Friday, October 26, 2012

Bloggers Quilt Fest $2.25 Plus Tax

This year I've been trying a lot of new things, so instead of posting one of my epic applique quilts, I'm sharing an up-cycle project.   I had been reading blogs complaining about the cost of cotton fabric and encouraging people to use old clothing instead.  Isn't that what quilting USED to be about?


I was imagining an amazing bright colored quilt made from Aloha Shirts and headed out to the thrift shops.  Unfortunately anything remotely like I wanted was still going to end up being the equivalent of $8 per yard.

Not one to come home empty handed, I ended up with a couple of men's plaid shirts (one with paint drips on it) for $1.00 and a cream colored, cotton, King sized fitted sheet for $1.25.

I carefully cut apart the shirts, treating them like yardage and decided to make Half Square Triangles using a technique which was new to me.

When I read it, I thought making HST by sewing around the outside of a square then cutting it into 4 across the diagonal seemed perfectly stupid because of the bias.

Turns out that my first impression was accurate.  Making 4 HST for a pinwheel wouldn't be so bad, but a 6 foot strip on the bias....?

My project stalled out at this stage for several months.

Eventually, I started making 9 patch blocks with the remaining blocks.  I added another plaid fabric from the stash to get enough blocks to finish the center.

I then threw all the leftovers into long strips for the finished quilt, no longer caring if there was paint, or plackets, or repairs.  Those are the next strip in from the outer edge.  I added the random 4 HST block squares and called it a quilt.

Everything else went into a crazy patch pillow case which  became a FMQ practice piece described in this post.  







They eventually became 2 pillow cases that used the collars from the original shirts at the openings.

I pieced together the bits and pieces of batting and used up all the old white and cream thread.  Besides my time, I invested $2.25 (plus tax) in material and learned a lot of new techniques.  I would have never been so free in my piecing with "new" fabric.  Give it a try.




Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats
Finished quilt measures : ?? 70x80ish
Special techniques used : machine pieced & quilted by me.  Home FMQ on pillow cases
Best Category : Bed quilt, 2 color quilt, home machine quilted



Amy's Creative Side

16 comments:

Milly said...

Fantastic. I love it. Do you use it?

quilthexle said...

Oh yes - I remember you talking about this one. I still like it !! It's a beautiful quilt - so I sure hope you use it ??

Unknown said...

Perfect, a lovely quilt that proves you don't have to break the bank to create a masterpiece

beaquilter said...

I think I remember you posting about this before? or a similar one that was really cheap! looks great

Janine said...

Love this! I love blue.

CitricSugar said...

Lovely - very pretty!

Janet said...

An absolutely spectacular quilt! Love the price tag :)

straythreads said...

great quilt love hte colors and the story
ann

Sunshine Girl said...

Oh this is so lovely. I too like to upcycle old shirts and I use them regularly on my stuff - that said I also buy lots of materials from quilt shops too - what can I say - I'm addicted! Thanks for sharing. #263

Lynne said...

$8 a yard for quilting cotton would be a bargain. Fabric in most LQS in Australia starts at $25 a metre!

Simply Sandy said...

I absolutely love this quilt. I'm so glad you didn't find any Hawaiian shirts. Love the color pallet. What a great way to recycle. I think the design is amazing, too!

a maidenhair fern said...

What a great quilt. I love the softness of the colors.

Rene' said...

I love your upcycled quilt!!!! It turned out beautifully.

mb. said...

love this quilt! the colors, the shirts, everything.

Karen said...

Very impressive. This is a wonderful quilt. The design works so well.

Shannon said...

This is so much fun! What a great use of plaid shirts- they look great in the nine patches. I sympathize about the HSTs on the bias. I've never tried that method before although I've seen it. Your experience means I probably never will, thanks so much for the warning!