Backing my quilts is something I struggle with. Unless I'm excited about the quilt, I get cranky about spending more for the backing fabric than I did on the top, batting, and thread combined. But I guess that's what happens when you make most of your quilts from bits and pieces out of thrift store scrap bags.
I piece backings when I can, but if I've got enough big hunks of pretty fabric to do that, I'm more likely to use it in another quilt top.
So I've been watching the thrift stores for sheets, even though I think they're way overpriced. For the perfect print or color, I'll grit my teeth and pay too much for someone's old bedding, because I'd wind up spend more than that with a 40% off coupon at Joann's.
The logic of old sheet value is totally beyond me. They're either stupidly pricey at estate sales and thrift stores, or seen as something to toss in the trash after the antique dealers use them to wrap a piece of furniture in the back of the truck. Grandma has found me some great sheets that way!
But Wednesday, I hit the mother lode. It was Alex's idea to go paw through the Goodwill bins because she wanted to look for t-shirts. I didn't find anything last time, but we had seven hours to kill before her karate class, so we met grandma there. On the way in, I passed a lady wheeling out a cart full of sheets and old quilts. My expectations lowered.
I left the place with fifteen new quilt backs. The one sheet I weighed was about a pound, so that's an eighty-nine cent quilt back. Quite a few of them are prints I'd have bought as yardage. The rest are all good enough for the right quilt. And they're all in great condition.
And, four days later, I'm still a bit giddy about the whole thing. Did I mention that I also drug home an old quilt?
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