Quilting On The Cheap

Posted on August 14 · Comments

One of my favourite hobbies is quilting, so I thought that I would share a bit about that today.

Work in progress.

I started quilting about eight years ago. I read a book about a woman who took up quilting and decided to give it a go. I have always been a crafter: knitting, crocheting, paper crafts, but quilting is certainly my favourite.

I taught myself. My first effort was a cushion cover, pretty dismal but still on the couch today. I picked a block pattern out of a book and started cutting and sewing. By my second block, I had worked out there was a right order and a wrong order to sew pieces. I never looked back.

I use a sewing machine sometimes, but my preference is for hand sewing – hand piecing and quilting. I’m a glutton for punishment. You get a lot of bang for your buck with quilting, it’s an easy hobby, but the results can be quite stunning. If you can sew a straight line, then you can quilt.

Wall Hanging

Like many hobbies, quilting can get pretty expensive. Not only is there the fabric to buy and the wadding and the thread, there are all those little nick nacks that seem essential when you have a hobby. In the effort to keep sewing on a minimal budget, I’ve been looking for ways to make inexpensive quilts.

Quilting is often seen as an American tradition, but other countries have their own quilting styles and traditions including Australia. The Wagga is a traditional Australian quilt originally made by men from old grain sacks. Later women made them from sugar bags and old woollen suiting, recycling fabrics that they had around the home. The original purpose of patchwork quilting was to use up leftover fabrics. Making traditional quilts is a great way to save money on the hobby, and one that I will be looking into more. Some ideas on saving money on quilting include:

1. Recycle old clothing, sheets, tea towels and other fabrics around the home. Try to stick to cotton if you can as it tends to be more durable, but other fabrics work just as well. I have made quilts using satin leftovers (that I lined for stability) from a formal dress I made . Quilts using recycled fabrics have sentimental value, “I wore that top on our first date,” “that was our baby’s first top.” To use random fabrics in a way that gives good design, look at the fabrics in terms of value – darks and lights – rather than colour.

2. Raid the local thrift store for vintage sheets and fabrics. They often also sell fabric off cuts that other sewers have gotten rid of.

3. Ask for fabric as a gift. A friend once gave me a stack of fat quarters for my birthday and it turned out to be the perfect gift, the fabric is now a half finished lap rug. It may even end up a gift back to her or someone else!

4. Don’t waste scraps. Leftover material can be made into new quilts. The lap quilt in the photo below was made entirely from scraps that I had on hand. For some of the blocks I had to sew tiny scraps to make strips big enough to finish the quilt. I think this adds to the quilt’s character. Fabric shops often sell scraps and off cuts heavily discounted, or you could swap scraps with other sewers that you know. You could also try factory outlets for remnants where garments, sheets or other household goods are sewn.

5. When it comes to the wadding in the middle, try using an old blanket or quilt.

When you take into account the number of hours it takes to make a quilt, especially if you hand sew, then it actually ends up being quite an inexpensive pastime, even if you do buy all new fabrics. And quilts often become gifts that are treasured for years, if not generations, making their value far outweigh the initial cost.