My very first quilt cost me nothing but time. I raided my mother's stash [in a cedar] trunk where she put material left over from making us children clothes. I hate waste ,and the small portions were to small to make scarves. The middle was a chenille blanket given to the family in bags of clothes, and I used a sheet also from the bag for the back. She showed me how to finish it with ties. That was over thirty years ago. My one day quilt,[for a twin bed] which I did when I was restless and needed something to do was made frome those horrible 100% polyester blankets as batting. [I use them new when I can't find something suitable at a thrift store.] A beautiful printed sheet as the top, [uncut much like a whole cloth] and a queen plain sheet . That's where I learned to fold the backing forward anduse it to bind the whole quilt. Family interested to ppreserve a piece of their favorite old comforters or sheet sets will donate them towards a new quilt. I recycle everything I can.