Stash Report # 52

The last stash report of the year, wow. How did that year fly by so fast? For that matter, how did this past week fly by so fast? I can't even blame it on lots of family busy-ness over the holidays. We had a very quiet Christmas day over at Matt and Becca's We were supposed to go to Lisa's yesterday, to celebrate Christmas with her and her husband and their 3 boys, but she had to cancel due to the flu coming to visit at their house. So, we'll have to reschedule that one, once they all get over it.
Matt and Becca were very generous with me this year, and put together a fun collection of fat quarters as my Christmas gift, so that will get added to the finial year numbers. 

Used this week:                                  .6 yards
Used this year:                                 130.8 yards 
In/purchased  this week                       5.25 yards
In/purchased this year:                    164.75 yards
Balance:                                             33.95 more yards in than out.

At this time last year I had used 154 yards and added 162.5 yards, and so ended the year with a balance of 8 more yards in than out. My in numbers were actually very close to the same, which I find rather surprising. I thought I'd bought a lot more this year than last. I'm going to continue with stash reports next year. I find I enjoy the exercise. I don't have a particular goal in mind. I don't feel a need to control my intake, or minimize it. I've actually found, since I've had to organize it in order to move it, that my stash is not all that large. I have, however. found that there is a lot of stuff that I have had for years that has remained unused, languishing buried on the fabric shelves. One fabric has a copyright date on the salvage of 2002. And there are likely some that are older than that without dates on the salvages. I think that might be one of my focuses for the coming year - to use up some of that older fabric, even if it only goes into pieced backings.
I've been spending the last couple of days cutting up the odd shaped pieces of fabric, and small leftover pieces of yardages that have been cluttering up the sewing room. I had all kinds of ends of fabrics, that needed to be cut into usable sizes, So I now have even more 2 1/2 inch strips to add to the collection, using that fabulous invention, the Go cutter. I've separated them out into lights, mediums and darks. I think I'm going to go through the other 2 1/2 inch strips that I already have, and do the same thing. The pieces that were too short to actually count as strips, I've cut into squares.I have a couple of projects on my Pinterest want-to-do list that use 2 1/2 inch squares. One project, from the Moda Bake Shop, need 5 squares of the same fabric, so I've been making sets of 5 and pinning them together. Another project that I want to do, I saw here, and it will require 9 squares of the same fabric, so I've been pinning together sets of nine, if I have that much of one fabric. When I get enough sets for either of these quilts, I'll start putting them together. Then, I'm also doing sets of fours, although I'm not sure just yet what they will turn into. The rest are going into the 2 1/2 inch bin to be used as leaders and enders. It is slow going, but no where near as slow as if I had to do it by hand, rather than with the Go Cutter. I've been doing a few 2 1/2 inch half square triangles as well, in lights and darks, although I have no idea at this point what I'll do with them. But they are there for when inspiration strikes. The remainders, if big enough, are going into string and crumbs boxes, so not very much at all is going to waste.
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report at Patchwork Times.