meanmom

I have a lot of yard sale fabric that is either ugly or just not my taste. I make all kinds of donation quilts out of it. I try out new patterns, practice free motion quilting etc. I donate them to Ronald McDonald house, homeless shelters, pregnancy centers etc. Where they go often depends on what they look like when I finish them. Sometimes the uglies look good when added to other fabrics. The local Salvation Army has hooked up with the Marines Toys for Tots program and they collect doll quilts. They give away 700 to 800 dolls, like America Girl Dolls (the fake ones) every Christmas. Their goal is for each doll to have a quilt and at least 2 outfits. They would also like to give each little girl a quilt. That is what I use my garage sale fabric for.

ArtsyOne

I've always liked to buy scrap bags of fabric and there are invariably some that are really awful. I decided to use all of the awful and ugly fabrics in one scrap quilt - it turned out to be lovely and always gets comments, even when everyone agrees that the individual fabrics are really horrible.
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anniesews

Our shelter welcoms little dog blankets. Go for that and make them and yourself feel good. Even if I am just donating to the shelter, I feel like I have done something necessary and important for the animals.

gramacheri

Also, sometimes Goodwill will take fabric and pass it on to an organization that makes rugs out of unsalable fabric/clothing.

redeagle

Every "ugly" has a home somewhere. I had some yellow and black that was "really" ugly and I had it for years. One day I needed a special piece of "something" and I tossed a large handful of scraps on the floor and don't you know there was that piece of "really" ugly and it was perfect for what I needed!
Barb

May in Jersey

My guild gets donations of all kinds of fabrics, good quality cotton fabrics are added to the guild's stash and other fabrics set aside or donated to other groups. I pick out thin light colored fabrics to use as foundations for string blocks, ugly but good cottons are for dog beds for local shelter. Like the idea I saw here of cutting up the really thin stuff into 2" squares and using the square to stuff the animal beds.

Annaquilts

Make rag rugs or donate the thin stuff to some one who does. As for the ugly stuff look at Bonnie Hunter's website, http://quiltville.com/ The free scrap paaterns are further down on the page on the right. She manages to take all kinds of uglies making some of the most beautiful quilts.

barney

turn it over. Sometimes the so called wrong side isn't bad.

quilter1943

I've sorted through some of mine and I think I'll make some pinwheels. Need to get something light to go with them.

vickig626

that's a great idea!! I've been trying to figure out the best size for pet beds. There's a doxie rescue (where I got my doxie last October) and wanted to do something for them. This size would be perfect for doxie beds.

Only suggestion I have for anyone doing this -- let the shelter know the beds have cut up fabric. Some dogs chew (and eat) anything so you don't want to hurt any of the animals. This was suggested to me by a rescue group.