gaigai

My grandfather's quilt was the most expensive, not only because I used quilt shop fabric, but because it cost somewhere between $10 and $20 dollars each for each of the twenty or so photo transfers. So, the whole thing probably came close to $1000.

Lockeb

I took a course at a LQS a few years ago - and you needed to buy everything at the store for the course...it was for a Machine appliqued table runner...not big......by the time I had bought the fabric, paid for the course, etc. it cost me almost $150.00 to make that table runner......

grammy Dwynn

Ahh, but if we had to have psychoanalysis sessions? $$$$ for years and years. So this is cheaper . . . lol

DH has his toys and hobbies. Quilting is mine.

D'Marie

You hang in there with that kind of thinking. We all need our vises to keep us sane and if quilting is yours,well at least it's not something that will make you sick. Besides you could be a beauty freak and spend all your money on make-up and such.

D'Marie

When you make a special quilt for a loved one, throw caution to the wind, money wise.That is, if you can afford it. The love you receive in return, for that specal gift will affect you all your life.It's called making special memories.

lesleypew

I try to buy quilting materials on sale too but I like batiks and Early American and 1920s/1930s reproductions and while Joanns carries good fabrics not a lot those so I end up in the quilt shops.

However I try to buy end of season or end of bolt fabrics and can save 20 to 30 percent that way.

Also if someone is giving a class and it's in a fabric store sometimes they give a discount on fabrics if you buy something during the class.

I have spent as little as under $50 and as much as $150-$200 depending on size of quilt and sale vs. full price.

I also have joined a quilt guild and they have a "fat quarter raffle" on a monthly basis - if you donate fat quarters they give you one raffle ticket per fat quarter you donated and then they divide up the fat quarters into four or five piles depending on how many were donated and throw the tickets into a bowl and pick one for each pile. We have a large guild and sometimes people donate more than one fat quarter so there might be 10 to 15 fat quarters in each pile. I have won several times in the past five years and ended up with either enough to make something or enough to fill out some other projects. Also made some nice scarves and some small baby quilts and splurged for the backing and batting and donated them to the guild for the next Christmas when they take quilted donations to the local shelters/food pantries.

lesleypew

And you have something nice when you finish.

Isn't it interesting that guys have plenty of "hobbies" and we feel guilty for something that gives others as well as ourselves so much joy.

lesleypew

I just spent $500 to repair my sewing machine and nearly choked when they quoted me a price (the circuit board that controls the stitch regulator was fried). However, it would have been much more expensive to buy a new equivalent machine and I use mine a lot so it was well worth it but when you factor that into the cost of your hobby...

ReRe

Since I buy 99% of my fabric from Wal-Mart then I could stop and fugre out how much one costs but then there goes the fun in making it. I certainly would not want to know that I have $100+ wrapped up in fabric 'cause I would be nervous the whole time worried that I'd screw it up somehow and have to spend even more money to get it fixed.

oldswimmer

I try not to keep track. I am the biggest bargain hunter around! I will wait to get many things on sale... sometimes really low closeout sales. I also do alot of web shopping and have several places that have low prices, just as I am sure many of you do.
Believe it or not, one of my favorite places is the Goodwill. I am usually looking for antique finds, but I also find some great fabrics. Recently I found a bag that had 6 coordinated 1/2 yard pieces of beautiful fabrics.... and I seem to always get bags of scraps there. You can't beat 50 cents a yard.