Right-------------and try all the thrift stores. I've found brand new sheets. And bits of fabric for next to nothing.

And once 14 yds of muslin plus other stuff for $5

Remember that you're carrying on a great tradition. For centuries, woman have used what was on hand to create clothing and quilts that we now look at as art. It's about your creativity and vision, not the money.

I'm not on a tight budget, but I still check the thrift stores.. Shirts, jeans, and sheets are easy to find.. We have two Uniques near us, and I've found new blankets, and sheets of nice quality.. They were donated by Kohls.. I paid $1.99 for a twin size blanket.. It is perfect for a twin quilt.. It isn't cotton, but it's thin, and quilts up nicely..
Barri

When I first married and times were hard, but I still wanted to quilt I asked family and friends for their used clothing.

It wasn't long and I had plenty. I cut them up, cut off the buttons and even saved the good zippers.

It can be done, and you learn a lot in the process.

Some of the best family history can be found in a qult.

My DH & I have 2 quilts that my MIL never completed. When Jim and I got married I found the unfinished quilts tops under a bed in the house. I came to find out that my MIL had used their old clothes and made the quilts when my SIL was 5 years old. She did 5 tops and then thought that quilting was boring! Well my SIL is 56 years old now. When she saw them, she started telling me which ones were made out of her favorite clothes and even ones that were her brothers and my FIL (he passed aways almost 20 years ago). Then I found out that she had the other two tops I ended up finishing those tops for her!

Wonderful memories for a family that lives so far apart. I was glad to bring back some of those memories.

I have seen quilts made with t-shirts, blue jeans, flannel shirts, mens ties, oxford shirts. I bet if you just let your friends know you would like their old clothes for quilts, you will be over run with fabric. There is so many wonderful things you can do.

I feel your pinch in the wallet quilting on my social security budget too and have employed a few tricks to obtain fabric for little money. First one is to join the local freecycle.com recycling site. You can post for free what you are looking for. IN my case I asked for remnants of cotton sewing scraps. I also go to Goodwill often and look for fabrics, in complete quit tops, fabrics or clothing that could be recyled into a quilt top. Yard sales, estate sales,etc. if you have your heart set on certain colors, designs or themes to the fabric it can be tough but scrap quilts can turn out beautifully, are soft and cuddly and turn out to become peoples favorite quilts because they feel snuggly from the beginning. Good Luck and Happy QUilting...

I second that. I have just bought a heavily discounted set of queen sheets and hope to make two child sized quilts with them (and each will have a matching pillow!). I'll do applique from my ample stash of scraps.

Not too sure if the sheet fabric is "right", but hey, its a nice colour and the kids won't mind if the thread count is off!

Yes, and I still have a quilt that my grandmother made for me somewhere around 1936 or 37. I'm sure it was from scraps and/or clothes. It is a string quilt and there are some very small strings in it. The back looks like feed sacks. I've been using some of my mom's old blouses and you can get more than a fat quarter out of most and a lot more out of some.

I was working with a group of ladies from our local rehab center and because they had nothing and no money - even had to loan them my machines to quilt with. I put out a call at church for any extra fabric and it started rolling in. I got a lot of double knit along with good cotton fabric and at the time I didn't want double knit. But you know - I have a lap quilt that someone made my step dad 30 years ago made out of double knit and it's still as bright and warm as it was then. So...I'm digging out my double knit and making a top. My mother left yards & yards of new knit fabrics.