Underwear Quilt!

Dear Theresa,

For some reason my brother-in-law finds this concept horrifying, but I think it's a lovely way to reuse ripped or stained clothes that would otherwise be thrown away.

I've been saving up Erik's unwearable (but clean!) underwear, plaid pajama pants, and clothes with attractive prints for a few years. Why? I wanted to make a patchwork quilt from them. Since the stash has gotten unruly , I think I finally have enough to get started.

Making even a simple quilt is a lengthy, involved process that a single person can't complete in a day. My first step: cutting usable scraps of fabric from the ruined clothes.

Even though most patchwork quilts made today start with new cuts of fabric, American quilting used to be all about reusing scraps. Artistic women (and men) still make quilts out of favorite clothes that can no longer be worn. Right now, the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe has an exhibition of quilts from Gee's Bend, an isolated village in the South. With a combination of new and worn fabrics, these handmade quilts possess an emotional richness you just don't find in your average specimen.