A devious plan to use up all the 1980’s fabric that I will never use any other way and which keeps falling out of the cupboard.
I’m sure this is a problem for everyone out there who has been quilting since the beginning of time like me. My stash originated about 25 years ago – at a time when little spriggy calicoes and Laura Ashley flowers were the things to have. I have never been a woman with a lot of willpower and I clearly collected everything I could get my dirty little mits on and more. I also appear to have had a few moments of total mental aberration in fabric shops…..I’ve bought more than my fair share of truly horrible fabric…
….and it’s all still there…
This morning had come to the end of the road with my fabric stash. It’s all supposed to fit neatly into one fairly large glass-fronted Ikea cupboard. Needless to say that this hasn’t been the case for a fair while (and I have just ordered MORE FABRIC!). the doors don’t close anymore and anytime I dare open one of them there is a cascade of fat quarter bundles ontop of me.
Anyway, this morning I was pondering what I could do about it all. I started to really look at what was in there and there was really quite a lot of it that I didn’t like at all. Not only was it not very nice, there was no way in h*** that it was ever going to get used.
So here’s the scoop…
I’m making it into a rag rug!!! Rag rugs take up tons of fabric and the fabric gets all scrunched up, so even if it’s butt ugly, you really can’t tell!!
In Houston last year I picked up this booklet… (Rugs from Rags by Country Threads)
And for Christmas I asked my husband and son to make me a frame following the instructions in the book (thereby killing two birds with one stone – a nice father son project and all their Christmas present traumas were instantly solved!).
Today I strung the frame with strips of calico..
and now I’m making my rug…
The book says it will use 15 yards of fabric! Imagine, 15 yards of old and unusable fabric gone in one foul swoop. How much space does 15 yards take up? It must be a fair amount, right.
Pretty cool huh! (OK if you think the rug will be butt ugly too you might not agree with me, but those who go for homely shappy chic will know where I’m coming from!!)
Helen
March 15th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Now that, dear Helen, is sheer genius – rag rugs are something else!! Clever girl, you… 🙂
March 15th, 2012 at 7:54 pm
See & I kinda like your butt uglies but I am willing to concede that they may just photograph very nicely LOL
Loving the idea of the rug! 15 yards gone in a flash!! Yep, great plan & you get a gorgeous rug/potential gift if you really hate the end result.
looking forward to seeing the end result.
Cheers
Lush
London UK
March 15th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
My girlfriend makes these all the time. . . . and they all turn out lovely. She varies the design by sometimes making stripes of colors and sometimes just doing whatever comes up next in the bucket where she keeps her strips.
Have fun. . . .can’t wait to see what you end up with.
March 15th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Helen this is brilliant. Now I need to gather all. Y uglies up and do the same.
March 15th, 2012 at 10:03 pm
Helen, that idea is genius! Not only do you get rid of the ugly fabric, you’re putting it to good use and not into a landfill! I think the beginning of the rug in the picture looks great already. Can’t wait to see the finished project.
March 16th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Great idea – I always have a problem with people making rugs etc out of lovely fabric – I would have no problem wiping my boots on this!
March 16th, 2012 at 12:04 am
Helen — That’s a great idea! I feel the same way as you about my “old” fabric stash. Now to talk my husband into making a frame for me.
Here’s a project that I just recently finished: I took a man’s wool sweater, felted it, and made a pair of mittens! I lined them with polar fleece. Turned out way cool and super warm! I’ll never need them in Las Vegas, but we now own 40 acres of wooded land in Wisconsin and am sure the mittens will come in “handy” there. Now I’m hooked on visiting second hand stores looking for cheap wool sweaters to make into more mittens.
March 16th, 2012 at 12:12 am
Ugly or no that looks like fun!!
March 16th, 2012 at 1:34 am
Haha! That’s an EXCELLENT use of Butt Ugly fabric!
March 16th, 2012 at 2:15 am
I have a closet like your cabinet. I am glad I am not alone. LOL. It looks like a fun project
March 16th, 2012 at 2:58 am
Now this is an idea I can use. I used to know a lovely Swedish lady who made rag rugs, and they were fabulous. Very homey, quite washable, and lasted forever! She gave me one forty years ago and I had it for over a decade, where it got hard use.
March 16th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Bwahahaha, cunning plan, and as Hadley says, perfect for wiping your boots on 😉
March 16th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
That looks like it will turn out just lovely! How did you manage to convince your husband to make the frame again?! Full marks to Mr H for facilitating this fun project! Can’t wait to see how it turns out x
March 17th, 2012 at 12:04 am
Love it. And love that you have a use for butt ugly stash. Now you’d best get with replacing all that you have used on the rug. No butt uglies this time though.
March 17th, 2012 at 1:26 am
Loving your logic Helen and the father son bonding exercise was genius!
March 17th, 2012 at 10:19 pm
You could offer some of the fabric up on Tuesday in Lucy of charmed about you “Stale Stash Swap”. I’ve been collecting Laura Ashley dresses from charity shops for an 80’s quilt. Love the rug too.
March 20th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Perfect. Chris always makes things for me with rors for Christmas. Last year it was an egg holder. A rug frame it will be in 2012, definitely. Thanks for the idea.