Monday, April 26, 2021

One Man's Trash...... My treasure!

A few months ago (before Christmas) my sister called me and said she had a "tub and some bags of fabric" in her car for me that the kids at the local homeless shelter werent able to easily bundle for sale and they were out of room in their shop so they were going to send it to points North aka maybe the dumpster!  Yikes!  I said never!  My sister is the founder and Head Woman in charge of the MyHouse group - its more than a shelter - its an assistance spot for kids 16-24.  It includes a thrift shop, a coffee shop/cafe, as well as job training, music area, lounging area and on and on and on.  Check it out here!  They also have a Boutique/thrift shop called Steam Driven that sells lots of different items, but has a little niche of Steampunk items that are handmade locally, some of it in-house even!  It's really fun and amazing!  The shops and training center stayed open since the start of Covid.  The training and services are always needed.

Here is first glimpse in a couple of the bags!


Here are a couple more of the bags ready for a peek!


This pillow cover was in the tub.  Already finished and with the buttons on even!  I had given sister a fair price for the tub of fabric based on what I could see through the sides.  It might not have been enough!


This stack of fabric was in the tub and there are some scraps and some yardage in the stack- some has some sun fading, as though it had sat in a window for a while without being used.  Nothing that can't be worked around though.  The steampunk shop does use some fabric items, but not quite the same as what I use for quilting.  Our color pallettes are also not even close to the same.  I do not think I will ever be able to make a "Steampunk" quilt.  At least, not for a while!


How much fun is this?  Jungle animals, leaves, and grasses fabrics!


Here is some super fun favorite holiday of all time fabrics!  Amuck!  Amuck! Amuck!


Yes!  Its Halloween!  

This fabric actually GLOWS in the DARK!!!  How cool is this???  The COOLEST!!!


SO many fun things to play with!  A Whale stuffy toy panel, and some soft blue small pieces.


Christmas and Thanksgiving things too!


Thread, yarn and a lovely floral quilt kit too!

Finished blocks and unfinished projects.  Finished blocks can be put together as sort of an "odd blocks" quilt.  They are like a quilty puzzle and always turn out really neat.  Stay tuned for some fun creations from these!

Some that can be finished quickly, or can be taken on the road if I might have to wait somewhere!

I let sister know - and she let the shop sorters know that I can use just about any small piece of fabric or strip!  The smallest I use is actually 1 &1/2" square, but I will use strips that are as small as 3/4" wide - they are great for crochet rugs.  I slao have a friend who uses the strips too so they can be shared.


This quilt used the 1&1/2" squares for the blocks in between the stars.  36 little squares per block! 

This one uses 1&1/4" strips and squares for the center portions!  It's sometimes a pain in the backside, but it is also very fun to see the outcome and know that you have reduced, re-used and recycled something that might have otherwise been thrown away!

I hope you have a store like this in your hometown that you can go and see what treasures are there.  Make some friends with the shop sorters, let them know what you are looking for and Ill bet they will save them for you.  

What's your treasure?

Blessed be and happy treasure hunting!


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