Breach of the Front-Door-Threshold Rule

My Stash:
Many of us who quilt like to buy fabric. That is pretty understated, yes? Let’s try again and I’ll be more honest. Many of us who quilt adore fabric like crazy fools and buy fabric like drunken sailors whenever possible. Little closer to the truth or are you in-between? I am a certified fabric fool and I have a huge, lovely stash. I used to have a bit of guilt but no more. No, I am thrilled I have a big fabric stash and think everyone should. It’s impossible for me to pass up a good buy with any fabric wholesaler, so yet another 56 yards of designer fabric has to be inventoried and stashed before Dear Husband gets home tonight. I’m planning to launch a full line of trunk shows with talking quilts, memory and t-shirt quilts along with art quilts. But the problem is…..I’ve actually stockpiled enough fabric to slipcover the Vancouver International Airport. My Dear Husband thinks I have an obsessive compulsive addiction to fabric and has threatened to call Dr. Phil or The Hoarders if I cart any more untagged material through the front door (client fabrics are marked with a tag). Fine, fine, fine. So when I back my SUV in the garage, closest to the door of my studio and offload (by hand, not with the cart) into the studio, I am technically not in breach of the front-door-threshold rule. Right? And when the UPS or Fed Ex truck rolls up and unloads the boxes I have them hand the boxes to me or slide them into the hallway. See how easy that was and I still did NOT breach the front-door-threshold rule. Do you see where this is going? Stay with me……I recently did a floor space, density analysis in the house and discovered all kinds of untapped opportunities… for at least another 250-300 yards.

Here’s my top 10…….
1. Redecorate the couch with a long heavy fringe around the bottom…. good for about 50 yards underneath it.
2. Remember those old Hawaiian Shirts Dear Husband (DH ) won’t wear but won’t get rid of either? Fold fabric over the width of the hanger and button the shirt back on over it.
3. Elevate the guestroom bed with another 10 inches with those plastic blocks under the legs.
4. There’s at least 4 inches of dead airspace behind each row of books in the bookshelf.
5. Our 10 ft. dining room table gets used only twice a year so it can easily handle 10 layers of fabric under the linen tablecloth. Add a runner, centerpiece and no body will ever know.
6. Guest bathtub, don’t forget to pull the shower curtain closed all the way! Great place for all those rolls of batting.
7. Use vacuum seal space CUBE bags. They store up to 4x more comforters, pillows and blankets. Sucking up all the winter bedding will give you a 75% increase of closet space for your vacuum packed fabric. Perfect!
8. Stashing stuff under the bed is too obvious but 50 or 60 yards is easily layered between the box springs and the mattress (how many beds are in your house?) When DH wonders if the bed feels higher you say “of course dear, I turned the mattress end for end so it wears more evenly.”
9. Put spring loaded “self-closing” hinges on your sewing room door so that it always stays shut!
10. Get a large trash can, remove the cover and have someone cut a round piece of plywood out for you. Put stash in trash can, put on wooden cover, place a pretty round tablecloth on it – a beautiful lamp on top and who’s to know it’s full of fabric? (A good way to hide the ironing, too)

Hoarder I think NOT, collector of fine cotton fabrics and designer patterns and books!