The only way to get "steals and deals" is to go all the time and keep looking, but with the cost of gas...it may not be so thrifty to go thrifting.
Just think of all the lovely quilts hanging in museums, made in the days when a pair of scissors, needles, fabric and thread were all it took to construct a quilt. And the patterns were traced on cardboard and shared with friends.
Maybe it took a little longer to finish a quilt in those days, but who said quilting is a race to the finish? The joy is in the creating and sharing!!!