Such silly questions pumpkin. If you want to ever receive a quilt from me you might want to keep such personal questions in check. I make quilts because every fiber of my being says I have to create or I will explode. I make so many that they need a home when I'm finished with them. Yes, that might be your home if you are nice to me and suck up to me a little bit. I also need that much fabric because I don't shop for a project outside of my home. I shop from my shelves. Always have and probably always will. It could be a throw back from my poor frugal years. I have a huge stash and I'm pretty proud of it. Because I'm a longarm quilter I also need big amounts of backing fabrics. Because I'm self employed and my income is limited I also sale shop looking for the best that I can buy at the best price for me. I'm proud of that also. So, I'm not a fabric snob needing the newest, best, or brightest. I don't purge myself of old fabric unless it is really inferior in quality and then it makes it's way into a bag for the local churches to make charity quilts that usually get sent to some foreign country. I'm okay with that. I also make as many charity quilts as I feel I have time for. I hate the thought of making something out of bad fabric so I make them out of the good stuff I got at a good price. It's an all over win-win for me and those that get them.
So, what am I getting at? I quilt because I have to, and I give because I can. My stash makes me feel good, and the riot of color brightens my day. I look at it all the time and I don't hide it in boxes. I don't hide it from my husband, even though he hasn't a clue as to how much I spent or it's value. That means I don't have to sneak anything into the house, or hide it in the car until the time is right. The fabric is a clean vice and one of the few that I have. I have something intrinsic when it's used to make something. And if I play my cards right the thing that I made with it can brighten the day of someone else or night if they sleep under it or hang it on a wall. I have "quilts" all over my home, in many different states, and in several countries. Some of that fabric has made it into award winning quilts that have a very big monetary value. But, most are just for the bed because that is what makes me the happiest.
There you have my answer. I plan to maintain this healthy stash and burden my survivors with having to deal with it when I'm gone. I should probably warn them.
