Back in January, I created the following list of sewing goals for 2025. It’s good practice to measure what matters, so let’s see where I am in the 4th quarter:

• Continued detashing of fabric, supplies and books.
• Rehome all kid craft materials leftover from teaching.
• Finish assembling all partially done quilt tops.
• Select 3 tops I want to submit for entry into an upcoming juried quilt show and get them completed, including the label, by year end. I will do the quilting myself.
• Get current on BOM and QAL blocks.
• Complete EQ online classes 2 & 3.

Successes (identified by strike-through text):
1. Rehomed ALL of the kid’s craft materials.
2. Sorted through every bin, drawer, closet, storage container and hidey-hole to assess things after two major purges and six months of dedicated sewing from the stash and intentional limited spending on new items.
3. Identified quilt tops to complete for show entry. Have secured backing and binding fabrics, plus batting for each one.

In-Progress (identified by yellow highlighted text):
1. Destashing is an ongoing process.
2. Some WIPs have been completed, but more were found.

Not happening this year:
1. Instead of EQ, I went down the Adobe Indesign and Illustrator rabbit hole learning how to convert my own patterns & tutorials into a more professional format.

My goal to divest my teaching & kid craft materials was the catalyst for major purging of our home office and my sewing space. Teacher friends and neighborhood kids were the beneficiaries of my no-longer-needed stuff. Bonus? I recovered things that had been randomly stuck places to accommodate interior painting and HVAC replacement.

Truth is, stash management is an ongoing process.

Step 1 – limit what comes in your sewing room. Evaluate any subscription box memberships. Use the Libby app to read magazines and borrow books from your library. Have a plan for how you’re going to use a piece of fabric – even if comes from the free table.

Step 2 – use what you already have. Make it a point to shop your stash first. Keep said stash organized so you can find things when you need them. I won’t need to purchase piecing thread, sewing machine needles or 60 mm rotary blades for at least five years.

Step 3 – be intentional with your purchases. You are no longer a card carrying member of the Stash Acquisition Team. By all means, allocate some fun money to spend during shop hops and at retreats! That said, everything else should be purchased for a specific reason or need (a class you’re taking, to finish a special project, to replace a consumable supply or something that broke & can’t be fixed). Your bank account will thank you!

Step 4 – use the item or let it go. As a scrappy quilter, it makes me happy to keep a well-curated collection of fabrics available to pull from as needed – usually FQ or 1/3 yard cuts. If a fabric has languished uncut for an extended period of time, it gets moved to the charity quilt or giveaway piles.

During this last round of decluttering, I also decided to offload the remaining extra sewing supplies I used when teaching kid’s classes. Nowadays, group class participants are generally expected to bring their own sewing machines and supplies to class. The SQTM provides machines and sewing supplies for any kid’s classes taught at the museum. i(Of course, I kept a couple sets of basics for my private students and CraftLAB participants.) The recipients were a group of inner-city teens who meet at the local public library with community volunteers.