Time to check in! Whether you’ve been with us from January’s post, or you are just starting today, all are welcome. We’ll post our totals for the previous month or weeks on the first Friday of each month. You can use a calendar month, or count from first Friday to first Friday no matter how many days that turns out to be. Whatever works best for you. Every comment with a Stashbuster report will be entered into the monthly drawing, and in the final grand prize drawing at the end of the year. The February post had 63 comments, a great start to a year of finishing projects. Congratulations to Rheanna who won last month’s drawing. If you can’t remember what you posted, just use the Challenge category on the sidebar to find the previous posts, and scroll down to find your comment. Since we only have one month of reporting, here’s a link to February’s challenge post.
This month, my totals went in the wrong direction, but that is OK. Remember, it is the total at the end of the year that counts. After all, we still need to keep our local quilt shops in business. I needed a backing for my next Quilt of Valor, and I got this beautiful blue wide back at my local shop, Beginnings. I bought 2-1/2 yards of 108-inch wide fabric, and I’ll count it as 7 yards in as it is three yards wide. Then my friend Didi went to Foust Textiles and we split a bolt of tone on tone white stars for more QOVs. Eight yards for me.
So, my totals for the past four weeks –
March In = +15 yards
March Out = -5 yards
March Total = +10 yards
Year to Date = +10 in for March – 6.75 yards out for February = +3-1/4 YTD.
Remember, the idea is to encourage you to complete your quilts, use up yardage as backing and binding, finish the projects. We have enough UFOs. For everyone who participates, I’ll draw a name at random to receive this wonderful collection of 10 spools of 50 wt quilting threads from Sulky Threads called Blooms and Breezes!
Enter every month for the monthly drawings, and all participant reports (from one month to all twelve) will be entered into the grand prize drawing. Yes, they are giving away a collection every month of the challenge, PLUS a large Cotton and Steel collection as a grand prize at the end of the challenge next January!! Do check out Sulky Threads for their fabulous special sale available until 3/7- 20% off $50 purchase with code QUILT20, 25% off $50.01-99.99 purchase with code QUILT25, and 30% off $100 purchase with code QUILT30!!
No, you do not have to do an inventory of what you have, only report what came in during the past month and what went out in yards. Estimates are fine, whatever makes sense to you works for me. Totals ‘in’ should be reported at + (plus), and totals ‘out’ as – (minus). The goal is to have a high minus number at the end. Count precuts as yardage. Here’s how I would do it. Take a layer cake, 10 inch squares mean you could get 4 from 10-inches of fabric. So to get 40 squares, you’d need 10-inches x 10 = 100 inches. There are 42 in most layer cakes, so I’d count a whole layer cake as 3 yards. Is it precise? No, but it is close enough. Same thing for jelly rolls – 42 strips x 2.5 inches = 105 inches of standard width fabric. Close enough to 3 yards, or count it as 2-7/8 if you wanted to be more precise. I’ll let you do the math for the other precuts.
Now it is your turn. Leave a comment with your amounts in and out, and a running balance anytime before Sunday evening. I’ll draw a winner from the participants Sunday after 5 pm, and send an email to the winner. You’ll have 24 hours to claim the thread prize.
How’d you do this month?
March Fabric IN =
March Fabric OUT =
March Total =
Year to Date =
From My Carolina Home 
I did much better this month than the previous.
In: 4.5
* 1.5 yards backing for batik star
* 1 yard. (4 fat quarters won in raffle from quilting group)
* 2 yards background fabric for second set of batik stars
Out: 9.75
* 2.25 yds (batik star quilt for Bri)
* 1.25 yd (batik star front plus binding)
* 5 yds (Emily’s quilt)
* 0.5 yards Table runner Mom
* 0.5 yards binding for Christmas quilt
* 0.25 yards binding for baby quilt
Diff for month: -5.25
Diff for year: +2.0
I’m off to a good start. I bought no fabric this month, but I also didn’t finish much either. For February I had 0 in and 1.5 out so I’m at – 1.5. For January I had 2 in and 3 out, so my YTD is 2 in and 4.5 out so I’m moving in the right direction with a decrease of 2.5 yards so far.
Totals look bad for me this month. But bought backgrounds and backings to use with stash. So 33 yards in with only 4.5 used. Am I going backwards?
+33
-4.5
Net 28.5 added, sigh
March Fabric IN = +0
March Fabric OUT = -10.23
March Total = -10.23
Year to Date = -16.11 yards
Shop List – (I make samples)
March Fabric IN = +6 yards
March Fabric OUT = -6 yards
March Total = 0
Year to Date = 0 (+12/-12) 4 Tops made
In cleaning, I’ve been finding UFOs & Orphan blocks which I’m hoping will help with my Stash Busting!
IN =7yds
OUT= Backed Pachanga mystery 3 yds, Rhododendron mystery 4 yds, Noah Ark windows 1.5 yds =8.5yds
Another good month.
42.5 yards out and
1/2 yard in for a project which will go out in March.
Net 42 yards out.
YTD 107.5 yards OUT and I still can’t get all my fabric on the shelves. Back to sewing!
Impressive!!
Carole, Happy March! It actually feels like spring is once again on it’s way. I behaved myself and with poor weather did not get out to a quilt shop so no fabric in this month. I used up way more than reporting as I dropped two large quilts off at LAQ but I continued to make progress. Thank you once again for the motivation to use up and track.
March Fabric IN = 0
March Fabric OUT = 29.25
March Total = -29.25
Year to Date = -86.5
March Fabric IN = 3/4 yard
March Fabric OUT = 6
March Total = 5 1/4
Year to Date = 7 out More details on my blog post today if you have time.
March Fabric IN = +4
March Fabric OUT = -69.75
March Total = -65.75
Year to Date = -62.75
A quilters garage sale, four charity quilts and gifts helped me get the bulk of the fabric out.
Thank you for organizing this fabric mindfulness event! Love it!
February was a better month for sewing despite the winter blah’s.
Fabric In: 0
Fabric Out: 7.25 yds.
Previous Total: 2.3 Yds
YTD: + 9.55 yds
WooHoo!
Fabric in = 0
Fabric out = 1/3 meter
Total = -1/3 meter
Total for 2022 = -1/3 meter
It’s a start
I may be in trouble when the new Bad to the Bone fabric comes out, though.
I didn’t finish anything this month, but it’s ok! Thank you for inspiring me to work through some of my scraps!
I’m 0 for 0…didn’t touch a machine in February or buy any fabric. Hoping to do better with the minus this month.
Yes! We can’t stop acquiring fabric if we expect our LQS to be there for us in the future. Nevertheless, I am committed to major stash reduction. In February no fabric entered the house. Temptation was great, willpower withstood the assault. If only I could say that about cookies. My club is meeting again so it was easier to move fabric out in comfort quilt donations.
Monthly IN = 0
Monthly OUT = 19.8 yds
Cumulative
IN = 21 yds
OUT = 23.8 yds.
Good morning – my total was high as I combined both Jan and Feb as I made tops in January and backings in Feb – I am trying very hard to limit any buying so during those 2 months the totals were:
0 – in
25-1/4 yards – out
Hoping March will be as productive but already see it is not!
My February work:
March Fabric IN =37.5y
March Fabric OUT =14.29y
March Total = -23.2 net
Year to Date = 28.8 net (11 finishes)
I ordered a bolt of wide neutral backing to quilt up flimsies for a quilter who can no longer keep up and wants them done and donated. She sent me a box of 8 so there will be a bit leftover.
I was a piecing fool. I finished 5 flimsies and have a healthy start on another 3. I have a backlog now of 15 flimsies needing quilting and last Friday I broke a needle and the bobbin hook 😦 Part is ordered and should be here early next week.
Well, I KNEW it would be bad.
i purchased 30 yards of fabric….
I finished NOTHING…
Monthly; +30
Year to Date: +29.5
Now isn’t THAT SPECTACULAR…. Yes, it ISN’T SPECTACULAR, LOL.
But – i just mailed this morning a box of 7 kid-sized donation quilts, so that’s 35 yards out – OH, MARCH IS GONNA BE GOOD !!!! (unless i shop)
hopeless. glad i have lots of storage room !
kathleen in nc
Just .5 m in – I needed a plain black binding on the tablecover/placemats I’m working on, but nothing out at all cause I just didn’t get it finished. It is a UFO though, so this month will get it done!
I have done pretty good so far this year. I finished several quilts early in the year. My totals are
Jan/Feb Fabric IN = 13.75 yards
Jan/Feb Fabric OUT = 35.5
Year to Date = 21.75 out
I’m getting better at figuring this out and having a system for tracking! I probably need to start myself a spreadsheet or something. Anyway, for February, I had 3.1 yds in and 4.05 out because I pieced a backing and finished a quilt! So I am -.95 for the month. Combining that with January, I am still at -.95 for the year because January I came out even. Thanks, Carole! That looks like a lovely thread collection.
In: +6.5 yd (includes Tula Pink fat quarters)
Out: -7yd (includes 2.5 yd donation)
Net this month: -.5 yd
Net last month: -8.5 yd
Total: -9 yd
Feb +2. -6
Total +10 -9
Thanks Carole!
For March, + 4.5 yards, none out,
Ytd -5.5 yards from my stash.
I completed 2 baby quilts for the craft group in my community, for charity donations. So they reduced their stash, but not mine. The fabric I bought is to play with the accuquilt cutter my husband bought for me. There are patterns for 72 blocks for the dies I have. I don’t think I have enough fabric for all 72, but I can make a good start.
Thanks for your posts and blog. I enjoy reading about your adventures, quilting and otherwise.
Four child sized quilts total about 16 yards out
Two jelly rolls (20 strip) with truck and construction pattern leaped into my cart at the store when I went to have my machine oiled!
12 to the good. But sewing club is Wednesday – so hopefully I can “share” more of my fabric with friends! p. s. March is National Quilt Month – PARTY!!!!!!
I was doing really well at not bringing any fabric in for seven whole weeks and then I went to the AQS show in Daytona Beach. Three yards of 108″, 6 1/2 yards of fat quarters, and three wool kits, a couple of patterns, and a sparkly thread kit. Boy was it ever fun! No regrets!!
February fabric in: 0 yards
February fabric out: 2 yards
Year to date February fabric in: 6.5 yards
February fabric out: 18 yards.
March fabric in 280.5 yd
March out -8 yd
March total 272.5
Year to date 298.5
In: 14.5 (Splurged on a FQB and yardage of Beautiful Day)
Out: 16
Net 2.5 out
YTD
In: 35.5
Out: 33
Net: 2.5 in
And I have 8 quilted projects waiting for me to do some binding!
Feb in: 2 yards
Feb out: 6.6 yards
Net Feb Total: 4.6 Yards out
Year to date : 14.2 yards out
Yahoo!!!
March in = none!
March out = -15.5 yards (background and backing for one top) + 66 jelly roll strips which equals -4.5 yards (for one top) : total = -20 yards!
YTD in = zero!
YTD out = -24.25 yards
I’m doing quite well, I think. Now if I can only keep going. Thanks for the push!
Well, I don’t remember the Jan totals and didn’t write them down, but for February had to buy one more panel to finish up a king quit- so had to buy 2 other ones , cost of shipping said I needed to..lol
So IN 1-1//2 and Out 20-1/2
Quilted up several of the NICU quilts.
So I was going to post my totals for feb. Gulp….I had huge fabric purchases and too ashamed of the amount. March on the is good so far-10 yds but it was free fabric. I have no clue how to calculate yardage out as I am working with scraps. As I progress through the year I hope to be able to estimate!
to myquiltprojects, measure the size of the finished project and count that yardage as out. add in some for the seams, too.
Thank you!
I planned projects, pet fabric, tidied cutting table and worked on my mending pile.
0 in 0 out total 0
thank you
Feb 4 yards in, 2 yards out, so minus 2 yards, but still 12 yards out total for the year. I have more sewing planned for this month so hopefully I’ll use up more than I did last month!
I did better this month and didn’t do any impulse buying of fabric but rather had a purpose for each piece I purchased. I needed 1 1/2 yards for some background on a quilt I am making from my scraps/stash, bought 1 1/2 yards for backing for another quilt that I almost have the top completed, and received the 1 yard of fabric needed for a BOM that I am participating in this year. I donated six flannel receiving blankets to a local hospital for newborns, donated a child quilt for a local charity, and donated some fat quarters to my quilt guild for some welcome gifts for new members.
Fabric IN = +4 yards
Fabric OUT = -19 yards
Month Total = -15 yards
Year to Date = +20 yards
This is my first post on this project. I love this ides. What a great way to look at it. My February was pretty busy. I was gifted some fabric – some update and 2 kitchen. Garbage bags of various scraps – lots of which will end up as filler for dog beds for lo c al shelters. I also did a purge of some fabrics I will never use, donating them to others who can use them.
Fabric in= 7.5 yds in cuts, plus 2 bags maybe 5 more? Glad I don’t need to weigh them!!
Fabric out= 8 yards donated, 6 yds for small quilt my granddaughter made, 1 yd for small project
February total= 12.5 in and 15 out net 2.5 out!!
Year to date 2.5 out – YES!!!
March Fabric IN = +11.5
March Fabric OUT = -6.75
March Total = +4.75
Year to Date = -3.5+4.75 = +1.25
Not too bad!
In: 53.25 yards
Out: 12.75 yards
Total for the month: 40.5 yards in
Total for the year: 38.75 yards in
Oops! One of the local quilt shops had a fantastic sale and it was necessary to show my support. Hoping to turn things around this month!
Hi,
This past month has been more in than out. I have 5yds in for curtains, 51/2 yds. for Hygiene bags for a homeless shelter, 41/2 yds. for a Sew Along, 4 yds for laundry bags for a detention center. Grand total: 19 yds. in!!
February IN = (+11 yds)
February OUT = (-7.5 yds)
February total = (+3.5 yds)
YTD (-5.83)
I left January with a deficit and only purchased minky for new dog beds and neutrals for an upcoming QAL. Making a scrappy quilt for my sister-in-law used up another 7.5 yds. I’m happy to be keeping this fabric under control!!!!
March in 25
March out 78
Total out 112
Just noticed the challenge. Know I’m after your ‘deadline’ but would like to join in. If I had read on Thursday I would have been Zero in, but now after a wonderful weekend of a Quilt Shop Run where there were fat quarters given out, and discounts in the stores….
March Fabric IN = 27 yards
March Fabric OUT = 1 yard for work done in a class
March Total = +26
Year to Date = probably around 6 yards used and during Jan and Feb there were no purchases.
March In: 2.5 yards of neutral
March Out: 13.75 yards
Robe-4, Grad quilt-5, Wall hanging-2, Pillowcases-2, BOM-.75
Total: -11.25
Total for the year: -1.5
I’m going in the right direction, but I just ordered 18 yards of apparel fabric. I haven’t bought in quantity like that for years, so I don’t feel too bad about it, but it will really mess with my totals! I better get my March quilt sandwiched!
Well, March wasn’t as good as I hoped, but was out of the country, and then sick. But, all in all, not bad. No new fabric in, but made 4 quilts and backs using 40 yards altogether, so my year to date total is 320 yards and I don’t see a dent. I made a peach Irish Chain for my new great granddaughter, then a patriotic quilt using .the Springtime Pattern using 2 fabrics, a Magnolia Lane quilt with pink and green floral. And I did the 2022 QOVF Spring Mystery. Those three will all be donated to Quilts of Valor