Rescuing/salvaging/making over - someone else's UFO
10-09-2020, 11:49 AM
#1
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Rescuing/salvaging/making over - someone else's UFO
I have my own stack of UFO's - so I am careful about taking on UFO's that other people have started.
So - I can - sort of - see/understand trying to save something someone near and dear started. But - if the person that started it was capable of finishing it - and did not - was that person "that" committed to the project? And if not - why should I be?
I can also - sort of see trying to "enshrine" a memento of someone near and dear to me - even if the piece itself - if made by "just anyone" - would probably end up in a wastebasket.
I definitely avoid bringing home items that are made of very poor quality material - I will sometimes try to salvage good quality material that someone has started to make something with.
I have a tough time cutting up clothing that I consider to be "still wearable" - not quite sure why. I have a few very nice plaid shirts that could be cut up - but so far they are just looking at me.
How much of a "rescuer" are you? and how "good" (or bedraggled) are you willing to work with?
So - I can - sort of - see/understand trying to save something someone near and dear started. But - if the person that started it was capable of finishing it - and did not - was that person "that" committed to the project? And if not - why should I be?
I can also - sort of see trying to "enshrine" a memento of someone near and dear to me - even if the piece itself - if made by "just anyone" - would probably end up in a wastebasket.
I definitely avoid bringing home items that are made of very poor quality material - I will sometimes try to salvage good quality material that someone has started to make something with.
I have a tough time cutting up clothing that I consider to be "still wearable" - not quite sure why. I have a few very nice plaid shirts that could be cut up - but so far they are just looking at me.
How much of a "rescuer" are you? and how "good" (or bedraggled) are you willing to work with?
10-09-2020, 12:08 PM
#2
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Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 99
Great topic! I take a lot of pleasure in reusing and upcycling and have identified that as a direction I want to explore with my quilting. I am frozen by too many choices (and cost) at the fabric store - I can handle one or the other, but put them together and I just walk away.
Last year I started buying fabric yardage at the thrift store. Then grab bags of scraps. It is so much fun to see what I get! I was avoiding people's unfinished blocks but inevitably they sneak in and now my attention is snagged. What will they become in my hands??
I want to do more with reusing old clothes. I have hesitated to cut "good" stuff up. So I warmed up using the ripped and stained from my family. And musing how the fast fashion industry has created a crushing glut of clothes that no amount of charity and thrift can usably disperse. Just before the pandemic, I started buying clothes to cut up, focusing on the tag color that indicates it's been at the shop longest and will be pulled if not bought -- cheaper by the yard and potentially diverted from the trash stream.
Last year I started buying fabric yardage at the thrift store. Then grab bags of scraps. It is so much fun to see what I get! I was avoiding people's unfinished blocks but inevitably they sneak in and now my attention is snagged. What will they become in my hands??
I want to do more with reusing old clothes. I have hesitated to cut "good" stuff up. So I warmed up using the ripped and stained from my family. And musing how the fast fashion industry has created a crushing glut of clothes that no amount of charity and thrift can usably disperse. Just before the pandemic, I started buying clothes to cut up, focusing on the tag color that indicates it's been at the shop longest and will be pulled if not bought -- cheaper by the yard and potentially diverted from the trash stream.
10-09-2020, 01:03 PM
#3
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If using clothing that is obviously "worn" - like faded on the shoulders and the elbows are worn out - there may be areas that are still usable - but make sure that they still have some wear left in those areas before putting them into another item.
Example: Work shirts worn by people that work outside in the sun - the tails that are usually tucked into the wearer's pants may still be usable - but the upper back and shoulders may be sun rotted and too fragile to use.
I used several chamois type flannel shirts for rag quilts that my husband and son were willing to let me cut up. The collars and elbows were worn out. I think I had sewn the collars once or twice and patched the elbows once.
I am a scavenger and rescuer - but it seems kind of silly to do that when I have stacks of new material to use.
A bit like saving the "good" apples until they shrivel and only eating the second-rate ones. If one does not need to, why should one?
Example: Work shirts worn by people that work outside in the sun - the tails that are usually tucked into the wearer's pants may still be usable - but the upper back and shoulders may be sun rotted and too fragile to use.
I used several chamois type flannel shirts for rag quilts that my husband and son were willing to let me cut up. The collars and elbows were worn out. I think I had sewn the collars once or twice and patched the elbows once.
I am a scavenger and rescuer - but it seems kind of silly to do that when I have stacks of new material to use.
A bit like saving the "good" apples until they shrivel and only eating the second-rate ones. If one does not need to, why should one?
Last edited by bearisgray; 10-09-2020 at 01:06 PM.
10-09-2020, 01:35 PM
#4
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Location: Central Ohio
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I rescue cats and dogs, not projects. I have enough of my own to finish. And I never salvage clothing. 
I do have one exception though. I have my Dad's Pendelton shirts that I want to do something with. So far it hasn't happened though.
I do have one exception though. I have my Dad's Pendelton shirts that I want to do something with. So far it hasn't happened though.
10-09-2020, 03:46 PM
#5
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Location: northern minnesota
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ummm...I mostly use new fabric in my quilt making....however, I have been known to take used denium from jeans and stitch up some dog blankets....I usually wear clothes until they fall apart but will save the cotton ones for rags...
10-09-2020, 04:10 PM
#6
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I have way too much new fabric to use. Our old clothes and outgrown clothes go to goodwill.
My old Grandaughters other Grandma has me quilting baby quilts she has hand embroidered for her Grandkids and 3 Great Grands. All of them are new so I don't mind finishing them for her. I don't like it but, I will do them. She has bad knees and just sits and embroidery. Of course, she can't sew and she knows I do.
I would not salvage any thing. Just not my thing.
My old Grandaughters other Grandma has me quilting baby quilts she has hand embroidered for her Grandkids and 3 Great Grands. All of them are new so I don't mind finishing them for her. I don't like it but, I will do them. She has bad knees and just sits and embroidery. Of course, she can't sew and she knows I do.
I would not salvage any thing. Just not my thing.
10-09-2020, 05:55 PM
#7
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[QUOTE=SusieQOH;8423780]I rescue cats and dogs, not projects. I have enough of my own to finish. And I never salvage clothing.
Same here, though I'm on my last dog. I can't cut up usable clothing. If I don't want it, I donate it. Too much need out there - though I do have two exceptions. I cut up a pair of soft yoga pants to make ear loops for masks. I asked my massage therapist for an old T shirt for white loops - he gave me a good one, but I sacrificed it.
Same here, though I'm on my last dog. I can't cut up usable clothing. If I don't want it, I donate it. Too much need out there - though I do have two exceptions. I cut up a pair of soft yoga pants to make ear loops for masks. I asked my massage therapist for an old T shirt for white loops - he gave me a good one, but I sacrificed it.
10-09-2020, 06:21 PM
#8
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 9,386
I have a similar problem with someone else's UFOs. The problems is I have no idea who the original maker was. My MIL gave me several unquilted tops. She doesn't quilt. She said they were in *her* mother's possession, but her mother was not a quilter either. Nobody in the family quilts (other than me, of course) and nobody knows who made these tops! What am I supposed to do with them? I don't care for them, they're not very well made, they're not my style, but when I muse about possibly selling them on eBay, I get gasps of horror from other quilters.
10-10-2020, 08:00 AM
#9
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I purchased several bright patchwork tops from an estate sale - made by 'Grandma'. I intended to finish them and use them for prayer quilts for the church. Apparently Grandma didn't realize the tension on her machine needed adjusting and the backs were very loopy. When I saw that, I was done. Another member of the group offered to take them home and redo them. I haven't seen them since.
So I guess the answer to whether I would redo someone else's work is no.
So I guess the answer to whether I would redo someone else's work is no.
10-10-2020, 08:05 AM
#10
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Originally Posted by Irishrose2
I purchased several bright patchwork tops from an estate sale - made by 'Grandma'. I intended to finish them and use them for prayer quilts for the church. Apparently Grandma didn't realize the tension on her machine needed adjusting and the backs were very loopy. When I saw that, I was done. Another member of the group offered to take them home and redo them. I haven't seen them since.
So I guess the answer to whether I would redo someone else's work is no.
So I guess the answer to whether I would redo someone else's work is no.
