Misty's Mom

Welcome from Texas. Lots of great advice here

Chasezzz

Hi and welcome! To all of the great suggestions above, I would add that you may find fabric at yard sales. Also, if you'd like to do a project with one "special" fabric and the others from second-hand sheets, clothes etc., you can check Walmart or (depending if you have a store in easy driving distance) get signed up for coupons from Joann's. Almost every month Joann's has a coupon for 40%-50% off a single cut of non-sale fabric and many of the quilting fabrics are offered at similar discounts ("Keepsake Calicos" often go on sale for 50% off and many are $6/yd regular price...another basic line of blender fabrics is often offered at $3/yd as well).

jetayre

Welcome. All the advice is very good. I was raised being poor and frugal. My mother did quilting and using and practicing on discarded clothing, towels, anything that wasn't good became something. Like someone mentioned-be careful about material that is too worn. Use that stuff for stuffing. This kind of thing is great for practice and can be turned into something nice.

GailG

This story makes me soooo sad. I was a first grade teacher. "Projects" such as this are what bring school and community together....and it's where students (eh hem, and teachers) develop new interests. I met with the same issue when I retired. The 4-H leader who was there when I was working was so interested in getting people in there for different things the members worked on. She once told me that she looked forward to the day that I retired so I could work with the members on their sewing projects. Well.....when I retired, there was a new leader and she just flat told me that "they didn't have time for sewing." Broke my heart.

Welcome to the world of quilting. You will find lots of help and ideas here. Good luck in your search for fabric.

cjsews

Welcome to quilting. Another place to order fabrics is Whittle's. They are in KY and have a web site. Good fabrics at low prices. I hope you can find a guild or fellow quilter to give you some one on one advise when you need it. There are so many ways to accomplish the same results so don't be afraid to try everything and find what suits you best.

Dina

Don't rule out Walmart and Hancocks. Both have fabric on clearance sales all the time. Or at least they do around here! Welcome to quilting. It is not an inexpensive hobby, as you have already noticed, but it sure is fun!

Dina

tessagin

What's wrong with the new leader is she nuts. All kinds of crafts as far back as I can remember included all types of sewing. I would have informed her of that. Don't think she'll be much of a leader for long.

tessagin

countryflowers1 welcome to the board. Ask relatives and neighbors also for discarded fabric/clothing, towels etc. Check out "bag" sales at rummage sales. Also if you go to the yard/garage/rummage and estate sales on the last day you can usually get some really good deals. If they have bag sales, don't just stuff fabric in the bags. Fold them neatly and you'll get more. Amazing what you can stuff in a regular grocery bag (paper or plastic). I walked out with almost 10 yards of fabric for $1.00. It was a smaller bag. the larger paper bags were $3.00 and I walked out with about 20 yards of fabric. That also included some notions. Had all kinds of sheets and large men and women's shirts and blouses.

michelleoc

CountryFlowers1: I've sent you a pm.

Welcome to the Boards!

Michelle

mckwilter

Welcome to the Board and to quilting. My sister sent me a website a while ago and while I haven't ever bought anything from it (I hate trying to match fabrics on a website and scrolling through upteen pages), their prices look good. I don't know what kind of quality they have (and you said you weren't concerned about that right now), so $2.99, $3.99 and $5.00 a yard fabrics might work great for you. http://www.5bucksayard.com/