The ultimate upcycling – ripping pre-loved quilt covers to shreds and making something fresh and useful. The warp for these is 100% cotton (or bamboo) which has been hanging around in my stash for way too long. The weave (or weft) is colourful cotton/polyester fabric, ripped into 1″ strips, and woven through in a plain weave.

My first test run went big, using almost the full width of the loom, and 80cm between hems. This short warp of 8-ply cotton samples from Tim’s dye lab yielded 2 decent size table/counter/bath mats, and a leftover strip for a bar mat.

Okay, so these are a tad too big for your average table setting. Time to downsize. Next on the loom was some variegated 10-ply cotton for warp, slightly narrower, and a lot shorter. And voila, placemats!

Warp #3 was 100% bamboo yarn from hell. I’d stashed this years ago, when BWM discontinued it. I’d knitted one lacy top and buried the rest. Out it came, time to get used. Held double, because it’s lightweight for an 8-ply, the warp behaved itself, more or less. The cloth was a heavy cotton plaid, which would have been lovely once. I actually really love these now – the colours just work.

Warp #4 is going on the loom as I write. The last of the 8-ply dye pot samples, this time all the warm reds and pinks, teamed with a bright orangey quilt cover. This one will be a floor mat for the cabin.