The story of my fabric stash

Just like my bead stash my fabric stash has grown through many sources.
Finds,  Salvaged fabric from clothing being thrown away or even fabric itself being put out at our local transfer station.

Friends, at group sewing opportunities I often find myself in need of just a bit more blue, or black, or yellow. My friends often have scads of strips and squares and sometimes even more that they happily share. I of course offer whatever I have. I love working these pieces in to my wall hangings and quilts.

Pick ups, at the guild meetings there will often be a pile of free fabric from other cutting back on their stashes. So I grab a bit here and there that fit in with some project I have in mind or that just grabs my eye.

Bargains, sometimes when no other options are out there I will go to the store. Possibly I have a particular idea for a project and nothing I have fits the bill. My first resort is the thrift store. Here bags of fabric sometimes containing several yards are sold at half or less the cost at the fabric stores. But you never just get the one piece. there is often 4 or more different fabrics in the bag and yet I may only want the one.
So I buy it and either add the rest to the stash, give them away at the guild meetings or turn around and donate them back to the thrift store. Just recently acquired several yards of a nice multi colored batik and a lovely teal and purple fish print this way.

Fabric Stores, The only times I ever buy from a regular fabric store is when I need a very specific color or print and all my other resources have failed me. In our area we are lucky enough to have 6 shops that sell quilting fabric. And three of them only sell quilting fabric. One of these also sells fur pelts and the fabric is either for Kuspuks or lining fur parkas, but they have some of the most diverse prints and best quality fabric in the area. These three are also the only source for "Alaska" prints. So moose and wolves, blueberries and auroras all fall in this group.

No matter how much sewing I do my stash never seems to shrink. I love having lots of options for projects, and I love having fabric from friends in my projects, so I do not think I will be "destashing" any time soon.