Tuesday's This and That: March 28, 2023

 

Happy Monday!

A while ago, I mentioned the outrage of using old quilts to make coats.  Mary Fons did a video about this and was so outraged she used a lot of foul language to express her opinions (a copy of the video is here).  

The thing is that the pieces I'm seeing cut up now have no rhyme or reason.  It clearly isn't to preserve some aspect of the piece.  It's just cut up to sell.

From Ebay

Probably one of the worst cases I have seen lately was at a local flea market mall.  I noticed some odd quilt pieces at the front of the kiosk.  And then I saw the back of the kiosk...and a large steamer trunk just full of cut up quilt pieces.

A grab bag of cutter pieces being sold at Etsy

Many of these pieces are even being marketed as "hand pieced and/or hand quilted."  One of my friends pondered that there is a market for this and possibly other crafters find these pieces desirable. I have questions about this and wonder if you can give me insight.  What kinds of crafts use cut up pieces of quilts?  I found a bunch of ideas on Pinterest (stuffed animals, stockings and holiday ornaments) but these could have used other fabrics to create.  Are these considered 'shabby chic' or 'primitive'?  I'm so confused...

In the late 1970s, my sister-in-law made a stuffed rabbit toy for my daughter.  My sister-in-law had pieced some patchwork for the front of "Patch the Bunny" and used a solid fabric in the back.  My daughter loved that bunny and dragged it everywhere.  Later, both of my grandkids played with Patch too...and the bunny is packed up in a trunk in the back of our attic.  My point is Patch endured because Lydia used new fabric.  How many of the stuffed animals made in the 1970s and utilized old quilts survived?  How many of the coats made back then survived?

Throughout my study of old quilts it has repeatedly been discussed that many quilts survive because they did NOT upcycle clothing in their quilts.  They used leftovers from sewing garments, etc.  The Great Depression was the big era of quilting with used clothing fabric and that was done out of necessity.  Sure some of those quilts survived, but many of them have considerable condition problems (although other factors like the quality of the fabric is a consideration).

But with all this said, just look at this quilt pieced from other quilts and now being sold at Etsy here.  The quilt is priced at $799.  This woman cut up quilts for projects and saved an 8 inch block from each quilt she cut.  The result is this:

I'd love to know your reaction to this!

Wishing you a safe and happy day!