For years now I have made quilts for all the marines, and it was not until recently that some of them started falling apart. I was in shock.
I had bought the same batting that I had always used. Then it hit me. The price of batting kept going up but I was getting shitter quality of batting. I must look for something else.
So I went on a quest for different types of batting. I found that if you are making a small blanket that you can use towels instead of traditional batting. Some people use flannel as a batting.
As I finished up the never ending cat quilt I went to the fabric store to look at some different batting. I found bamboo batting. It was rather expensive, but it was 50% off, so I took a chance and bought two rolls of it.
I love this stuff! It is so soft, very thin, yet warm, and very durable. This was not what I expected from something made from a grass. I love it! I will defiantly use it all the time. It may be more expensive but it is of highest quality.
Bamboo grows faster then most other plant's and the batting made from bamboo is a lot more natural then the other stuff I was using.
I am a material whore. I love material and if I could live in the fabric department I would! However material can be very expensive, so I have to watch myself. I have cleaned out my material stash and got it all organized, so that way I know exactly what I have.
I am currently working on another quilt for a marine. I decided to make his quilt very ecliptic. I am using like material to path them together to make a nice quilt. I also cut extra because I needed to make a baby boy quilt. I let Nikki and her friend Hope lay everything out and they got to choose the pattern.
Then I came across a lady getting rid of a trash bag full of top sheets that she had never used! Score! I am now using them as the back of the quilt. I love recycling old stuff into new stuff.
This has been a great journey for me. In an effort to save some money, but yet have quality quilts I have become an eco quilter. Is there such a thing?
some other things I did this week were:
1. I reused old gift cards. I just went and added money to them so I would not have to purchase another piece of plastic.
2. All the boxes I have been saving are going to a new home. I found someone who needed moving boxes.
3. I pulled a big envelope out of the trash, and I am reusing it to keep all of our tax stuff in.
4. I am going to cut off two pairs of Ryan's pants and make them into shorts for him.
5. I have been cutting my scrapes into 4 inch squares, and I am going to give them as a Christmas gift to another quilter.
Now it is your turn. Share with me some of the things you have done this week, or ask me a question!
8 comments:
you continue to amaze me, Kelli, with all you do to be "green" and help save the planet! a true inspiration
it wasn't a good "green" week here, sad to say
have a good weekend!
betty
lets see...I have been saving the following:
1. Plastic bottles (soda, laundry soap, shampoo bottles, milk cartons)
2. Any and all cardboard (boxes, food packaging, etc)
3. Aluminum cans, veggie cans, and foil
4. Paper (and and all forms of)
at the end of every month they are turned into the recycling center.
The little juice bottles (apple, grape) are washed & re-used for juice bought in the carton to take to work or school.
Clothes...well those are either given to others, or given to the Shepard shop (kind of like the Salvation Army store) locally.
I recently found some trouser socks partially made of bamboo. And I love them. Also, when we were up in Whistler, BC one of the gift shops had some wallets, purses, etc made of bamboo. They were so pretty but very expensive. As I remember a man's single fold wallet was like $85. Women's purses were in several price ranges, all over $150.
I just put an ad on Craig's List yesterday for the empty cat litter jugs that are collecting here (free of course.) I just can't bare throwing them even into the recycle bin if someone else can find a use for them. Linda in WA
Is saving an old tom cat considered eco friendly. I'm honestly struggling to get him to eat and trust me. At the same time I was to skin alive the ignorant asses who abandoned him. I'm so afraid he's not going to make it.
As for Bamboo it may be more expensive but it grows so quickly. Perhaps if more people used products made of bamboo the price would go down. (Hugs)Indigo
Well, I have actually remembered to set out my recycling for the past three pick-ups. They had stopped picking up in our area for almost a year and just started back. I've been very careful making sure I put out everything that they will recycle. At the office I once worked in we used to take big manilla envelopes, cut one end off and use them as "folder" to file old documents. I do things like that here at home too. I've seen things made from bamboo fiber and thought how soft it is. I hope the quilts turn out great!
hi kelli, love your picure of the bamboos and the cat is it a drawing its lovely .I love reading your blog we have a recycle box it gets picked up every 2 weeks for papers and bottles glass.We also collect all plastick stuff lol and take it to the recycle dept ourselves and keep taking things to the charity shops . so keep up the good work lve from nancybrownowlxx and fergus and minnie woof woof xx
I'm stopping by to thank you for something; you'll know what :-).
I don't quilt and everyone should be glad of it....but I am very involved with Soldiers Angels & enjoy it so much. I get so much more out of it than they do, I am sure. Reused old gift cards......and also in the past sent them to The Giving Tree.
I never heard of bamboo batting.
What have I done this past week? Mostly went on job interviews. :-)
Let's see I am trying to think what I could possibly claim that I did, not like you Kelli, but something. Oh, I know I once again talked Doc out of buying a brand new rocker, so he put back the futon for a change, and we are going to use the money he would have spent on the chair to go to Los Angeles to see Raymond's play, I think a much better thing to do! Something that will affect someone's life a lot more, as well as mine and his. I am ready for a trip back to Los Angeles if I got company. I just keep talking him out of that big expense. I believe in recycling furniture big time. None of my stuff is new. I also love the thought of bamboo batting. Gerry
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