What to do with all that Fabric when a Quilter Passes!
I don’t know if ever in the history of quilting quilters
have had such huge fabric stashes as we have today. It speaks of the great
prosperity of our times since the 1970s.....in spite of all the ups and downs
in the economy during the past 40 years!
The emergence of these stashes into the market place is only beginning
to be felt in the past 5 years. I bet a lot of family members who have to try
to unload this “stuff’ are feeling overwhelmed. And it’s not just fabric. It’s books and patterns and
tools!
I began to make note of the number of stories that began to appear on quilt discussion lists about the amount of fabric that was beginning to hit
the “secondary” fabric market several years ago. I have wondered what changes this huge amount of fabric
hitting the secondary market might bring about. Would it make any difference in
women’s spending habits about fabric? Somehow I doubt that it. I figure they will keep on buying “new” fabric anyway. But it is possible that as this “cheap” fabric (relative
to the price of “new” fabric) becomes more widely available, women may simply
just ADD EVEN MORE fabric to their stashes! I think the presence of e-Bay and similar on-line sale sites
is only going to accelerate this process.
A Business Opportunity for Someone Who Loves Fabric!
Someone with a
good business sense could start snapping this stuff up by the pound and create
a huge on-line business out of it.
This “Secondary Market Fabric Mall” might one day be greatly appreciated
by future quilters who want to “sew with vintage or antique” fabrics of our era
just as we covet anything from the 1800s or early 1900s today! (Of course, it
is hard for me to ever see the fabrics of the 1970s-2012 as fitting into those
categories....and yet the 1970s already do!)
When the Quilter in the Family Dies
and Leaves All Her Fabric Behind?
As to how to put stashes to better use after a quilter has
passed, here are some ideas that others have come up with too, I am sure:
Take the stash to her guild and let the members take what
they want. What is not taken can then be given to GoodWill or some similar
organization. Believe me, there are plenty of textile artists and quilters who
regularly check such places for good bargains to extend their own fabric
palate. This is what our quilt
group here on Lopez Island does. What is left after everyone has taken what they want goes to Neil's Mall.
Neil tacking up the new sign.
Being an island, we have some unique challenges to getting rid of "extra stuff", not to mention actual garbage. Anything that can possibly be re-used we give to what was loving dubbed "Neil's Mall" many years ago. (Click here to see what Sunset Magazine has to say about it.) This is a covered-on-three-sides-concrete-slab area at our Recycling Center. Volunteers keep it neat and organized. (Volunteers also get first shot at what is left there, too, so it is usually a popular place to volunteer!)
2) Since we started making Comfort Quilts last year to be
distributed to families or children in need for whatever reason on our island --including having
one at all times in the Sheriff’s car and other emergency vehicles as well as
in each school classroom up to a certain age), our group really appreciates
these kinds of donations of
fabric.
3) contact organizations like the Linus Project or even
Mennonite groups or the Lutheran Relief Society that make quilts for disaster
relief around the world. It would be satisfying to think of my stash made into
quilts to warm someone else in another part of the world.
4) pass on patriotic themed fabric to Quilts of Valor or
other similar support organizations for those in the military.
There really are a lot of organizations out there that
gather fabric. I just don’t think there is one “clearing house” yet that makes
it relatively simple for everyone to use. But here are a few ideas.
http://www.reddawn.net/quilt/charity.htm
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