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what to do with (not pretty) old tops?


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Oye. Some days I should NOT be allowed near a computer!  

 

I was recently looking at Freecycle, and there was a listing for quilt tops and blocks.  FREE is a powerful word!  

 

A friend recently got a longarm, and she's afraid to use it, so I thought, "Hey, ready-made tops, ready to quilt."  She could practice on them, then donate them or something.  Well, she took one look at them and ran!  

 

These tops are ...um.........I don't have the right words. Utilitarian?

 

They're not 'lovely' old tops that someone didn't get around to quilting.

 

They ARE interesting.

 

The donor said, "I think Grandma pieced them"...and they are made of everything...poly, cottons, blends, wool, home dec, it's in there. One squares, one bricks, and two are an apple core shape, with a seam in the center. They are mostly flat. Mostly.  The apple core ones have some issues in areas where two different fabrics didn't want to go together very well, but that didn't slow THIS sewer down, she just poked the excess in and stitched away! 

 

So, what does one do with them?  I guess I could take them to guild and see if anyone wanted to finish them and donate them, but... we usually donate NICE quilts... (and, I feel strange saying that, because who am I to judge another person's efforts? They may be homely, but they still have a lot of work in them.) 

 

Thoughts? Input? All suggestions will be carefully considered. 

 

Thanks!

Sammi 

 

 

 

 

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If your friend uses them for practice she will have the opportunity to face the problems without the pressure of a customer's expectations. She can practice designs as well as techniques to handle the problems. Then when they are finished, serge around the edges. If the quilts have been transformed by the quilting ( ;)) donate them to a local charity. If they aren't transformed, donate to a local animal shelter. The puppers and kitties will love them!

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I agree with Linda and Terry.  These will be perfect practice quilts.  Plus, by having so many different types of fabrics in the quilts, your friend can get a good hands-on lesson with tension and thread issues that can arise on differnt fabric types. 

 

Donating to a local shelter (homeless or animal) is a super way to let these quilts get much deserved love and attention. 

 

Post pictures.  We love to see all kinds of quilts -- even "utilitarian ones". 

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Hi....Check also with local churches.....many have quilting groups that tie quilts for overseas....I just returned from tying quilts with my church group....the ones we make I understand are shipped overseas to places that have a need for them and many are used as floor coverings or wall dividers...often these areas do not have laundry washing facilities.....the quilts are pieced out of everything also...and bedsheets (some fairly worn or patched) are used as backings....it took me a while to wrap by brain around that this is quilting but....it seems there is a real need for these kinds of quilts too....if you have nothing....a quilt of any quality or design is something.....the quilts for the most part are made of donated fabrics and yarn for tying.....Lin

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Send them to me & I'll quilt them. That's the kind of stuff I use to quilt on when I first started. No one would let me quilt for them until another local group said, give them to Zeke he'll do it. I ended up taking half their clientele. Just because they wouldn't quilt the ugly quilts. Send them too ME!!!! Zeke.. 916-689-4992.

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I so agree with all the comments so far!

I wish I had known about these free quilt tops when I was learning how to use my Millie. I was so tired of muslin or cheater tops but was afraid to quilt any of my own or community quilt tops!

I think I saw on this forum to cut up practice quilts, serge the edges, and give to an animal shelter. What a great idea!

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Thank you all for the input.  It seems the consensus is that even ..uh...ugly quilts need love, too!   Quilting does make a HUGE difference in a top. 

 

And, Zeke, thank you for the offer to quilt them. (Too funny, stealing ugly quilts from your competition! roflol!)

 

We got a different computer, and I'm not sure how to upload pics on to this system yet.  

 

MY reason for not doing them my own little self is that I haven't worked on any of my own things for ages.  At the rate I'm going, I'm never going to get this fabric sewn up.  

 

 

So. Here's what I'm thinking.... there are a few options: 

 

  • Nag dgf to do one of them anyway, for the aforementioned 'ppp' purposes. 

 

  • Take them to guild and see what the ladies there want to do with them. One of the ladies there does cracker jack charity quilt selection and delivery. Another is our contact for the animal shelters. She does dog beds with all the scraps, trimmings, threads and etc, that we save for her.

 

  • Take them to the lqs that just asked for quilts for a show. 

 

  • Take them to sewing group at church and see if they want to help finish them, as Lin mentioned. 

 

  • Finish them for the lady that gave them away.  (complete stranger) She told me she wasn't completing them because she has had serious health issues.  These are BIG quilts, so there is the backing and batting, & binding to consider.  

 

 

Sammi

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One time our quilt group was given several quilt tops made by a lady who passed away.  Her husband gave them to us to do whatever............we then found out that the daughters knew nothing about Dad giving those tops away.   So, we finished them and gave them back to the daughters who were thrilled beyond belief and thanked us over and over for saving their Mom's quilts.   For some unknown reason Dad never even asked the girls if they wanted them........he just gave everything away.   Maybe finishing the quilts to give back to the lady who made them would be a very nice thing to do.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What got me started quilting back in the 90s was the fact that the only thing my deceased Grandmother ever gave my adult father was a hand-pieced double wedding ring quilt top.  I took some quilting classes to learn how to finish it and give it back to him.  When I was lucky enough to finally get my Lenni this weekend the first "practice" quilt I am working on is a rag of a around the world quilt top from a junk store.  Every ugly duckling can have a bright future and so what if my first practice quilt using rulers isn't exactly straight...it is made of pretty colors, it will be warm, and I'm proud to have made something out of trash.  Old ugly quilts like you describe were still made with love...and it is with love that I'm proud to finish my ugly ducklings....just one beginner gal's opinion......

 

 

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Many of these ugly quilts were made by pioneers that needed bed covers and no money to buy fabric, another source was during the depression..  Of course they used what they had.  We have two of these ugly quilts that Himself's Mom or more likely grandmother made.. and he used one or the other on his bed when he was a kid.  They may be ugly, but love went into these quilts, and had a reason to be made with love. 

Sew Love Into Every Stitch sticks in my mind, it use to be my byline.. no idea why it is gone.

 

Think of the fabricxs and what their original use would have been. a mans suit, a girls party dress, a young mans shirt, there are parts of all garments

that though worn out, had areas that were barely showing wear.  Another source would be the scraps left from garments they made, or scraps they begged from a sewing factory, etc..

 

All pieces were made for a reason and the quilts they were put in, were made for a reason.  I may not think they are pretty eye candy, and wouldn't buy one for myself, but there still is beauty in them if we look for it.

 

Homeless shelters, Safe houses for those who have been battered in one way or another, Are two good places to give these ugly quilts to. the men would certainly love them without fancy prints and frills, but made with love and quilted with love..

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I was once told that it is better to give homely ugly quilts to homeless people because it is less likely to be stolen from them.  Sounds odd, but true.

 

 

Sorry to add--they're also less likely to be sold by the recipient. :(

 

The street homeless (as opposed to the shelter homeless) don't care what a cover looks like--only that it can keep them warm and maybe dry. Better to give them something that dries fast, doesn't mold, and is warm--like poly fleece. Save the cotton quilts with cotton batting for the shelters. 

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Speaking for our shelter or Safe House here in Sanford, NC, the folks who are in there, usually have to leave the house or else-where, with only what they have on, in one case, the person was nude, and was that way just to get away from the other person.. I don't even want to say what sex. 

 

Seldom are the women even able to take their purses.. same for some of the men and their wallets.  They have nothing and appreciate anything they are given..   The guild even makes what I call a ditty bag, they call them something else, possibly HumBug Bags, and put motel/hotel or purchased items in them.. tooth brushes, hair brushes/combs, tooth paste, shampoo, etc.

 

We don't have a homeless shelter that I iknow of.. and I have asked.. just Haven, the Safe House for those who are battered, physically or mentally.

 

I wish we could make enough to give lap robes to folks in a nursing home too, but there are too many folks.  Private Residence Homes just don't figure in somehow.  I've seen one person burst out in tears when given a quilt.

 

I agree, synthetic tops, backs and batting work best for the homeless.  A good place to use up scraps from the poly slacks and jackets that are worn, have thread pulls on them, etc.  Pull the snags to the back of the fabric.  cut around any spots that are worn.  Blue jean quilts are just too heavy for them to carry around.

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