The Shirt Off His Back, Into His Quilt

Is there someone in your life who doesn't want you to buy him or her anything new? I so admire anti-materialists, including both men in my immediate family. DH doesn't want me to buy him anything fresh that isn't meat, while for DS, vegan artisanal chocolate is usually the best (and only) bet. 

Sometimes I cave to their principles, and sometimes I outwit them by making them quilts, since both are way too polite to return them. Here's the small Valentine quilt I made my husband this year.

I'm thinking of calling it "Nothing New." It's a love letter, quadruple-upcycled: 

1. All the squares (cut 2") and half-square triangles are cut from jeans. I forgot to photograph the front before embellishment, but here's the back of the top, before layering and quilting: 

2. The buttons are all thrifted/upcycled. Wood! Plastic! Leather! = Manly!(?)

3. The denim with the angsty angel was formerly a couch cover.
4. The binding and back are cut from one of of DH's Hawaiian shirts. This particular shirt gave him many years of distinguished service (Hawaiian shirt = dress for success in his science world). Eventually, the collar disintegrated, forcing me to smuggle it out of the laundry and into my stash. The same shirt also provided backing.

In sum, there's nothing new in this quilt except, arguably, the thread. The love that went into it is also well-aged!