Some of my quilting friends will cringe at what I’m about to tell you, but – like the honey badger – Scrappy Camper don’t care.

I just bought a boatload of fabric from Walmart.

I HAD to. It was only $1.00 per yard. ONE. Dollar.

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The orange piece – while not the most attractive fabric I’ve ever seen – was just 75 cents per yard. I bought all of it, and I’d do it again.

I’m not insane. Like all quilters, I do love designer fabrics. Tula Pink, Michael Miller, Kaffe Fassett, all make my heart go pitter-patter, but at $10-$15 per yard, I can’t buy as much of it as I’d like. I save those for my special projects. Here then, are my top five tips for thrifty quilting, and how I use those lower-priced fabrics.

1. Walmart

For a while, Walmart quit carrying fabric and I was sad. I find their fabrics to be decent quality and even at regular price, it’s about $5-$6 per yard. Then, of course, there’s the $1 per yard sales.

2. Thrift Stores

I have found amazing fabrics at my local thrift store. Excellent quality quilting fabrics, entire bolts, bags full of scraps. All for a great price. The two prints above were in a big stack of quilting cottons I picked up for about ten bucks.

3. CraigsList

Oh, how I love CraigsList. I check it on a regular basis. I once scored two HUGE cardboard boxes of scrap fabrics for $30. HUGE.

4. Yard Sales

This is a little morbid, BUT…I once went to a yard sale where a widower was selling his wife’s stash for $2 per yard. All of it was quite expensive quilting cotton from our local quilt shop. I bought as much as I had cash for. My husband will probably be doing that one day.

I also once bought a garbage bag full of fabrics and inside I found several coin strips, including the one pictured above. I put them together with some of my low-volume jelly-roll strips to make a quilt top. Even though it’s not that attractive, I love it, and I often wonder about the person who made the strips. Did she die, or just get tired of sewing? I’ll never know.

5. Closet

Men’s plaid shirts make beautiful quilts. The fabric is often very good quality, and who doesn’t love a plaid quilt? I haven’t made one yet, but it’s on my list.

You can also check out my Pinterest board, Thrifty Quilting, here:

• The Scrappy Camper, Thrifty Quilting

So, then, what do I do with these thrifty fabrics? As mentioned above, some of my finds are excellent quality and can go into my best projects. As for the rest, I like to use it for:

• Quilt backing
• To test new pattern designs
• For utility quilts
• Small projects like notebook covers, wallets, etc.

What are your thoughts on thrifty quilting? Yes or no?