Saturday, January 9, 2021

Fabric In and Out 2020

I have to confess, I don't know which quilter started this, so forgive me for not giving this person credit. I'm talking about keeping track of the yardage 'in' and yardage 'out' for the year.

yardage in and out sign on fabric yards


Out of curiosity, I started keeping track in 2019, using 99 yards, but taking in 250 yards in. Yikes! But that 'in' amount should really be 150, as 100 yards went toward making the kits for Winter Feed and Fireworks. Not counting the kit yardage, 2019 now looks a bit better.

2019 ratio
 2 yards out / 3 yards in

Seeing those numbers though, made me want to do better in 2020, using more fabric than I brought in. At first, the COVID crisis helped my cause, putting a dent in physical, in-store shopping, plus low supplies due to factory shutdowns and mega-mask making.

And then December came. A local shop sent several emails advertising a fabric sale for the month, which I resisted several times. But then hubby encouraged me to add to the stash, freshen it up shall we say. 

Oh boy, did the floodgates open! In just 2 weeks, I've purchased 50 yards, which is not boding well for 2021. Yes, not a good start, but it is what it is. How about a look at some of the pretties I found?

From the local shop, these 1 yard cuts for the green stash.

selection of green fabrics

And these blues, aquas, yellow and orange. I love that dotted print - it has so many possibilities!

selection of blue fabrics


Then came the emails from Fabric.com. Hmm, let's see what they have in clearance. A few fat quarter bundles, a nice patriotic print, and a useful blue, yellow, and brown.

patriotic, blue, and yellow fabrics


A visit to Santa Cruz prompted a trip to the only Beverly's in the area - I so miss the store in San Jose! There I found a pretty blue for an upcoming project, and the black/white paw print for dog quilt I plan to make for my son.

dog fabrics

Can't remember where the other two fabrics came from, though they are set aside for the dog quilt.

Last, but not least, a ton of Valentine 1 yard cuts from JoAnn. They have such pretty heart prints this year - I couldn't resist!

valentine fabrics in red and pink


valentine fabrics in black, red and pink


Though I purchased a lot, I think I found some great fabrics to add to the stash - don't you agree? Unfortunately, that makes the stats for 2020 worse than 2019, with 88 out and 151 in.

2020 ratio
 2 yards out / 3.4 yards in

This year is starting out with 19 in, and none out at the moment, which should change soon. I need to get back to discipline to keep that ratio or make it better - wish me luck!

Happy Quilting!




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6 comments:

  1. Even though I love numbers, I do not want to tax my brain at calculating the in and out fabrics. Now I ordered some fabric from Fat Quarte Shop back in Nov and it arrived yesterday. Two yards and a layer cake. But they gave me some free fabric. Would that count for 2020 or 2021?

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  2. I have never looked at mine as a ratio, I need to calculate that to see the number. But now you are set for all design opportunities!

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  3. I know the blog 'Quilting Gail' keeps a tally on fabric in/out.

    If quilts are made but not donated or gifted yet does that still count as fabric out? Probably not.

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  4. I tracked mine last year but decided to just keep track of finished quilts this year. I haven’t bought much fabric in the last several years. I need to sew up my fabric! LOL

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  5. I don't track amount of fabric in and out because I do so much scrap quilting and amounts used are hard to calculate. I have a spreadsheet on which I track how much I have spent. It is broken down into categories like fabric, notions, patterns, retreats, etc. I spent a lot less (probably half) in 2020 than in 2019, but then all three 3 retreats were cancelled. Even so, I pent a lot less just on fabric.
    Pat

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  6. It is good to know that you are using what you bring in and more. My current plan is to do some soft organizing into possible project piles. The funny thing is I spend more now than ever, but some of my spending was hidden on the quilt store books as I worked for fabric! Now, it frightens me, but I still am pretty cautious about going crazy.

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