Rummaging

It had been awhile since I had a good rummage.  Sometimes the primal need strikes, and I betake myself to the Goodwill Outlet where they sell the things that didn't sell at all the other Goodwill stores in bins, by the pound.  I have been reading Bonnie K. Hunter's books, Scraps and Shirttails I and II, in which she describes reclaiming shirts, cutting them up for their fabric, and turning the fabric into scrappy quilts.  It's not like I haven't made many quilts this way before, but last year, I put myself on a fabric and fiber diet and didn't buy much of anything.  So I was way overdue.

I bought 12.9 pounds, at $1.39 per.  That worked out to $19.44.  There were 19 100% cotton shirts, a pair of Levis for Secundus, a t-shirt for Tertia, a tweedy sweater to unravel for the yarn, and an oven mitt.  Steve and Secundus each claimed two, to actually wear.  I'm wearing a 5th one.  The above are the ones that will definitely be cut up for fabric.  Below are the ones that I'll let Daniel see if he wants first.

Here is the oven mitt... it's not just any oven mitt, it's a hand-appliqued souvenir oven mitt from someone's trip to someplace in Latin America.  You just never know what you're going to find when you rummage in the bins.  Isn't it pretty?

Some of the tags from the Goodwill stores were still on a few of the shirts.  If they had sold for asking price, just those 5 shirts would have sold for $43.  But I think the regular Goodwill stores overprice their shirts.  Karma works out in the by-the-pound bins, though.  Have I mentioned the time I found an Alice Starmore sweater?  Or the souvenir Irish Aran?  Or the semi-vintage, unfinished quilt top?  Yes, it sometimes does the soul good to rummage and come away with bags of useful and pretty raw materials and clothing FOR LESS THAN $20.00!  It was worth the aching shoulders and close encounters with lingering unpleasant smells.

I may need to rewatch this video on How to "De-Bone" a Shirt before tackling all those shirts.

Meanwhile, I made some more crumbs blocks:

I have almost enough to start seaming up the top.