Journal Notes

This was a small fat quarter bundle I decided I had to have. Those beavers and bears are so cute! Although most of the fabrics sold out quickly, I was able to find more of the beaver fabric for the border. Although it is not flannel it looks like flannel. I put flannel on the back. Ideally, the pattern I chose for this would have highlighted the fabrics better, but as a stashbuster I'm happy with it. It was the 2nd quilt I did during the Stashbuster Frenzy 2026. Stashbuster Frenzy 2026 For several years I have participated in Karen Brown’s DeClutter Challenge. I didn’t discover her YouTube channel until Thanksgiving of 2023. I was quickly hooked. I watched and kind of/sort of did the 2021 and 2022 DeClutters in December 2023. I had been quilting less than three years and my notes on those challenges were “nothing here,” “nothing here”, “patterns are organized!”, “no magazines”. I was able to catch the 2024 DeClutter Challenge in real time and patted myself on the back for how organized I was. Well, shoot. What a difference the last two years made in so many ways! I began to subscribe to magazines. I bought quilting-related books. I added to the stash. I added to the notions and templates. During the 2024 DeClutter Challenge, I busted a move on finishing UFOs which gave me confidence to add to my project list AND my stash. I had a very successful and prolific year but I was slowing down, and I wasn’t keeping up with my self-imposed goals. By the middle of 2024 I had implemented a new rule: no new fabric. In early 2025 I hit the wall. Too. Much. Fabric. Too many projects in the queue. Too much clutter. Not enough space. Too much buyer’s remorse. Consequently, I took the 2025 DeClutter Challenge seriously. That helped but it wasn’t enough. During 2025 I felt exceedingly bogged down by the stash. My quilting aesthetic had evolved. Some of the projects I was so sure I wanted to do had lost their appeal. I did some math and, on average, it was taking me 3 years from when I’d buy fabric to when I’d actually use it. “What is the point of that?!” I asked myself. I had to finish A-Z projects before I could do the new ones I wanted to do because TOO MUCH FABRIC! To make matters worse, I’d started making bags and saw myself going crazy with all of that. Gratefully, with a little experience under my belt, I have been managing the growth of that stash better than the fabric. I have far too many patterns, though! And ideas! DeClutter Challenge 2026 came as always in January and I had a whole new approach to it. Things have to go! I was brutal with the patterns; I cancelled magazine subscriptions. Notions and thread were pitched into the go-away box. Then I came to the fabric. Previously, I had decided to leave precuts alone because they’re pretty compact, but there were several that were in the “buyer’s remorse” category, so easy to move them into the go-away box. There were also packets of charms that I didn’t buy but had acquired during give-aways. My first pass through was pretty successful – an overflowing box. I was able to give most of the fabrics and items to a new quilter I had met. She was ecstatic! Looking at my storage space again I realized I hadn’t gone far enough. There still was no breathing space; still much more than I needed. Regretfully, I began to pull fabrics that I really loved and really didn’t want to part with. I made a bargain with myself: put these in a different box. If you don’t use them by year end, they are destashed in 2027. “Okay.” Sigh. “But I love this!” I’d say to myself as I pulled yard after yard out. I hit the fat quarter bundles, too. More sighs. I wanted to see those fabrics as part of a quilt! “But which pattern? Be realistic!” I’d say to myself. In no time, another box was full and when I looked at my storage space again I felt much better which gave me some consolation. I don’t know why it hit me but about a month later I had my voila moment. Karen Brown has 15 stashbuster patterns. They are designed to use your stash, have little wastage and must be fast and easy to make. Many of her patterns can be made in a day! What if I were to make all of them using that box of fabrics? Yes! I quickly came up with the fabric for 8 quilts. That would even cover those 3 yards of flannel I bought for a baby quilt 3 years ago! I eliminated another pattern because it called for a layer cake and I didn’t have one that would be appropriate for it. My favorite precut is fat quarters. Once in a while I’d allow myself to buy a fat quarter but I’d stopped buying all of the others in 2024. That made coming up with jelly rolls a bit of a challenge. Since I wanted these quilts to be quick, ironing and cutting fabric to make jelly rolls didn’t seem to fit the equation. Still, I was able to come up with 3 jelly rolls I could use for 2 of the quilts. I was up to 11 of 15. One of her quilts, Postcards from Toronto, I had already kind of made using prints instead of solids. I had 2 charm packs I thought would look good but decided I wanted it bigger than a wall hanging. That stashbuster will be a work-in-progress until I gather enough fabric for it. Gratefully, charms don’t take up much room and if I’m going to make it I want it to look good and be worthwhile. (See Brought Together for the first one I made.) Three more to go and they all required potato chips. Hmm. I had plenty of remnants and could spend a week cutting them into 2 ½ x 4 ½” inch pieces but….BUT. Karen demonstrated a great way to streamline the process. Yay! I was up to 14 – one to go. That last one required potato chips AND jelly roll strips. After completing 9 of the projects I decided I would use all of the leftover binding strips, backing and other remnants for that one. All 15 are covered! As of this writing (August 2026) 9 of the quilts are done. Two won’t be done this year (the layer cake and Postcards). Three are on deck and are supposed to be quilt-in-a-day, so I’m confident I will make by the end of the year. The only one that might not be done will be the jelly roll/potato chip quilt, but that is essentially scraps and not part of the on-deck fabric to-go. As for all of that fabric in the box, between the quilt tops and the backing I used almost all of it! I also had to dig into my remaining stash to supplement most of the quilts, so double bonus! The only thing left in the box are the 3 jelly rolls for 2 quilts and 9 fat quarters for one. Those don’t take up much space so even if I don’t finish in 2026, I will finish them. I will have an almost perfect record on the Stashbuster list! Halfway through it all, I decided one matching set of fabrics should go to another new quilter and he was ecstatic. I was also ecstatic as I had fallen out of love with it but felt I should use it. It has a happier home now! I felt so relieved to offload it! (Note to self…) At the beginning of all of this I had made a rule for myself that I couldn’t buy more fabric to do these projects, but there was one quilt where I did break that rule. I simply don’t have as many light colored fabrics in my stash as dark colored fabrics. I bought only what I needed to finish the quilt (#14). Although I made a big dent in the stash by piecing the backs, I did buy backing for a few of the quilts. Initially, I thought, “make them and give them away!” But I fell in love with them and didn’t want to send them on their way with a shabby unmatching pieced back. Same was true for the binding. I didn’t always have the right thing in my stash. I’m not unhappy with myself for those decisions. The quilts look great! Will I do Round 2 in 2027? I don’t know. If I do it will be an abridged version. I truly don’t have jelly rolls for the jelly roll quilts and there is one I absolutely know I won’t do again (I hate pinwheels!) There are several of the quilt patterns, however, that I can see using for quick projects. As our friends do sometimes, one of mine gave me a huge stack of Halloween fabrics she no longer wants. I love Halloween – I couldn’t just let them go to a second hand shop, could I?!