I supported our local op shop (charity shop) by buying some men's shirts.
"Lovely shirts." said the lady.
"Yes," I replied, "But I'm only going to cut them up!"
My man has to be attending a wedding or funeral to wear a proper shirt so there is nothing for it, but to cut them up and add them to my fabric stash.
They have to be 100% cotton with no nasty armpits and not too much wear. Stripes are great, but a small check works well too. Wash them well in hot water, then press them and cut out the collars and cuffs and any seams. I add the buttons to my button jar. Then I just use the fabric as I would any other. For $4 a shirt I get heaps more fabric than a fat quarter which typically sells for around $7 in New Zealand.
Shirt fabrics are great to increase your stash of 'man' fabrics. You know, the fabrics that aren't too girly or floral and work well in quilts you're making for men. There is at least four shirt fabrics used in this log cabin quilt.
And you can get both light and dark shirts, which help when you're making a quilt that needs light and dark fabrics. I think I nailed the tonal contrast in this one!
This quilt is going to get bigger soon. I have more blocks than this and my sister has been working on doing some too. With any luck she'll post them to me shortly and I can work on getting the top together. (Are you listening Sis?)
