Holiday Stocking

Use it or loose it

by Lesley Chaisson of Berry Birdy Designs

I read a story of a quilter who had bought and saved many precious quilting fabrics for years. Her stash was impressive and quilting skills admired. Upon her untimely passing however, her quilting fabrics were given away and sold off (of course for a portion of the cost of them!). There was no one in the family who had interest or 

desire to continue on with her most beloved hobby. Why do I share this with you? First, let me tell you about my daughter. A few years ago she bagan sharing her 

fabric collection with me by presenting me with various pieces of 2 1/2” squares. She would cut them up for her projects and her fabric packs on Etsy, and then give some to me. The little square piles ended up in baskets, on shelves in my sewing room, and carefully stacked neatly in drawers, until I eventually decided they needed a better home. Once these darling pieces started piling up, I realized that when I started a new project, I would venture to these piles and gather pieces which 

eliminated cutting fabric and time choosing fabrics. Many of my patterns are made of small scraps and tiny fabrics, so they worked perfectly! While admiring my fabric collection one day, I decided to cut 2 1/2” squares from every single one of my fabrics. The fat quarters, I would cut a strip off, and the larger pieces, I would cut more from. Why? I was using these already cut squares more than anything else in my collection because they were handy and I found I was experiencing a different kind of joy than just buying them and “saving” them. I realized that I was becoming this woman, who had a lovely fabric collection, that was carefully saved...for someone else and my fabrics could possibly become as her fabrics. I’ve heard that buying fabric and using it are two separate hobbies, but I wanted them to both be mine. So, what do I suggest? Buy, Cut. Use. Enjoy. The pleasure you receive from using them is truly a different experience all together, and you wont regret it!

Here is my most recent pattern using my collection!

Find the instructions to make the stocking HERE

Find the STOCKING TEMPLATE HERE and the second one HERE

Find more of my patterns at Etsy.com/shop/berrybirdy