Stash and the Spring Shift

I hope Carolyn doesn't mind if I use her latest post to riff on the topic of stash. I don't think she will, as she's a generous soul and shares in so many ways with all of us in Sewing Blog Land. Anyway, I figure it would only give her credit for the inspiration...also Marji, who's been struggling with this issue lately. I admit, sometimes I worry about this a little too, especially since DF (the Minimalist) and I plan to combine households in the near future. He's going to be shocked when he realizes exactly how much stuff I have...and he thinks 1700 SF will work? Umm, no. I think not. I don't require a ginormous house, but I don't like being cramped either.

Anyway, to the topic of stash...

I know how I am. If I cleared all my stash out, I'd just start all over again. It's my nature. I do better having a supply on hand. What I really need to work on is doing actual instead of virtual sewing. However, no guilt! It's counterproductive. I'd prefer to focus on moving forward instead of the shortcomings of the past.

I'm in a bit of a spring cleaning mood today. I'm doing some fabric shifting. Most of my fabric is stored in the sewing room but there's some overflow into the guest bedroom. That room can stay vacant for months at a time. Therefore, the closet,

the bureau,





and under the bed are fair game. Most of the off-season fabric ends up in there.

But back to the sewing room. I keep some of my fabrics in the bookcase. It's a compromise. In my old house, I had a walk-in closet in the sewing room so I could just hang the stash and get visual inspiration by looking around. Now I have a bigger house but a smaller sewing room closet, so some of the shelves are used for fabric.



However, it's a compromise that's worked well. It's inspiring to have seasonal fabrics out where I can see them. Mind you, it doesn't mean I'll actually use them, but the visual cues help inspire me to sew for the new season.

And seeing fabric also helps me to remember the fabric in the bins.



PS. Since starting this post earlier, I noticed that the Slapdash Sewist and sewl sista #1 also posted entries on this topic today. Something's in the air, I guess!