Our mission sewing group has been using (second hand from thrift stores)mattress pads for batting.

i would have responded to that member .....cast-offs are treasures! i was a member of a row robin last year. every row i did, even the row for my own quilt, was done with fabrics i've recieved as cast-offs. my mil church quilter group sends me their scraps and don't wants. every row i made in the rr was exclaimed over & loved. i recently have started my grad daughters, at their requests, sewing quilt blocks & one finsihed a doll quilt. all made w cast-off fabrics. they loved all the different varieries of colors, shapes, subject matter. one girl has fallen i love w concept of fussy cutting and some children fabric that i find hideous is a tresure to her for her fussy cutting adventures. i recently was gifted four large garbage bags of beautiful & not so beautiful (to my eyes :D) fabrics, new & some very old (36" wide) ..most has found home in my stash and growing stash of fabric collection i am making for the grand treasures according to the tastes in colors & prints they've shown to be to their liking, and to a couple of quilting friends whose taste in colors and prints differ from mine. my point is, of course others would want your cast-offs!! especially those starting out on this quilting adventure & those with tastes that differ from our own. and when it comes to recycled thrift store clothing ...i started with that as my main fabric source, and continue to hunt the thrift stores for plaid shirts, mens white dress shirts for special projects. good stuff!! :thumbup:

Not all "what was I thinking?" fabric is ugly. Sometimes it simply doesn't go with anything else, one has.

ignore the one woman. Your idea is great and maybe those that want to help will "loan" some of their extra quilting supplies in case this is a one time project the families are not out tons of money for rulers etc.

Love the idea of donations. There is no such thing as "ugly" fabric in my world, just haven't found the right project for it yet. I would also list the options for buying fabric (Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Hancock's, JoAnn and the LQS) in your area.

Enjoy your project! The 4-H kids are great and they come up with some awesome things. I've seen some of their quilts and garments at local fairs and I am blown away by them.

It is possible that some of the donated stuff might be unusable for what you have in mind - but it is also likely that a lot of it will be usable.

Theoretically, yes! I already give fabrics that i've figured out I won't be able to use up before I die to groups. It's just sitting on a shelf, taking up space otherwise. If someone can get some use out of it, why not?

Maybe they might also have some old rulers, cutters, thread they didn't like, etc. that could be donated and used. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

I just filled a big bag with fabric that I know I will never use. There is nothing wrong with it but I bought it when I was first starting out and my tastes have changed a lot. I was making lots of charity quilts for kids and in a more traditional way. I still make them but they are modern now and more solids and modern fabrics so no point in having them take up shelf space. The fabric will go to a group that makes lots of quilts for hospitals, hospice, etc. And yesterday, I just gave a friend a large self healing cutting mat that I no longer need. By all means, recycle!!

I like all your ideas.. I have used scraps from board members, and have bought shirts from thrift stores, and have made a bunch of scrap quilts not using patterns, and you are right that the fabric can turn from ugly to nice by cutting the pieces small.. I made five quilts for my staff, and two of my nieces using scraps, and and odd pieces, and everyone has gotten compliments on them.. I made 6.5" squares, and needed a template. Chain stitched the pieces as I went, so saved on thread, and it was just too easy to not do it..