Four sheets I’m using for my quilt.

I love quilting!  It is my favorite gift for a new mom; something that feels good to give.  A gift that won’t quickly be out grown, perhaps even a keep sake.   The only thing I don’t like about quilting – the expensive fabric.  Finding a good combination of fabrics can be rather pricey, and if you are like me you enjoy variety in your quilts.  But how do you do that without spending a lot of money?  By thinking “outside the square.”  It dawned on me the other day, when I was at my local big box store looking for the pieces for my next quilt, that many of the patterns reminded me of vintage material.  Where can you get vintage material, for reasonable prices? The thrift store!  What if I was to use vintage sheets as my material?  It’s soft, comes in a variety of colors and patterns, and in large quantity that would provide a vast amount of material.

Vintage sheet quilt in progress.

My trip to a near by Goodwill store turned out to be a treasure trove of possibilities.  There were even more varieties of patterns than I could have imagined.  I hadn’t even thought of the number of character sheets for kids that could be transformed into a themed quilt.  For just pennies compared to buying the character print at a fabric store that is often $12.99 or more a yard.  I purchased a twin set with Tinkerbell print for only $2.49.  That is roughly 7 yards of usable material for $2.49 unheard of!  I may never buy retail fabric again.

Most thrift stores have their bargain days where they mark down items 50%.  This is how I got my great deals, but let’s face it even at “full price” $4.99 for 7 yards would have been a steal as well.  I am seriously going to need to figure out a more ample storage system for all of my new material.  I am starting with 12 sheets and two pillow cases for now but I can see this becoming a weekend tradition!