10 Uses for an Old Quilt or Comforter

You know how worn the undersides of old comforters get after they've been washed a lot. If you have one of these, you don't have to give up on it. Or check out the thrift stores or garage sales! Some of these projects are better for thin quilts, some for thick comforters.

1. Slip cover a headboard, or a chair. If the quilt is pretty, just cut it to fit, hem, and sew up the sides. If it's not, you might still want to use it as padding - make a cover of the quilt, then make an over-cover of a fabric you like.

2. Make cases for your good china.

3. If it's a fluffy comforter, fold it (or part of it) up and stuff it into a pillow cover, instead of buying a pillow form. You can stuff several pillows with one old comforter, and it can fit all shapes and sizes of cushions, even bolsters. I've got both regular pillows and folded-up quilts on my sofa, and I can't tell which is which.

4. Use it as a mattress pad, to give that "pillow-top" feel to your old mattress.

5. A thin quilt makes a good silence cloth (that's the cloth you put under the tablecloth, so there's no dish clatter at that Thanksgiving meal.)

6. Make a baby bed roll, for baby changing or sleeping. Cut the quilt to the length of your baby, roll up the sides and sew.

7. Beach blanket! If you keep an old quilt in the trunk, you're set for sudden picnics. (Or for emergencies like flat tires in the snow.)

8. Not everyone has double glazing. Make a quilted roller shade for that cold window.

9. If your kids have a dome climber, or any outdoor climbing toy, a quilt makes it into a tent! (Indoors, of course, four chairs and a quilt make a tent.)

10. Make a pet bed - a dog bed or a cat bed. You can fold the quilt, and use it as is, or use it as stuffing for a pillow-type bed.

So there you have ten of the myriad possible uses for old quilts and comforters, none of them difficult or time consuming. Recycle! Go all Little House! Use those quilts!