again and such a nice shopping bag for your daughter.
    Glad you had some snow. it's very stormy here today.
    I love Helleborus! So, you keep them inside?
    Have a lovely week, Ulla!

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  2. I failed at the 2011 Use up your Stash!!! I hope to combine it with the Pips challenge. The bags are beautiful and the white flowers are so pretty. It's a raw and cold day here so I hope to get busy on another Pip.

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  3. I think I'm more impressed that you used over 60 m. of fabric than that you bought 70 m...buying is easy, using-not so much.

    So you're not having much snow either...interesting, very interesting!!

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  4. I don't know how you can keep track of the fabric bought and especially the fabric used. I'm not that organized. I do hoep to use up quite a bit of what I do have this year, though.
    Your flowers are lovely and scented ones are always a bonus.

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  5. Oh, Ulla, da warst du aber seeeeehr fleissig mit all deinem Stoffverbrauch. Meine Rechnung sieht - leider - auch negativ aus, da ich noch einige Stoffe erhalten habe (die zähle ich auch zu den neuen Stoffen!) als Geschenk. Aber ein Stoffausverkauf in einem Laden ist immer eine grosse (aber schöne!) Gefahr! Ich habe zwar nicht alle Meter gemessen, aber ich sehe es an den Tablaren, dass ich mehr Stoffe habe als im letzten Jahr (habe aber auch mehr Quilts gemacht als im vorletzten Jahr). Vielleicht werde ich mit den Jahren etwas schneller im Arbeiten ;-) !!! Auf jeden Fall, habe ich oft an dich und deine Aktion denken müssen, wenn ich wieder einmal so schnell Stoff eingekauft habe ohne genau zu wissen, was ich damit machen werde. Ja, die Versuchung ist leider gross bei den vielen wunderschönen Stoffen die es gibt!
    Wünsche dir ein super 2012 und viel Zeit für die Realisierung all deiner kreativen Werke.
    Mit lieben Grüssen
    Barbara

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  6. I think you did very well with your challenge! Happy New creative Year!

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  7. I'd say all in all you did very well with your stash in 2011, Ulla! I wouldn't count all that highly discounted fabric - I'd give myself a medal for saving so much money, instead - lol! I'm afraid I am probably equal in using and buying stash for 2011, but just knowing that I was trying to follow your challenge kept me from buying any more!
    Cheers!

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  8. you bought so much fabric!! I would have done exactly the same.....

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  9. Ulla if I look at the amount of fabric bought and used I'd say you are just about even for the year. Well Done!!

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  10. You did a very good job, Ulla! It is amazing when one has the amount of fabric bought and used in numbers!! I hope to get some PIPs done, but no pressure, it has to be fun.

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  11. As long as the fabric you bought is your choice and beautiful, then don't worry.
    I have given away fabric that I aquired from others, because it bothered me I had so much and nowhere to keep it.
    I only give house room to fabric that I really want to sew with.

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