the no more manifesto.

Monday, December 16, 2013 at 5:31PM
Penny Poppleton

Hi, my name is Jenn*, and I'm a fabriholic.

Having seen this pop up on Jess's and Rebecca's blogs, it seemed like a good idea, but not for me. I shrugged and thought, I'm not so bad. Not really. But, like most things, it clung to my brain like a burr. I thought about it a lot. And I started to really examine my craft habits.

I did not like what I saw.

So, I buy a LOT of fabric. I sew as much as I can, but I definitely buy more than I can sew. Earlier this year, I committed to culling and curating my stash life, and I do think my fabric purchases have been more mindful. It's just that there were so many.

Part of my fabric-hoarding is a genuine love of textiles: I really am the kind of person who walks into fabric shops and takes a long, deep breath in. I often buy whole collections, I haunt designer blogs, I stalk my favorite people and companies on Instagram; I am as nuts about fabric as some people are about shoes. I don't just sew with my stash; I dive in and swim around for hours/days, emerging only when the right combinations appear. Textiles are a genuine love.

But, I have to confess, part of why I hoard fabric is because I can. I like having the latest, greatest, newest. I love being able to show the girls in my guild a new half-yard bundle and have them see for themselves why I can't stop rhapsodizing. I love being a resource! But my fabric sits there. Unsewn. Insured, and named in my will, for heaven's sake, but unsewn.

This misses the point of fabric. Fabric is meant to be cut, sewn, admired in projects, not just in stashes.

Buying so much puts pressure on me, too. I feel guilty when I purchase fabric and it goes untouched. I get frustrated that I still haven't saved enough for my quilting frame. (Fabric and Grace Frame budget are in the same pile.) I even feel guilty at how often I wait for the postman, and don't take my kids outside!

And, as much as I love to shop locally, since I had babies my purchasing is about 65% online. I browse/buy online during breastfeeds or naptimes, when the kids don't need me but I want my hands and brain occupied. This means I'm not supporting local business as much as I like, which is hugely frustrating for me. I am letting myself and my community down. Patchwork shops in Australia are rare, and I want to support the amazing ones.

Something has to change. I need a big shock. I need to be forced out of my comfort zone. I need to, instead of deciding I want to make something with new fabric, make the same project with the fabric I already have. I need to love and embrace using what I have, not yearn for new fabric.

So this is it. My commitment. From January 1 to July 1, I will not buy any more new fabric for my stash. Here are the rules, as laid out by Jess & Rebecca:

Now, I personally don't have quilts in magazines but as I am teaching this year (!!! yes, and I will talk about it later), my stash might fall short for those. Same goes for anything for the guild. But within those exceptions, I will stick to a budget, and I will stay local. I also plan to buy batting and notions as needed. (Suddenly rotary cutter blades, interfacing, and zippers seem heaps more exciting, haha.)

The point of this is to use what I have, and in a larger sense, to be happy with what I have. I might even go so far as to destash a little. (If I don't love it, why am I keeping it?) And I love the idea of stopping and evaluating at mid-year. 

I'll write out a quick WIPs list just for posterity. I'll count anything I've started by 1 January as needing to be finished by 30 June, but unstarted projects don't count, yeah? :)

Tops that need piecing:

• Terrain challenge
• Kat's quilt
• O quilt
• trade winds II
• triangles

Tops that need quilting:

• spool quilt (scalp and requilt)
• picnic rug (quilt, simple lines)
• blue Marcelle Medallion

Projects to be started:

• hexagon quilt
• third marcelle medallion
• pixel quilt
• show quilt
• voile quilt
• cushion covers

Plus whatever else is in my ideas bag. Gah I want to make all the things!

Okay. So that's me. I'm linking up. I'm in this thing. Let's do it. :)

*it really, totally, actually is. But you can still call me Penny.

Article originally appeared on write / sew / live (http://pennypoppleton.com/).