Bree123

Seam back & buy batting on a roll. In the US, there are large craft stores that offer coupons/discounts around holiday weekends. I order what I can online then since the savings can be up to 50% off. Local stores usually don't carry batting by the roll, but online stores do.

PenniF

Also- maybe you have friends that you can let know you'd be interested in any items when they are cleaning out their closets and getting rid of clothes -- men's shirts, even if they are part polyester - make GREAT sources of good quality fabric. Old jeans can be made into VERY nice quilts - usually they don't need batting as they are heavy enough without it.
Best of good luck - hope to see some of your quilts posted in the pictures section !!

RedGarnet222

I never thought of this! I go thrifting so rarely, that I don't get around all of the stores like some do. What a great idea! Toiles are so dang expensive and I love them!

earthwalker

Some great ideas.....I buy mattress protectors (the quilted kind), cut the straps off and voila - batting. It can be joined successfully and they are really cheap to buy from charity shops. Also look for blankets and for summer quilts sheets. For couch quilts/lap quilts you can use cheap acrylic throws for batting. Used clothing is fantastic for quilts (fronts and backs) and don't forget you can often pick up fabric and sewing supplies via internet sales sites, opportunity shops, car-boot and garage sales. You will be surprised at what is out there - and hiding in the depths of your wardrobe. Just don't stop quilting.

Cybrarian

So much good advice here! I just wanted to give you a link to Bonnie Hunter showing how to "debone" a man's shirt. Many scrappy quilters use shirtings in their quilts, and purchasing men's shirts or women's blouses or shirts at thrift or charity shops, yard or garage sales then taking them apart to get the most usable fabric is a good way to keep costs down. Here is the link: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/...movie.html?m=1

SlightlyOffQuilter

Sheets make AWESOME backings AND solid colored sheets also work really well on the TOPS too ! I LOVE solid flat sheets and use them alot in my tops for backgrounds and the like ! I love thrift stores because I can FEEL the sheets , and since they have already been washed several times ( most likely ) you can tell if they feel smooth against your skin and are not pill covered.

GrannieAnnie

Don't know if you have thrift shops nearby, but I've found some really nice big flat sheets, almost new, for just a couple dollars here. Always good enough for backing. Do you ever have rummage sales with all you can put into a bag for a nominal price? On the last day of sales, I have stuffed a bag with shirts, dresses, sheets, pillowcases, loose fabric sometimes for as cheap as $2.50 for one of our grocery bags.

greyhounder

I just wanted to throw in-- sheets are great! Perfect for backing or cheap solids. I live in a region in Europe where quilting is not very common, cotton basics are hard to find. But the thrift store are FULL of duvet covers for comforters. They are soo useful because they are typically one piece of fabric seamed on only one side (instead of two pieces with two seams). So when you cut it open, you have a huge piece that can back a very large quilt!

Most of my piecing fabric comes from thrift stores; clothes, bedding, etc. Batting is still my highest cost. But I am excited to hear about other transforming materials for batting! I will try some of these great ideas!

Macra

It used to be commonplace to use wool blankets as the batting. If you buy from Charity shops they usually sell for less than a fiver (I use them to pad historical costume, so keep an eye open for decent ones). Look for ones that say Pure New Wool on the label. That means that the wool has been chemically treated to remove the little scales on the fibres, and that means that you can wash it without it shrinking The blankets make a lovely weight of a quilt and it's so easy to quilt through. Less movement as you layer it up than with batting.

The very, very best blankets available just now are ex Dutch and Belgian army ones. Very dark coloured but superb, about a cm thick too. Endicott's are the best folks to contact if you want one of those. Speak to Kev and tell him what you're doing and he'll sort you out something very decent.

You can always just make your patchwork into duvet covers using cheap polycotton sheeting for the lining and backing. Seasonally duvets are very cheap, especially in the supermarkets and larger discount stores.

For real quilt batting, ebay is your friend in the UK. The fabric shops all seem to have ebay stores these days and it's worth a check through on comparison pricing.

I love those quilts made with recycled fabrics as much as the new. When my children were young, all of mine were made with remnants and 'upcycled' cottons.
Old sheets and pillowslips can be tie-dyed for really lovely effects (I do a lot of natural dyeing, but try something really simple like strong tea that doesn't need any chemical fixers, and you can do anything from pale gold through to dark tan. Designs you can make using a candle or a stamp cut from a potato or a brush dipped carefully into melted wax to create 'resist' areas like the original batiks).
Don't turn your nose up at polycottons either. I used some thirty years ago and the quilts are still lovely and have had a lot of use and laundering.

Quilting on a budget was the original mode, and it can be fun trying to find variety and interesting fabrics when things are tight. Best of luck with it

Mary

Sisty88

I'm in the UK too, and I got fed up of spending £30 or more for the wadding for one quilt! I bought a bolt of wadding from Doughty's online. I have so far made 3 (large, I don't do small!) quilts with it and still have plenty left! It's the exact same wadding I would get at my local fabric shop, but instead of it costing £13.50 per metre, it is now more like £8, which is a nice big reduction in cost!
I believe that Lady Sew and Sew (also online) sell wadding by the bolt as well but I haven't checked out their pricing!
It is a big amount of money to be spent all at once, but it's so handy to have it there ready for when you need it! Once this one is used up, I will definitely buy another bolt!