Re-thinking My Stash

Southern Cali is experiencing interesting weather. Not real rain. More like lightening, thunder and then flash floods that started mudslides. With new watering restrictions, we are not to water after measurable rain. I'm not quite sure what that meant with what we got or didn't get, so I did water my new plants, and then it rained. Not a lot, but some.

Meanwhile, I finished the Pay It Forward for my friend Susan and have it wrapped and ready to ship out early next week. I have one more PIF in process, and I've been thinking that I might not offer any for the remainder of the year. 

With my new focus on doing Random Acts of Kindness, it seems to me to be an act of unkindness to leave behind a huge, demanding task to clean up years of fabric / quilting purchases that evolves into an entire houseful of stash. I question if it is a gift for the survivor at all to dispose of the goods. Yes, I know this is tradition in many families. I am not judging other people's choices, but looking at myself and what I am doing. Everyone gets to chose how they live, how they spend their money and how they do their art work.

My choice, as a result of seeing the inheritance of stuff (that is more a liability than it is an asset) happen way too many times lately, is to get as much as I can completed with what I have, and not buy more if it can be avoided. I want to finish my family quilts and Winter Solstice projects first. Its also time for me to finish all the projects that have been started and are in various stages in my closets. 

It is not that I am ready to stop quilting or stop living. However, I do want to stop building my stash faster than I can quilt. Its my responsibility, and my RAK to others in my life is to actually carry these projects to completion. 

Obviously, some things need to be purchased to complete the project. Things like thread. Most of the projects I have going right now will need fabric for backing. I have made some creative backs on quilts and have even done creative binding.

I pulled up the border segments to the Constellation quilt, pinned them and pieced one side of each segment, pressing them too. I want to pin them to the center piece before creating the entire border in case seams need tweeking. I'd rather not have to rip anything out. 

I have dedicated one day a month to working with paper projects, and one day a month to working on Winter Solstice gifts. I've decided to do TWO days a month on each of them for awhile just to make more progress on them.