Hey there. I'm Nicole Gilbert and you've joined the stop scrolling start sewing podcast. Are you new to sewing and want to start quilting but have no idea where to begin? Each Wednesday, Join me as I share the ins and outs of that quilt life. If you don't have a sewing machine, have no idea how much fabric you need. Or you're just trying to figure out where the heck to stick that bobbin this is the podcast for you. Hey folks, Nicole here. Welcome to Episode 53 of the stops growling start sewing podcast. Today's a fun one. So we are going to talk about fabric stashes what is a fabric stash the different sizes of fabric stashes and the best and most economical way to build yours. Okay, guys, let's get sewing. So first up, what is a stash. So a fabric stash is a collection known in some quilting communities as a hoard of fabric that you have in your home or studio that is readily available to use in your next project. So it's extra fabric. It's particularly purchased just to kind of hold on the shelf for a while. It's just fabric that you have on hand so that when you go to make a project if it has a specific requirement, you could just go on over to your stash. Grab what you need, and get the party started without having to go out and shop. That's in essence, what a fabric stash is. Now there are different types of stashes. There are scrap stashes. So scrap stashes are usually smaller pieces, usually smaller than an eight fat eighth of fabric. And it's like leftovers. So you've gone you've made your quilts, there's leftover yardage, usually pretty small pieces here and there. As you're cutting. And you collect them and you save them for a rainy day. That's a scrap stash. Now there is a well loved stash, which is kind of what I've got. And in a well loved stash, it's more like you go out to buy a new fabric for a specific project. And then some of the fabrics, you're like, Oh, that's, that's good. That's real pretty, I got to have more than that. And so instead of buying the yard, that the pattern requires you buy two, maybe you buy three. And now you've started to kind of collect a little because you're like, I don't know what else I can use this for. But it's so pretty, I need to have it. That's kind of what I do. And I also do scrap stash as well. So I have kind of the both now and then there's other, you know, stashes and those stashes are the type of people who specifically go out and purchase fabric knowing they have no idea what they're going to do with it. And so they just start collecting, and they're like, Well, that was pretty good habit. And I'm not gonna lie, I've done it a few times, like been out purchasing for a specific project. And then like, there's one fabric that you're like, Oh my gosh, it's gorgeous. And so I buy some of that. Um, so I have done that as well. But those are like the three different types. Now there's also sizes of stashes. Now I will say myself, I will say I've got a moderate or medium sized stash. This is all completely subjective. If you ask my husband, he'd say I have a giant stash. If you ask some of my quilting buddies, they'd be like, Oh my gosh, what are you doing? You've got nothing go buy more, and I 100% agree with them. I'm kidding. But kind of not. Um, you do want to have a decent sized stash. But again, it's subjective. And there's a lot of different parameters that go into you know, what is the best size stash for you. One you want to think about storage. Because especially when you're talking about you know good quality fabric that you know will last if you use it, it's heirloom quality. You want to make sure you have a good place to store it. I know we've all been on Pinterest and we've seen those gorgeous shelves of many bolts that People have and you're like, Oh my gosh, and it's drool worthy. But that sometimes is not the best way to store your fabric over the long period of time, because sunlight will fade your fabric. And when you've only got like a spine showing that stripe will be lighter than the rest of your fabric. Over time, this isn't gonna happen, like in a few weeks or even a few months, but over time, it will happen. And when you have stashes of those sizes, because I know we can all think about those people that have like, all wall of fabric. If you're not somebody who now I will say, you know, you will see these with fabric designers. And then but then when you look at those, they have all one collection. It's all one collection. And it's because those fabric designers are required. I mean between, you know, setting up their booths for quilt market, creating quilts to then be created into kits for fabric shops, they're required to use their fabric. So those bolts are going like the same bit of fabric is not being exposed because they're constantly cutting off of it. That's different. Now, when you see people like who just had like, amazingly stellar quilt studios, and they've got a wall of fabric, that's where it's a little bit more concerning, because they're not using that fabric. Like they're not using all of that fabric over and over and over and over again, some of those bolts, they won't touch for quite a while if not over a year. And that's when you start to get some fading happening. So we want to take into consideration, storage, both how you're going to store it, and also how much space you actually have to store because let's be real, we don't all have humongous squat studios. I'm very fortunate that in our home, I do have a cold studio, I know that I'm very fortunate and blessed every single day. However, I I mean, I don't think in this regard anybody has like the studio of their dreams because we can always dream for more. That's the point of dreams. But in my studio, I have a giant walk in closet, which is fabulous. And then I've got a dresser, like a full dresser. And a dresser is not the ideal way to store fabric. I'm talking about storing all this fabric. And now I think I have to do an episode coming up shortly about how to fold a how to store fabric. I'll put a pin in that. But it's not ideal because of the wood, but the wood has been painted and sealed. So it's not harming the fabric. But it's still not kind of ideal. Anyway. Um, so I have a decent amount of storage. And it's a it's a large dresser that I have. And again, it's a large walk in closet and it's filled with bins of fabric as well. Prior to being in a position to have a quilt studio in my home, my fabric stash was a lot smaller. It was kind of confined to you know, large tote bags. In one essence, this whole anti plastic bag thing has really helped with a lot of people stash George, because I know a lot of us are holding them in those giant shopping totes that we get at the stores now. And so that's actually where I still keep my scraps like my bitty scraps I keep scraps as long as small as I can get a one and a half inch square if I can get a one and a half inch square out of it even if the pieces like a triangle or whatever, but I couldn't figure out how to cut out a one and a half inch square. I keep that piece of fabric. There's no waste here. But and we'll talk about that a little bit too. So we want to take into consideration how much space we have to store there was a time period where we lived in a very small two bedroom apartment. And kind of every inch of space had to be maximized. And in that case, you know, my sewing machine was in a closet my cutting mat was underneath the mattress. I had a little Tupperware shoe box with all of my rotary cutters and threads and needles and stuff in it in a closet and I had a tote bag of scraps and that was pretty much it because I had to really keep in to account the space. But just like a good handbag, when you got more space you will grow to fit it and that's where I am right now. And there are some of you who will have giant quote studios like I I'm Kind of keeping my eye out. But one good thing about being a military family with us moving so often is that I can kind of, you know, if we were solitary or solitary stationary, you know, you'd buy a house and you'd be like, Okay, well, this is it. We're making this work. And I mean, it's rare instances, that once you find a house that accommodates your family size, you're going to move. But for us, we move every, you know, two to three years. So because of that each new house, I can be like, you know what, maybe the boys should try sharing a room this time. No, I'm kidding, sort of. But I can upgrade my cold Studio A little and I'm, I'm keeping my eye out for Kansas, I think we're gonna i think i think i've got a good plan. Again, I hope that my husband does not listen to the podcast. But fabric session, I digress. So we want to keep in mind the amount of storage that we have. We don't want to be buried under fabric. Here's why. When you're buried under fabric, you start piling your fabric up on your cutting station, you start putting things in just kind of putting things in places just to get it out of your way. But what it actually does is stifle your creativity, when you have to move stacks of fabric in order to get to your usable workstations. That's not good. And it will over time, make it so that you use your workstations, aka actually quilts less and less. So even though you're like, well, I'm building my stash. And I've got all of this stuff, and I can't wait to use it, you kind of can cuz it's kind of in the way. So don't do that to yourself. So we want to make sure that we're keeping in mind the amount of storage that we have. Now let's talk about actually building your stash. So when we're building our stash, we want to go about it in the most efficient and economical way possible, while still having fun. Now, I would say for those of you who are new quilters out there, let's start with scrap stashes. It's absolutely the easiest way to do it. And it will happen over time. Just don't throw your stuff out. Like seriously, when I think back to when I was a beginner quilter the scraps that I would throw out like because now I keep things like I said as long as I can cut a one and a half inch square from it, I will keep it and so I probably have way more fabric now. And it's amazing. So every year I do tend to do a scrap quilts the weekend. quilter does a great quilt along over the summers and it's like with a nine patch. And there's a lot of different ways that you can arrange your fabric to create some really pretty motifs besides just the the example that she provides. But it's a great way to use your scraps and I thought find it also kind of scrapbooking because I use the fabrics that I use over the previous year. So each one of those scrap quotes now kind of shows what I was working on during that previous year which is kind of nice. But and i will i digress a little and I meant to talk about that in a minute. I'll get there. But scraps are fantastic. Most quilt patterns will bake in a little bit of extra yardage for each of your your fabrics that you purchase in order to kind of mitigate any issues that you might have if you make a mistake with cutting and so you'll end up with some extra fabric just keep it and you've create started to create your stash. So all you need to do now as you start to have a little bit more room and you really start to fall in love with different types of fabrics. You'll go out and you'll purchase fabric for a project. This is what I want you to start adding just a little bit extra. So you get the amount you need. I always suggest regardless buying an extra quarter yard so if a quilt pattern requires a yard get a yard and a quarter. The reason why I do that is because sometimes mistakes happen like major mistakes. Usually the quilt patterns have baked in so that like you know if you go wonky on the strip you have enough for an extra strip or something like that. But you're I like to do like a full quarter yard because every once in a while I don't know if it's because I have three small children running around or my brains on something else but every once in a while like I will look at a pattern and cut something from fabric a that was meant to be Add a fabric B. And now I need more fabric a, I like to go at least a quarter yard over. So that will also assist you with building your sash. Also, I suggest going a little further on the fabrics you love. You will buy fabrics you love pretty much every time you go to buy fabrics for a project. If you're not buying fabric that you love, what are you doing. And so you know, you might like them all. But there's probably one fabric in that poll that you're like, Oh my gosh, this is amazing. buy more of that fabric, because you'll use it. Now. I don't suggest doing this for like big focal prints, like things that have like a really strong motif, because you probably actually won't want to use it again, just because then your your quilts and your projects will start to look like each other. But there will be stuff that you're just like it's just too pretty, I need more, buy more. And then for those that have a ton of space, and this is definitely the least economical route. And not how I suggest any beginner go about making their stash is going to fabric shops and just buying random fabric and buying one to two yards of that random fabric. Will you eventually use it? Maybe probably. But when you buy go out and just buy too much non cohesive fabric, it becomes hard to pull it in and you'll end up going to the quilt shop again just to buy more. Now something I do suggest doing is if you fall in love with a fabric collection by a fat quarter bundle of that fabric collection. I mean you can go as far as buying a half yard bundle, which I always suggest if you have something that you absolutely adore. Like I should have done that with Chelsea Sherry and Chelsea Balboa. Oh my gosh, I'm so sad I didn't. But and now it's like gone. You can't get it like anywhere I can get like charm packs of it. It's a bummer. Anyway, um, but things that you absolutely adore. Get a quarter yard bundle, a quarter yard bundle will get you like a full quilt out of it. So sometimes it can be a little bit of a sticker shock because they can range anywhere from like 45 to $100 a fat quarter bundle. However, you'll spend north of that buying individual fabrics, depending on the size of your quilt. So it's actually a pretty fast, easy way to do it. I don't suggest you relying on fat quarter bundles for your garbage because I really want you to learn color theory that's neither here nor there. However, if a collection is gorgeous by the fat quarter bundle, I buy fat quarter bundles all the time. And depending on the type of fabrics or like Tula pink, I usually keep the collections together because they have such such strong themes. I probably won't do that with daydreamer. I think this new collection that will come out in the fall is pretty easily broken up. But like the current collection that just came out curiouser and curiouser. It's got an Alice in Wonderland theme to it. And it's like it's an Alice in Wonderland theme. Like I'm not going to split these things up and put them in a bunch of things like there's one or two prints that have like small roses, and like card deck suits on it that you could probably break apart. But the rest of them it's like things are falling down rabbit holes and there's a giant Red Queen and Alice is there. And I mean you're not breaking those things up. So I'll keep those together. But then some things like I just bought a Riley Blake Designs, fat quarter up puppies and poses, and it's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, lovely and feminine. But it's in, you know, navies and greens as which is just really beautiful. But it's floral. So I mean, I could break that up in a second. No big deal, and I'll use it. So it'll really depend on the different fat quarter bundles, but that's a wonderful way to build a stash as well. Now, I also want you to use your stash. There was a time period there where I was. You know, I got pretty solid in my stashing abilities aka compulsive purchasing because I love fabric so much. But I would just keep on purchasing. I'm now at a position one. I have a lot of fabric in my house. And I am you know buying collections at this point because I do have certain obsessions and proclivities for certain designers. But I can just go you know, I want To make a quilt for the RV that my family just purchased, or you know, and instead of going out and shopping for fabric, I just went into my drawers and was like, Oh, this would be perfect, grabs it out. And now I'm cranking out a, quote, no big deal. And that's really nice, because when I get a bee in my bonnet, I can just start quilting. But anyway, I was in that time period, I was actually, you know, I'd be like, Oh, I want to go make this new quilt, I'm gonna go to the store and buy all new fabric for it. And it's like, I didn't need to do that, because I had plenty here. And so that's where we're start. It's, I don't want to call it a waste of money, because I have now reverted back to using my stash, way more, excuse me, I'm so sorry. Um, I've gone back to using my stash way more. And so all of that fabric during that time period that was purchased is getting used, so it's totally fine. However, however, I it's, it's still not economical, you know, it's not, it's not the best way to go about it. Especially if you're on a budget or you know, family finances or things that most people do keep in consideration. Very few of us are independently wealthy. And so it's always easier if you've got a wonderful hobby that you can kind of sustain a little bit more easily. So So keep that in mind as well. I want you to use it. Now another thing I want you to do is use scrappiness scrappiness is probably the best. Your if you have a good foundation with color theory, which by the way, my color theory workshop is available. If you want to opt into that, you can go to Nicole Gilbert quotes.com slash color theory. Once you have a really good foundation with color theory, you actually can make really gorgeous scrappy quilts. I know some people are intimidated by using scraps in a quilt just because you really have to have a really keen eye of how colors are going to play together in order to make a beautiful quilt in the end. That's okay. Also, most of our natural proclivities will lead us towards a color palette, I love me a jewel tone, purples, and magenta and turquoise and teal, Navy, Sapphire, these are colors that I naturally lean towards. And so I'm not going to lie, my scraps look pretty darn good together. Because I lean towards that and everybody has that, you know, some people love yellows, and oranges and reds, those all look beautiful together. So once you understand color theory and how you can choose pattern density to to play up your the your color choices, making scrap quilts are super, super satisfying, super set, I always find myself to be more satisfied with quilts, where I did the fabric Bowl 100% on my own, versus ones that I use a full collection on because the cool designer, the quote fabric designer, you know, made all the choices for me, I just, you know, colored by number, which is not a bad thing. It's fun, and it's beautiful to use beautiful fabrics. But I also want you to stretch that creative muscle. I am rambling on and on about fabric stashes. But you guys, I just want you to have fun. Build a stash that works for you. works for the space you have works for your bank account. And that will work for you for years to come as you continue quoting. You dig. Awesome. All right. You have just finished another episode of the stops rolling start sewing podcast. Thank you for hanging out with me and make sure you never miss an episode. By hitting subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Now stop scrolling and start sewing.