CheapO quilters

[Franceslovesfabric]

Nothing gets me more agitated than a cheapo quilter. The "Too high for my blood' type quilters are a real drag to be around. I'm not referring to quilters on a tight budget, there is a big difference. Quilters on a tight budget know value. The CheapO quilter is a nitwit when it comes to value.


1. The CheapO will use a dull rotary blade until it takes five or more passes to cut a piece of fabric.

2. The CheapO won't buy the good seam ripper because she can get one on the $1 rack and then picks a hole in her fabric while taking out a seam.

3. The CheapO will go with the group to the quilt store and then complain all the time about how expensive everything is.

4. The CheapO won't take a workshop or class because 'I'd have to buy the book and kit when I know I could get it cheaper someplace else'.

5. The CheapO thinks anyone is foolish to spend more than $1 for a spool of thread and proud that she doesn't.

6. The CheapO thinks a dollar store sewing kit with tiny fold up scissors is perfect for a guild door prize when it's her turn to bring one.

7. The CheapO won't buy a quilt pattern or a book for a new technique because she can look at it and figure it out on her own.

[Franceslovesfabric]

This happened to me last night at a group meeting!

One girl came up to talk to me and showed me a complicated block of the month she was just starting. And then she said - its needleturn applique, I have never done that so I thought you could teach me how!!!

I never mind helping anyone or advising anyone in our group because I always think what goes around comes around. But her assumption that I would be prepared to teach her needle turn applique from scratch I thought was the limit.

How did I learn? I went to and paid for several workshops and classes.

However I couldn't just brush her off so I found books from our library and suggested she took those and tried some techniques out first and then I would fill in any gaps next week.

Perhaps I should say to her that I will run a workshop for her and it will cost .........

[Franceslovesfabric]

This is so true! I know several quilters who have this CheapO trait. They are big turn offs to be around when you want to share your passion and interest in quilting. I buy items on sale when possible but I don't buy low quality no matter how cheap the price.

[Franceslovesfabric]

Where's the quilt police when you need them.

[Franceslovesfabric]

I got another cheapo

After our quilt guild meeting we had a class to learn a simple way of making bulls eye quilts.

It all had to be pre-paid a month ahead of time.

ONE of our quilters stayed through out the class, when I asked her where her sample block was, of which we were all working on. Her reply was OH she didn't sign up for the class.

Yet, she got the same lessons, and learning experience the rest of us paid for.

[Franceslovesfabric]

I had just read this thread today and at my quilt guild meeting tonight someone came up for Sew and Tell with an Easter Egg wall hanging she had made. She had seen the pattern at the quilt show but had not bought it, knowing she could easily copy it!

Tama

[Franceslovesfabric]

I'm sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with NOT buying a pattern. There are lots of patterns to be found free online & there are lots of quilts that anyone could easily make without purchasing a pattern.
Our grandmothers copied each others' quilts long before anyone thought to pay someone for their expertise.
I certainly would never take credit for the pattern, nor would I expect someone to share knowledge gained from a class or book. I love to look at magazines & pattern books, but often start making changes & my quilt ends up quite different than the published pattern.

I am irritated by those teachers who insist that you could never make anything without taking their class. I feel sorry for new quilters who are too afraid to start without a huge financial investment in tools, books & classes. Sometimes they think they have to use the exact fabric & are afraid they'll fail if they change anything to suit their own taste.

[Franceslovesfabric]

I certainly would never take credit for the pattern, nor would I expect someone to share knowledge gained from a class or book.

Then it sounds to me like you are probably walking on the right side of the street!

The problem is those who do want to copy someone's work, rather than simply be loosely inspired to create their own patterns. It is unfair to "steal" someone's creative product for one's own profit. I would love for our society to find more incentives for creative output. It saddens me to think that we might not be able to find some of the wonderful books, patterns, magazines and other inspirations we enjoy, if the companies who publish, distribute and sell them to us decde they are not worth the effort. You know, kind of like HGTV deciding to kill Alex's program? Thank goodness she and Ricky and some other forward-thinkers have come up with an alternative outlet! But even they could not have invested whatever it is taking to get this going if there was no reasonable expectation of recouping the costs (and hopefully profiting a bit).

To me, though, it is a person's right to be a Cheap-O quilter, to find ways to keep costs manageable and economize as need be. We all must live within our means. I don't see an ethical dilemma in that per se. It is when it comes to taking other people's work that it is no longer Cheap-O, but outright stealing. That is a whole different matter.

[Franceslovesfabric]

I'm not sure if I qualify as a cheap-o or not, but I certainly am frugal. I've made every one of my quilts on a Singer I got at Walmart for about $100. I've never taken a class. Alex and Simply Quilts and Quilter's Newsletter Magazine have been my teachers. All my fabric came from Walmart until we got a LQS here in town, and I still shop walmart. I'm alot pickier than I used to be though. Any pattern I use I modify to suit myself and note where it came from and whose it is. This obsession of ours can get expensive and it's worth every penny, but everyone has to do the best with what they have to spend.--Sherry

[Franceslovesfabric]

The quilting industry has moved beyond our grandmother's quilting bee.
I remind myself that the patterns and tools I buy are the products of someone's hard work and imagination usually that person is a woman....(not to exclude the men!).
We have moved from local quilt shows to International Shows. Today we have more variety of patterns, fabric and methods. Someone has taken the time to discover and produce or improve the products we use today. Teachers and pattern makers are trying like everyone else to make a living off of what they feel they do best. I have no problem paying them for their time and talent. I also have no problem supporting my LQS which is usually owned by a woman also. If women don't support women owned businesses then who will?
I am just as cost conscious as the next person. So I have to pick and choose projects all the time. When I take a class, I am taking it for a reason to learn a pattern method or technique. I have no problem with buying the supplies required by the instructor or paying for her time. I tell myself I am investing in myself by learning something new. I am expanding my knowledge of a craft I love. Even workshops given by my local quilt guild members, class participants are charged a small fee. This fee would cover the cost of the room and the for the instructors time. We are always expected to have our own supplies.
Also remember without people like Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson who decided to take a chance on an idea...we would not be here in our homes watching the first Internet show on this site!!!
The quilting bee has evolved into an industry whether we like it or not. I think we as consumers demanded more and we got it.

FW

[Franceslovesfabric]

I would NEVER begrudge someone being careful with my money, I know I should have been more careful with mine....BUT

If you don't want to spend money on a new rotary blade, don't complain to me that yours doesn't work well, and then use mine!

If you don't want to spend money on silk finish thread, don't complain that yours breaks all the time and ask to 'try' a spool of mine.

If you tell my your old, chipped ruler is just fine and you can't see spending $35 on a new ruler, don't make me come to your table in class to collect my ruler every time I need it.

I hope to really learn the lessons that some of you have noted here, to spend my money wisely and to support women who are trying to make a business of their own, but please let me also recognize that I will have to spend some money on this lovely hobby of mine, and not to ride on the money spent by others.

[Franceslovesfabric]

I have never taken a quilting class. My tools are pretty basic. A good pair of scissors I bought on sale about 10 yrs. ago, a beat up old iron, a chalko liner (my one extravagance), a plain ole 12" wooden rule and needle and thread. I don't generally go into quilt shops (I don't like the atmosphere). Finding and gathering up new fabric usually takes more time than money for me. I shop at garage sales and thrift shops and friends give me fabric when they clean out their sewing rooms -- I don't ask, bags just show up on my doorstep because people know I quilt. The only things I buy at the fabric store are batting, printer fabric, thread and sometimes backing fabric. I do like metallic thread but I buy it on sale. The beads I use are from my stash of 10 years ago when I taught beading. Most of my other embellishments are "found objects" or from the dollar store. Sure there are lots of new products out there but that doesn't mean I have to buy them. Compared to many quilters I spend very little money.

Now I am frugal. It has been said that I can pinch a penny till it squeals. But that isn't really the reason I work the way I do. I believe that working this way helps me be more creative. Going out and buying whatever I thought I needed wouldn't encourage me to stretch creatively.

Don't worry I'm not even tempted to borrow your rotary cutter, fancy rulers, thread, etc. I'm happy working the way I am.

How much money is spent on quilting should be a personal thing. What concerns me is that new quilters are getting the idea that certain products are absolutely necessary when they are really optional. Quilting can be a very expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be.

[she-quilts]

I would NEVER begrudge someone being careful with my money, I know I should have been more careful with mine....BUT

and not to ride on the money spent by others.

Great point!!

[she-quilts]

Gbquilter, I have to agree with you on some of the points you made. I too, believe how much some one chooses to spend on quilting is very personal. I also commend you with how you challenge yourself with making wonderful quilts with “found objects”. My quilting hat is off to you.

I also like to add a few of my two cents on the subject as well. I was a little interested when I saw the title of this thread. Then I was a little taken back by the opening comment. All I have to say is so what if someone chooses to us a dull rotary blade instead of buy anew one? So what if CheapO chooses to by $1 spools of thread? Is that really affecting you? If they are part of a club you are in, and then sit across the room form them so you don’t have to hear about it. If CheapO wants to borrow your thread, kindly say no because you will need every last inch for your project. I would feel honored if some wanted me to teach them something I knew, so they didn’t have to take a class.

So what if the person can look at a picture or a quilt and make a pattern of it. I say hats off to her/him, drafting patterns are hard. Let me say this before the copy write police start scolding me. They way I look at is, as long as a person isn’t trying to make money, get the pattern published, or enter the quilt in a show to win a prize. Then so what? No two quilts will ever be made the same or look the same. Also, maybe you should try to get the person to use their talent to draft a pattern for the guild, and then you and the guild members can pay her for the pattern? Encourage them to use their talent and maybe profit off of it. You know support women in business; I believe some stated that is what they like to do.

I am by no means cheap; however I do look for ways to save money. Quilting can be a rather expensive hobby, I say hobby because that is what it is for me. I have slowly over time up graded the quality of thread, fabric, sewing machine, and tools I use. But I have done so for my own preference, not because I am trying to impress someone. I will shop on Ebay and try to get good deals on certain things. I like to buy rulers and books second hand. It is better than those things ending up in landfills.

Matter of fact I got my sewing machine off of Ebay, a Viking. I bought if from a dealer that sells on ebay and yes before someone can ask. I did look the dealer up on the Viking website to confirm they were indeed a reputable dealer. It was about $400 less then at my local Viking dealer and it came with a warranty. If I can find something somewhere else cheaper I will. I buy a lot of my books on Amazon.com or find them second had. I do have a huge library of new and used quilting books. I am mostly self taught, so in the beginning I bought book after book learning how to quilt.

Now before someone cries foul because I am not supporting my LQS. Let me say this. First the closest quilt store is here in town (they are not the Viking dealer I mentioned above). I don’t really like going there, because I get this snooty holier than thou feeling. First off, the minute I walking in someone is following me up and down the aisles, even after I kindly tell them I don’t need any help or I am just looking. That still doesn’t stop them from following me; like I am going steal something or I am too ignorant to know what it is I am looking for. It really affects my inspiration. Yeah I might be a young and only have a year or so under my belt of quilting; but I still know what it is I want. If not I will tell you.

Also, what gets me is that I have been in there numerous times and have spent quite a bit of money on fabric and such. They still do not know my name. I have travel 30 minutes to a store that is a Viking dealer, had only been there on two separate occasions before they remembered my name. Matter of fact they even remember why I was in there the first time and asked how my project was coming along. I wish they were closer, but they are not. So to save time, I will buy online and have stuff shipped to me.

One finally thought on the CheapO quilter. Could the CheapO quilter just be the type who just acting out to get attention? I mean my step grandmother loves to go on and on about how expensive everything is. She is really frugal and does some crazy stuff to save a buck. However, she isn’t a poor little old lady at all. My Mom told me she likes to go on and on about how she has no money and about the extremes she goes to save a buck for attention. She is lonely and just needs people to fuss over her, no harm in that. That is why my Mom has all the patience in the world for her. Maybe CheapO just needs a little fussing done over her to make her feel better about life. Just something to think about……

[she-quilts]

I have seen the claim written several times that their LQS is run by snobs. I have heard this repeated over and over again. I guess I never have been to a quilt shop that I have had that experience.
I am not sure what you mean by snobs. It is the price of fabric, the 'tude of the employees, a combination of both?
From reading some of the comments on this MB it would appear that the LQS is the worst place to shop and take classes. Goodness...I view it this way....without guilds, quilt shows (which by the way many of the LQS sponsor by being vendors and pay for advertising), and LQShops these things keep the art of quilting alive in the community.
My expectation when taking a quilting class is that everyone should be prepared and at least try to have the supplies at hand. I perfectly understand someone forgetting a pair of scissors or a spool of thread...it happens. My other question is...in all fairness...I have also paid for the class...is it fair to me that my class time is taken up by someone who doesn't know how to use their machine? I guess I figured that those who attend are adults and don't really need the 'warm fuzzes' of attention to get thru the class.
As someone suggested there is room for everyone in the quilting world. Whether you spend $$$ on your hobby or you are careful and are the finder of good things to reuse or use up, we are all quilters.
Sometimes women are their own worst enemies. We can all agree to disagree and just move on and quilt!!

FW (who has donned her telfon suit (quilted of course)