THRIFT HAUL - April 2024 - Quilting With Men's Dress Shirts 

An always well dressed young acquaintance was downsizing his closet. Wasn't sure what he was going to do with them. "I'll take them!" He brought me a big black contractors bag FULL of 100% cotton dress shirts! Finally after 6yrs I sat in my recliner starting de-boning them when you suddenly appeared on my phone via Utube. The colors are awesome. All lightly starched as this upward bound professional always had his shirts done by a laundry. I'm a happy quilter tonight! ❤

There was a song running through my head as I watched this. It's the same song that runs through my head when I am searching for that elusive combination of colour, fabric content, texture, pattern and price: U2 'And I still haven't found what I'm looking for' 😂 Meanwhile, we find other unmissable shirts that we start to plan a new project around! So much of the fun is in the hunt. Thanks for the video. Most of the charity shops here in the UK have one or two smallish racks to look through. Nor do we have anything like the variety of vibrant colours. I'm currently working on a quilt of mainly greys with some pale blues and stone colours. It's going to be called 'British men don't wear bright coloured shirts' 😂

As you shop, I’m shouting “That purple stripe shirt would make a great binding!”

Other people hold shirts up for size while we check for fabric content and compare colors with swatches from our pockets. I sometimes wonder what the clerks think when I buy 10 shirts in varied sizes each week🤭. The fabric haul videos are always so much fun!

As as an old woman with so much fabric, I enjoy your videos because I enjoy your personality, but you inspire me to use what I have, lol!

Time to expand your business to include quilting tourism. Find a retreat center or cheap motel. Fly us in (we pay) and get us shuttled to thrift stores, get us to deconstruct, then make a simple block. I’ve seen Dale Chihuly a few years ago riding his bike near his studio.

Just need to pop in to say you have the most interesting and entertaining thrift haul videos out there. I love your observations, tips and tricks and that accent and your southern sayings are so endearing.

Hey, so enjoyed listening to this video while I sewed that man was hilarious. Your comments were so funny. Thank you for the time.

Did anyone else hear the irony when the label said, C-Bird? Thank you for taking me shopping with you. Because of these videos I feel confident shopping in the thrift store for men's shirts. I can't get over the smell though, washing as SOON as I'm home. I got a great haul myself however in Canada shirts are $9-$13 each!!

19:34 … the way you said oh it’s cotton … 🥰 … to the power of the sun I love shirt shopping with you. I realize you are asking Paul what he thinks and I answer anyway. Paul and I are of a mind. Thank you for taking us with. 💕💕💕💕

Regarding the looming man....there was a subdivision along the freeway that had a giant (20 ft) freestanding head and shoulders kid cut out. Really creepy, like a looming, menacing toddler. All the more unnerving because of his (apparently) sunny smile. Also, polka dots. I have (thrifted) a navy/white linen and a navy/white silk top as well as a black/white cotton/silk voile just purchased yesterday. The jacquard shirt is shiny because the long staple of the cotton. I did an entire quilt in 2020 with these shirts, pairing the dark and light sides of jacquard shirting, all in dark colors. It made a very sophisticated couch throw that hides dirt as a bonus.

💜 All the purple shirts! The man on the wall also kept startling me as I was watching your video!😳🤣

It's always fun to "shop along with you" when you do your thrift hauls.

I love to tag along on a thrift haul with you. Years ago I made a quilt from 2 heavy wool coats, with a blanket as the batting. That was the first weighted blanket... so, I look at the winter coats also. Now, I buy them for "future projects". These projects far outweigh my life expectancy. Yeah!

Love the "thrift hauls". Op shopping is one of my favourite pass times. So living vicariously through you is fantastic. Thank you for saving these shirts from landfill. I am blown away by how many shirts are there for sale.

I love these thrifting videos though my quilting is currently on hold due to building my business, I still pick up the occasional shirt at the .25 thrift store, but had a bit of a go-crazy moment at another thrift store when they reduced their remaining long-sleeved shirts that were regularly $1 to 2/.25. That's eight shirts for $1! Guaranteed not to run out of fabric anytime soon. 😂

I always enjoy your thrift hauls. Your facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission. I envy the way linen throws its way in your path. You see more in one trip than I do in a year. I am waiting for you to start a series of blue and… where you pair blue with a different color in several different shades. The end result would be a stack of throw quilts with all of the colors of the rainbow all unified by the standard dress shirt blue. You might not have realized it yet but it is definitely there in the back of your mind. I am looking forward to what you share next, most especially with the purple.

Guess where I’m just back from? Yep, you convinced me. Made my first run ever to Goodwill to shop rather than to donate. I found one pure LINEN 🥳 XL shirt and 14 other cottons. Only three were marked half off @ $3, but it is a ton of fabric and good colors. I’ve cut down (or cut up?

Love the fabric hauls! We, too, watch the guy restoring the cabin in Italy! I just did my first quilt with men's shirts. It's the Star Spangled quilt. I had fun collecting red, white and blue shirts and brought a friend with me. She said I was "fishing" for cotton shirts. So now I call the my trips to VOA Fishing trips!

What a fun haul! Glad you got a good deal on that green shirt.

I love watching you choose these shirts. You are inspiring for sure. Now every time I'm tempted to buy white yardage, I think..."Oh, I better go check the thrift stores for white shirts." You've got me hooked!

Thrift Shop Philosopher!

As I was deconstructing shirts this evening, I realized I failed to double check pockets before purchasing as I faced a short sleeved shirt with a triple pleat, double row of stitching pocket with a double-stitched buttoned flap. Dockers makes one Sturdy shirt!

Thanks for taking us along! What a huge store!!

I just LOVE the thrift hauls and the commentary! Such fun 🤩 . I live vicariously through you as I live in a town those climate is for short sleeves and the culture is relaxed, so minimal business shirts. And your thrift store is HUGE! (I’m like the Kermit shirt- green with envy 😂. Thanks Cathy & Paul 😊🇦🇺

Thank you for this. Was shopping at a goodwill this week and found 3 linen shirts all 3x... all Hawaiian prints. Just 4.99 each. What a treasure. Have a great week. See you next friday. HUGS from Tampa !

It's Friday so it's time to see what Cathy is doing! It's always fun to watch you and see how Paul adds just the right touch to accent your humor...

I really appreciate these thrift haul videos! Its great to see your decision processes. Its so helpful when i go to the thrift store. Also i appreciate the emphasis on natural fabrics.

Love going shopping with you. Huge area. Thanks for taking us along. Always enjoy your channel

"We need you to eat and go" - don't know why but it just got me laughing. That, and the man on the wall !! You ended up with some really awesome colors.

That man on the wall was freaking me out so much! I love watching your thrift hauls, we aren’t as fortunate in Australia to have the cheap prices on good shirts.

I love your thrift haul videos. The first place I head in our thrift store is the men’s shirts section. In fact, I’m cutting one up as I watch this. 🇨🇦👍👏🥰

I've missed the shopping videos - thank you for bringing us along!

You inspired me to go to the thrift store and look through the men's dress shirts. The first one I found still had the original tag on it It was brand new and the tag said $55.00. There was a smudge on the front. It was blue and white. Then I saw 2 blue and white sailboat shirts and I had an "ah ha!" moment. My husband is about ready to launch a 43 foot steel sailboat he has been building for the last 25 years. Now I am making a blue and white quilt for his main cabin! He actually was pretty impressed with my collection of fabrics to make this quilt. I'm planning on making a disappearing 4 patch and bought some fabric for continuity for 2 of the 4 patches.....

Where I live there is a thrift store that has a $5.00 bag day every Friday. I have filled up my paper grocery bag with men's shirts and women's dresses several Fridays!

It occurred to me that being a pharmacist you probably have the skills to dye fabric to get the precise color you want when you find a shirt made of a beautiful fabric in a color you don’t need. Hand dyed fabrics can be especially beautiful. It can be great fun too. I did an indigo workshop and also ice dying with fiber reactive procion dyes. Loved the results.

I've been meaning to tell you: thrift stores often have monthly sales around 'cheque day'. This is the day most people on social assistance, disabled people, pensioners etc get their $. If I were organised, it would be marked on my calender or in my phone as the best days to shop. You can just ring them up and they'll tell you their sales days. No more $14.99 shirts! That is a crazy price.

In our area we have a Goodwill outlet. Everything is thrown in big bins! It’s priced by the pound. I found 2 beautiful linen shirts this trip. I too am a linen addict🥰

Fun trip. Sometimes I look too even though I know it’s a NO. You know - inquiring minds…Gray is always on my radar. TFS

You know your thrift store is big when you need a cart to shop, we have little shopping baskets at mine. I tried to go on Tuesday so I know I will get at least 20% off as its senior day.

Kermit AND Beaker!!!! I was looking at GW the day before Easter for some fun Easterish shirts to use for bunny bags...one I was in love with but not for $24.49!!

The man was bugging me too!

LOVE your thrifting videos! Making a coffee and settling in, oh the happiness! ❤

Cathy..did u see that April Storycfrom Aprils Craft room mentioned you as the inspiration for her video she posted today..! WOOOHOO..

I love these shopping trips! Makes me what to thrift myself but I don't need anything! Darn! LOL.

I definitely have to visit your area--the farmers in southern MN just don't wear enough pretty shirts! I loved that wool shirt too, it would be perfect for our winters. And that last blue print shirt, the really big one, oh be still my heart! Gorgeous!! Your and Paul's senses of humor are delightful. I'd love to go shopping with you.

I thought that guy on the wall was real at first and he was creeping me out, too! Fun to watch your thrift hauls…now I want to go shopping.

Your fast “Ooh, No!” to that “non-AU” shirt made me smile! Fun video! 🧡💙

Great shopping, well done 🌺

Another fun one. Paul is so supportive - said yes every time you asked if you should get a shirt. I only yelled one time - for the “I don’t know what I’d do with it but it’s super soft” shirt.

This was so much fun! My mom used to shop at The Foundry and loved all the deals. So I just had to chuckle as you said NO to that Alabama logo shirt 😂 and the shirt you called cranberry I would have said CRIMSON! What a beautiful haul and the fact you found linen pants - WOW! Love ya sis! Sew On!

My husband needed some new dress shirts. We spent a portion of our 49th anniversary shopping. I tried to get him to pick linen, or 100% cotton, but he had other ideas. There was a gorgeous teal shirt and I commented how nice he’d look next to my teal jacket. I struck out. Turns out he would not go two sizes up either. 😂 I’ll clean out the closet. Maybe I’ll help him reduce his shirt stash.

Not to brag but I got several men's, long-sleeved, 100% cotton dress shirts at my local resale shop for $1 each! Some of them are XXL! And they're labels such as Jos A Bank, Roberto Villini, and Kenneth Cole; and they look brand new! They mark them down after a certain amount of time because they need to free up space and just want to get rid of them. I was at the fabric shop, yesterday, and was shocked by the price fabric has gone up to. Tilda was $16/yard; Moda was $13; Riley Blake ws $12. I've come to the conclusion that my large fabric stash is an investment. BTW, I don't think $14 is "thrift" pricing, IMHO.

I would have bought that wool shirt in a heartbeat. Too thin for rug hooking (stick with Pendleton shirts/wool skirts and pants, unlined jackets) but the Amish used wool in their quilts and the color was fabulous! Always love to watch your shopping adventures!

With flannel you have to starch before you use let dry and iron

OMG I thought the SAME THING about that MAN ON THE WALL! 🤣

Kathy your so much fun! 😀😀😀 You have a BUGGY🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 thanks for keeping us in stitches

Always enjoy watching your shopping haul - congratulations on your bargains, not so great here in 🇨🇦

Hi Cathy. Loved that huge store! I thrifted a burnt yellow/gold tone linen shirt today, yay! $4. Women's sz 8. Aus sizing. So small. Lovely color though, so I had to get it. Keep having fun. Xxx

It is so good to see you thrifting through all those shirts, seeing there are a lot of blends, poly and stretch shirts too. Not only the good stuff… I was really wondering if the quality and content of the shirt in your area is so much different as in mine (east part of the Netherlands). A good linen or cotton shirt is hard to find. White, light blue and grey, checkered or striped, yes … but others?.. I’ll continue thrifting, you never know what to find. Thanks for sharing your positive spirit ❤

What fun!

Love it. You're in my area and at my favorite thirft store.

You’re so stinking funny. The MAN on the wall got me…😂

Its so fun to join you at the thriftshop 😄 Soo much nice fabric you find 🥰🧵🪡

Fabric with a little bit of spandex in it turns out to be great for single fold binding. I don't like poly either. I do the thrift store on my lunch so time is of the essence - have to make quick decisions. You are much fun to watch. Best, Liz in Canada

I love to shop with you! My goodwill is way too expensive here in Washington state. But I do find duvet covers that have beautiful cotton on both sides. I love scoring those.

Yay love a fabric haul. Some wonderful fabric for the stash

Your Kermit impression cracked me up!

Great haul today, Cathy. Your fabric choices are always so interesting. 🤗 ❤

Before you even said anything, the huge graphic of the guy on the wall kept making me wince and I was debaing commenting on it. It felt as though you were being watched. LOL

Will do. We met when you spoke at our Guild meeting.

I have started a memory quilt for a child who lost her dad (based on your videos). I needed some solid colors to blend and went in this thrift store in Clanton at he old nursing home. They had a room full of cotton shirts but o my geeze they were priced up to 22$. I was shocked. I am thinking thy have caught on to your work. I have a linen shirt that was her dad’s but I scared to cut it.

I have missed watching your thrift store hauls. It’s been a while. Do you ever check out women’s plus size shirts? Sometimes I have good luck there. They are actually cheaper than men’s shirts at my main store.

Cathy I was thinking the same thing why is that man standing there listening to you then realised he’s a photo on the wall😂😂

It kills me that you reject shirts because they're above $6. Where I live (in CA), I would jump at a shirt that inexpensive even when it's priced that low on account of the rip or stain or whatever else is wrong with it. 😅

Thanks for the thrift shop tour! Would that be Martijn Doolaard that you watch working on his cabin in the Italian Alps?

I would have got the tobacco colored wool and made it work some how. Like maybe hot wash to deal with shrinkage then use it. The color is great.

Imagine doing burn tests, right in the store. 😂

I love going into to the thrift store with you 🥰😆👍🏻 so fun! Oh and also….how supportive Paul is of your thrifting 🥰👏🏻 does he ever say “No don’t get it”? 😉

1) the man on the wall is creepy 2) Martin, Alps, has nice clothing! 3) fun to watch you choose shirts

Shopping with Cathy - you buy - I haven't bought anything. LOL

10:18 The color of the wool fabric is very odd. However, the style of the wool shirt is VERY vintage. My father had several similar shirts-some a plain color, but often a subtle plaid. 💕 Great for warmth when paired with a long-sleeved t-shirt in a coordinating color. This style is popular with young people who shop in vintage stores here in Montana.

I pick up and rehang items too.

It is so difficult to see you shop. I keep yelling at my phone, “Go back. I need that shirt you passed over.” Of course, only if it’s cotton. I am also looking for purple now. Our local thrift store had only about 20 men’s shirts total in it yesterday. I felt really lucky. I found a gray small plaid and a solid white. Nothing to go with my purple shirt though.

I love watching you shop for “fabric!” I really wish there was feel-a-vision though 😂 ok, I’m curious now…who is the RU-vidr that is restoring a cabin in Italy?

BIRD 🐦 BIRD 🐦 IS THE WORD JUST TOUCHED MY GIGGLE PIN.😂😅 HAD A GOOD LAUGH. YOU MAY KNOW ABOUT FAMILY GUY.😅😂

I am fairly new to your channel and this is the 1st "shoparama" that I have seen. Please tell me about using linen for quilts. Do you use strictly linen for those projects or do you mix cotton with them? I love your enthusiasm and the tip that you sometimes buy shirts with 3% or less spandex and you check the thickness of the fabric. I am currently working with a friend on a memory quilt using flannel shirts of her dad's. I enjoyed your video!

$2.50!?!! I wish i had prices like that around here!

If a piece is on sale & and only has 1 or 2 small stains, size large or greater, i buy it and just discard the stained part

I had to laugh when you picked the Chubb shirt! My Partner used to work for this insurance company. They went mad with colors, using all of them together, to "mean" something... whatever marketing theory to look cool. My partner still has socks printed with this logo in 10 colors, like a quilt! They are 100% synthetic and the ugliest things I've ever seen. But the worst of it : they last and last and last... I'm afraid I never get rid of them unless I quit my partner! 😂 Trust the insurance companies next time, they print to last! You could have made of such a shirt a "forever quilt"! 😅

That man scared me too!

Another place is estate sales. I got 2 xxl for 2.00 ea today.

50% off the orange labels.

Open flame😂😂😂

I'm not sure if you've ever addressed this, but do you buy shirts that have back darts and, if so, how do you break them down?

I got my first shirt today for quilting, but I made a mistake; it was 40% poly a 60% cotton. That combination won’t work in a quilt right?

Maybe time for bifocals? It won't help with all those shirts that people cut the tags out of though. 🤣🤣

Now I have to watch Puss n Boots!!

Thank you for the haul vid!!! Yes, the guy is creepy!! Wonder if that is a subliminal anti-theft tactic??? Did you get the green shirt at a good price???

I cannot quilt with poly. The ironing is impossible!