Need Ideas
 

I have just started quilting and really enjoy it. We have bought a new house and we still have our old house. We are wanting to get my mother in law a small house built on our new property. So we will have 3 house payments. We live in Georgia.

The point I'm trying to get to is can people recommend on line stores and real stores where quilting items can be purchased at an inexpensive price. She quilts scraps so when I go to the quilting store I always grab a couple scrap bags but there's not a lot of scraps in the grab bag.

If anyone knows of some place I can get scraps online at a decent price or other ideas to get her a stash started. I want her to have some items so she can do something she loves.


Thank you for reading,
Pam Cunningham

I don't know about places to buy scraps, but I was thinking you could go to Goodwill or a second hand shops and find some sheets or duvet covers for her to cut up. There are also etsy shops that sell fat quarter bundles of vintage sheet fabric. You could look on ebay and see if there are any. And sometimes there are folks on this board that sell bags of scraps.

Someone on QB the other day mentioned a place where you can get scraps for free but didn't save link. Sorry! Can anyone help?

Check local thrift stores. There's nearly always fabric there.
**Occasionally thrift stores have sales.. "fill the bag for $5". That's when buying whatever garments with the most fabric is a good deal.
Garage sales.
Also, if your Mother-in-Law gets involved with a quilting group, members sometimes purge their stash and are more than willing to share. In the mean time, she's made new friends!

Try Whittles on lilne. THey do not have scraps but do sell fabric at a great price.

Mention it at your church or any other group you belong to. Word of mouth will spread and you may find someone who is downsizing, etc. I once received several boxes of scraps from a lady who had surgery and could no longer sew. She was the friend of a friend of a friend. Thrift stores for mens shirts, womens gathered skirts or dresses. I once made a quilt from 3 dresses and a set of curtains found at a thrift store.

Try Craigslist - When I started I found some great deals on bulk fabric finds - some of which I loved and kept ... some of which I gifted to Goodwill (lol). I found a couple of estate sales as well and quilters and sewers who were not currently quilting on craigslist.

Estate sales are great. Have found the sales were from former quilters and have stashes of material, unfinished quilt tops and lots of goodies that can be had cheaply.

Scrappy quilts don't have to be made from scraps. Another option is to buy half yards of a bunch of sales fabrics from Connecting Threads. They're generous with the cuts, the sales fabrics are often under $3/yard, and it's good quality new fabric. Shipping is free with a minimum purchase.

Some guilds have a free table before or after guild meeting, and I've picked up a lot of scraps that way.

Does she quilt for family, friends, church, or charities? If for charities then by all means help her connect with some sort of quilt guild or group. Whenever a bunch of quilters gather there are always plenty of scraps to go around.

If there isn't anything near you maybe she can help start a small quilting group through church or community centers.