Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Ugliest Fabric on the Planet

 One of my favorite scrap quilters is Sally over at The Object of Design.  I actually have met her in person a couple of times so I feel pretty special!

During the pandemic, she has hosted a few "scrap" giveaways - I really don't need any scraps but during her last giveaway, I commented that I was running low on low volume pieces.  Well, I won and a package soon arrived on my doorstep!




She was very generous in fulfilling my need for low volumes but she also tucked some other unloved fabric in mix - as I tend to do when I send out fabric to other quilters :)

One of the fabrics she included is what she dubbed "the ugliest fabric on the planet".  I have to chuckle because it is actually a nice large cut and when I saw it, I instantly knew I would use it first...not knowing it had been given the title.




I admit, I love purple and my sewing room is painted three shades of the color.  In fact, you can see my ironing board legs are even painted.   
Well, now my ironing board has been recovered in this floral.  

Honestly, I don't love the piece.   I am mostly happy that it was a big enough cut to work.  
So I will be seeing this fabric every day!

(Yes, I am ashamed of my iron - it is an ancient Sunbeam that I have used for so long, I have worn the soleplate down to bare metal.  But it still gets so hot I hate to get rid of it.  I keep hoping I will discover some way to resurface or something. Any advice?)

I still have quite a bit of the fabric left.  I have to agree with Sally that the floral does have an odd linear pattern to it -  so I am sure I will be cutting it up small and using it in scrappy projects.



...now there were a few other pieces in the package that I found more troubling.  Thank goodness you can hide away the unloved in the scrappy!  
Or in a package off to another quilter ....Ha!

Thanks Sally for your generosity.  
Now I can continue to make more blocks with scrappy backgrounds!


19 comments:

Chantal said...

Sorry to say but I have to agree with Sally. But one woman's trash is another woman's stash, I always say. Good use for it too as it almost looks good against the purple wall. ;^)

Quiltdivajulie said...

The floral for your ironing board is a good use - and there's extra to recover it again when this one gets dirty (maybe). As far as those others are concerned - I would put the gold metallic in the trash. I've not had good luck with metallics. The nursery print would be good for baby comfort quilts? OR maybe they should all be cut into strings (all except the metallic that is). (and my studio is lavender with purple accents, too!)

Anonymous said...

Ha! I don’t agree with Sally. It’s fun and your ironing board cover is lovely. (I love purple too!)

Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com

Sarah Aldrich said...

I love that puppy and kitty fabric. It’s right up my alley. I love to make baby quilts for donations and use a lot of 30’s retro’s. It would work perfectly with them! I just used a different focus print with string washing’s from my 30’s scraps. It made a cute quilt and cleared out a a lot of 30’s scraps. Now I am making 30’s crumb blocks. You can always send it my way.

Sharon Kwilter said...

Purple is my favorite color so I actually liked that fabric.

Angie said...

I think your ironing board cover is super. I like your purple ironing board legs!๐Ÿ™‚! I would love to have any "ugly"or unwanted fabric. I would definitely give it a good home and love it greatly and then turn it into something useful. Have a happy day!๐ŸŒป angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

Kat said...

It’s a good use of an “interesting” fabric. My mother taught me, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. ๐Ÿ˜ you’ve given it a good home on your ironing board. And given me an idea for using up some unloved fabric. I LOVE the baby fabric with kittens and puppies. It reminds of a receiving blanket my mom kept from the 60’s and I still have.i used the receiving blanket with my kids, too. ❤️

Jayne said...

You put that piece of fabric to good use for sure! I don't think I've seen an iron that has been used as much as yours. It's hard finding an iron these days that last much longer than a year.

Emily said...

One Quilter's trash is another Quilter's ironing board cover! It doesn't look that ugly in the photo (and I am also a big purple fan) but either way, how nice to have something useful made.

Barb N said...

'Waste not, want not' certainly applies here! A patterned ironing board cover (of any color) would make my head explode, so I stick to basic gray, lol. I've even been ironing around the two holes that have formed in the top. Maybe when the holes get bigger, or it develops, then I'll find a new one. Enjoy your new ironing board!

PegP said...

I love purple, while this is not a favourite, I have seen far worse. But honestly, I think I may have a FQ of this purple fabric - from where, I've no idea. Your ironing board cover looks great!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I love this story!! that fabric that was, and now is!! ha ha!!

magic said...

I love that “ugly” fabric! Looks great with the purple legs! It will be great mixed in a scrappy quilt too!

JanineMarie said...

I can't say anything nasty about the purple floral because it looks suspiciously like some of my old fabrics that I am still doggedly using. (I really should part with them.) But it works really well as an ironing board cover, and you won't be too sad to part with it when the day comes that it needs to be replaced. Now the gingham dog and the calico cat--we all know what happened to them (or maybe younger people don't, but they can google them), so it would be fine to cut them up as tiny as possible.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Well, I'm glad you have a nicely recovered ironing board that matches your room! I hear you that it wouldn't be at the top of a favorites list, but I certainly don't think it qualifies as the ugliest, either. :) And I can never keep my irons working as long as you, I'd hate for you to get a new one as well. I hope you get some great reconditioning advice.

Anonymous said...

I think your ironing board looks great with that fabric! Very nice with your lavender room! I like metallic fabrics, but they are hard to use, so I use them in small projects. not in a quilt, but like a table runner for the holidays.

sandi s said...

I love your new ironing board cover!! It’s nice and fresh looking. Hugs,

Tami Von Zalez said...

That floral certainly is an ugly. Now the retro puppy/kitty print - that's a keeper!

scraphappy said...

Perfect use for the purple floral. Not ugly -- just not much of a blender. Some fabrics are tricky that way.

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