My goddaughter and her dh are expecting their first child and they are GREEN. I've been online looking for organic quilting fabric with no luck. There are no juvenile prints and the prices are out of this world (and my pocketbook). Anybody got any ideas? I plan on using bamboo batting. The shower is in June. Help me.

have you looked at bamboo quilting fabric? it is more expensive, but very soft, and has wonderful prints. With a baby quilt, you shouldn't need much fabric.

I'm sure I've seen organic baby fabric.

Any idea if it's going to be a girl or a boy yet? Here's some cute boy fabric.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69134075...bermuda-trains

www.fabric.com does have organic fabric: "Organic Cotton Fabric

100% organic cotton, 60'' wide.
Organic cotton is grown in an environment where no pesticides, chemical fertilizers or herbicides have been used for a minimum of three years. Organic yarn spinners have set isolated processing areas in order to segregate the organic cotton from the conventional cotton. The dyeing and finishing of organic cottons also follows a strict procedure for chemical use in processing, eliminating all materials harmful to the body and the environment."
It is $12 per yard and they only have three colors!
If you use scraps that would be recycling!! I would think that being made by her godmother with lots of love would offset the fact that it isn't totally "green". Good luck.

The same shop has a cute car print too.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/69119549...-cars-fabric-1

for girls any cute floral would probably work.

search on etsy for "Monaluna".

does it have to be organic? If you recycle some clothes would that be considered 'green'? Maybe you could get some of mom's tops & dad's shirts.

You making it and not buying a quilt should qualify for being "green". Or 'borrow' shirts from family members and use that for the quilt

Buy some regular fabric and call it organic. The baby wont know the difference.

I second on recycling fabric - closed loop recycling is "greener" than buying new organic fabric. But you might talk to the prospective parents about what they consider to be acceptably "green".

I would check out second hand stores for cute prints/colors and wash well before using them.

Suggestion 1) Go to Good Will, buy a bunch of cotton shirts and make a scrappy quilt. That's about as green as you can go.

Suggestion 2) Cotton is a natural/renewable fabric so 100% cotton quilt is "green".

"Green" isn't just about 'organic'. It's also about re-useable and renewable. So either of these suggestions should be satisfactory.

I doubt EVERY baby item they buy or receive will be 'green' - then what will they do? Recycling clothing into a quilt, and using bamboo batting is an excellent attempt at going green, and I would think they would be very appreciative of that.

Dream Cotton Company has a lightweight batting called Dream Green made from recycled bottles. It's light green in color so wouldn't use it under a bright white fabric.

I would think this is a much more desirable alternative for "green" batting then bamboo (and not just because of the color). It is my understanding that the chemicals used to process bamboo into batting and fabric are really not all that green.

In fact a quick internet search reveals this:
"Because of the potential health risks and damage to the environment surrounding the manufacturing facilities, textile manufacturing processes for bamboo or other regenerated fibers using hydrolysis alkalization with multi-phase bleaching are not considered sustainable or environmentally supportable."

from: http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_...-facts-be.html

I agree with others who have posted making a quilt from recycled clothing is probably much "greener" then any alternatives.

Thanks for the input everyone.

By the time the bamboo is processed, "green" is purely a name not a fact.

If you want to go green, then I would consider working from used cotton clothing or recycling stash. You can also use a blanket instead of batting, but it should still be comfy for the baby.

http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/product...fabric?filters[]=526

http://www.fatquartershop.com/store/...=&Search_Text=

There's some really cute baby fabric in there, especially the "Mighty Jungle" line at the Fat Quarter Shop.

Recycled is "green" to me! :D

I agree!

This is exactly my thoughts. I call the rag quilt I made for hubby "green" because I used recycled everything except thread--shirts, jeans & batting scraps.

I also made a baby quilt with scraps of flannel and a leftover piece of fleece for the backing. I had just enough different colors of flannel to make 5" Trip Around the World block pattern with it.

Fleece is made out of soda bottles, so its "GREEN" also ;)

Seattle is very "green" territory, so I'll throw my perspective into the mix. A lot of the new hip/green moms around here would be very into wool batting. It's really nice to work with too. And while pricey, not as expensive as bamboo batts.

I guess it really depends on the individual couple as to how well they would like a baby quilt made out of recycled clothing from a thrift store. A lot of new parents are a little on the squeamish side when it comes to anything used touching their newborn (not as big an issue if it's from a family member). So you'd have to be the judge of that.

RST

I also thing an all cotton quilt would be considered green.

Isn't cotton GREEN?

Green doesn't just mean using "organic" products. It also means to reuse, repurpose and save things from the past without using new items. So, using 100% cotton fabric from used clothing would also be "Green".

If they are going green with the baby, will they use cloth diapers. Much available for babies is not available "green", but I have seen organic cotton batting.

Isn't cotton GREEN?

Cotton is ordinarily grown with TONS of pesticides (think boll weevil, etc.).
I once fed cotton seeds to my goats, and had some customers--and my daughter--- react badly to the milk. Thank heavens not all my goats had freshened, so only a few were "contaminated" by the cottonseed feed!Those had their milk dumped for months....
I agree--the GREEN solution is to re-use and re-purpose--so I would re-cycle fabrics.

I don't have a clue about this, but a little more than a yard shouldn't set you back too far. Personally, I would think something that was made outof 100 % cotton should be green enough.

My definition of going green is the old standard, reduce, recycle, reuse. I vote for recycled relative's clothing especially grandparents that may live out of town. Then they can hug baby every time they cover the little one up in it even though they may not be there in person. Warm fuzzies for both ends of the deal.

My definition of going green is the old standard, reduce, recycle, reuse. I vote for recycled relative's clothing especially grandparents that may live out of town. Then they can hug baby every time they cover the little one up in it even though they may not be there in person. Warm fuzzies for both ends of the deal.

didn't mean to double post. oops........

Be sure to research your bamboo batting. I've read that we're being told bamboo batting is better when in fact it takes more chemicals to make it soft than cotton does.

Cotton is organic, natural, whatever!

Cotton is natural but unless it's grown organically, it's not organic. I think there's a difference between just being "green" (recycling, using natural materials, etc) and being "organic" (using things grown and made without chemicals).

Being green is also about repurposing items that have been around awhile. Think about thrift shops and resale shops for good quality clothing to deconstruct for the fabrics.

Boy, isn't this the truth. Just make sure the fabric has been washed and also the quilt after it is made.

well if bamboo batting is green wouldn't cotton fabric be green?

Thanks for all the input, everyone. I must admit I sort of got carried away there for a while. I just found out that day that my goddaughter was pregnant and got so excited I lost my head for a second. I don't usually pre-wash my fabric before making a quilt but will in this instance and use an organic receiving blanket for batting and it should be fine. Again, thanks for all the common sense advice when I seemed to have lost my common sense for a while.