Stash Busters

Last December I read on another blog (sorry, I can't remember which!) about a group of quilters who were starting a Stash Busting program. In other words, they were going on a fabric purchasing hiatus for a specified amount of time, trying to use up some of what they already had.

Well, I loved the idea and shared it with my Round Robin group. Here's what we came up with in January (if I remember correctly):

1. You may not purchase any fabric for for six months (our term expires on July 21) - and that's ANY fabric, not just 100% cotton quilting fabric
   
2. You must create one quilt strictly from your stash
3. You must finish at least one UFO (UnFinished Object, for those non-quilters out there)
   
4. You may purchase borders, backgrounds, backings, but only for quilts in #2 or #3 above, and only with permission from at least two other members of the group

The players are Shel, Robin, Penny, Joan, Melissa, Janey, Elyn and me. We're calling ourselves the "Ladies of Eight" or the "Crazy Eights" depending on the day!

Anyone who violates the rules of the program must purchase at least one yard of "excellent quality fabric" for everyone else in the group - what could be an $80 penalty! YIKES!

So far we've done quite well, despite our weekly Thursday lunches at the mall (with subsequent visits to Sew Special, our local "quality" fabric store and Bernina dealer). We even made it through our Guild's auction in April! Shel's comment is that we are building character - we have definitely been the poster children for restraint these past couple of months.

Will we make it to the finish line? Only time will tell.