Hello Dear Reader,
I’ve had a rummaging through my fabric night. It’s been sorted, graded and the box storage system has been juggled about.
I have a box or random 2″ strips that will all become tiny blocks and may become a border.
I have a box of 1″ strips that will become tiny partition strips.
I have a box of tiny off cuts that I will cut down into strips and squares.
I have boxes of cut down shirts and items of clothing. These become the bulk of my quilts and form my darks and lights.
I’m in the middle of two quilts and I’m at that stage where I’m struggling to find the motivation to finish either. One is a pattern and needs to be exact. I make myself create ten blocks when ever I can get the will power t to sit and work at it.
My other quilt, is a random scrappy quilt. I just sew bits to bit and a few bits more to that. As long as dark goes against light then it works just fine. The shapes are random but when I have sizeable ‘bit’ then I use my rotary cutter to make it regular enough to fit into another strip for the quilt.
I’ve reminised over fabric tonight. My biggest haul came from an older lady, who had quilted all her life, who now can’t sit at her machine any more. I bought her entire haul of fabric and she only asked a very reasonable price. She also gave me patterns, cutting mats, rulers, templates and threads.
I’ve had fabric gifted to me, from friends, colleagues, dear readers, fellow quilters and thrifters. I’ve always loved quilting with shirt fabric, it’s soft and really good quality.
There is something very soothing about a rummage through my own fabric. Every now and then, I re-sort and colour co-ordinate and then I also sort into larger fabric pieces which require more folding.
That’s where I’ve been tonight. It’s reinvigorated me. I’ve had a good tidy and have fallen in love with fabric again. For the rest of the week, I’m going to get some sewing done!!
Over to you Dear Reader, who loves sorting and de-cluttering? Who loves fabric? Who loves re-using pre-loved fabrics?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
Having just completed a patchwork bedspread for my son - mostly from his cast-off shirts - I've used smaller pieces to make a pair of cushion covers for a housewarming present. For the backs I've used shirt fronts complete with their buttons and buttonholes to save faffing about with zips.
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I would love to learn to quilt! I have a bag of my Dad's shirts and pants, and I keep thinking that I would like to make a quilt out of them for my son…something from his PopPop. But I have no idea where to start. 😦
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The other day, I found a piece of patchwork that was done in 1″x2″ rectangles, paper pieced, made into squares and finished into a bag that still needs lining and handles added. Then I started to piece the leftover pieces into a herringbone pattern, as I made my first, single quilt in pinks about 25+ years ago. Amongst the patches was a piece from a skirt and blouse I made around 25 years ago which hold some lovely memories for me. There's also some fabric I don't remember that someone must have given me. I'm cutting more pieces from my scraps box in lots of different colours. Most of this fabric is from charity shop clothes and bedding, some is new.
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Puts hand up. I keep even my teeny tiny bits of fabric that look useless to others…..but I know different! haha Hope you keep on with your quilt will look nice when finished.
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I love fabric…cottons, woolen and linen…my stash is large enough to last a few lifetimes and I happily share with local folks making requests on Freecycle…I make quilts, hooked rugs, and more…mine stash of quilt fabrics is all newly purchased…my wool is a mix of repurposed and new…I would happily use tattered clothing to make quilts if need be…
I love spending time going through my stash and organizing, decluttering…having moved in to my mother's house last year our stash is slowly being combined…she has to live in a nursing facility due to dementia plus a broken knee that has left her unable to walk…at 90 years old she still talks about the quilts we will make together…her heart is willing but her hands not so much…I cut 5″ squares when possible and take a stack of them for her to sort through…we talk about the quilts we've used a fabric in or the fact that we've never used a certain piece…my love of fabric has passed from grandmother to my mother and me…
I enjoy when you talk about making quilts from used clothing because that's what my grandmother did during the depression…those quilts were much needed and used until they fell apart…
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Whenever I need some motivation for sewing or quilting, I just start rummaging through my fabric stash and the unfinished projects. Just seeing the fabrics in new colour combinations makes me want to start sewing at once!
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I have a quilt top stashed away that i started with my grandmother when i was 7 or 8 years old its all made from family clothing tiny paper pieced hexagons it took me till i left school to finish it . I just cant bring myself to buy new material for quilting apart from the cost it just seems to defeat the object of the exercise
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Hello Sara
I do things like that as well. Also i am not very confident with putting in zips! But they cost money and when you have to be caful like we all are why spend when something else will work as well. I also love making coverd buttons out of my leftovers if I have any blanks about. However I also roll scrap fabric and make them into toggles if nothing else will work.
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There is something very comforting in fabric, when you look at the patterns, fold it, cut it and make plans to use it. I have a huge stack ot it from when I used to hoard and just buy whatever I liked. Now I sorted it in piles “what I really liked” “what I'm going to use up” “what is going to be donated” “what is really useless and is getting cut up in tiny pieces to fill petbeds”. And I cut in strips as in Bonnie Hunter's scrap system and sew crumbs together to make a picnic or cuddle quilt. But it's a very long process, still I'm happy to see things coming together even if it's in babysteps.
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Hello Froogs.
I love the possibilities that come with fabric. Recently I have invested in some sewing classes and a much better machine. I love to take old quilt covers ,sheeting and tablecloths as they have endless posibilities. At the moment I am making some summer tops. What fueled this was a trip to a high st store i needed some undies. I had a look to see what else was there and was horrified at the cost of a top. very similar to the type I now make and they wanted £50. Made a little promise to myself there and then, appart from a few essentials that make no ecconomic sense to make myself.. i will create my own goodies. Have you ever been to the American musium and looked at the Amish quilts they have there. such a rich history and a wonderful place to go for reserch. I love this road I am now on I am needing less and less from the high street. the cost of things now are deeply concerning. I shopped yesterday and only for a light shop to see us through EVERYthing I picked up(basics) had risen by 5p a unit which ment that I had to sacrafice laundry detergent. Keep on with the quilt posts and all the ideas they make me think.
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I love to craft. I love to sew. I love my paper. I love to knit. I love to crochet. I have stashed for three life times. I have paper, tools, stickers and scrapbook stuff galore. I could open a stationer's shop. I could knit socks for the family for years. I live in a house with over ten sewing machines but only one is mine. Like Kelley has written there is now a huge blur between my scrap fabric, batting etc. We have quilts to remember trips away and other still with us or not. We have silk ties put aside for something mum planned. We have paints and pens and pencils. Worst of all I have to go through dad's tools. He has been in a home less than a fortnight and my oh so ordered father's shed has degenerated from a tidy working space to a mess as his dementia progressed.
So after this admission why did I let my mother talk me into buying 14 balls of reduced silk baby yarn this afternoon?
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I am only in the early stages of quilting small things and other than saved items of clothing, find bedding very useful.
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I love quilting but it is an expensive hobby. Imagine the sheer joy of finding a whole sackful of fabric from an ex-quilter at a bootfair for £20!!! Life doesn't get much better than that.
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This is so clever. I love it!
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I know very little about this, having finally given away all the bits for the quilt I started making when I had a broken leg aged 20! But does it make a difference that so many fabrics are now artificial? Do you look just for cotton and wool or can you use any materials for quilting?
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I LUFF DECLUTTERING! People give us so much and I love to send it out to others once its journey with me is done. One of my fave posts of yours is when you were making quilts for an orphanage in Romania. I really admire and respect how philanthropic and generous you are. I always am happy to see your posts in my feed/blog roll. We live on different continents and are in different times in our lives but I just totally love your insights. You have a nice bunch of commentors too.I hope one day you can come to Australia. Despite the shocking price of groceries food and public transport I reckon you'd love it all.x
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Frig - think I lost my comment admiring how philanthropic and generous you are.
Love the blog, love the comments x
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Froogs, I definitely treasure fabric, especially good, quality fabric. I have repurposed fabric or upcycled it into new things: pillows, clothing for the children, etc. I just received a fabulous freebie: on our town Facebook tag sale page, a women posted a giveway of “larger scraps/pieces of designer fabric.” Awesome! We made arrangements and I picked it up the next day-she was putting even more things at the curb for me! I ended up with a giant tote, a large box and a gigantic box of linen, seersucker, a large upholstry quality piece, but mostly Milky and cotton fabrics-most are organic and designer! Thud! and for FREE! I have been “collecting/setting aside” various color stacks of fabric from my stash or cut down clothing to make quilts this Fall, for Christmas gifts (I hope to complete in time!). I have some batting, will need more, and literally a large box full of thread of all colors that I have inherited or acquired second hand super cheap. I need to use that thread up and get cracking on the quilts. The won't be in any shows, win any awards but will be pleasant to the eye, but more importantly, warm to the body and heart come Winter.
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Froogs, use your strips to make a stack of coins quilt or this variation which is scrap 6 1/2″ wide strips to 8″ high and an 8 ” strip of border/sashing fabric each side. One is vertical the next horizontal so the sashings end up all the way around each block. Very effective and very frugal
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I have always found the notion of buying expensive quilting fabric and then cutting it up to stitch it back together again very odd!!! The whole history of quilting comes from a need to make use of the materials available at the time. For our ancestors it was using and reusing every scrap of fabric to keep their families warm.
I have a very dear friend who is a lovely lady that has just discovered sewing and quilting. She proudly showed me her recent quilt that cost her £150 to make (and I know that's not expensive in the quilting world!!)
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I love sorting through my collection of fabric (bought quite a while ago when it was much cheaper!) It now seems to me a much better idea to re-use fabrics (yes, men's shirts are great quality - better than women's, don't you think?) following a quilting disaster! Some friends had been saving all their tiny scraps for me, as I can never bear to throw stuff away, and I made a lap quilt, using all the reds, pinks, greys and blues. I washed all the bits before starting at 40 degrees, which was time consuming, but worthwhile (or so I thought). The top was completed and I left it overnight on the ironing board, next to the iron. The iron leaked (just a little). When I opened the top up, several of the deeper reds, pinks and blues had run and made a real mess of my quilt…now a scrapped scrap quilt!
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I totally agree with you.
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even if I buy fabric, I always add thrifted fabric and use second hand sheets or duvet covers for the backing, I think the most expensive quilt Ive ever made cost about £30 for a kingsize
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I forgot to add that there is a seconds shop near my dentist and another outlet near my home. I resist daily. I love my fabric.
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I love sorting through my fabric stash. I recently finished my first quilt, all I had to buy was the wadding & some more thread. I'm going to make some more for presents using my stash. There is a fabric shop not too far from where I work that sell individual fat quarters for £2. I buy one every so often & don't feel too guilty about the cost.
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The wadding is so expensive - do you have any ideas for that froogs? I see ideas for using sheets as backing - that is a great idea…
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I buy pillowcases from charity shops and in the sales to cut up, and shirts, blouses and dresses. I go for cotton or cotton rich.
I also use old wool blankets for wadding with repurposed sheets or duvet cover fabric.
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Reblogged this on Frugal Queen and commented:
Hello my lovelies - here’s another blast from the past…………….I’m writing a huge essay, catching up on some stuff and I’ll be back shortly. Have a look at this one xxx
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you havent quite got to the realms of thrifty quilt making ive tried , memo to oneself ..never dismantle a duvet for the wadding unless youre outside …my excuse it seemed like a good idea at the time
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Laughing! Very timely - I’m just binding a quilt for an expected baby that’s made mostly from men’s cotton shirts off the charity shop 99p rails. Also a big red tartan dressing gown - also 99p - and a couple of bits of bought-new fabric, to achieve the exact mix of colours needed. I am using new batting, because I struck lucky on Ebay & bagged a complete king-size “warm & natural” that someone else was de-stashing, for less than half the usual price. That’s done 4 cot-quilts so far & there’s quite a bit left. I also sometimes use pure cotton “bump” from old interlined curtains - it’s a little thicker but works pretty well.
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