i dye and screen print all my fabric so it costs me about $2 to $2.50 a yard.

i also hand dye my backing fabric for about $3.00 a yard.

i buy my batting in bulk rolls on sale.

so for me quilting is very inexpensive and i use hand dyed fabrics which many quilters would love to work with if they could afford them.

i'm surprised that more quilters haven't started to dye their own fabrics considering how expensive fabric is today.

My 6$ quilt

This quilt I found the blocks already sewn at a yard sale they were 3$ for the blocks.
The batting is an old blanket I got for 2$ at the thrift store
The backing is an old sheet I got for 1$ at the thrift store.

Total quilt 6$ and it is the most LOVED quilt. My husband loves the feel of it and I have to agree its is quite cuddly

The least amount I've spent is zero. I made it out of scraps, leftover batting and thread (Poly thread given to me by my Mom c1983). Even the back was leftover flannel from another quilt. It was part of a challenge one summer at the Scrapbusters list to use something that didn't require any purchasing, but I went further to use up stuff that would be considered recycled. I tied it using wool leftover from tying another quilt. It was a mystery quilt and some of my choices of fabric didn't bring the design out that well. This was a lap sized quilt.

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Thanks! These are great ideas.

I'm glad to hear that so many have found ways not to spend $200 and up on fabric for quilts! It is much more encouraging to people who want to do quilts for charity, esp. to think that they don't have to spend bookoos of money on each one.

So do you buy muslin? If so, where? How much is the dye?

I've dyed one piece that I found that was white 100% cotton at the thrift store. I bought green dye and made myself a piece of really pretty mottled green. I've used it all up now. I felt pretty proud of myself, though, I have to admit.

I've not really thought of doing it in a big way, though. But it's an idea. We can buy dyes here...and I can sometimes find off white or white all cotton sheets at the used clothing store...

A lot of my early quilts were practically free. You can see they are very scrappy, and small (which helps a lot!). Also several older women who no longer sew had gifted me their old fabrics, and someone even gave me a queen-size batting.

The fish quilt was made from scraps leftover from different clothing projects over the years, and backed with something my mother gave me out of her stash. The batting was the only money I paid out of pocket for it.

The sampler was made with gifted fabrics, or some that came from a box of fabric and scraps I bought for $5 at a thrift store. Batting was the only cost on that one. The sashing was something I traded sewing patterns for. The backing was mostly pieced from old clothing.

Overall I'd say I've made four or five quilts that were similarly inexpensive. I gave the elephant one at a baby shower. It cost under $3 and thread, because I used batting scraps my aunt gave me and did it in a quilt as you go method, with a center panel that came off of the $1 a yard remnant table, and other fabrics that had been given to me. The binding I had to go and purchase; it was about 75 cents worth of fabric from wal-mart. Of all of my "cheap" quilts, that one came out looking the most put-together.

I also did this one out of recycled clothing and some dark blues that were either given to me or came from goodwill for about $2, I can't remember. The batting had been given to me, as had the backing fabrics (backing is pieced). I used a store-bought quilt binding on it, which came to probably $4 or $5.

I think the least I have spent was $10-15, and that was when I was given scraps by a friend that makes clothing. I think I had to buy batting. I do try to buy sheets when they are on clearance for backings on projects I machine quilt.

One cost me $28 which was the cost of the thread.Everything else was given to me for my birthday present, by a number of different people.

I've made dozens over the years that cost nothing. Recycled jeans, old blankets and bedspreads, even sheets for backing. My friend has one from jeans that is 30 years old. He's slept under it every night except for once a year when he has it dry cleaned.