Thrift Store Bonanza: Shirts, fabrics & ribbons Oh My!

Yesterday wasn't my official Thrift Store Shop Hop with friends, but Laura and I decided to hit the thrift stores in search of some true fabric bargains, and of course, shirts! We had a lot of fun and found some really great stuff. There's nothing better than a little "retail therapy" with a friend who also likes to quilt!

So here's the real scoop.

Shirts: At the shops we visited I found 5 good men's shirts, ranging from size L to XXL Tall. Most of the shirts are short sleeved so that means the yardage is less, but I estimate a yield of at least 4 yards of usable fabric from them. This time I was smart enough to take a "BC" photo of this pile. That's "Before Cutting." :o)

I'm still debating which pattern to use for my first recycle quilt (maybe I should call them my re-psych-ulled quilts). If not one out of Bonnie Hunter's book, I could also use some of the shirting fabrics for a Snowball Strip quilt from the "101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts" by Judy Hopkins and Nancy Martin. That's super easy and would look great.

Now for yardage goods: At the pound Goodwill (they charge by the weight and not by the individual item) I found 7+ yards of fabric plus 2 spools of ribbon. I will use the brights in kid's quilts, some of the civil war repro-looking fabrics into my "Dear Jenn" quilt and the other 30's repro into my WIP (work-in-progress) buzz saw. Laura and I will split the Mary Englebreight fabrics since we both have projects to use them in.

All of this (shirts and fabric) for less than $1.70 a yard. Now that is what I call a bargain!

Speaking of splitting fabrics and re-psych-uling, Laura found a huge lot of Debbie Mumm fabrics at Goodwill last year and kindly split them with me. We decided to make a quilt called "Shimmer" which is a pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, Feb '04 issue, using only the fabrics in that lot. Blues, greens, browns, reds and creamy tans. Oh how I love a challenge. The example of the blue and yellow Shimmer quilt below is from another quilter's website, neither sewn nor quilted by me but it looks really nice. The Debbie Mumm fabrics are darker, so it will be a totally different look for Laura's and my quilt.

This is not a quick quilt as there are a lot of pieces to cut and sew. The small star blocks are 6" but then sewn into a larger block. The overall block size is 19" once the small and large star units are sewn together.

I cut most of the pieces out last fall (644 without the borders!) and had sewn a couple of sample blocks and most of the small star segments. Last night I pieced together more of the units and you can see a few of the block A and block B completed. These are the small star blocks that measure 8-1/2" square.

I store this project in a nice, flat, clear plastic case so I can keep the pattern, acrylic templates and fabrics together. It's easy to grab and sew a few before I have to pack it up and put it away for another time. I don't have a dedicated place for my sewing machine, so all piecework is done at my kitchen table and we DO have to eat. Some quilters would beg to differ though. :o)



It would be great to have more of this completed before heading down to the Sister's Quilt Show in Oregon in 2 weeks, but I doubt I will be much farther than completing all the block A and Bs.

What will I back it with? Some of these fabrics are border prints, so if I don't use them for the borders on the front, I can definitely figure out how to show their full potential on the back. Also, Laura had found me a huge piece of red print fabric to use as backing on the red & cream quilt, but since I used the toile on that other quilt, I have another big piece that will go great with this quilt.

Now it's off to do other things for the day! Happy thrifting!