Fabricaholic

I have a problem.  Most people that sew understand where I'm coming from.  I love fabric.  I usually have a project in mind when I purchase any type of fabric.  I watch for good deals and coupons.  I buy enough that I have a little extra.  You can follow my sewing trail by looking at the fabric I purchase.  It might be the bins of baby flannel for swaddling blankets.  It could be the color coordinated fabric for queen size quilts.  It might be terry cloth for washcloth animals.  You name it, I feel like I've got it.

I was trying to find fabric I already have for reusable sandwich bags and wallets.  I started to search through old fabric.  As I dug in my stash I started to feel like I was on an episode of Hoarders: Sewer Buried Alive.  Never in my lifetime will I be able to use all my stash considering I'm still buying more.

So I was brought back to yoga.  In yoga there are eight limbs.  The first limb is yamas (guidelines for how we interact with the outer world), niyamas (self-regulation),  asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control practices), dharana (meditation), dhyana (practicing the first 6 limbs with concentration/meditation) and samadhi (this limb is not practiced, but obtained.)  It is in the first limb, yamas, that you will find aparigraha which is the non-accumulation of worldly objects, caused by covetousness and attachment.  While this yama can be interpreted in different ways, it hits home when I think about all the fabric I have acquired.  I wonder why I hold such an attachment to something I don't use and really never see.

It is time to clean house.  After the holidays I plan to start cutting my fabric into squares.  We will be making quilts at school with my class of first and second graders and the fabric is perfect.  I have to start asking myself, is this something you really need?  Will I still want it in a week?  Will my project be starting soon enough that I will be able to use what I purchase immediately?

As you are read this blog, you may be thinking about your "collection."  You may have that thing you keep buying  and it  goes in a closet or plastic tub.  Before you make that next purchase have a conversation with yourself.  Ask those revealing questions to know whether or not you really need to bring it home.