Money$$$ spent on hooby quilting - how do you account for it???
01-06-2012, 05:45 AM
#121
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Yankton South Dakota
Posts: 564
Most of the new stuff I buy goes for donations anyway, so we do itemize on my taxes, so I do keep track of the fabric costs, and a huge cost is the batting. I keep my receipts for the fabric that goes to donations.
01-06-2012, 05:47 AM
#122
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Rural Ohio
Posts: 1,389
I do try to buy fabrics on sale, but I don't really have a budget that I keep to. The last comforter I made, however, I call my $5 quilt. I got a pack of 5" squares of flannel in Amish country for $5, and only used about 1/4th of them, then I found a sheet that I used of my aunt's for the backing (I never have used a sheet before), and the batting I pieced together with interfacing strips and zigzag stitches. Plus, the borders are from an nightgown that I used to wear. I finished it envelope style, so there's no binding. Then I tied it at intervals with yarn I had received as a gift. I know this sounds worse than it looks, but it's just one of those quilts to throw in the back of a car in cold weather. It will keep people warm and toasty, and that's what matters most. And my daughter says she just loves it! Who knew?!
01-06-2012, 06:38 AM
#123
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nawth o' Boston
Posts: 1,879
I'm not on a budget, really - I try not to get too crazy, because what if I don't like making quilts five years from now. But, I confess that I am fanatical about tools and when I walk into a quilt shop, my eyes glaze over and I kind of go into a trance. 
We're going to be retired in a few years and on a fixed income, so I try to build my stash "smart" - not many novelties, mostly classic, traditional prints in colors that aren't real trendy. Lots of blenders and neutrals for applique, lots of collections.
I do try to buy on sale and economize to some extent - I shop connectingthreads and fabric.com where the shipping is free, and I shop whittlesfabrics and a couple of my favorite eBay sellers - Quilt Unique and franks11 - where the prices are always so low that the small amount for shipping isn't a big deal.
We're going to be retired in a few years and on a fixed income, so I try to build my stash "smart" - not many novelties, mostly classic, traditional prints in colors that aren't real trendy. Lots of blenders and neutrals for applique, lots of collections.
I do try to buy on sale and economize to some extent - I shop connectingthreads and fabric.com where the shipping is free, and I shop whittlesfabrics and a couple of my favorite eBay sellers - Quilt Unique and franks11 - where the prices are always so low that the small amount for shipping isn't a big deal.
Second of all, as much as I love quilting, I have been operating on the same principal to some extent, not making investments which would only pay off in the long run or in a larger scale operation, like an Accuquilt, a straight-stitch machine for machine quilting, etc etc. ...just in case I get tired of it.
Thanks for the tips on whittlesfabrics, Quilts Unique and Franks, I had not known about them.
01-06-2012, 06:46 AM
#124
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nawth o' Boston
Posts: 1,879
The first year is pretty expensive because you have to buy gadgets and tools. Same goes when you start any new "style". But you will probably have that rotary cutter and those rulers for years to decades if you continue with the hobby.
Yes I spend alot but it's my hobby and I like what I produce. Think of it this way, I could have taken up golf and never produced anything.
Yes I spend alot but it's my hobby and I like what I produce. Think of it this way, I could have taken up golf and never produced anything.
01-06-2012, 06:49 AM
#125
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Washington state
Posts: 820
We have a budget and each of us get our own spending money for the month (we are retired). Sometimes that spending money is as low as $50 a month and sometimes it is higher. The important fact is that both of us get the same amount that month. Neither one of us need to account to the other one on how we spend that money. My money is saved and used for sewing. This way I don't have any guilt feelings when I buy fabric and my husband doesn't care how much fabric I have in my stash.
01-06-2012, 06:57 AM
#126
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,371
My budget? If it's not on sale or I don't have a coupon, I don't buy it. If it's $1.50 or less, I get 10 yards for backing. I plan what I want to make and may spend months looking for the right material at the right price . . . and sometimes I find great deals and plan from there.
Not much help.
Not much help.
01-06-2012, 07:03 AM
#128
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Munford, Alabama
Posts: 798
I record all my quilting expenses, which I buy on a cash only basis, as "art". It makes me feel good, when I go over my finances, just to know I have made such a generous contribution to the arts.
01-06-2012, 07:09 AM
#129
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nawth o' Boston
Posts: 1,879
BellaBoo, your quilting budget for 2011 would be mine if I could quit work and indulge! You go, girl! Thanks for sharing!
But, back to the grindstone for me. I did just spend an hour reading these posts instead of working.
But, back to the grindstone for me. I did just spend an hour reading these posts instead of working.
01-06-2012, 07:15 AM
#130
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 369
DH and I budget our money carefully and include a monthly amount for hobby spending for each of us. When the money is gone, we wait for the next month to buy something. The good part, aside from not feeling guilty for the spending, is that if we spend less than the allotted amount one month, it carries over to the next month. When it comes time to get fabric for a new project, I can get it all on one spree. It works for us.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
