Jackpot!!

Hello friends!  I hope that you have been enjoying many thrifting and/or sewing adventures.  I have been sewing up a storm.  I finished sixteen 12" quilt blocks, each block with 50 pieces.  The blocks were made almost exclusively of reclaimed fabric which was snipped from clothing.  This is trickier and more time consuming than sewing with purchased fabric, but I think it's well worth it.  I'll spend this weekend finishing the blocks with sashing and corner squares, and then TA DA, I'll have a quilt top!!

I've also been haunting fabric stores and thrift stores for fabric.  Unfortunately I've also discovered on-line stores that offer the most amazing quilt fabric.  I've spent hours window shopping.  When my budget allows I plan to splurge on a couple of bundles of fabric.

In the meantime, here are some fabric and linens that I've found.  Half of this stuff has already been allocated to upcoming projects.

Fabric and linen haul!!!

The collection above was purchased from Value Village and Salvation Army.  Pardon the wrinkles, I washed and dried the fabric, but I didn't iron it.

Psychadelic vintage linens!!

I found three vintage bed sheets made of cotton.  If you look for vintage sheets, make sure the polyester content isn't too high.  I prefer that my sheets are 100% cotton, or at most 40% polyester.  If fabric has content that is higher than 40% I find that it's not worth working using in quilts.  Check the seams and you will find a content label - or use your sense of touch.  Cotton feels deliciously soft while polyester tends to feel stiff and doesn't wrinkle easily when you crumple it in your hand.

Each sheet will yield about 3 metres of fabric, at a cost of about $1 per metre.

Great fabric for fussy cuts!!

I got about 2 metres for $7 (I added the tax I paid to the price).  I think this is vintage fabric, there is no printed selvage (it's woven right to the edge).  I plan to use this fabric for small kitchen projects and fussy cuts.

At $3.50 per metre this isn't a great deal - unless you factor in the difficulty finding vintage fabric.

Dusty rose and powder blues!!

I got about 2.5 metres for $8 (a little expensive Value Village!).  The information on the selvage reads "1991 Beethoven treated with soil and stain reppeller".  This fabric features gigantic flowers with hints of gold metallic.  It's a fine quality fabric which would be suitable for home decorating projects.  I plan to use this fabric for a drawstring backpack and the scraps will go to quilts.

At $3.20 per metre this isn't a bad deal for durable, stain resistant fabric.

Half a metre of garden border fabric

This is half a metre of Daisy Kingdom craft fabric.  It has a cute garden at the border, and tiny vegetables on the main part of the fabric.

At $7 per metre this was pricey - it's what you would pay retail.  But I snapped it up because I liked the teeny vegetables.

3 metres of pin striped fabric

I got a huge, 3 metre piece of fabric for $3.45.  There is no information on the selvage.  It feels like a cotton/poly blend. When I saw this material I thought it would look perfect with the vintage bed linens I picked up.  I think this would be another good fabric for a backpack.

At $1.15 a metre this was a great deal.

Vintage flower print delight!

My heart stopped when I saw this giant piece of fabric.  It measures about 2 metres wide by 4 metres across.  It originally was 1 metre wide, but two pieces had been sewn together to make an extra wide piece.  This fabric is identical to the material that my grandmother used in a dress for my mother.  It's still sturdy with a lot of wear in it.  It will get snipped up and used in many quilts.

At $2.50 for 8 metres of fabric this is a fantastic deal!

Close-up

My plan to make a backpack means that I'll need buckles and straps.  I could go to a craft or notions store and buy these things.  Or I could purchase a second hand purse and salvage what I need from it.

Pleather purse, pillowcase and apron

This collection of items includes the purse (which I'll use for the buckles), a flower power pillowcase (vintage, 100% cotton) and an apron.  The pillowcase will join my growing, quilting stash.

The purse was tossed into the washing machine with the rest of the fabric.  It came out just fine.  If you are worried about the buckles scratching the inside of your washing machine, you could put it in a pillowcase and knot it closed.

Close-up

The apron fabric has teeny caravans and people printed on it.  How odd is that?  I had to snap it up.  The apron will also join my quilting stash.

Are you ready for one last picture of thrifted fabric?

Pardon the sideways shot.  This fabric came from a Dutch charity shop which I love!!!  I can't go there very often because they have wonderful things.  These three rolls were $1 each.

Roosters, Sock Monkeys and hibiscus

The first roll of fabric is a sturdy canvas-type material.  I loved the mustard and grey roosters. The selvage has the date 1961.  I'm not sure what I'll use this for - but it's definitely something that will end up in my kitchen.

The next roll of fabric is sock monkey panels.  I have about 9 panels in this roll.  I can foresee using a panel jazz up the back of a jean jacket.  

The last roll of fabric is a bright pink hibiscus print.  It's destined to join my quilt stash.

I just finished washing all this lot...now off to iron and sew!!

happy thrifting :)