The Embargo

     When I made my first quilt over twenty years ago, I didn't have enough fabric to complete a baby quilt.  Now, I store fabric in large plastic tubs and stack those tubs along a wall in my house.

     I dream of someday having a room of my own where I can display all of my fabric on proper shelving or in one of those beautiful cabinets with glass doors.  I can already see it arranged in rainbow order and it would inspire all kinds of projects.  As it is now, we have a full house and it'll be a while before a room opens up.  In the meantime, I make do with pulling my tubs of fabric out when I'm working and putting them away when I'm done. 

     One day, I had just finished digging out fabrics for a project and realized that maybe, just maybe, there were too many tubs.  They are kept in decent order.  And they don't look bad stacked against the wall.  But they are rather obvious, and I suddenly felt ridiculous stacking the tubs back into place.  As I was heaving a particularly heavy tub on top of two others, I began to wonder if it was even possible for me to use all of the fabric I had collected.

     I came to the conclusion that it was time to implement a fabric embargo.  'What's that?'  The definition of an "embargo" is 'the act of imposing an official ban on trade or a commodity.'  That's what I did -- I officially banned myself from purchasing any new fabric for the stash.  It's been almost two years and, surprisingly, I've stuck to it.  In fact, I have reduced the number of tubs from  .  .  .  well  .  .  .  I don't know if I should say.  You might think I'm crazy.  My eldest daughter says, regarding my fabric stash, "They should know you're insane."  But I don't think I want anyone to know that. 😉

     The only exception I allow for buying more fabric is when I need something specific to complete a project.  The last time I can remember buying fabric, for instance, was a year and a half ago when I needed to bind a quilt.  I looked through the stash first, but just didn't have the right color.  I've been making do with what I have, even settling on something that's not my first choice.  But this was a custom quilt made by special request and it needed the right finish.  When I went to the quilt shop, I knew how much fabric I would need for the binding and that's all I bought.  No extra for the stash.  No stray fat quarters.  No yardage on clearance.  It was. . . difficult. . . but I was determined, and I left with only what I needed to finish the quilt.  

     

     Since I implemented my embargo, one of my go-to quilt shops has gone out of business.  

     My ultimate goal is to whittle the tubs down to where they fit nicely along the wall and I don't have to stack them so high.  Perhaps then I can then cover them with a tablecloth and use them as a table.  Or. . . maybe I should keep them all and use them as a barricade against intruders.

Thank you to my daughter for these great drawings!