Handing holding cash and coin money over purple and pink quilting fabrics sewing within your means illustration

Sewing Within Your Means

by

Creating High-Quality Quilting Projects Cheaply

Sewing within your means is a challenge because, like photography, fabric art is one of those hobbies that is just not cheap.  Creating high-quality quilting projects cheaply, or at the very least for more reasonable prices, is an art form in and of itself.

It gets a lot easier if you remember two simple principles, and learn how to control one with the other.

The Paint & Potato Principle

Do any of you remember the “Happy Days” episode where Howard is sick so Marion takes charge of his Hardware Store for a day?

potato plus a bucket of paint

At the end of the day, Marion greets him by telling him that she sold out his entire paint inventory – for $1 a can.  After Howard’s near heart attack, Marion shows him the receipts, which show the biggest single day of profit they’ve ever had.

Then she explains to Howard that it’s just like baked potatoes – you can’t eat them without toppings:

  • Chives
  • Sour Cream
  • Bacon bits
  • Etc.

Poor Howard is completely confused until Marion assures him that selling paint is the same thing – you make your money on the extras:

  • Brushes
  • Rollers
  • Buckets
  • Etc.

This paint and potato principle is alive and well in todays’ quilt stores.  They have a fabric sale, which is great for us, but they’re making their money on the:

  • Thread
  • Basting spray
  • Scissors
  • Batting
  • Etc.

I want to make you aware of this and help give you the courage not to give in to it.

Series of concentric bright-colored circles corresponding to fabric sale and prices

Being a Sucker

Everyone knows how super-easy it is to just buy everything you need because you’re there, you’re into the idea, and the quilt store has everything right there for you to select.

Especially if you’ve bought a pattern and all the supplies are right there.

I fell for this salesmanship seduction last fall when I bought the 3 specialty bag patterns I used to design my media bag.  There was such a long list of supplies needed, and since I knew the sales lady, I let her talk me into just buying them, then and there.

3 $10 patterns ended up costing me $120!

It was even worse when I noticed in Walmart that they carried the exact same clear vinyl that I had purchased at the quilt store.  Only at the store I had paid $10.00 for a 10” square of this vinyl and at Walmart they were selling it for $3.40/yard and the yard was 60” wide.

I felt like I had been a real sucker – because I had been.

You’ve probably felt badly about fabric art purchases you’ve made once you realized that you got suckered into buying something at a high price, or buying something you really didn’t need.  It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, every truly passionate quilter has fallen into this trap at least once.

I do want you to be aware of the paint and potato principle, so that you won’t be suckered next time. Mastering the art of creating high-quality quilting projects cheaply depends largely upon your ability to resist these emotional impulses.

I enjoy sewing the “upper layer” of my projects the most, so I am extremely susceptible to the latest notions  and supplies that make the upper layers more fun:

  • Panels
  • Thread
  • Trim
  • Unique buttons
  • And all things which glitter

Quilt stores excel in carrying these things.  And, if we’re being completely honest, we love quilt stores.  There’s nothing quite as satisfying as wandering around in a store and discovering new possibilities.

So the girls and I have developed a strategy for avoiding the worst of the pitfalls.

The Chair Control Principle

2 20 dollar bills and a 5 on a background of purple-to-pink fabrics sewing within your means illustration

Just a few fabrics and extras can really add up the dollar signs in the cash register quickly.  Paying close attention to what you pay cash for in the quilt store will help to cut down on overall expenses.

When we find a notion that we’ve never seen before, and that we just can’t resist, we buy the smallest package of it that we can.

Then we use the information to find it cheaper – often much cheaper – online.

The same thing goes for hot-ticket items like printed panels.  We write down the information in the selvage or on the package, and then look it up on our favorite internet retailers.  This one trick alone often saves us around $20 (USD) on a single panel.

This way we often get out of a quilt store for under $100.

Not only is shopping in a chair much easier, it also gives you power and control over what you purchase, when, and at what prices.  The chair control principle will help you to regulate the paint and potato principle, and will save you time, frustration, and the feeling of being a sucker!

Problems with Online Shopping

Some things are very hard to buy online.  These include items like zippers and thread.

Thread is hard to buy because your computer screen may not be showing the colors accurately, and it can be hard to get a feel for the actual texture of the thread.

Items like zippers and certain buttons are tricky because they’re usually shipped from China and you don’t always receive what you think you’ve ordered.  Once I thought I had ordered one 9” sage green zipper.  What I got were 50-7” lime green zippers!  I’m still trying to come up with a project where I can use a whole bunch of them.

You can usually buy fabric from the computer, but it’s not a good idea to try coordinating an entire project this way.  You simply don’t have the quality control over fabrics when you’re using the chair principle.

We usually handle this by getting the cornerstone of a project – like a panel or a certain fabric – online, then coordinating the rest in a quilt store.

Our favorite online vendors help us with creating high-quality quilting projects cheaply

Listed below are some of the best sites we’ve found.  We’re always finding more, which I’ll share with you as we go along, and if you know of any great ones, please let us know.

  1. Amazon.com

This site has many advantages.  For one thing it is easy to use, even for those of us with computer phobias.  Amazon has a huge warehouse along with many independent vendors, and if you buy enough – which isn’t hard to do when you’re shopping for fabric art – you’ll be provided with free shipping.

Screenshot of quilting supplies on Amazon.com

You just can’t beat Amazon for great prices on notions, appliques, and in-bulk supplies like batting, spray starch, and basting spray.

Amazon.com is not great for competitively priced fabric, however.  You can find fabric, but it’s tricky, and you’ll usually wind up paying store prices.

  1. Fabric.com

This is our go-to for quilting fabrics and specialty fabrics like digital prints and printed panels.  They have a great site that is fairly easy to use, a huge inventory, and often have panels you won’t see in stores and magazines for months.  You can also shop by keywords, like “mermaids,” or by colors, or even by designers.

Screenshot of Fabric.com

Fabric.com is another site that offers free shipping when you make a significant dollar purchase, usually $35.

  1. Etsy.com

Etsy is a unique and beautiful site and it can’t be beaten if you want a more personal and special type of item.  You can make custom orders, and shop for finished products, vintage items, and crafting supplies.

Screenshot of Etsy.com

Because Etsy is based on a personal vendor platform – like a farmer’s market – you also get a more personal quality of service.  For instance, once we wanted silver netting and had ordered it from Amazon.  Unfortunately Amazon had discontinued that line and refunded our money.

We finally found a similar item on a hat shop on Etsy.  We contacted the owner with what we really wanted, and she was kind enough to redirect us to their main site where they had exactly what we needed – for many dollars less than we would have paid on Amazon.

  1. JOANN Fabrics

They have a HUGE selection of everything with good prices.  Plus they have continuous sales, and if you’re signed in to their e-mail, you get notified all the time. This is the best place to get your batting in bulk.

Their website is tricky and annoying, however.  You have to know exactly what you want.  The best way to take advantage of Joann’s is to save those coupons from their emails, and take them into a physical store.

  1. Hobby Lobby

They’re not much for quilting fabric, but their notions are fabulous – from all their wedding stuff, to their fake flowers, and beads and crystals.  For instance I found some small, silver poinsettia leaves there, that I’m going to use for fairy wings.

This is another frustrating website to use, but it can be done, and they also offer you large discounts and free shipping quite frequently.  One good tip is to save the packaging from notions you’ve purchased in store.  That way if you need more and you live a distance from a Hobby Lobby (like we do) you can order that item much more easily.

  1. Strapworks.com

If you’re into making projects like purses, aprons, or duffle bags, this site is impossible to beat.  They carry every type & color of strapping available, and you will pay so much less than you would at any physical store.  Then there’s the hardware.  I paid $1.00/per buckle here, instead of the $15.00 for the same thing at the quilt store.

  1. Silk Flower Factory

They have super great deals on their flowers, but you can only get them in bulk.  If you need 50 iris bunches at once – which is something like a hundred flowers – this is the place to go.

Screenshot of Silk Flower Factory

These physical vendors also help us with creating high-quality quilting projects cheaply

  1. Walmart

Walmart’s not so great on fabric anymore, though they do carry a little of everything, and I go here when I need something immediately.  The fabric quality varies though, so watch out for that.

They’re also pretty good at notions, fabric flowers, and zippers.  They don’t have a great selection, but at least you get only one!  I noticed at one of our quilt stores a can of basting spray cost $19.50!  I almost choked, since you can get the very same thing at Walmart for around $7.00.

Walmart’s website is a little goofy, so I prefer to go in personally.

  1. Thrift stores

Besides the fact that I love thrift stores, you can often find notions that are 100% unique.  From clothes with cool buttons – buy the article for 50 cents and cut the buttons off – to large scarves you can incorporate into your fabric art designs.  Thrift stores also sell T-shirts, which can be used to make T-shirt quilts, striped dresses, and straps for bags if you’re into offbeat fabric arts.

Many of them now sell baggies of reclaimed hardware.  The store itself cuts off unique or fancy buckles, hooks, or buttons, and sells them separately.  We found the coolest buckle in one of our thrift stores.  We don’t know where we’ll use it yet, but we couldn’t resist.

  1. Antique Malls

This is touch-and-go, but if you enjoy wandering in antique stores and malls, keep an eye out for unique notions or fabrics.  Antique malls can also be hideously expensive, or ridiculously cheap.  Exercise good judgement, and you can spice up your projects with old-fashioned charm for practically nothing.

Combining These Powerful Principles

If you stay aware of sales gimmicks and emotional impulses, shop smart, and order online as much as you can, you will be able to save quite a lot of money.  Quilting and fabric art will still cost, but by applying the chair control principle over the paint and potato principle you will be surprised at your incredible new ability for creating high-quality quilting projects cheaply.

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