10 Ways to Save Money Quilting
June 20, 2008 by Mary Emma Allen
Filed under Home & Living
10 Ways to Save Money Quilting
Guest Post by Karen Weideman
(Karen blogs at Thrifty Mommy and has many great ideas for saving money in other aspects of living, as well as quilting.)
Although I am not a quilter, I have watched my mom quilt, and she certainly taught me how to save money. Here are some easy ways to save money while quilting.
1) Put an ad on freecycle. You can put an ad stating that you need quilting supplies such as fabric. Someone that’s cleaning out their basement or storage closet might be able to help you out.
2) Look in thrift stores. Sometimes thrift stores will have fabric and quilting supplies at for a fraction of the price.
3) Consider using sheets for fabric. My mom sometimes uses sheets for backing material on her quilts. She looks at Target and other places for clearanced sheets. This is much more cost effective than material.
4) Borrow supplies. Of course, I don’t mean for you to borrow fabric, but if there is a special stand, needle, mat, pattern, stencil, etc, then ask your quilting friends to borrow theirs.
5) Join a quilting club. Many times these clubs are free and others are willing to share ideas, patterns, and leftover materials.
6) Use the internet as a source. You can find free patterns, tips, and other helpful information on the internet.
7) Take advantage of craft store coupons. Many craft stores have a weekly coupon in the Sunday paper. Use it to purchase hoops, stands, needles, batting, etc.
Watch for special sales. Most craft and fabric stores will have special sales during the holidays.
9) Look for marked down fabric and remnant pieces. Sometimes Wal-Mart will have close-out or end pieces for $1.00/yard. Most fabric stores have a place where they keep discounted remnant pieces.
10) Repurpose old items. This could include sheets, shower curtains, table cloths, and clothes.
(Amazon image; click on book for details)
(c)2008 Karen Weideman
Great tips, another thing that many don’t think about is something called dumpster diving. I have a friend that goes by places or just goes into the stores and asks if they are going to toss anything if they can have it. I’ve never done it myself though. As for the tips, I LOVE Freecycle.
I am starting to quilt and I had no idea how much it cost to make a queen sized quilt. I even saw a king sized quilt that cost over $3000. The lady said she had over $1000 in material alone. That didn’t even account for her time.
Amazing!
I love the shower curtain idea!
Eliza, thanks for stopping by and sharing your frugal quilting tips.
Kellys, yes quilters can put an amazing amount of money into quilts. And this doesn’t even allow for calculating the time they spend, which when translated into dollars could make the quilt extremely expensive…or valuable.
However, by utilizing some of Karen’s tips, quilters can bring the cost down.