Origins

I have no problem whatsoever with the gorgeous fabrics in quilt shops but that's not what gets me excited to quilt right now.  Something Spike said a couple weeks ago when we were chatting about quilting after I told her I was getting into it really resonated with me.  I was showing her the quilts my grandma made and she was admiring the one that it made of polyester squares that look like they might have come from old clothes of the era.  She said something about it holding the essence of quilting - the reuse of materials to make something new and useful.  I also like that it that the materials used tie it to a specific era and style.

I have been using only fabrics that I already had.  The slight exception (since everything has to come from somewhere at some point) is the kid fabrics in the second quilt top.  I bought them with the intention of using them for a baby shower but they didn't match and I just saved them.  The rest are all fabrics that I or my husband have acquired over the years, usually with the intention of making costumes.  That is where all of my sewing experience has come from so far.  I had one lesson from an ex-boyfriend's mom a decade ago - she helped me make a skirt that I designed - and I vaguely remember my mom teaching me to use her machine to make a mini-pillow with a horse on it when I was a kid but otherwise I'm self-taught.

Being a photographer (and not a rich one), I've been collecting black fabrics for years to use as background materials.  They were whatever was cheapest, not necessarily what was best suited to background material.  I'm currently working on an all-black quilt top from those materials.  I think there might be some white too eventually but I'm not there yet.

As I began to use up my age-old stash of fabrics, I started to wonder where I would get more.  I can only cut up so many items of clothing before we're all naked.  As I stated before, I am not all that inspired by the fancy fabrics other than batik, which I'd prefer to make myself.  But then there's Savers.  It's a thrift store in our city (and others).  Every Thursday they price their oldest inventory at $.99 no matter what it usually costs.  This past Thursday I went and spent $6.00 on three XXL men's button down shirts and two skirts that I will be cutting up and incorporating into quilts.  It seems like the best thing ever. I get cheap, interesting materials, not to mention the thrill of the hunt, and I'm using up clothes that no one else wants.  Especially since I went later in the day when the racks had already been scoured by the Thursday regulars.

I really like the idea of continuing in this vein, not only because it will keep this new hobby/habit/art form cheaper, but also because it makes it more of a challenge and more creative for me.  It's generally just more my style.

Okay, really, I'm going to go do the laundry now.