Whoo-ee, I went through all the under table boxes.
Posted a sewing machine on craigslist, filled a box for goodwill and one for the mini rummage sale.
Feels so good!
You can call it lazier or you can call it more efficient & less letting perfectionism get in the way of doing things you want to do. ![]()
Maybe this should have gone in the 2023 thread but I’ve finally tallied up all of my acquisitions and stash crafts. I am a bit of a tally-nerd but I do find it helpful to keep these sorts of records if only to put my stash in perspective. For instance, I started out the year with about 272 yards of fabric in stash (I know! It didn’t seem like that much until I started counting everything); if I use about 10 yards a year it will take me a quarter of a century to use all of it, and who knows if I’ll even like those prints by the end of it.
Feel free to skip this list! I’m mostly putting it here so that I can find it when the time comes to take stock of 2024 in a year’s time.
Sewing
I mostly sew for dolls that are between 6 and 12 inches. Great for scraps, less grand for using up yardage, but it all adds up in the end.
Made: 235 foll dresses of various sizes and one bib/coverup
Used Up: 10.25 yards of fabric (mostly quilting cotton. 50 prints used up or reduced to the patch-scrap basket), 15 spools of thread plus one serger cone, 240 snaps, 2 spools of ribbon, and one pack of sewing machine needles (obviously I don’t change those nearly as often as I should).
Acquired: 2/3 yard small scale Halloween prints (they’re hard to find, so I couldn’t pass them up).
Donated: TBD - I gave away a bunch mid-year but haven’t done the 2024 Fabric Stash Reckoning yet. That’s on the docket for February.
Knitting
Made: 6 doll sweaters, 1 hat, 1 pair of mitts, 7 dishcloth
Used Up: 2 skeins stash yarn, (3 skeins cotton yarn)
Acquired: 3 balls of cotton yarn, 2 skeins bulky weight
Donated: Nearly half of my yarn stash by volume. Should have gone further.
Papercrafts
I picked up bookbinding as a hobby again, so I acquired some new stuff on that front, plus my usual journaling nonsense.
Made: 7 quarto size books
Used Up: 6 A5 dot grid notebooks, 39 stickii sheets, 18 half sticker sheets, 13 sticker packs, 4 vinyl stickers, 6 rolls of washi tape, 7 ink samples, 10 ink cartridges, and one post-it note pad.
Acquired: 9 A6 dot grid notebooks, 3 A5 dot grid notebooks (I am paranoid that my preferred notebooks will be discontinued), 6 stickii packs, about a 2 inch stack of scrapbook paper & cardstock, 1 yard of book cloth, 3/4 sheet of book board.
Donated/Gave Away: About 6 notebooks and journals
Thats insane. No only how much you did, but how you tracked it! ![]()
I am a Lister, too. I am envious of the lengths you went to.
I find I do more if I’m tracking stuff. Not in the “it doesn’t count unless I get credit for it” way but more along the lines of picking an arbitrary target based on what I did last week/month/year.
It also keeps me off the streets and out of the craft stores!
Safety first. You know some crazy stuff goes down on the street and in the craft store.
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Do we want the younger generations to learn about crafting at home or in the gutter?
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Anyway, I Made these Valentines with mostly stash! I did have to buy yellow paper for the yellow hearts - yellow is my least fave color, so I didn’t have a lot of choices on hand and none the soft pastel of a conversation heart. The red card blanks/envelopes have been in my stash for yearrrrrrs. I used 14 for this! I bet there are not more than 10 left.
Full disclosure: I went to JoAnn to get only 2 pieces of yellow cardstock. BUT the open stock was 10 for $3! So either 2 pcs for $1.58 or 10 for $3. That said, I didn’t let my whims get the better of me and bought colors I knew I was short on: shades of green, some warm off-white, and santa-suitable red.
I find yellow and orange to be particularly tricky colors to keep in stash. There are a million different varieties and prints on the blue/green/purple end of the spectrum but usually only one or two for the warm colors, whether we’re talking about fabric or paper. Haven’t gone looking for yarn in a while, so someone tell me if the pattern holds true there too!
Generally speaking I prefer cooler colors and I have found that I lean towards secondary colors, as well: purple, green, orange. And then some of the tertiary colors: teal/turquoise, coral. It’s interesting and maybe mostly self-serving: I CAN NOT wear yellow or any green that is more yellow than blue, a red that leans at all orange. I mean, I can, but… oof.
I am drawn to the warm colors in yarn and have loads of autumn colors in yarn and fabric. I can’t wear them, though: olives, yellows, oranges…I look so washed out in them…I really need to stop purchasing those unless it is for someone else…I tend to buy a lot of reds and burgandy…my favorite color.
I learned some of my best techniques in the gutter…
Or at least I picked up some interesting bits in the gutter. Twisted wire, shiny nitrous oxide cylinder, snuff can…
I love and wear greens-teals-blues-purples, and that’s mostly what I buy. Like, I have two cubbies each of fabrics in blue, green, and teal, (all stuffed full) but a single cubby holds all my red, orange, and yellow fabric with room to spare.
I have to make a conscious effort to buy warm colors so I have a full palette to work with. I have very few yellows, too, but I can paint them when needed.
Used up a bit of scrap on this cell phone pillow. In retrospect I think it may have worked better in crochet since the knit stitches are stretching a bit more than I prefer, but it still works, and I use it at work now ![]()
Love the yellow and back combo. Very cheery.
Very cool and unique project! Love that yellow. ![]()
The colors and pattern are neat. I think it looks great.
I used stash to make my parents two bowl cozies. I grabbed some random fabric for my Dad, but used scraps from a purse I had made for my Mom to create hers. When she saw the fabric she laughed and said she loved it. ![]()
Some tiny bits of fabric are gone and about four tubs to go!
@sheepBlue I love how cozy your phone must feel at work! Does it go into sleep mode more quickly?
Cute Charlie Brown-bumble bee vibes!
@gozer Well now I can’t help but think of bowl cozies as “soup purses”!
Hahaha…of course now I will, too. ![]()
mesmerized by the tiny blue floral print. What is the jewel toned one lined with?
Perfect!


