I would like to know and especially ones with fixed incomes, we love to quilt, send them out and all, but how can we afford this? We have to watch how we spend in what we are getting. Could you help me on this?

This month I spent a bit more than I should have,I am not complaining, I just want to know what I can do so I won't be "strapped" this coming month. Well I could just not do any of this, but now I am hooked so you know how that is! I have really found something I do enjoy. So any help will be greatly appreciated. Mary :?:

My suggestion is too only buy what you need for the project you are working on at the moment, especially when there is no extra income. We are on a fixed income so I only allow myself to buy what is needed. Unless it is sunflower fabric then I only buy a yard. Now at tax time it is a little different. That's when I'm allowed to get what I want and all I want.

I agree, buy what you need for a project instead of building up a big stash. I have a stash and find I always need to go out to buy more because either the piece I need isn't big enough, or don't have enough coordinating fabrics to go with the one I chose for my focus.
Also, try to machine quilt on your home machine. It isn't as fancy; but I personally like the looks of it.
Some gals on here are selling stuff from their stash that they don't want to use, that is the downfall of having too much. I probably won't use all mine either...we just fall into a habit of gotta buy it lol.

I don't send mine out to be quilted. I may not do as good of job as the professionals but IF and WHEN they get finished (and it isn't often) I do it myself. I'm retired and dh is disabled so we're on a fixed income.

there's a link on here somewhere about turning a regular machine into a quilting machine by turning it sideways and using heavy vinyl and foam insulation sheets. You could buy everything you need for far less than having one quilt quilted.

Raptureready....that is a lovely quilt in your avatar!

i am on a monthly income and i love to quiltwell first i have a friend that quilt and i swap fabric with her or someone on the board then i buy only what i need, look on the Clarence table, in your stash if you have fabric you not using or have too much of etc... that will help use a flat rate box and you can stuff fabric in there at one set rate that is what i do and i do my on quilting, i practice on straps and took my time and i did it like raptureready said some where on the boar it give you a like about turning your machine so it is easy to quilt your quilts also you can google it.


Now this all work for me and i am on a disability which is not much when i pay my bills and have the rest of the month to go but it works

You can find fabrics and clothes, sheets, blankets at thrift stores. I cut up clothes, use sheets for backs, blankets go for the batting. Even electric blankets can be used, just cut maybe a 3" slit on the back side and pull the wires out, even the padded mattress pads, not the ones with the plastic linings though.

Thanks so much! Now I know what I can do!

I do every thing I can think of to keep costs down.
First, I never ever buy fabric unless it's on sale.
I haunt secondhand stores for 100% cotton shirts, bedskirts, and pillowcases. They are a great source of beautiful fabric.
The weave is probably a little tight for handquilting but fine for machine quilting.
I'm always willing to trade for scraps. When I get nice yardage on sale, my preference is to trade for a comparable weight in scraps. Gives me more variety to play with.
I have a couple of friends who save all their scraps for me and if they want yardage, they shop my stash first.
I will never be able to afford to send a quilt out to a LAQ, so that's not really an issue.
I think doing things inexpensively is part of the 'thrill of the hunt' for me.
There are some fantastic videos and tutorials for machine quilting at home. Here are some links you might like:
This first one is to a woman named Marguerite McManus. I've watched lots of her videos, and used many of her ideas. One is for setting up a machine quilting table at home for not much money with a sheet of insulation and piece of tablecloth plastic. Works great! I think this is the link Rapture referred to in her post: http://www.crazyshortcutquilts.com/
This link is to Leah Day's website: http://www.daystyledesigns.com/
She's a great innovator and teacher of machine quilting and shares generously with links and videos. One of her simplest tips is how to get better control of your foot controller. I go to her often and hope to buy some of her products one day. I think she's already given the info for free, and those are the kind of people I like to support when I can!
This link is for an awesome 'quilt as you go method' in the tutorials on this board, generously shared by K3N. It's readily adaptable to any pattern and I love the 'no hand-sewing' part. http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-36303-1.htm
Here's a great link for free ways to get your stash organized:
http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/20...our-stash.html

read the history on quilting and making quilts they used old sheets clothes etc. what ever on hand going out buying fabric was hard they di dnot have the money so they did what they could not days we take the easy way by going out to buy all the fabric you want