Thrifty Quilting

Hey there!

Today, I want to discuss how to save money on fabric and quilting supplies. The cost of everything is going up and fabric, in particular, is up to over $14/yard (if you buy it new)! So, you have this quilting hobby that was expensive, to begin with, and is just getting more expensive, how do you cut costs so you can keep quilting? 

Here are some of my tips.

Tip #1:

Well, first of all, and it's rather obvious to me, is to find fabric on sale. Physical stores and online stores always have a clearance section, so go there first to see if you can find anything (I always do!).

Tip #2:

Thrift stores are a wonderful, inexpensive source for fabric. Think men's XL or XXL shirts, long cotton nightgowns, formal dresses, cotton sheets, and even some blankets (like baby blankets). These are great for fabric yardage! 

I have a camping quilt I made years ago and the back is from an old soft cotton twin-size sheet. I still use that quilt on my bed and it just gets softer the more I wash it.

Tip #3:

Use social media. Facebook, for example, has swap groups and a marketplace where you can swap or buy fabric and quilting supplies. I've seen some great sewing machines on the marketplace selling for low prices.

Tip #4:

Estate sales. Sadly, quilters do pass on to the great sewing room in the sky and their families often sell all of their fabric and quilting supplies in estate or garage sales. You can pick up items super cheap this way. I've even had people gift me fabric when a beloved quilter passes on.

Tip #5:

Ask your family and friends if they have items from, let's say spring cleaning or moving, they want to get rid of and take them off their hands. Again, think sheets, blankets, clothing, even some curtains! Make t-shirt quilts from old t-shirts. 

I had a friend who gave me all of her son's baby clothes and blankets and wanted a quilt made from them. I used only what she gave me with no other fabrics added.

The quilt I made from baby clothes and blankets

Tip #5:

Clean out your closet! (Yes, mom). Go through your own closet (or your husband's and kid's closets) and look for old dresses, shirts, pajamas, nightgowns, and pants, and cut them up for fabric. I have even been known to buy shirts because I loved the fabric and knew that one day it would go into a quilt.

You have to think outside the "fabric box" to save money on fabric and quilt supplies. And no one needs to know that you cut up an old nightgown to save money on fabric. After all, quilting originally started in this country with pioneer women cutting up old worn-out clothing to make quilts.

Those are my tips, please comment if you have any other tips to start getting thrifty with your quilting hobby in this world of rising prices.

Here are some other great articles on thrifty quilting:

Hobbies on a budget

Premeditated Leftovers

Raspberry Spool

Happy Quilting and Sewing!

Quilt Shows

 Happy Thursday (or Friday Eve)!

Do you attend quilt shows? Do you prefer looking at the quilts or shopping the vendors for fun new quilting stuff? 

I love a good quilt show for many reasons and especially for looking at the beautiful quilts and getting inspired. Also, I love to shop the vendors! I always find new and different things that I must purchase (even if my wallet does not agree). I was disappointed in 2020 (weren't we all!) because all the quilt shows were canceled and then in 2021 some of the quilt shows came back but not all of them. But this year, I think most of the quilt shows are back! 

Here are national and international quilt show schedules for the rest of 2022 and 2023.

I attended the Plano Quilt Show in August and had such a great time. I have some friends that I only see at quilt shows, so I hadn't seen some of them for a couple of years and it was great to catch up and even make a few new friends too. My quilt show friend, Judy Beskow, won several ribbons at the show, including the Viewer's Choice award. I am always in awe of her quilts and she inspires me to do better. 

Judy Beskow with her amazing quilt and ribbons

I plan on going to more quilt shows, as work and time permit, to get extra inspired. When I was walking around the Plano Quilt Show, I was thinking about all of the thousands and thousands of hours those quilters put into their work and it just astounds me. So much time, passion, and not to mention expense! No, quilting is not an inexpensive endeavor. Next time, I will discuss ways to make quilting more affordable.

Happy Quilting and Sewing!

National Sewing Month

Hey there!

Did you know that September is National Sewing Month? Well, it is! Learn more here about National Sewing Month. Tell me what's on your sewing table!

It's a nice reminder for me to get to sewing! I worked on organizing and unpacking my sewing room this weekend...still not finished...but made some good headway. You don't realize just how much fabric you own until you start digging into it, at least I don't. And fabric is heavy! I moved fabric around this weekend until I was sore. I am anxious to get everything sorted and organized because Christmas is coming fast! In truth, I should have started any sewing projects for Christmas months ago, but somehow it always sneaks up on me. Work has been very busy these past few months and based on a call I had this morning, it's not going to slow down anytime soon. We'll just call that job security! :)

I did do a lot of embroidery this weekend in an effort to finish a larger piece I've been working on for the past few months. I'll admit that I'm a bit of an embroidery kit hoarder and have several (okay, a lot) other embroidery kits that I'm anxious to get started. 

I have a plumber coming out to look at the shower in my master bathroom, which started leaking this weekend. I love my plumber but talk about an expensive unexpected expense! Homeownership definitely has its advantages, but the maintenance costs have gone up so much in the past couple of years as has everything else.

That's it for now. I wish you a beautiful day of sewing or embroidery! It's starting to almost feel like fall. It's still in the 90s in Texas and I'm looking forward to October when we will actually get cooler daytime temperatures. But until then, we enjoy the cooler evenings.

Happy Quilting and Sewing!

RIP Queen Elizabeth

Yesterday was a hard day with the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She's gone to the great Palace in the sky to be with Philip. I'm not British but I do have British, Irish, and Scottish ancestry and have followed the Royals for as long as I can remember. I've been to Buckingham Palace and seen the Queen's Guards, the Tower, and London Bridge. My heart goes out to all British subjects who now transition to a new Monarchy under King Charles and his Queen Consort, Camilla.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

I have been searching online for a freehand embroidery pattern of the Queen and cannot find one, so if you know where I can find one, please let me know. I would be excited to do a stitching of her.

I am still working on my quilting room (it's taking forever) but was excited to receive my packs of threads (not that I don't have a ton of thread already) from Sublime Stitching today. I have been a customer of Jenny's for years and she is so sweet! She runs a great little company where you can purchase embroidery thread (which I love), patterns, and tools. Her patterns are contemporary and modern (not your grandma's) which is an exciting change from some of the older patterns out there. So shout out to Jenny!

My daughter-in-law came over for a visit last night. It's always wonderful to see her and I honestly don't see her enough. She is the mom of my 2 beautiful granddaughters (growing up way too fast), who I had over last weekend. We baked a cake and cookies and made a huge amount of buttercream frosting, which ended up all over the kitchen, but we had so much fun.

Mia

Leylia

That's it for today. I am continuing on my hunt for Queen Elizabeth embroidery patterns.

Happy Quilting and Stitching!

It's Been a While

Hi there, I know it's been a long long while since I've posted anything on here, but life (and work) does tend to get in the way sometimes.

I have 5 growing grandkids now and I have moved! Not far from where I used to live, but I sold my house and bought another one that I like so much better. My dear Hootie kitty passed away several years ago, but I got another kitty (rescue) during the COVID lockdown of 2020. Miss Matilda (Tilly) is a real diva and a bit of a pill, but we get along just fine.

Miss Tilly (Diva Kitty)

She's so fluffy!

During lockdown, I did a whole bunch of freehand embroidery and am still embroidering away. I find it relaxing and I can do it while watching TV in the evenings after work.

One of my embroidered pieces

As mentioned earlier, I moved in March of this year and am still getting my quilting room set up (yes, I am slow). But, I bought a new sewing table and cutting table that I am eager to try out! I will post photos when everything is set up.

I hope all of you made it through 2020 and 2021 okay! I'm looking forward to some vacation time in the next few months. In November, I'm going to Chatanooga to attend the Lizzy & Erin Live Hickabilly Christmas event. I am meeting a long-time friend there and we are going to hang out. It will be exciting to travel a bit again. I will post photos after the event.

Cheers and Happy Quilting!

On the Sewing Table...

What's on your sewing table? That's the question of the day. Seems like I always have something on the sewing table...usually more than one something! Sometimes it's a new project, sometimes it's a UFO...more often than not it's a UFO (a.k.a.,unfinished project)! I hate to admit it, but my unfinished projects are numerous, and one day... in a galaxy far, far away...I will finish them all! HA! 

So, despite all of the unfinished projects, I have a new project on my sewing table this week. In my last post I mentioned it..."a wall hanging kit I bought way back in 2003, and it is a garden scene." I have been sewing all of the squares together for the "back" of the scene, and once that is completed, I can begin the fun part of appliqueing all of the decorative items to it...tree, leaves, flowers, etc. As I mentioned in my last post, I am pretty excited about this project, which is a good thing, since I don't get too excited about much lately (except my grandchildren). 

I was mentioning this project to a friend of mine and she said, "That's great!", and then asked, "Do you have a place to hang it?". Uh...are you supposed to have a place to hang wall hangings before you make them??!! Hmm...I had not considered that! Thoughts? Should you make something you like and then figure out what to do with it, or just make it and worry about it later? I guess I am so used to giving most everything I make away, that it just never even occurred to me that I have absolutely no where to hang a large wall hanging! Oh well...all of my problems should be so small!

So, what's on your sewing table? Anything exciting? Here is a photo of what's on my sewing table!

On my Sewing Table

Happy Sewing and Quilting!

Babies and Springtime!

Once again, it's been quite a while since my last post! But in my defense, I've been a little busy with the arrival of 2 new grand babies in January...2 days apart! Yes, you heard correctly...they were born just 2 days apart. I have a handsome grandson and another beautiful granddaughter, and couldn't be more thrilled. Our little Lily is thrilled to have a baby sister too. Hahaha...after Miabella was born, all Lily could say is "She came out!" She is such a cutie, and already 4-1/2 years old!

Handsome Hudson

Beautiful Miabella

Of course, I was super busy making baby blankets, quilts, burp cloths, and pee pee tepees (http://sewmakeplay.com/2013/01/09/how-to-make-a-pee-pee-teepee/) before they were born! And since their arrival, I have been busy being Nana! The babies have been great for me, and have given me added motivation to sew and quilt again. It's been tough since hubby passed away just over 2 years ago (and it seems like yesterday), so having all of our children and grandchildren nearby has been such a blessing. This is my New Life! :)

Springtime has sprung! And of course, that is added motivation to bring out the bright pretty fabric to work with! The project on my work table right now is a wall hanging kit I bought way back in 2003 (I know what you are thinking!) and it is a garden scene. I was pretty excited when I bought it, and during re-organization of my sewing room a few weeks ago, I ran across it and got excited all over again! So, I actually started on it! I promise photos will be coming!

I did manage to finish a small farm scene wall hanging to send to my mother...now if I could just manage to get down to the post office to send it off...! I used Karen Eckmeier's (http://www.kareneckmeier.com/) applique technique for it, which is one I just love! Mom grew up on a farm and loves farm scenes, so I thought it would be cute hanging on her wall...when I actually send it!

Farm Scene-Unfinished

The Dallas Quilt Show was in March, and I attended as I do every year. I have yet to download the photos I took, but just bought a new computer, so I will be doing that this week. My old computer was a 2005 model and bit the dust. :( Oh well, I really like my new one, but am still figuring some things out on it. So, it looks like I just have a whole lot of catching up to do!

Well, gotta run. More later...with photos...I promise!

Happy Sewing & Quilting!

Big Sister Miss Lily