STUFF

I don't like "stuff" . I hate having unnecessary stuff clog my house and my life. It is this hatred of stuff I don't need, along with budgetary constraints and an eagle eyed husband that I really don't shop as an activity on its own any more. In fact, the last time time I shopped for something I didn't need, I really didn't like the experience. I still like getting presents for people, but shopping because I have nothing better to do is out the window.


When I was living in Iowa, I used to patrol the aisles of the local fabric shops paying particular attention to the fabrics available for quilting. The colours and displays were really beautiful. I found myself buying fabrics for their beauty alone and not because I had a plan for a specific quilt. This lead to a rainbow of small amounts of quilting fabric that was folded neatly in colour order and looked at from time to time. Then, if I was planning to make an actual quilt, would I incorporate these beautiful scraps into it? No. All new fabric had to be purchased adding more and more remnants to my growing "stash".

There seems to be culture amongst quilters where having a large stash of fabric that will never be used is a good thing. Some women actually have a sewing room. A whole room dedicated to sewing! There is a little envy here as far as having a sewing room goes, but then these women have these sewing rooms filled to the rafters with sewing materials that will never be used in their lifetime! Naturally this varies from person to person but nobody seems to think that this is wrong. I don't want to give quilters a hard time, they are mostly wonderful, generous and kind hearted women. The desire to accumulate bleeds into other crafts and hobbies too.

Stuff can take over your life bit by insidious little bit. You'll wake one morning to discover that you need a bigger house to contain your growing piles of stuff. You've got a house that is bigger than you ever thought you could afford and you're

written in 2006 - another find in the drafts folder - this is still relevant.  I still hate stuff but we have more now.