Monday, January 21, 2013

Thrifting for Fabric

I've been on a thrift store diet for a little while now.  Trying to cut down, you know.  While I was decluttering a couple months ago, it didn't make much sense to drive a trunk full to the donation drop-off, then pull around, park the car, and go in.


But today was sale day at Goodwill, and I needed some more fabric.  Pink tags were half off. 


I got what I needed in the form of four men's shirts.  As I may have said before, I've already got a boatload of thrifted men's shirts, but I needed some more light colors.


This dark one weaseled its way in because of the cool pattern.  I'll use it in my current project too.


You can glean quite a bit of fabric from an XXL or XL men's shirt.


Isn't this an interesting detail on the inner collar stand?


These will help make a bucket list quilt, inspired by a page I tore out of Country Living a few years ago while I waited in the doctor's exam room.  (Shhh, it's our secret, okay?  P.S. I became a subscriber after that.)


Back before blogging (B.B.B.), I was more organized.  I put it in a page protector and into a 3-ring binder of "someday" projects.


This weekend, I went through my shirt stash and pulled fabrics for it.  I was a little light on the "lights," as mentioned.


These boys will do nicely.

This is the kind of thing I won't sew all at once (that might get pret-ty boring), just a few blocks here and there in between other stuff.  The block is simple enough.  Also B.B.B., I had found the block pattern on Quilter's Cache, printed it out and tucked it in on the other side of the ripped out page.


I made a sample block from (very old) scraps on Saturday.  Decided to make it smaller, so I jotted down the dimensions I'll use for a 9.5 inch block, 9 inches finished.  If I set it 9 x 9, it'll be a good size, around 81 inches square.


Speaking of those who play well together (we were, weren't we?), I have been hitting the replay button on this and other Dawes videos lately.  There is something sublime about brotherly (or sisterly) harmony, like that of Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes.



7 comments:

Lori R. said...

I hope that you are saving those cool shirt labels ... if not, send them to me!!!

People should only stay on fabric diets for so long. Sooner or later you need some new stuff to stir into the mix.

Karen said...

What a freakishly perfect pattern for your shirts! I love where you are going with this. Can't wait to see more :)

Dawes are perfect too :)

Unknown said...

Great thrift idea...I would have never thought of it. Waiting to see this one. Have a great week!

beth said...

Love this quilt...love the music....love a good deal. ;)

BendingPins.com said...

Can't wait to see what you do with those lovely shirts. I'm waiting for Hubby to retire some shirts because you know they're going to be worked into quilts!

Elizabeth said...

You are always up to something creative! I love your upcycled shirt quilts! That block/design is going to be great.

I read this the other day, but didn't have time to listen to the music. I always like to listen when you post something. And as usual, I enjoyed Dawes. That harmony is, as you put it, sublime. Great music pick.

xo -E

MomWaldsPlace said...

I love a good plan. It will be fun to watch your progress. We do get to see, don't we?!