Freecycle and quilting/crafting

Last year our town, Jozefow, started a free cycle Facebook group. I became aware of it and I was excited because it gave me contact with people who were like-minded - people who didn’t mind second-hand stuff - giving or receiving!

One of the policies is that all is supposed to be free! That is very “freeing” - no pun intended. No “gifts” in exchange for stuff. (If it’s free, I hate the idea that someone is supposed to give a gift - to me, that’s not free - but it seems to be a common Polish mindset.)

In the past we had given many of our excess things away to various people in our town or where our church was. We even had a couple of “garage sales” but instead of selling, it was “everything was free” day. But the last time we did it, it was so much work that I didn’t want to do it again in that way. (It also rained on us as we were trying to get everything all cleaned up - so that wasn’t so great!)

However, this group meant a chance to meet new people from our town, and to give away some of our stuff to “other” people - not just the same people we’d always helped. I joined, mostly watching for things that people need that we have extra of and want to clear out a bit. People put things on there that they are looking for as well as things they want to give away.

Some of the first things I wanted to get rid of were bags of excess batting scraps. I think I had 5 or 6 bags - big 30 gallon trash bags of them.

I advertised them and one of the first people to contact me was a lady named Ewa. I also had a couple other people contact me. I was able to give them all away to various teachers and local crafts people. In fact, I’ve made a list of people who are looking for craft supplies or other things- so that I can remember who needs them.

Last year I was able to give away my extra pumpkins! Remember those?

Because of this group, I have made these quilts and given them away - You may remember the stories associated with each of them. If you don’t know and want to, you can click on the picture and it will take you to the blog post telling about them .

Random Act

Random Act 2

Agata's bargello

Ewa's memory quilt 1

Ewa's Memory quilt 2

Label Equalizer

My life has definitely been richer because of this group!

Last week I was notified by a neighbor, Dorota, of a bag of thread that was advertised on the group. While I check the group often, I had missed this post. (Mostly I look for things that people might be looking for that I can help with. By now I have several people who are looking out “for me” for things they think I can use!)

One of the very large cones of thread I was given this past week.

I wrote the lady who had the thread, who had mentioned that the thread was probably mostly used for production. You know me - I wrote her and said that I could use it and I went right over there and got itl The pictures hadn’t been all that great, and to my surprise they were HUGE cones. I actually didn’t know what to do with them, however, since they were so big! They looked like great for serger thread in the loopers - for decorative purposes. (I figured I could just put them back on the group but didn’t want to do it immediately.)

I had found one cone of black thread that looked like the kind of thread I use on my machine - either my Janome or my Juki - and I kept that.

The other thread went back into the big bag. I did some research on using decorative thread on the sewing machine and watched a couple of You Tube videos about it. The problem is, I didn’t WANT to do it just to use up thread I had gotten for free! But now I had this huge 30 gallon bag of thread - about 2/3 full of enormous cones.

The shawl Dorota made me!

Well, I was talking later with Dorota, she was walking past where I was working in the garden - and since she loves to crochet, I asked her if she would like some of that thread - I described a really pretty 2 ply thread that used a white and a dark gray strand together. No way could I use it on the machines that I have. She came over and I showed her what I thought might work for crochet - especially if she doubled or tripled the strands. She said that she would try it.

So, I gave her about half of the bag of that thread/yarn including that pretty white/gray two ply yarn.

On Thursday she wrote me a note via Messenger and asked me to come to the gate and she handed me a little gift bag. In it was a little shawl made out of that pretty two ply thread - just for me!

I was touched, actually!

When I saw what a pretty shawl she made out of it, I asked her if she wanted the rest of the big bag of thread to make things and she said “YES!” So I came back in to the house, grabbed the bag, put it over my shoulder like Santa Claus carrying a huge bag of toys and took it to her - she was at our gate. I am thrilled to have it find a home who will enjoy using it!

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The shawl Ewa made me!

A few months earlier, Ewa, who, since the initial gift of batting has become a friend, had had to stay in the hospital for some medical issues, crocheted me a shawl as well - in red/white and blue! Right now I have it in my living room - and it was super sweet of her!

Ewa’s mom also has made me a beautiful blue shawl/throw - but I’ve never actually met Ewa’s mom. :)

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On Friday I was browsing through the group and I saw a lady who had some large/tall men’s shirts she wanted to give away - and no one had responded. Eleven hours later. What could I do now that I had seen them? I mean—really! Could I just turn my back and click on? If they had been children’s sizes, I could have. Men’s large size? Nah.

I wrote the lady and asked if she still had them - and she did. I went right over and got them. The beauty of the group in our town is that we are all pretty close. This lady’s house is only 5 minutes from ours by car. The lady added two or three other shirts to these! Nice shirts.

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Also…Agata, the lady who has started giving me shirts - for whom I made Random Act for and Agata’s Bargello quilt - from upcycleds - has recently given me another big bag of shirts - actually 2x lately.

When I went to get them the first time (since COVID-19 restrictions have eased) her mom came out and thanked me for the quilt I had given her. I had given her this one last fall - from my upcycled blues series.

Agata and her mom had looked through my quilts and loved it the most. I decided to just give it to her instead of trying to make another one similar.

(My first idea was to make something specifically for her from the shirts Agata gave me. But, when she liked this one the best, I opted to just give it directly to her. Not only would it be difficult for me to make another one like it, I was actually very happy to let go of this one as it is one of my least favorite ones of my upcycled blues series. Nothing wrong with it, it’s just that I tend to prefer a bit more detail than this one has.)

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I went through the shirts I’ve been given recently and will be giving Ewa a good number of them because I’ve gotten her going on making quilts now - and she’s enjoying using upcycled materials!

So far she’s mostly been using my crumbs/strings. With new materials, she can use larger blocks and more complicated designs.

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So there you are. I really just wanted an excuse to show you the beautiful little shawl my neighbor made me recently. Also, it was a perfect chance to show you the red/white/blue shawl Ewa made me earlier.

I am blessed.

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I think that for the majority of the people in the group the freecycle group’s main mission is to reduce the amount of waste that is generated in our town - by sharing and giving to other things that are useful that otherwise might be tossed.

For me, it is a little bit different - I’ve looked at it as a way to meet at least a few new people in our area and to find meaningful homes for some things (I’ve not mentioned most of the things we’ve given away).

Truthfully, most of the things I’ve given away probably would not have been trashed - they would have been advertised and either sold or donated to a group who could use it.

I feel blessed to have been the recipient of things like the thread and shirts/blouses!

If you have a freecycle group in your area, and if you have extra supplies like thread and yarn and craft supplies, you may be able to find teachers or groups who can use what you really don’t want anymore.

Consider it!

You also might be able to find clothing you can use in your own quilting if you are so inclined to want to try to use upcycled materials! Maybe someone would even have fabric they want to get rid of! You never know!

And now you know - just a little “something” from my part of the world today.

Have a great day wherever you are reading!

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Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store!

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