Hello,
I’ve had a few new people joining this month, so hello! As a catch up for all of you, please don’t forget that the archive is always open if you want to go back and look at a previous newsletter or tutorial. I’m here if you have any questions - you can comment below or send me a private message by replying to this newsletter.
This month I am thinking a lot of about community and what that can mean - how to build it and the resilience it gives us. Skills I can share are making warm blankets that keep you and your loved ones warm, and how that connects to the global issue of textile dumps.
Yesterday I sat down and went through all of my fabrics, cleared my baskets and shelves and arranged my scraps into sizes. I have a big box that has tiny triangle pieces I have saved from making my stockings - if you go back to April 2023 Quilt Clinic, you will see the offcuts and waste created from making that star block. So, offcuts/waste/treasure to hoard has been on my mind.
My son is half Chilean and near where his paternal abuelos live is a huge dump of fast fashion clothing. They have a big free port on the coastline, which means no tax. People are very poor in the area and make money by buying bales of clothing and fabrics, mostly from the US. The markets are huge, and there are many of them in the same area, having whole sections the size of supermarkets dedicated to clothing. One person will sell martial arts outfits, another medical scrubs and some sell just t-shirts - you name it, there is a stand for it. Every single one is piled high. Last time we were there a stand was dedicated to faulty clothing that was never even worn - I bought a shirt from Forever 21 that just had a button missing, it’s only fault.