Quilting on a Budget

Fabric Buying Tips

“Quilting on a budget”, how do you react to that phrase? Do you say um right no way quilting is just an expensive hobby and forget the budget? Or do you come up with creative ways to enjoy your hobby even with prices going up everywhere?

I’m here to tell you there are ways to save money even though quilting can be an expensive hobby.

Sew Your Stash

The first quilting on a budget tip is to sew your stash!

If you have a quilting stash (and I realize if you are starting out, you may not) then use it. I mean that’s why we collected the fabric in the first place right? Not just to pet it and look at it (ok well there is always that as well).

You may not be able to find all the colours you want in the stash, but you may also surprise yourself. I have made whole quilts from my stash with just having to go to the quilt store to purchase yardage for the border.

If you really want to get creative, you could probably piece the border from your stash as well. Of course, this all depends on the size of your stash and your yardage. For me the pieces in my stash are generally a 1/2 yard to maybe a yard so usually not enough for a border.

Building a Quilting Fabric Stash
Use Your Stash

Tips for Building Your Stash on a Budget

Ok, you may be saying right now, while that’s all fine and good but I’m new at this quilting hobby and I don’t have a stash. Here are some tips to start collecting a stash without breaking the bank when you are quilting on a budget.

Facebook Marketplace

Check out listings on Facebook Marketplace for fabric sales. People downsize for many different reasons and some like me have been collecting fabric for many years and don’t always get around to using it. (I would need another 4 lifetimes or more to use mine). When it’s time to move to a smaller place for whatever reason, many people are faced with what to do with their fabric collection.

This fabric may be older, but most fabric collectors store their fabric in storage bins so generally, it should still be in good condition. If you’re unsure, then just check the fabric pieces before you purchase them.

This fabric would be great to use in scrap quilts. If the pieces are larger, you can piece them for backings as well.

Estate or Yard Sales

Another great option would be Estate or Yard Sales in your local area.

As with above check the fabric first to make sure it’s in good condition.  Even if the fabric isn’t totally to your taste, when cut up for scrap quilts or used as backings it will work great and stretch your fabric budget.

Sale “Rack” Fabric

Instead of purchasing 4 to 5 metres of that expensive yardage that exactly matches the fabric in the quilt top, check the sale rack (or sale tab online) to see if there is a fabric that would work with the theme of the quilt top without matching it exactly.

For example, say the quilt top is pink floral of a certain line, can you find a matching fabric that may have the same pinks in it or maybe you use a contrasting colour that still has the same “feel” as the quilt top?

I try to do this as often as I can and have saved a LOT of money doing this. Yes, you will have to piece the back but depending on how much money you save, spending the extra hour or so piecing the back just might be worth it. Anything to help make that quilting budget go further.

Quilt Shop Sale Days

You have this quilt pattern that you really want to make. It calls for a certain amount of yardage. You have checked your stash and you just don’t have the colours or amounts you are looking for.

Does your local quilt shop have a sale day? One store where I live has a big sale on the last Saturday of every month. To save money, wait until the sale day and purchase the fabric then.

Subscribe to your favourite quilt stores newsletter, both your local ones and online to find out when the “sales” are happening.

Purchase More Fabric than you Need

When purchasing fabric on sale, purchase ¼ to ½ yard more fabric than you need so you can put the extra fabric back into your stash to use for other projects.

Another idea for this extra fabric is to use it to piece the quilt back as well.  

Bonus Tip

SHOPPING TIP FOR LOCAL QUILT SHOP

Generally, sales days are busy so if you want to spend time auditioning fabrics for your pattern go on a non-sale day.

Figure out the fabrics you want to purchase and take a picture of the selvedge of the fabric with your phone (if you have one) and also the bolt itself.

Then on the sale day, you can simply go and pull the fabric bolts you took pictures of a few days before (don’t leave it too long between when you do this and sale day though you don’t want your fabric to be sold out).

Head over to the cutting table line and you will be out of the store in no time!

Fabric Shopping
Fabric Shopping

More Tips for Stretching those Quilting Dollars

Piecing the Quilt Back

I have mentioned a few times about piecing your quilt back instead of buying dedicated yardage for the quilt back. This really can save you money especially if you have a fabric stash already.

Check out more info on piecing quilt backs here!

If you have a fabric stash and you need 4 yards/metres for a quilt back, see if you can find larger pieces that you may already have in your stash, that may coordinate with the quilt top and piece them together.

Forever Flowers Scrappy Quilt Back Quilting UFOs
Forever Flowers Scrappy Quilt Back

Using Multiple Background Fabrics

This tip is geared more to quilters who have a quilting stash and want to save money by not purchasing additional yardage.

If the quilt pattern you wish to use calls for 3 yards of one background fabric why not break it up into 3 1-yard pieces or 6 1/2 yard pieces? You may not have 3 yards of one cream or white background fabric in your stash however, you may have several pieces of white or off-white that would work well together.

Personally, I love doing this and find it makes a much more interesting vibrant and interesting quilt.

Use Those Scraps

To really stretch that quilting budget remember to use ALL of your fabric. Let’s face it you paid for it why not use it all?

When you are finished cutting your fabric for a project, don’t just throw the leftover scraps away unless they are teeny tiny! I have been known to go through the garbage at a quilting retreat to pick out fabric that others have thrown away. At the end of the retreat, I usually have enough scraps gathered to make an entire lap-sized scrap quilt.

That’s a lot of money being thrown in the garbage, especially these days. Scraps can be cut down to manageable sizes like squares and strips.

I usually cut my scraps into 1.5-, 2- and 2.5-inch squares and do the same with longer pieces cutting them into strips. These sizes are great for scrap quilts

Edyta Sitar even uses 1.25-inch strips for her scrap log cabin quilts (not sure if I want to go that small but hey).

Final Thoughts

Do you use any of these quilting budget tips yourself? Do you have any I haven’t listed? Leave a comment below!

Happy Quilting!

Attic Window Quilt

Have you ever wanted to make an Attic Window Quilt?

Now you may be saying what the heck is that? Fair Enough!

An Attic Window quilt uses the Attic Window block. This is a great block to use with panels or with one of those prints that have a lot of “pictures” in it. Some great examples would be:

In the Garden Fabric
In the Garden Fabric
Tropical Paradise Fabric
Tropical Paradise Fabric

The above samples would make great attic window blocks.

For my quilt, I used a panel I purchased many years ago. You know the kind, or maybe you don’t. The panel that you love and put aside and say one day I will do something with you. Well, I finally decided to “do something” with that my panel.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the panel before I decided to cut into it. Not sure what I was thinking there. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking.

Anyway, I loved the panel as it reminded me of childhood RV trips down the Oregon Coast and visiting the sea lion caves.

The Attic Window Block

If you don’t know what an Attic Window Block looks like here are some examples. These were created in Electric Quilt 8 design software.

Sea Life Panel Attic Window Block
Sea Life Panel Attic Window Block made from a panel
Spring Garden Attic Window Block EQ8
Spring Garden Attic Window Block EQ8
Tropical Paradise Attic Window Block EQ8
Tropical Paradise Attic Window Block EQ8

You can see why this block is so great for using panels or those picture print fabrics that would completely loose their impact if cut up into smaller pieces.

Anatomy of an Attic Window Quilt

An Attic Window Quilt consists of the blocks above which have the window and then two sashes. The quilt will be put together with a “frame”.  This “frame” would be the sashing in a different style of quilt.

Sea Life Attic Window Parts
Sea Life Attic Window Parts

The “window sashes” should have one side darker than the other to look like the sun is shining into the window and shading one side.

This gives dimension to the block.

In the quilt top above I used one fabric for the bottom of the sashes and then used a different fabric as we moved down under the water as the light would be different down there. Notice how the sashes up a darker green as the shadows under the water would be darker down there.

I chose a black for the frame on the windows, the first border around this top will be done in the same black fabric.

Sea Life Attic Window Progress
Sea Life Attic Window Progress
Tropical Paradise Attic Window Quilt EQ8
Tropical Paradise Attic Window Quilt EQ8

The second picture is an attic window I designed in Electric Quilt 8 using the Tropical Paradise Fabric I have. I can’t remember where I picked this fabric up from however it may have been on a trip to Hawaii.

Notice that in this quilt I reversed the windows sashes to the right of the block and used a lighter valued fabric on the sides to have the light come from a different angle.

For this quilt top, I used the same fabrics in the sashes for all the blocks. For the “frame” I chose a fuchsia colour to pick up on the colour of the hibiscus flowers.

Designing an Attic Window Quilt

Designing an Attic Window Block or Quilt is not that hard. It does require a bit of math though. There are three main pieces you must make decisions on

These are

  1. What size do you want your “windows”
  2. How wide do you want to make your sashes (usually 2 to 2.5 inches finished)
  3. How wide do you want your frame to be (usually 1 to 1 inches finished)

One thing to always keep in mind when you are figuring these things out is to add your seam allowance into the equation.

For example, if you want your sashes to be 2 inches finished then you will need a strip that is 2.5 inches wide to start.

For your frame, 1 inch finished would mean you need 1.5 inches of fabric to start.

Attic Window using a Panel

To make an attic window from a panel simply measure the panel you have and figure out how many squares or rectangles you can get out of the panel.

For my panel, it was long and skinny so doing the math I worked out that I could get 15 “windows”. These were cut 7.5 inches square. I cut these out individually, numbered them, and then put them on my design wall right away so as not to get them out of order.

Attic Window Using a Pictural Fabric

When using a fabric with scenes on it like the Tropical Paradise Fabric you have two choices depending on the fabric.

If the fabric has birds and butterflies all over it, you just may want to cut it out and be surprised at the different “window” views you get.

 However, if the fabric has “scenes” like the tropical Paradise fabric in my example of above, you may want to choose the scene you want in the window. For this, you would have to figure out the best size of the window to get the best scene and then do the math from there.

Attic Window Block Sashing

There are several ways to make the sashes for the Attic Window Block. The most popular are

  1. Traditional mitred corner (which I did) using templates I created in the Electric Quilt Software
  2. The stitch and flip technique
  3.  Half square triangle in the corner

For a demonstration of different techniques to create either the mitred corner or the look of a mitred corner, there is a good YouTube video here.

Warning: The last method shown in this video would NOT work if using a panel!

For my Attic Window Block I used a traditional mitred method however since I designed my quilt using the Electric Quilt software, I was able to create templates for the sashing.

With the templates, I already had my 45degree angle already cut and prepared.

For more information on how I made the mitred quilt block, I have created a how-to PDF

Final Thoughts

I am finding I am loving the variety of attic window quilts I can create using this method and I can see myself making many more. I hope you will give it a go!

Have you made an attic window quilt? Would you? Leave a comment below.

Happy Quilting

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Also, check out the Tips and Tricks section for more helpful hints

Building a Quilting Fabric Stash

If you are a new quilter or a sporadic quilter (is there such a thing) you may be new to building a quilting fabric stash.

Of course, you may decide you don’t want to build a fabric stash and just purchase fabric for the quilt you want to make as you go along. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Quilting is meant to be fun and creative.

It really depends on what kind of quilts you like to make. Me, I love controlled scrap quilts. I love the look and texture different fabrics bring to the look of the quilt. I can keep the colour palette to three or four different choices; however, I use many different fabrics in that colour range to achieve the effect I want.

Scrappy Stars
Scrappy Stars
Forever Flowers Quilt
Forever Flowers Quilt

Some quilters love the look of old-fashioned scrap quilts where you throw everything at them. Some of Bonnie Hunter’s quilt designs come to mind here. I love her quilts and patterns but would have to tone them down for my taste.

I first started sewing as a young teenager. At that time, I just made garments and didn’t have a fabric stash. Materials were bought as needed for the project at hand. That all changed once I became a quilter though.

The Colour Filled Fabric Pantry

A stash, like a pantry, should provide its owner with the resources to create whatever they want, whenever they want. For the quiltmaker, the fabric is the medium. It’s kind of like stocking a pantry. We need to purchase fabric like a painter buys paint. Have some of every colour.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy the beautiful “starring” role fabrics. You know the ones, that big bold print that you fell in love with. Just remember that along with that big bold print you will need a supporting cast of small prints, tone on tone fabrics as well as colours that blend well with that print.

Starring Fabrics - Building a Quilting Fabric Stash
Starring Role Fabrics

Tips for Building a Quilting Fabric Stash

Not every quilter has a fabric stash or even wants one, however, there are several reasons why building a quilting fabric stash makes sense.

  • Quilting fabric has seasons, and many designs are made in limited quantities. If you fall in love with a fabric, it’s best to purchase it then, as it may not be at the store the next time you go shopping.
  • Being able to “shop” your stash when the quilting bug hits late at night

Here are a few tips to really start building a fabric stash

  • Buy background or tone on tone fabrics when they are on sale will save money when you go to make your next quilt, especially if you tend to use more than one fabric in the same colourway in your quilts. Think controlled or scrappy quilts
  • Check out the “clearance” fabric bolts, yes some of these fabrics are ugly but sometimes you get lucky, and you will find a fabric that is neutral enough to be used as a backing. If you do get lucky purchasing 5 yards of fabric that is heavily marked down will be a great money saver.
  • Purchase more fabric than the pattern calls for. This is also great because if you ever have an “oops” moment in cutting (and you will) you won’t freak out because you will have extra fabric on hand.

Building Your Fabric Stash- How Much Should You Buy

This is a hard question and can be subject to personal preference however here are some of my suggestions.

The Starring Role Prints

If you love the fabric and it is a print or “starring role” fabric purchase at least 2.5 to 3 yards. This way you have options as you may want to use the fabric in the blocks and in the border. If you don’t end up using it as a border fabric you can always use the extra fabric on the back of the quilt and piece the back with a coordinating fabric. Let’s face it fabric will never go to waste if you do this.

Background and Coordinating Fabrics

Many patterns call for “background fabric”. A lot of the time this will be white or cream. This could be a tone on tone or a solid. This could also be a very pale colour fabric as well. Any fabric that won’t fight with the other fabrics in the quilt. You want some contrast between the background fabric and the main fabrics.

A background fabric could also be black if the main colours used are really bright.

Since patterns generally call for at least 2 to 3 yards of a background fabric depending on the size of the quilt, I tend to purchase more of these fabrics. I do this even if I am doing scrappy and using more than one background fabric in my quilt.

Coordinating Fabrics are the tone on tone and small print fabrics that would work with your starring role fabrics.

For these fabrics purchase 1/2 to 1 yard.

Background Fabrics - Building a Quilting Fabric Stash
Coordinating Fabrics – Building a Quilting Fabric Stash

Fat Quarters

Fat Quarters can be fun! If these are a bundle from the fabric company, then you can be assured they are all the same size. I have learned however that not all fat quarters are equal. I prewash my fabric first, and I have found that when using fat quarters for a quilt project, I am quite often 1 inch short of the fabrics I need which is super annoying.

For this reason alone, I tend to avoid purchasing fat quarters unless I am using them in a scrap quilt where it really doesn’t matter how much fabric I will need.

Final Thoughts

When building your quilting fabric stash make sure you are getting fabrics of all colours, not just your favourites. This will make your stash much more versatile.

Once you have collected (yup I look upon my stash as a collection) many different colours and built up that stash, you will find there is nothing better than seeing a pattern you love and running to your stash and doing your shopping there.

Happy Stash Building

Fat Quarter Pack- Building a Quilting Fabric Stash
Building a Quilting Fabric Stash using Fat Quarter Bundles

Check out more Quilting Tips and Tricks here!

Quilting UFOs (Unfinished Projects)

Do you have any quilting UFOs (Unfinished Projects)? Like many quilters I have several! Mostly unfinished quilt tops. I could do with having two long arm machines, one for client quilts and one for mine!

Don’t laugh though, I know lots of award-winning long arm quilters that do just that! Some have taken over their living room, dining rooms as their studio to accommodate both machines.

That’s not likely to happen in my home so, my unquilted tops end up languishing.

Oh, Those Unfinished Tops

Currently, I have 4 unfinished tops. At least two have been sitting around for over a year now.

I don’t want to just quilt an edge to edge (all over) design on my quilts. One of the reasons I purchased a long arm in the first place was so that I could do custom quilting on my own quilts.

Some quilters enjoy the piecing more than the quilting. I happen to like the whole process! I love designing my own quilts, choosing the fabrics, piecing the quilt top and then the quilting is the icing on the cake.

The problem for me is that since I want to do the custom quilting these tops really do end up as my quilting UFOs.

Fall Baskets Quilt Top
Fall Baskets Quilt Top
Forever Flowers Quilt Top
Forever Flowers Quilt Top

Here are pictures of two of my unfinished quilt tops. The fall baskets quilt is about 78 x 78 and will take a while to quilt so it keeps getting put on the back burner. Forever flowers quilt top is for a friend so it will be quilted with an allover design very shortly.

I used only fabrics from my stash on the Forever Flowers quilt top. I decided I didn’t want to purchase a backing fabric either. With a bit of hunting through my stash, I found fabrics that would go well together and pieced the back.

For more information on pieced backs, check out this blog post.

Even with using all fabrics from my stash, I didn’t even put a dent in my stash. Not even a tiny one!

Forever Flowers Scrappy Quilt Back
Forever Flowers Scrappy Quilt Back

My WIP (Work in Progress)

I have one project that is a work in progress that has been taking months now. It is an older Judy Niemeyer pattern called Cactus Rose. I love the pattern; however, this pattern calls for applique and I’m NOT a fan of applique!

It took me 15 years to finish my hand applique project.  I did finish it but have vowed never to do hand applique again. This time I am doing turned under machine applique but have decided I am not a fan of it either.

Cactus Rose Quilt Top
Cactus Rose Quilt Top in Progress
Cactus Rose Applique
Cactus Rose Applique Pieces

In hindsight, I should have just done fusible applique on this quilt, however too late now!

My One Finish

One finish I did accomplish though, is my Scrappy Stars quilt. I love it! This quilt is my own design.

Scrappy Stars Body
Scrappy Stars Body
scrappy stars border
scrappy stars border

I love scrappy quilts, however, that said, I’m not a huge fan of the kitchen sink scrappy kind of quilt. My favourite scrappy quilt is more controlled. The star points in this quilt all use the same fabric. The background fabrics are all scrappy but tend to be more tone on tone neutrals.

The above Forever Flowers quilt top is also scrappy but even there I was more controlled in my use of fabrics. The background fabrics are all tone on tone whites.

I have been asked if I will be writing a pattern for the Scrappy Stars quilt so watch for that to happen!

Meanwhile, you can find other free patterns here!

So let me know in the comments below, do you enjoy doing applique?

Choosing a Quilt Pattern

Beginner Quilting Series Part 2

How to Choose a Beginner Quilt Pattern

Welcome back to the series! You have purchased your supplies and you’re all excited to start that very first quilt project! You go to the quilt shop and Oh My! So many choices how do you choose that first beginner quilt pattern?

My Very First Quilt

My First Quilt
Quilt Sampler

When I first started as a quilter I took a beginning quilt class at a quilt shop here in Victoria BC, Canada where I live. Instead of it being only a weekend or a “one-day” class, it was a series of weekly classes over about 8 weeks. The beginning quilt pattern we used was called a sampler quilt and the teacher took us from what we needed for basic supplies to showing us the pattern she was using, to explaining fabric all the way through to how to baste the finished top and how to hand quilt the top and how to bind the quilt. The class covered everything from start to finish.

The sampler quilt was a great way to start.  We started off with simple blocks then moved to more advanced blocks, we learned a bit of everything from curved piecing to hand applique. I will be honest though, not sure I would want to tackle this type of quilt as my first quilt without an actual teacher guiding the way.

Beginner Quilt Classes

Taking a beginner quilt class like the one I was able to take with a hands-on teacher taking you through beginning blocks to more advanced was a real pleasure however these classes seem to be few and far between these days.

Beginner quilt classes provided at your local quilt store are always an option if you can find one. I tend to find though that the beginner quilt classes I tend to see advertised these days, is how to make a baby quilt! That’s fine if you have a baby you want to make a quilt for. A basic baby quilt size is too small for anything but a baby (actually I find them too small for even babies but that’s a whole other topic).

I will confess that I often find the beginner quilt patterns on offer for these classes boring and totally uninspiring. Not sure I would ever have become a quilter if that were the only suggestion for a “first” quilt.

Beginner Quilt Pattern Options

Thankfully there are many other options for your first project other than just a baby quilt.

Some suggestions are

  • Tablerunner
  • Wallhanging
  • Small Lap Quilt

Of course, if you are really ambitious you could go all the way up to a bed-sized quilt. I do know people who start with a queen-sized quilt as their first project. Not something I would recommend, but it can be done!

There are also so many really great tutorials online now both with blog posts and video tutorials that finding a first project that interests and excites you should be much easier than it may have been in the past.

Where to Find Beginner Quilt Patterns

You can find beginner quilt patterns in many places these days. Try looking online, in magazines, in books or purchase a pattern at your local quilt shop.

What to look for in a Beginning Quilt Pattern

Patterns that say Easy or Beginner are a good place to start. If the pattern doesn’t specify the skill level, then choose something with simple shapes like squares and rectangles. You can always move up to triangles and other shapes once you have mastered the basics.

The more pieces in the block of the pattern chosen the more chances of the project becoming more frustrating than fun. The whole idea of this process is to enjoy what you are doing and make something fun and special for yourself. Try the more advanced stuff once you’re hooked.

How to Read the Quilt Pattern

Once you have decided on a quilt pattern, I would recommend reading the quilt pattern all the way through first, maybe even several times.

Things you should find listed on a well-written pattern back are

  • The overall finished quilt size
  • The finished block size
  • A materials list  (which should include backing, batting and binding requirements)
  • A cutting List
  • Instructions on how to sew the blocks together with diagrams
  • Instructions on how to assemble the quilt top with diagrams

Most quilt patterns will get you to the finished top or flimsy (what some call the quilt top) stage. Some patterns will have suggestions for how to quilt the quilt and some even for how to bind the quilt however these are usually rare.

Notice I have well written highlighted above. Not all quilt patterns are created equal hence my suggestion to read the pattern first. If you can’t follow the pattern at all then don’t assume it’s because you are a beginner. It could be that it’s just a really poorly written pattern. Believe me, I have made a few of those!

Examples of Information Found on the Back of Quilt Patterns

Examples of Good Beginner Quilt Patterns

There are a lot of great beginner quilt patterns you can find online and some of them could be free just google free beginner quilt patterns and go from there.  

A pattern company that produces some great beginner pattern designs that I have used and like is Atkinson Designs.

Atkinson Designs have tested their patterns and have posted any corrections on their website so you can be assured the pattern is as accurate as possible. A bonus is that their patterns have multiple sizes listed so you can make the quilt the size you want. This particular company also has clear instructions with good diagrams. Easy to follow for a beginner quilter.

Listed below are three patterns to help you get started. This will give you some idea of what to look for in a pattern.

I am not affiliated with this pattern company in any way. Their patterns are very easy to read and use and I have used them myself in my early quilting journey. I also found they had a really well-designed website that is easy to navigate and some good video tutorials as well.

Next Steps

Have fun exploring your quilting beginner pattern options! Once you have chosen the pattern you want to use then comes the fun part! Choosing the fabrics!

See you soon!