Now that we have the "Newbies Challenge" underway, I thought that it might be nice if we could all share our ideas that we use in quiltmaking, to save a little money (so we can use it for fabric, of course!). so, I'll start: I save the plastic lids from coffee cans,etc and use them to make small template patterns. I also use the plastic rectangle that comes in bacon..Oatmeal containers are a great place to put your teeny tiny scraps...cans can be recovered and used for organizing your sewing tools. Okay...who's next??? :roll: :lol:

never pay full price for anything!

What is the newbies Challenge ?

I reuse the back side of paper for printing patterns, especially for paper piecing :wink:

Boy do I agree with this!!! :thumbup:

Where is the Newbies challenge. I totally qualify. I am so new I have no idea where the challenge is.

I like scrap quilts so I go to yard sales and flea markets and buy gently used 100% cotton clothes really cheap. I don't usually spend more than 50 cents a piece and get a yard or two of fabric out of it.

What an awesome idea!!!!

I love scrap quilts too, and I never would have thought to do this.

Me either..scraps from gently used clothes are flea markets and yard sales. You are one smart gal!I looked once at a thrift store, but they were kinda expensive, I thought..the mens shirts were about $3.50 and that was what I had looked at...but yard sales and flea markets would be much more reasonable, I bet! Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

I meant to add my "low cost" idea..I use GOOD sheets from thrift stores for the quilt backs. They are large, prewashed, set-in colors/ any fade is already done/ and usually about $2.oo per sheet, regardless of the size (here at Goodwill and Salvation army stores). You do have to look well about them, so no stains, no tears, no holes, no faded ones, etc..but you can tell by the labels sometimes how old they might be.I have often found good ones, and they are always larger than the quilt top, so you have some left overs for later scrap quilts too. I look for the cotton or cotton blend ones. That is a lot of fabric for $2.00

I use the slivery piece of soap left at the end of the bar to mark my fabric rather than expensive markers that never seem to work anyways.