Fear of Cutting Up Your Fabric Stash

Hi Folks, Welcome to the Stop Scrolling, Start Sewing podcast!  In this episode, I'm chatting about the fear of cutting up your fabric stash.

Quilt On the Wall: Kapow Quilt Pattern by Kustom Kwilts
You can find the pattern here

Tula Punk Tiny Coordinates

Sampler Spree Slow Along

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Transcript

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Hi, folks. I'm Nicole Gilbert and this is the stop scrolling start sewing podcast each Wednesday join me as I share the ins and outs of that quilt life. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can bust out a pretty awesome why seam. Or you're just interested in hearing the latest and greatest quilting news. This is the podcast for you. Hey, folks, Nicole here and welcome to season three, episode four of the stops rolling start sewing podcast, I am so excited that you are here with me today. So Holy Smokes guys. I am just so excited to be back in the groove of this podcast with all of you. And I just wanted to say a big thank you for everyone who has been joining in on YouTube. For those of you who are just jumping in now, we do have a new format on the podcast where we are both broadcasting on YouTube, as well as on your favorite podcast provider. So you can follow on either platform, or both. Okay. So let's get started with the quilt on the wall. So this is kapow. And I just am obsessed with this cool. I think that is so much fun. It's actually just a repeat of the same block over and over again, it's fat quarter friendly, which is awesome. And I want to say you use 12 fat quarters for this size, which is just like a generous throw. It's three stars by four stars. It kinda has like a swoon vibe, if you're familiar with the swoon quote by Camille Roskelley. But it's just different. It's a little bit more jazzy, if you will, it kind of gives me like a fireworks vibe from it. And I have seen it done in really bright colors, and I've seen it done in really muted colors, and both look phenomenal. In this quilt I use a hodgepodge of fabrics. We've got it's all Tula Pink, because you know me, but it is some true colors, some daydreamers. Some curiouser. I even want to say there's like, no, Zuma. One, there's an A throwback, the elephant, free, free spirit, no spirit, animal spirit animal. Don't quote me on that. But I think this is spirit animal. Anyway, a lot of different fabrics in this one, what's really smart about it is that from the one fat quarter, you create three separate cut groups. So like a, b, and c. And then each star is an A from one fabric, a be from another and a C from a third. And so those 12 fat quarters all scrambled up, give you the different stars. And it's really fun because you can get really, really scrappy all sorts of fabrics, but it makes it tie into one another when you've got, you know, the same fabric as the star in this one, the central star in this one, and like the outer circle in in this one down here that you can't really see because I'm blocking it. But that continuity really allows you to get a little bit crazy with the fabrics and it looks really really good. I have a link in the show notes or video description depending on where you are viewing or listening to this quilt pattern if you are interested in grabbing a copy for yourself. It's a really quick make and a lot of fun to put together. So Oh yeah. Okay, that is the kapow quilt. And I it's pieced by me and then I actually long armed it as well. So let's get in to today's topic. And so today we are talking about the fear of using your fabric stash. And I know that might sound crazy to some of you. Some of you are gonna be like, Why would you be scared to have fabric stash though, to use your fabric stash? The whole point of having the fabric stash is to use it and like I get it. I get it. But there's a lot of us and I include myself in this group. I am scared to use my fabric sesh I mean not really because I've got tips and tricks, which is what I'm sharing today, but I do have a hoarder of mentality when it comes to some really beautiful fabric. Why he might ask? Well, fabric typically is a one and done release, which means that the fabric companies send these designs to a mill, they run off a certain amount, and then they don't ever reprint it. And so once fabric is gone, it's gone. So I sometimes I'm like, Oh my gosh, it's too pretty to use. And if I use it, I'm never going to be able to use it again. I know it's crazy. But that's kind of like what I think of when I get a little stressed out. And I don't want to use my favorite sash. Some people don't want to use their fabric stash because it's just too pretty. And I get that one as well. So I've got some fat quarter bundles here. This one is tiny coordinates by Tula Pink. And it's just look at this gorgeous rainbow. If you are not watching on YouTube, if you're listening on the podcast provider, this is a stack of 246-810-1214 1618 20 245 25 fat quarters that are just a delicious, delightful rainbow. And there's polka dots and their stripes. And it's just, it's gorgeous. It's so well put together. You look at it. And it's beautiful. It is a decor piece. And quite frankly, I use it right now, as a decor piece. In my quilting studio, I have big glass front cabinets on my studio. No, they don't get direct sunlight. That's why they're glass fronted because I won't let my fabric fade, don't worry. But it's there and it's beautiful. I don't want to tear that apart. Same thing with the fabric bundle like this, which my goodness, I'm just I really didn't pay attention to just went in and I was like, this is pretty this is pretty and of course, if you know, you know, to a pink, so this one is tiny beasts. And it's just this beautiful stack of delicious prints. And Tiny beasts is really fun because it's bright colors and cute little animals. And there's trash cans. And for some reason the trash cans and the apple course are beautiful. And it's purple and it's pink and it's lime green, and it's just amazing. And it's gorgeous. And it's too pretty to cut. Okay, so it is decor in my fabric studio. I know you're probably listening to this podcast episode right now and thinking she said this is for if you have a fear of cutting up your stash and she's telling me about all her fears and what she does not cut up. I'm getting there. So the fear of cutting up the stash I think comes from those two main ideas either one, the fear of never being able to replenish, which is a very real feel real fear in the fabric world. There are some things that are easily replenished. I don't think anybody is genuinely scared of cutting into their solids. You can replace your solids pretty flippin easily. And every brand has solid you've got Riley confetti, you've got moto Bella solids, you have Kona cottons you have art gallery, pure, you know there's there's so many different brands of solids and solids always being replenished. So that's not a fear. People like Tula Pink have fabric collections like her true colors, which tiny coordinates is actually part of true color. So I really should let this one go. But it's just so pretty. Which are prints that are always available, constantly replenishing constantly restocking. And they're great because they're coordinating. So they coordinate with all the rest of her fabrics. And they allow her to do a lot of busy prints without having to worry about having, you know, backgrounds tone on tones and blenders because she has a whole line of just that. So that the fear of not being able to replenish very real. The fear of cutting into something because it's just too pretty. One I want to I want to answer that one. Like, really? Hi, my name is Nicole, and I'm a fabric color. I want to really talk about this right now. Okay. Yes, the fabric is just too pretty. It's true. I'm not gonna like be like, it's not a big deal. It is a big deal. It's if you're somebody like me, who is a you know, I'm I've gone beyond hobby, Coulter. I'm a professional quilter. I'm a quilt instructor. I love fabric like, truly, truly love fabric. And so I do think some things are just their works of art, I can appreciate them from the designer's point of view as far as like holy cow, somebody thought this up, put it out of their brain, and now I get to use it as an art material. But did you catch what I just said at the end, I get to use it as an art material. It is a medium, the same way a sculptor uses clay. The same way a painter uses acrylics. Fabric is my medium. Use it, somebody else has gone through a lot of work to provide you with something that you literally are in love with. And think it's too pretty. Like think about that. That's pretty stinking cool. So I really want you to kind of wrap your brain around that one. I also want you to take in consideration the fact that especially like, I'm just I'm pointing at the quilt behind me the kapow quote. Remember that fabric that I was like, Oh, I can't really place that. I think it's free. I think it's spirit animal. This has been a fat quarter that has been bouncing around in my fabric stash for a long time. I have some pretty throwback fabrics. And I will say some like real throwback fabrics of like Tula Pink's like I'm not, I'm not going to cut up the cats, the Cheshire cats from Tabby road. Mostly because like if you've done a Google search or an Etsy search, you'll realize that that fat quarter is like worth a lot of money. totally different ballgame. Most fabric are not collector's items, this elephant, not a collector's item, I think I can probably get like a decent amount like as far as backwards go, I could probably get 2030 bucks for it, which is expensive for a fat quarter. But I like this fabric. I think it's pretty. I love the hidden elephant. I get to enjoy this fabric a heck of a lot more in this quilt than I ever would if it was still in that fat quarter bin. Do you know what I mean? I want you to really, really think about this because I'm trying to get to the why before I give you the tips and tricks how to do this. Use it because I get to enjoy this 10 times more in this quilt than I ever would if it was just sitting on my shelf. Okay, you will get to enjoy it more if you can see if you can touch it if you can use it every day. Keep that in mind. Okay. Let's chat about some of the things that I do to make me feel better about using my fabric stash. First tip, which is a tip, but also kind of a little common sense. So don't be like Gosh, this is what she's sharing. But like, think about it. Find a pattern, a quilt pattern that you like or write your own quilt pattern. Do you dog we're all artists here and then go shopping for fabric and then buy the fabric and if one of those fabrics is gorgeous, by an extra yard of it. Okay, then you have the pattern and you're going to cut the fabric that you purchased to go into that pattern. This seems like common sense like dove that's how you make a quilt. However, if you are buying for a specific purpose, you tend to not have the same emotional attachment to that fabric that you do. When to look goes on her Tula Tuesday's announces a fabric collection and you go and preorder it six months before it arrives and then it finally shows up to your house and it's in this beautiful bundle. It has created its own aura. There was a release. You had to wait six months for it. It came in a special package. It is now impossible to cut. You see were momentous bye As for your patterns, this will one, in theory, be cheaper in the long run. I say in theory, because we are all human, okay, so it's not going to be cheaper for everybody because people are going to compound this with other habits. So it is what it is. But it could be cheaper in the long run because you're not stashing. You're not buying fabric without any intention of using it, or at least without any clear guidance and roadmap to how you're going to use it. Okay, so it's gonna get used immediately, you may have noticed, I did say buy an extra yard of something that you really love. That's how we get fabric sashes, people. But then your fabric sash is only fabrics that you really love. And also it desensitizes it a little because you've already cut into it for that project, you just have a little extra for something else in the future. So that's really, really helpful. Another thing that you can do, which is something I absolutely do, especially when it comes to fabric collections by designers that I absolutely adore, obviously Tula Pink, Sherry and Chelsea for moda. I adore everything that they put out. I think it's wonderful. I just do Bonnie and Camille, same z's. So what I ended up doing is I ordered a beautiful bundle. And I order another bundle. And sometimes I order another bundle and another bundle. I did it. I'm not kidding. So four bundles, I ordered four bundles. Okay, this one is never going to get touched. It's just not it's beautiful. And I love it and I want to look at it, I want to use it as decor. This one is going to get cut up and I'm going to use it and I'm not going to feel bad about it. Because every time I'm like oh my gosh, it's so beautiful. I can go look at this one. So this is our stack of fabric, I just cut it open and I'm using it. This one is the beautiful bundle that sticks. I also I know myself, I adore certain fabric designers and I always want to use their fabrics. I ordered to backup fabric bundles as well. So that once I go through this stack of ones that are already loose and ready to get cut, I have two more that I can also use sometimes you just have to know yourself. And I know that I think some of these fabrics are too pretty to use. And so I buy it's like an air and a spare. You are going to be the most beautiful one in the land. You get to sit on the top shelf and lord it over everybody else. These ones are our worker bees and these are the ones that are going to go into our vaults. Does that make sense? I hope it makes sense because that's like I would say number one thing to do. Another thing that you can do, which I have always done is I buy you know I do the whole fabric bundle thing. I buy fabrics for a specific pattern. But let's say a collection comes out like Curiouser and curiouser. And it's a beautiful collection. The colorway is awesome throughout. I wasn't in love with every single print. I liked them all. I liked them all. But that like love that poll I need to use every single one. I didn't have it except for the drippy roses. Those drippy roses were gorgeous. So you know what I did? I bought two yards of each colorway of the drippy roses. So now I have a yardage of drippy roses. Pretty awesome. I can use that as much as I want. I've got yards I've got yards and yards of it. I can use it. Fabric bundle season tack. I'm using the drippy Rose is another thing that you can do if you're not like so I understand. I am in a different position than a lot of people I have a massive quilting studio in my home. I have you know waterwall cabinetry. I've got walk in closet, I've got room to spare. I mean my sewing table just this sewing table is like a seven foot long table plus I have a full size long arm. Like I've got room in here. If you don't have the room to be, you know, have backups upon backups upon backups. Something else that you can do is to lean in to solids and coordinates. And then pick out some focal points, just like what I was saying with, I was obsessed with those drippy roses, maybe you can't buy two, three fat quarter stacks. What you can do is buy, you know, uh, you know, either true colors or, you know, solids or any sort of blenders, you know, whatever you are, maybe you're a Kansas troubles person, maybe your Tula Pink, purple, those are two very different types of, of quilting there. But buy like a core, like a library, like make your own library of 10 things. And then you have that core fabric that you can mix in, and then you'll want to mix it in because that is going to be what brings the punch. That brings the fun to your quilt tops. Does that make sense? Guys? I hope it does. I just I adore fabric. And I know that there are so many of you out there who also adore fabric the way that I do. But I think that it's a lot of fun can be had. And sometimes, when we're so obsessed with fabric and a fabric collection, we stay with only using that fabric collection, which is great. I have quilts that are top to bottom, the same fabric collection all the way through. It's wonderful to do. But once you get okay with breaking the seal on one of these, you can start to mix and match. And instead of this being a stack of tiny beasts, it can be pinks, and yellows, and oranges, and purples, and greens, and blues. And look at that guys. We now have a totally different situation happening. Now we have things that we can mix and match and put together with different fabric collections because we're not looking at who the designer was and where it came from. We're looking at this as a material as a medium. I have it's taken me a really long time for me to lean into the idea that I'm an artist. Because it just I would say I am a quintessential like basic chick not gonna lie Uggs lattes, from Starbucks, aviator sunglasses. It's Madame, I'm a basic chick. And I'm so proud of it. But oftentimes, when we think of ourselves in a certain way, we don't think of ourselves as artists. And nobody else in the planet could have made this quilt that's on the wall behind me. But me all the materials are out there for mass consumption. This is not a pattern that's just for me. And that's great. This is not fabric that was just for me. And that's okay too. But I chose what fabrics to put together. And I chose what pattern to utilize those fabrics in and that makes me an artist set it so I just wanted to leave you with that thought. Super exciting. It is what it is. But that's that's my two bits this week about using your fabric stash. I hope that you let the fears go or know that those fears are there and use some of my tips and tricks to allow you to work within that fear of while having still having that fear. For those of you who are participating in the sampler spree slow along thank you so much. I'm loving seeing all of your blocks splattered all over social media. If you're interested in seeing some of those blocks, you can follow the hashtag sampler spree slow along. We are in very early stages of the Solong. So if you want to join in, you can visit the link in the description to join us. I would love to have you there. Okay guys, you have finished another episode of the stop scrolling start selling podcast. I am so grateful that you spent a little portion of your day with me. And to ensure that you never miss an episode. Hit subscribe wherever you listen or watch this podcast. Alright guys bye for now Happy Selling