Quilters don’t often find a pattern they’d want to make again. With literally thousands to choose from, why would they?

The two quilts below are a rare exception.

One quilt was made with men’s plaid shirts collected over several months from local thrift stores.

The second is actually a pair of quilts that were made from a friend’s blue jeans as memory quilts for her two grown sons.

You may be wondering, “what do these two quilts have in common, other than they both used blue fabric?”. The simple answer is, they were both made with upcycled clothing. But, it’s more than that. It’s the joy of returning to the roots of quilt making – when quilts were stitched from garments with stories to tell.

The quiet rhythm of cutting fabric with a good pair of scissors at night while the tv hums in the background is is meditative and comforting. It takes you back to another day and another time when quilters worked by candlelight rather than the glow of a tv. The common connection with quilters of the past, the women who came before us, even if it’s just for a brief few minutes – making quilts with purpose.

Bonnie Hunter coined the phrase “de-boning” and it’s a good description of the process. She made this video in 2012 showing a quilt guild just how she does it. (And, if you listen closely you’ll hear her mention saving the skinnier pieces of fabric to use as strings.)

Of course it would be much easier to purchase a piece of similar looking fabric . If we wanted “easy” an even better way would be to go online, buy a blanket and have it delivered tomorrow.

Sometimes “easy” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.