"Rescue" projects -
 

I have brought them home from yard sales -

Will I continue to do bring them home?

Maybe - but I will be a lot more selective about what I bring home now.


What I am now more aware of - the fabric - the fabric - the fabric. The quality of it, does it smell "funny", how are the pieces cut --

Am I really willing to spend about four times the amount of time trying to rescue it than starting from scratch?

Do I even LIKE the fabrics and potential?

Do I have fabric at home that might coordinate with this if I need/want to add to it?


I admit that I have a hard time dumping fabric - even poor fabric - so it is better for me to never let it in the door.

Anyone else?

I donated a lot of fabric to a church and I will admit it was hard to do. I realized I have had a lot of that fabric for several years and if I haven't used it by now I most likely will not. Now several months later I don't miss it. I do have a hard time walking away from an old quilt at an estate sale or yard sale. I have a great stash which I now prefer to call my "textile collection".

i just love making things that other people are getting rid of

I was in a thrift store this week and saw a plastic box full of fabric. It looked like the original owner had started piecing a quilt. It was some odd shapes to make a circle. A few circles were completed and attached to each other. But the fabric! It was loosely woven, almost like hardanger embroidery fabric. The colors looked like the came from the 1980's. It was priced $5.00. I just shuddered and walked away.

As I was standing in line to pay I did find a small bag full of cotton scrap, some are bigger than a fat quarter. Nice blues and purples. That I grabbed up for $2.00.

I have to see the potential in it and a clear plan to get there. I rescue a lot of abandoned quilt blocks and pieces that get donated to our charity group and some of those quilts have turned out quite lovely.

If blocks are not uniformly sized, you can always border and trim them into a wonky setting where the different sizes won't be noticeable.

I try to be selective in what I bring home. And I try to rotate my stash, getting rid of some things on a continual basis, which makes room for more coming in. I have made or finished some wonderful things from fabric or other peoples' UFO's that I got free or cheap at a sale.

However, the past week I have been helping a friend organize her mother's stash due to health reasons (of the mother). It is a monumental task and has made me re-think my priorities in time, money, and space.

I don't really go to garage sales or thrift stores very often. But if I hear that a quilter is having a de-stashing sale, then I want to be there! I don't pick up projects that are already started, however. In most cases, they weren't finished for a reason. If I am given a vintage top that needs quilting, I am happy to quilt it, but I don't spend much time on repairs that can't be made by the quilting itself. I have been given some very old, very ugly vintage blocks, and I do want to do something with them, someday, just because they are so ugly.

I learned after receiving my friend's mom's stash and ufos that some are just not worth finishing. Old fabric, old colors, blends. When completed, you have an old project. Nothing especially fancy or pretty. I'd rather work on my new stuff than someone else's old stuff.

When I first started back to quilting, I bought lots of these UFOs as blocks, kits, or even works almost done but all done well or just great fabric. I was gifted some exchange blocks from a quilter's estate and recently put those together in a charity quilt.