Dyed Quilting

Judy L. asked the other day some questions that I thought were good. I answered then right away. I thought I would share my answers here.

1. Why do you quilt?
I have a need to be creative. After cross-stitch, woodwork, and painting, quilting was the one that felt the most “me”.
2. How long have you been quilting?
I started quilting about 16 years ago.
3. What made you start quilting?
I was introduced to quilting by my husband’s Granny. She was the only one I had ever heard of that quilted and it intrigued me. She made it sound so natural to quilt it never left my mind. My last child was born very premature and after 3 years constant care given to him, when he started getting healthier I needed something to do with myself. I enrolled in a quilting class and have never looked back.
4. What sewing machine do you use mostly for piecing?
I have a Brother QC1000 that is VERY accurate for piecing.
5. What machine do you use mostly for quilting?
I have a Bernina 1230 that is my machine for quilting and appliqué.
6. If you could have any sewing machine you want -- money isn't an issue -- just get anything you want . . what would you get?
I have all I want honestly. I have my very first machine a Bernina 1001 which one day will be my daughter’s , a Featherweight that is for looking at, my Brother and my 1230, I have no desire for more.
7. When you buy a sewing machine, how long do you expect you'll keep it? Till a newer and bigger and better model comes out? Till the old one refuses to make another stitch?
I am not the type who trades up just because a new one comes out, so I will have mine forever. My machines become my friends almost and I couldn’t get rid of a friend just because a new one moved on the block. Now if my friend becomes obnoxious and refuses to be friendly to me that is another story.
8. On a scale of 1 - 10, how much do you love your stash? (10 means you LOVE it! 1 means you'd get rid of it all today if you could!)
8! I love it but really need to be reintroduced to it. I have been so immersed in my fabric dyeing business for so long and just adding to my stash and not taking from that I really don’t know exactly what I have anymore. I hope to remedy that soon and then I am sure it will be a 10!
9. Why do you have the stash? How did it come about? Why is it the size that it is?
I have had a stash of fabric even BEFORE I was a quilter. LOL I have loved fabric from a very early age and would buy it just because I thought it was pretty and I may make something with it someday. I didn’t even have a machine! LOL I just knew I needed that fabric, not want, need. My mother and grandmother both sewed everything they wore and everything me and my three sisters wore. I think I was in junior high school before I owned any store bought clothes. So it was natural for me to always go to the fabric store. As I am moving I can tell you almost to the penny how much money I have tied up in fabric. I won’t tell you, but put it this way, when we get moved into the new house I will be greatly increasing my content insurance as it is not NEAR enough. I have a large stash for the simple reason that I am very ADD and I suffer from “out of sight out of mind” syndrome. I am easily sidetracked and may and usually do have many projects in various stages at all times. Then these projects get put away when company comes over and I forget about them and buy more.
10. When we talk about "stashbusting", what are your thoughts? Use every crumb of the stash? Use as much stash as you add? Shop the stash first but don't feel bad if you have to go buy additional fabric for a project? Don't mind buying for a project but not buying just for the purpose of having the fabric . . with no project in mind?
To me to bust stash is to use from my supply first. I have no problem buying fabric for any reason. I still buy even if I have no idea what it is for, if I know I don’t have that color represented in my supply. But I no longer buy if I am not actively sewing. Example I went months without sewing a while back because of my business so I didn’t buy any new fabric in that time.
Since then I have broken that rule too! LOL I am hopeless!

Diane