A stash, whether large or small, is an essential part of any crafter’s toolkit. It’s what lets us start on a new project when inspiration hits late at night when the shops have closed, lets us sock away some sale-yarn for a rainy day, or potentially find untold riches in a post-apocalyptic world when googly eyes and pompoms become the new currency of the land.
This is the spot where we celebrate our stash! How this is done will look different for everyone. Some people have a resolution to shop stash first, some are trying to craft their stash down to a smaller volume, and others are just excited that they finally found a use for those six yards of green felt they bought so long ago they can’t quite remember why. Show off your successes here.
Color: White Pattern: Stripes For: Relaxation Challenge 1: Take a good look at your stash and try to set some goals for yourself. Ongoing Challenge: Choose a supply to concentrate on this month. Set up some measurable metrics to track your progress. (ex: weight at beginning of the month vs. end or before/after pics)
Ooh! A good omen for me and my stash- we’ve already done something that fits the first description. (And, speaking of description, may I just applaud your description above in the intro? Honestly, googly eyes and pom-poms the currency of the land… Comedy genius. Well, I hope it proves to be comedy. Lol.)
I didnt want the last bit of this self strioey/variegated yarn to languish in the yarn cabinet like some of it’s brethren so I worked up what was left, ran out, added in some stash white to border it and voilà- a doll blanket.
Colour: white I used up a spool of white thread this Friday! I’m working through a spool of light cream now. I’m piecing quilt blocks that use white fabric.
Projects to destash for 2026:
Sewing
I have a few yards of a nice quality denim in stash for a skirt for spring. I’ve made a wearable toile this spring so I know the pattern works. I just need to cut it out and use the combo stitch on my new serger to put it together. The combo stitch is a chain stitch and overlock stitch at the same time and I’ve saved some projects for it
Finish up the purple skirt that has been a UFO since summer (It was finished, but I lost weight in the two months between cutting and finishing, so I attacked it with my seam ripper and now it’s an abandoned UFO)
Finish the blue pinafore dress that’s my sewing WIP right now. I need to overlock the skirt but I’ve been hesitant to use the serger on a “good” project
Completely finish my serger “practice projects”, nightdresses from knit fabrics from the €1 remnant bin
Quilting:
finally finish the hexie swap quilt!!! Needs one day of handquilting + binding. I thought I was going to do that this Christmas but we suddenly had a four legged friend over for more than a week who likes to pull at threads with his nails
finally finish the matching pillow cover - I think top is finished. Need to make a plan for the pillowcase, I think quilt first, then use quilted panel for a pillowcase
Figure out a way to use yellow and brown muslin scraps
Embroidery:
finish two embroidery gift UFO’s
Cross stitch:
find the last two projects from early college days, see if they’re worth finishing, if so, do.
Crochet/knitting:
find UFO crochet strip blanket, figure out how to save it, finish
Use up scraps!!!
For the next couple of years:
I have accumulated plenty of sewing scraps too small for adult clothes but too small to throw away. I was using those up on other projects such as bags and pouches. Now I’ll be an aunt soon, let’s see if I can use any of them for baby / toddler clothes.
I’m at the Maine beach on vaca and I woke up thinking about what I needed to destash to clear the floor in the craft room. Creeping floor stash is so hard to control.
My short term goal is to finish (almost there) the star quilt and make the kitchen roman blinds. Then do a big assessment.
I have two color ways of flannel fat quarters that are begging for release.
YEY! Thanks for putting this together year after year, @Trillian !
Last year, I used lots of stash, but didn’t post on the thread much. This year, I hope to post here more as I will also be using lots of stash. I always try to shop stash first, but not having JoAnn around will “force” me to consider items outside of what I initially considered “right” for projects. I hope this leads to better projects rather than good-enough compromises most of the time.
ANYWAY, my first finished project of the year destashed a shadowbox frame purchased for this project a couple years ago while thrifting for another frame, over 50% of a velvet scrap, and all the broken and other vintage costume jewelry I’d been hoarding for it. WOO!
I had committed to purging beading/jewelry-making supplies upon the completion of this project and have set aside two baggies of such to take to the creative reuse place that I just learned about! It’s in the car to go tomorrow. Eep!
The yarn is gorgeous! I think doll blankets are a great idea. It doesn’t have to be an exact size, you can go on until the yarn runs out. My grandma knitted a lot of our clothes and she often made matching doll clothes. Looking back I’m 99% sure that was just to get rid of scraps lol.
@marionberries Creeping floor stash sounds like a dangerous condition! The only thing that lives on the floor is my bin of admin that doesn’t have a home to go to. I’m sure you’ll find a purpose for the flannel FQ’s, that’s such a nice versatile fabric.
@TheMistressT - That jewelry tree is such a pretty way to display your collection.
I’m planning on a low-buy year for 2026, especially for craft supplies. But, my stash is full of supplies I am excited to use, so I don’t think it’ll be too difficult.
There are a handful of WIPs that need finishing and everything currently in my queue has corresponding supplies in my stash, except for the drapes for two windows.
The piles of garment and quilting fabric scraps are getting out of hand and overflowing under my sewing tables. There may be another scrap quilt in my future.
Thank you! I am so glad I finally got around to making it!
I think that things for the home, like drapes, come from a different budget. I mean, it’s all the family budget, of course, but committing part of that to the house is just part of “overhead.”
I’ve been destashing old fabric dye, sometimes multiple colors at once, to dye clothes that are colors I’m not fond of. This one was originally white and got the most interesting effect. The colors had not mixed as well as I thought. I had mixed aquamarine and crimson Rit Dye.
Today I reorganized my craft supplies and filled a box with supplies I don’t want to use anymore. I’ll see if the children’s librarian can use any/all of it for kids & teens crafting days at the library.
The group that is asking for 13" scrap blocks is asking for more. They have about 200 and are making 4 x 5 block quilts for shelters. I love making these scrapppy blocks to work down my fabric stash.
AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
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Found a single skein of Noro bulky yarn while I was going through my stash of yarn. So, instead of sorting and organizing, I am making another hat…this is why I have trouble destashing…
Using the yarn is DeStashing in that it will be a useful object and not stash at the end of the process. Tidying/organizing are noble but tangential to the ultimate goal of Using Our Stuff.
Warm, comfortable, cute and it has pockets!
