There is a wonderful 'support group' for quilters called Stashbuster (a yahoo group). The goal of the members is to reduce spending on fabric and reduce the volume of their current stash by using it in existing and new projects. Two great side effects of being a member are that lots of UFO's seem to get finished, and creativity is given a fresh infusion and a new avenue of expression as you tackle or complete a project using resources already on hand. While this article can in no way replace the support and encouragement that being in the group provides, some of the tips, hints, and techniques for 'stashbusting' are provided here in hopes they will help you too in your efforts to be a Stashbuster!

In building this list of hints, it became clear that a big part of the process is intangible, adjusting our thought processes as much as organizing or physical habits. A sort of summary description of those ideas is included, but how you apply those changes successfully is up to you. If you need further detail, help, or support, consider joining the group!

Pre-cut Your Scraps. Many quilters find that pre-cutting scraps into squares, strips, or rectangles and storing them by size and shape greatly increases their likelihood of being used. It can also speed up projects because you don't have to stop and cut the 3 inch squares (or whatever size/shape) when you need or want to put something together in a hurry.

Some suggested sizes (in inches) and shapes are:

Squares	2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, & 6 inches
Strips	1.5, 2, 2.5, & 3 inches

Prepare Your Fabric. Many quilters choose to immediately wash dry, and iron their fabric purchases.

Package and label designated fabrics. The good thing about "packaging" is when you start scrounging through your stash for something to use on a project, you don't run the risk of using what you had set aside for something else.

Motivation. Remind yourself that seeing the quilts made up and finished are so much more fun than the folded fabric.

One quilter's thoughts: ...just doing some re-evaluation about how having a house full of "stuff" affects me. I'm one of those strange quilters that gets little real pleasure out of my stash, just a bunch of feelings like I should be getting more accomplished, etc. It seemed like the more fabric I had the more over burdened I felt. I always felt like I should get the UFOs completed, make someone a gift, etc. Every buying impulse just led to something more hanging over my head that I needed to do. A while back I gave myself permission to just get rid of most of my "stuff". My stash now fits into two laundry baskets with some fabric that I really like. I don't feel like I have to use it up, since I know I will still like that fabric in 10-20 years. I found a church group that does service quilts and gave them the UFOs (including all the fabric I was going to use on the project) and any amount of fabric that was in usable sizes, sent fabric to requests I saw on lists, and sent a large bag to the thrift store. Now, my three remaining UFOs are projects I really want to complete.

I love opening my closets and they are actually usable and I can find what I am looking for instead of bags and boxes and stuff crammed everywhere. I was previously buying items that I already had, just because I couldn't find them when I needed them. I really like holiday fabrics and have made the commitment to myself to make ornaments, etc. with them this year. I've found just doing something small gives me pleasure since I can do a small project with the kids under foot, where getting a large quilt done always seemed to put my entire home into chaos with my mess.

 Make flying geese blocks from long strips of 2.5 inch fabric. Cut the dark strips 4.5 x 2.5 inches, and the light strips cut into 2.5 inch squares. Now corner piece the light squares onto the 4.5 inch rectangles, one at a time, cutting off the excess. These nice geese will fit in anywhere and can be used throughout any quilt for sashing or border. I have a huge bin of geese blocks, and they can almost make an instant quilt if you have the main blocks done, because they can be both border and sashing. I sew them into units, making multiples that fit whatever my blocks are. 10 inch blocks? Sew 5 geese together to be 10 inches, and so on.

 Another quilter writes: I have no NO NOOO desire to save really small scraps. I just bite the bullet and toss them. Because for me, if I did, they would end up in a "to do" pile that caused me guilt. Since tiny scrappy things are not my preference, and I only have so much time, I choose to spend my quilty time on planned, not use-up, projects. If the piece is pretty and I can salvage a few pieces for flying geese, fine, then I carefully cut them and put them in my flying geese box, otherwise out they go.

 My scrap box holds everything less than 1/4 yard, and periodically I give away the whole box. This is not always easy for me to do, but it sure has helped me from getting scrap-overrun. I have NEVER looked back after giving away my scrap box and wished that I had it back. More keeps accumulating in it anyway. I always have enough in my stash for the variety of colors I need, even if I have to cut into a full yard to get it. I do rip through the scrap box at times for a small piece, but when it gets full to the brim (it is a xerox paper box) out it goes. You would be amazed at how full it gets, fast. This keeps my stash neater, since it is only pieces bigger than 1/4 yard. I dug through my scrap box recently for a few pot holder cuts.

 Take toilet paper rolls, use a scrap 6 inches by 11 inches, center it over the tp roll. A dab of glue helps with this. Gather one end, tie with colorful ribbon. Fill with wrapped candies or goodies, tie off the other end. We will be giving these to the kids with their Santa sacks and then also to the nursing home for tray favors. Our goal is about 100. If you think you cannot collect enough rolls, cut wax paper or foil rolls. Still better is the Christmas wrapping paper rolls as you get several from there.One year I did these for everyone in my extended family and used small things like nail files, golf tees, combs, barrettes, just anything that will fit. I made Caution labels for the baby ones as we will do for the church sacks. Hope this helps for a tip.

 Another quilter made a Stars & Chains quilt. Cut your squares and put them in a paper bag,shake them up. Make all the half square triangles, put them in a bag and shake them up. Then just reach in and get one and the only way you could not use it was if it was the exact same as the one next to it. "Oh, that was a painful experience for me but I loved the results and it really helped me get over trying to "match" everything."

 If you do buy fabric, at least cut it!!! Once you've cut even a four inch square out of it, it's much easier to use it in a project!

 Sewing Room ideas at http://sewing.about.com/cs/sewingrooms/.

 Get Organized! Use http://sew.organized.com/ to help you.

 Storing Bulky Fabric and Batting: Great Vacuum Storage Tip.

 Use poly or blend fabrics as battings, especially in utility or charity quilts.

If you would like to add a suggestion, feel free to send an E-mail. I hope you've found some helpful suggestions for improving accuracy, use of time, and creativity. Every little bit we can do to save time allows us to continue our love of sewing and quilting.

E-mail Niki & UFO-rphanage for Quilters

---