Sewnoma

A lady in my guild buys these blankets that are thick & fuzzy but still pretty inexpensive and uses those to serve as both batting & backing for her quilts. She just layers her pieced top on top of the blanket and quilts it all together. I suppose that means they're not "truly" quilts, but they look lovely and keep people nice and cozy. And most people would never notice or think twice about it anyway.

lynnie

buy flannel shirts at a thrift store for batting.
one lady on this board made beautiful pillows out
of a few sheets. came out beautiful

tessagin

Also there are many used baby blankets that are printed only on one side and if they are light enough and won't show through, you can use them for batting also. All previous suggestions can save you a lot of money. Friend of mine saves socks. She pieces them to foundation and makes crazy socks quilts.

ManiacQuilter2

I would think that you have thrifts stores so that might be a good place to go search. There are a few stores here in the states that ship to the UK. You might go searching for them. Buy in bulk and purchase a roll of batting. I use all my scrapes when I am making smaller projects. Unfortunately, quilting is NOT an inexpensive hobby.

JaniceP

If you can place an order from Thousands of Bolts, they run fabrics,(nice fabrics) on sale regularly.
Look at fabric by the yard, Quilt Backs. I have been amazed at the quality and they cut the fabric more evenly so you don't loose fabric to squaring up if you get fat quarters, etc. I get emails when they have a sale and have been very with my purchases.
http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/index.cfm

Mamacandoit

Thank you very much for all your wonderful suggestions!
So many great ideas to check out!

I found two ex-hospital sheets in a charity shop today. They're very large, very clean and quite thick. I wish they were a bit softer but for £2.50 each I won't complain!

debbiemarie

Old blankets work well as the batting.

kamaiarigby

I buy my batting by the roll it is great to have it on hand, I save all my off Cutts of batting straighten up the edges and zip zag them together ideal for charity quilts then smaller of cuts I can use in items I make for craft shows.

Jeanne S

I stopped at a Salvation Army Thrift store today and found 2 white flat sheets and one black sheet for $3 each. I think I will get 4 or 5 pieced backs from them!! What a deal.

madamekelly

The only other idea I can add, is to sign up for Secret Santa here on the board, and hope you get fabric? Also, there are yahoo groups that allow people to sell sewing supplies to each other. One of them limits the fabric prices, but not all. Check them out. Another way I find fabric is yard, garage, and rummage sales. DH and I are both disabled, so I do understand the issue. My BFF has used old T-shirts as batting (wadding) for the center of QAG squares. I learned how to do QAG from watching videos on youtube. I also learned how to put them together on youtube.