2. Eco-Friendly Quilting Notions
You can green up that quilt even more by using organic thread. If you’re making a pillow or anything else that uses stuffing, look into organic or truly natural options. For throws and crib sheets, there are some good options out there for organic cotton and recycled quilt batting. Jackie has a great roundup of other organic and natural notions that are handy for any quilter.
Next >>Recycled Cutting Mat
I’m so all about eco-quilting. I do admit that it’s really tempting to go to the fabric store when you have a specific project in mind because it can be so hard to find just the right color/pattern for what you need. For my last quilt I bought a lot of fabric from Etsy sellers. While some Etsy sellers are actually fabric stores themselves, some are crafters who are either selling leftovers from projects or thinning out their personal stashes.
I also never threw fabric scraps away. It can be a problem because I don’t always want to deal with my scraps, which leaves my workspace a mess. My general system is: I cut fabric chunks (around 1/4 yard chunks and smaller) into strips for 1/2 square triangles, long skinny pieces I spin (yes spin into something of a rope, which I’ve used for different things but right now I’m making a braided rug), small chunks I’m planning to do some freeform crazy quilting (dunno they’re so small that I might lose patience and do something else with them), and really small pieces I use for stuffing.
Dealing with my scraps can sometimes seem like a chore. I’m considering composting fabric scraps, but I’m worried that non-organic cotton would harm my worms.
Such great tips for reuse!
I think you’re right to be careful with composting fabric scraps, because of the dyes and other chemicals that they could be treated with. The only fabric scraps I compost are my organic hemp from Noonday Textiles.
I’ve been looking for an alternative to pvc for a cutting mat for many years now. Nothing beats the functionality of a self-healing pvc cutting mat, but the outgassing irritates my throat and makes me dizzy (I’ve borrowed a friend’s). It is a major health hazard and the material (production and disposal) is a major environmental hazard. Buying a mat made of post consumer recycled pvc is better than the new stuff, but I still worry about breathing the outgassed v.o.c.’s.
I always wonder why I never read about others having issue with the outgassing when I read all of my sewing blogs…