quilter1

My DH wears dress shirt and a tie every day to work and they get sent to the cleaner after each wearing. Of course they eventually shrink a bit at the neck, too tight for a tie. In the past, I have sent them on to Goodwill or the Sally Ann but I am such a dope. Yesterday I went to put a really nice purple stripe in the give away bag and thought that I should keep it for fabric! There is so much good cotton in a man's dress shirt. When I think of all the shirts I have given away over the years. Sorry Goodwill, no more shirts from me, from now on they go in my fabric stash- like I need another inch of fabric, but who's counting?

Monroe

Check out Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com. She has wonderful free patterns and pics, and has written several books. Many patterns show the use of men's shirts for quiltmaking. One book is titled Scraps and Shirttails, with a sequel. I've been gathering shirts at my local Thrift for quiltmaking. Recently took a class with her, and she is quite fun!

catmcclure

Darn, I've been going to Goodwill on dollar day and picking up every 100% cotton shirt they have. I love the fact that I get about 2 yards of fabric for $1.

PaperPrincess

Last year I was obsessed with recycled shirts. Our Salvation army also has 5 for $5 once a week.
Here are a few I made: http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t153884.html
While looking for cottons, I found a lot of aloha 100% silk shirts. In Michigan. For $1. Go figure. I've been collecting them for about a year and have almost enough for a silk quilt.

hopetoquilt

my DH is 6'5". that is alot of fabric. He switched jobs, needed new shirts and I got 28 shirts. I filled 2 jars with the buttons alone!

quiltinghere

WOW ... ... how did you manage to have the cleaners wash and press his shirts instead of you? Tell us your secret! LOL Seriously - good for you!

I have several x-large totes that are full of 100% cotton shirts just waiting for me to make one of the many wonderful quilts in Bonnie Hunter's 2 shirt books.

Maybe I should add...too many projects...not enough hours ...to my wall of sayings!

Tartan

Bonnie Hunter has a video on the net on how to strip a shirt for quilting cotton. You can probably find the utube video with a search on Google. There is a lot of good fabric in a man's shirt.

susie-susie-susie

I needed "shirting" fabric for a quilt in my future, 9 yds. of it. Thought I would go to Good Will and get a variety. They wanted $4.99 each for clearly worn shirts. Decided to go with new fabric and just take a little longer to collect the backing fabric. I have found the prices at the Good Will near me are very high. I continue to look, but seldom buy.
Sue

quilter1

Maybe it's not fair, but when we got married 30 years ago, I refused to do shirts. I have never washed and ironed a shirt. It is not worth my time when they can go out and come back beautiful for $1 a shot. Guess I will have to wash them now when they go into my stash! LOL.

elizajo

Men's dress shirts from Goodwill in my area are usually $4-$6. I can buy a yard of fabric from Thousands of Bolts for about that much. I still buy some shirts for most quilts because I like to use the plaids and stripes in my quilts. I will cut 10.5" squares for backings from the backs of the shirts and use the sleeves and fronts to cut pieces for blocks.