Wow.....sounds like you belong to the same group that I do! Same set up and everything. We call our group "Quilts for Giving". We don't have funds and just do everything out of our own pockets and most of us have pretty empty pockets right now. I bought a brand new simple Viking still in the box at Goodwill for $25 and took it to our workshop. That is how we get most of our machines. One lady noticed they were just about worn out and approached a sewing machine shop in a large city and asked about donating some used machines. They donated 4 brand new machines! I look at yard sales all summer long and when I explain what they are for the owners sometimes give them to us. We buy our fabric at yard/estate sales but usually have to chip in to buy a roll of batting. We use at least one roll a month and we are really in a bind right now. We donate all our quilts to the hospital pediatric ward and to our local hospice. We try to do at least 600 per year and there are 8 of us. If anyone has any ideas on how we can get a good deal on batting, please pm me. Right now we have no choice but JoAnn's and it is costing us approx. $100 per month.