I have made very few quilts where I start from scratch and buy all new, all coordinated fabrics. That said, just this week I met with a man who has asked me to make a quilt for his wife for their anniversary. Ok, can do. But when I sat down and calculated just the materials all fresh from the quilt shop and not from my stash, it came to nearly $200. He say OK without a blink. So it is.
Most of my quilts come from my stash.. Thus many of my quilts are scrappy. I pick up fabrics at my quilt group when someone is cleaning out their stash or occasionally from quilters who are no longer going to be quilting and just giving away fabric. Truly the primary expense I have is backing and batting. I bought a HUGE roll of batting two years ago at the start of the Pandemic on sale and delivered to my door, yeah JoAnns. I still have enough for several more quilts. I also piece my batting for smaller quilts. Lots of ways to save a few dollars and to keep quilting without devastating my budget.
Oh yes, I limit the number of quilts that go out a long arm quilter, about 3 a year and those are the really special ones or the really big ones. All the rest of the quilts are done by me on my domestic machine. That is why I bought it, right?
