Sadheart

Well, I made a quilt out of men's shirts once. I was really
bored and they were so nice. He refused to wear them. They were second hand. Still of good quality. So I cut and sewed.
Found an old sheet that was going in the trash. And left over batting from another quilt. True it is not a full size quilt.
But it laid around for 6 years. Basted together. Would not believe the compliments I get on it. Finally tied it, and hemmed it. Used it last winter as a lap rug. It measures about 48 inches square.
I think my tape measure has grown legs again. I have saved some of my grandmothers broomstick skirts to try another one. Just haven't decided on a pattern. She loved to dance so want to make it reflect her passion.

juliasb

I am one of the moderators for the Waterford Michigan Freecycle. Fabrics and fabric scraps become available all the time. I have a very generous stash that I have acquired over the years and it has grown beyond imagination with the help of freecycle. The purpose is to keep things out of landfills and I have found a large number of quilters that use freecycle. I find I will pass fabrics onto another quilter this way easily knowing that in a week or so someone else is going to be offering fabrics. I just hope that I can get a chance at them quickly. I offered a very large bag of scraps this morning and they were spoken for within minutes and picked up within an hour. To make it even better the woman who I gave the fabrics to has a longarm and is going to let me come over and watch her do some of her magic. I agree that is is an excellent way to expand your fabric needs on a tight budget.

Butterflyblue

Probably the cheapest quilt I ever made was a baby quilt for a friend - the center panel was off of a $1 a yard remnant table, one of the borders was fabric that I was given, and the batting was scraps of batting my aunt gave me. The binding fabric cost about 50 cents at wal-mart. All in all, I think I had less than two dollars in the quilt.

Edited to add : I did use variegated thread, but it was thread left over from another project, so I don't count it.

juliasb

I mentioned that I was blessed with a large stash in other post I have made here. The majority of that stash I purchased all at one time. It too belonged to a quilting hoarder. I purchased more than 3000, yes, 3000 yards of fabric from her estate. I spent $400 and didn't put a dent into what was there. Her grand daughter generously let me choose what I wanted. I filled large black trash bags to the brim (took 2 of us to handle each bag) and I purchased 20 bags plus she threw in an egg crate full of quilting flannel and about 20 yards of Warm and natural. It took 2 weeks before I found the floor in my living room again. I have not purchased fabric since then. I have purchased some batting though. I piece together fabrics for my backings now. There were fabrics still in the bag right from the LQS! This was one of those times I would have taken out a loan for such a bargin. I now have a stash that will out live me and I have not yet run into not having a fabric that I need that is just right. So what do I do? I still make mostly scrappy quilts.
Garage sales, estate sales and the like are some of the best ways to build a stash and in these hard economic times be able to quilt to your heart's content. So asking the question How much can you NOT spend? It depends on what is at stake.

susanlh

I just made 5 quilts of various lap sizes for my sisters. I made them from scraps from left over projects. I used 1 main fabric to pull all the string blocks together. I was also fortunate to find backing fabric at JoAnns for $3 per yard. I bought all of it up that was on sale in all the colors. I have enough to do several more quilts. I try to be frugal whenever and wherever I can. My sisters will love these works of art and will never know that they were made out of fabric destined for dog beds.

Andy323

I figure if you are willing to invest the time to put together a beautiful top out of scraps, you can afford to treat yourself to a backing (I always find on sale at FabricDepot.com, or Stitchinframe.net) your savings will cover ther cost of your shipping easily!!! And I always find batting on sale (I buy it off the big bolt, not in precut packages... So, my favorite site for scrap quilts is quiltville.com. That Bonnie is a magician! AWESOME patterns! Sorry for this post if her site has already been posted!

Annz

I'm trying now to look through my stash before I go into a quilt shop or fabric store because I don't have the money and I probably already have something nice in my stash that I paid for when I had money.

piecelover

Even before I unexpectedly got layed-off last month, I vowed that this was the year I would concentrate on finishing UFOs and making some of the MANY quilts/wallhangings, etc that I've already purchased fabric for. Of course I say that every year. But I've been pretty good about not buying more fabric, books or gadgets so far this year. Well, except when I went to Paducah in April. More for my shelf of wanna-be's. Yikes, I'll be busy for years!

Joanie2 - I love your quilt - I like the asymmetrical look.

Juliasb - 3,000 yards!!! Where, oh where, did you store all that fabric? But what a deal!

FranW

Like everyone else, I am making do with what I have. My DH owns a small, family business (3 generations and we are praying we can make it for a 4th). I have a medium sized stash and I do my best to only use from that. Right now I am working on my first "scrappy strip quilt as you go". It is fun and different!

Joanie2

Some people are just lucky! I have been to one quilter's estate sale and purchased fabrics but many of the more senior quilters quilters (I just can't say old quilters) designate their stash to organizations that use them for charity quilts. Our guild has received many generous donations and we have made hundreds of quilts for local hospitals, organizations that temporarily house people going through transition, re-hab hospitals and the like. But we seldom come across finds like I've read about here. Same goes with sewing machines. A part of me is very jealous but then I don't have the storage space and I simply don't want to be the winner - you know, the one who dies with the most fabric. So I'm trying to us what I have first and I think that's what we are all trying to do.