Welcome!
You have discovered an exciting new resource to help you practice more environmentally friendly quilting! Whether you call it natural, green, or eco-friendly ... watch this page for ideas, discussions, and resources about organic fabric, organic threads, organic batting, and organic quilting in many forms.
To start our discussion ....
Quilters already have a deeply ingrained "green" consciousness. They find a use for the smallest scraps of fabric, reuse buttons and bits of ribbon as embellishments, stuff leftover pieces of batting into pillows.
What practices do you consider to be eco friendly quilting?
Quilt Pictured: Spring Rain by Janice King, (c) 2008. All Rights Reserved.
Books about Organic & Recycled Quilts
Look to these recommended books for inspiration about organic quilting and creating clever new items by recycling the old!
Have you considered that Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind was perhaps the first green sewer when she repurposed draperies into a dress? You'll never again consider fabric to be only cloth that comes on a bolt after you read Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials. Full of creative ideas for reusing thrift-shop and household materials, the clothing and home decor projects are quick and easy, contemporary and useful. Also includes profiles of leaders in the green sewing movement for inspiration and sources for eco-sewing supplies, tips for handling materials, and event ideas.
Take two clothing items, cut and recombine them into new garments following the stylish ideas in Born Again Vintage.
Scraps & Shirttails: Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle! The Art of "Quilting Green", contains tips on green quilting products and making earth-friendly quilts. Particularly good advice on which thrift store items make the best sources of of quilting fabric. Many great ideas for quilts to give to the men in your life.
Linen, Wool, Cotton: 25 Simple Projects to Sew with Natural Fabrics (Make Good: Crafts + Life) Ideas for home decor projects and gift items and tips on the special handling these materials require.
Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasure contains ideas for fabric recycling projects and natural living.
Take ordinary pillow cases and transform them into quilts, gift boxes, aprons, and more with the ideas in Craft Challenge: Dozens of ways to repurpose a pillow case.
If you're interested in organic fibers, you'll also want to know about natural dyes. Learn about dying fabric and yarn with natural materials in Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles
Another book: The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing.
As Thomas Friedman, author of Hot, Flat and Crowded, notes: "Green" is no longer a boutique statement, green is no longer something you do to be good and hope that it pays off in ten years. Green is the way you grow, build, design, manufacture, work and live.
Organic Quilting Products
Are you looking for manufacturers of organic or natural fabric, batting, and thread for quilting? Here are some sources to explore. (Note: The products and resources listed on this page are for your information only; no endorsement is made or implied.)
Many of the products listed here are available for purchase online at Joann.com and Fabric.com.
Batting
Fairfield Nature-Fil(tm): Bamboo batting, fiberfill and pillow forms and corn-based fiberfill.
Hobbs Heirloom® Organic: 100% organic cotton batting.
Mountain Mist: Corn-based fiberfill, batting and pillow forms.
Quilters Dream Green: Made 100% from recycled plastic bottles.
Fabric
Andover Fabrics: Vegetable dyes fabric line; not specified if this is made from organic cotton.
Kunin Group: Felt and fashion fabric made from 100% post-consumer, recycled plastic bottles.
Michael Miller: Organics-brand fabric line.
Robert Kaufman Fabrics: Solid-color fabric in a blend of cotton and bamboo or cotton and seaweed. Search for the Panda, Bermuda, and Sea-Tiva lines.
Vermont Organic Fiber Company: Certified organic wool fabric and yarns.
Pillow Forms
Joann.com offers an "Eco-Friendly" line of pillow forms in various sizes. (Tip: Enter "pillow form" in the search box to find the list quickly.)
Yarns and Embellishments
Alchemy Yarns: Yarns in a variety of natural fibers.
Rowan: Purelife environmentally conscious cotton and wool yarns.
Soysilk: Yarns made from bamboo and soy fibers.
Biodegradable Cleaners
Soak: Liquid cleaner for hand washing.
Plastic Bottle Batting: Recycled or Just More Chemicals?
Reader Barbara D asks:
I've been investigating the use of batting made from plastic bottles and have heard that they use more (or at least as many) chemicals to transform the bottles into batting as it does to make batting from virgin fiber. Several of my friends would also be interested in finding the answer to this question.
In addition, is plastic bottle batting as warm as cotton/polyester/bamboo?
Do you have information or resources that can answer Barbara's questions? Share them by entering a comment on this post.
Articles About Organic Quilting
Read these articles for more info about the importance of organic quilting and reviews of natural fabrics, batting, and other products for natural or green quilts.
"Organic Cotton: Raising Jane's Standard of Living" MaryJane's Farm Magazine August/September 2008 issue. maryjanesfarm.org.
"Old is new again" Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, September/October 2008 issue. fonsandporter.com
In the April 2009 issue, Country Living magazine notes that organic cotton generates less than one-fifth as much greenhouse gas as standard cotton, because of its low-impact production methods and reduced pesticides.
Comments