The Quilt 2024 Summer Camp did not disappoint. The workshops were great and the live discussion on sustainability was very interesting.
I had not really thought about sustainability in quilting pretaining to fabric. The rule of thumb when creating a stash was 'if you like a fabric buy a yard, if you love it buy three yards'. The question is what happens to all those large fabric stashes when a quilter passes on and no one in the family want it. And let's face it, most quilters have stashes, some extremely large and some modest.
Three things stood out in the discussion. First, either use the small fabric scraps or give them to someone who will use them rather than throwing them in the garbage which ends up in the landfill. Donating fabric to thrift shops does not assure one that it will not end up in a landfill somewhere! As much as 84% of donated items end up in landfills...and that includes seven million tons of textile waste.
The second was upcycling fabric from clothing no longer worn or other fabric items such a tableclothes. I have shopped clothing at thrift stores for fabric to use in quilt projects and have found some fantastic bargains.
And third, purchase fabric for current or upcoming projects rather than to increase the size of your stash. And that makes sense to me. I had a modest stash of fabric but will end up with a minor amount of fabric and that's okay with me. I was looking at fabric a few days ago and was considering purchasing when I realized that I did not know what I was going to use it for. I decided that when I had a project for that fabric, I would purchase it but not until then.
I did not participate in the workshops so while watching I mindlessly created a form to make a mobile to hang my ever increasing bird collection...
I cut four strips of cardboard two and a half inches wide and eighteen inches long. Using a hot gun I glued the strips together overlapping them so make one circle with two thicknesses of cardboard. I then glued small pieces of cardboard over the joints to make sure they would not come apart on both the inside and outside of the circle.
I wound white yarn around and around to cover the circle twice using a bit of glue occasionally to secure. Next I added the yarn in eight places from which to hang the circle. I will secure these to a metal circle for attaching to a hook from the ceiling. And finally I will add the birds to make a mobile! Is that upcycling? I think so...and the birds are definitely upcycling as they are made out of a toilet paper roll and some fabric and lace scraps! They sure look cute...remember...
Well, it's getting close to the time the second day of 'summer camp' begins so I will close now...
Talk with you tomorrow...