DO YOU- Reduce, Re-use and Recycle?

Traced back to the 1970's this catch phrase has become part of our every day vernacular.  Concerned about the environmental impact of consumerism - the movement encouraged us to reduce our purchases and to re-use or recycle our items instead of sending them off to the dump.  But do we do any of these things anymore?

We think that because we put something in the recycle bin - that we are doing our part.  But in fact we are simply delegating it to someone else and it does not absolve us of our responsibility to try to reduce and re-use items we have. 

Our ancestors were in fact much better at re-using and re-purposing items and in fact quilting was one of the first ways that households began recycling.  It is rumoured (and likely true) that in 1814 when the British threatened to burn the White House, Dolley Madison took the red velvet curtains from the Oval drawing room and had them fashioned into a ball gown.  In many households however the reality was that old clothes and torn bedding often became the bits and pieces that turned into masterpiece quilts.

Over the holidays, I began going through my "stash" to see what I could create for our 'new to us' home.  I stumbled across a well used heavy cotton sheet and wondered how many of my ancestors had slept under it over the years.  It was such a beautiful piece of cotton that I decided to incorporate it into a quilt.  I cringed at first as I began cutting the sheet into 2 1/2 inch strips.  In the end - it became the background of 3 quilts.  All three quilts ended up so soft because of the background fabric and the worn look of the sheets added to the charm of the quilts.

I have often been frugal about using things - it must be a feeling I have always had about being responsible with what I have.  When I used to sew my children's clothes - I was appalled at the amount of fabric that was wasted and often disappointed that the pattern had called for much more than was needed. 

Recently I followed a quilt pattern that called for me to cut certain sized squares.  I was shocked to see that had I reduced the size of the squares by 1/4 of an inch that there would be little or no waste over the width of the fabric.  So I re-designed the pattern and had very little waste at the end.

Down the rabbit hole I went.... and now I am reviewing several patterns to see if I can make them so that there is less waste and I can purchase less fabric if I need to buy more.

I have also discovered that kits and patterns that call for pre-cuts often have very little waste.  So - as you may have guessed - I am now going through my stash and turning it into pre-cuts - making it much easier to use.

When I quilt for others - I do offer the service of cutting the leftover backing into 2 1/2 inch strips so that they can use the fabric in other quilts - or as binding.  (PDQ members have this as a bonus at no cost)

My challenge to you is to "think" about how you can better use your fabric.  Donating it to an organization and quilt guilds is also another alternative as there are groups that turn scraps into quilts for the homeless and infirm. This does not mean we should not buy new fabric for quilting - especially when we are making something that we will gift or is a work of art for a show.  But learning how we can better re-purpose our used fabrics can make us more creative and who knows what art you can create!

From this...

These 2 1/2 inch strips were cut from a good quality cotton sheet that was over 100 years old.  There were enough strips for the entire background of 3 quilts - two oversized laps and one queen sized quilt.

 ......to the background of these three quilts

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What happens to your recycled textiles?

In Canada - we used to have places that recyled old textiles.  However they have all been bought out by foreign countries - so most of it is shipped overseas. Who know what happens to it then?  It has been estimated that over 500M kilograms end up in landfills in Canada.

How do we change that?

• Before you discard large pieces of fabric - determine if some of it may be used in a quilt or placemat or even fashion pillow covers.
• When cutting new fabric - use methods that reduce waste such as strip cutting methods or "sew, cut, sew and cut"  methods (for triangles etc).
• Purchase pre-cut kits or precut fabrics to cut down on left-overs.
• Use scraps as filling for dog beds and pillows.  (You can make nice throw pillows by using old fabrics as the pillow form and them make a lovely cover out of new fabric to cover the pillow form)