Suppose there was this total beginner . . .

[LeilaMay]

Yes, let's play "pretend"

Suppose there was this total beginner - sewn 7 hexagons together by hand in school in 1975 - done some textile courses so understands the basic premise.
Suppose there is NO STASH of fabric at all.
Suppose there are no templates, no fancy machine, nothing but very basic equipment.
And not a lot of £££ to spare, so think frugal please.

And then pretend - in a fit of "winter is coming" madness they thought about making something in patchwork!

What would you suggest?
Ideas on a postcard, postage stamp or a whole side of A4 

Thank you
Leila

[maliw]

Ok here we go, my four penneth for what it's worth.
Look at quilting sites and get ideas.
You can start with squares - nine patch, sudoku quilts etc
Find something you can draw round it you don't have the rulers and cut out the shape, you can make a template out of cardboard but make sure all the pieces are the same. Or just make strips - rail fence, log cabin etc
Fabric - try charity shops, I've had sheets for about £3 - loads of fabric there. You don't have to buy pure cotton fabrics.
All you need is a basic machine, make sure all your seams are the same. Standard quilting seams are 1/4" so see if you can measure this on your machine and put a piece of masking tape along the machine where this would be.
Play, play play, it doesn't have to be perfect, just enjoy it. It's amazing how time passes. There are NO quilting police.
Hope this helps a little. Don't forget that traditionally patchwork was always done with old fabric to make something else.

[maliw]

Sudoku quilt that I did with squares and using curtain lining as a backing

[Madame Cholet]

Is there a low cost alternative to wadding, I mean, is there something that could be recycled to be used as wadding?

[LeilaMay]

Thank you - squares or oblongs sounds the way to go, and the sheets ides is super. Liked that 'sudoko' pattern:)

[BrendaP]

Is there a low cost alternative to wadding, I mean, is there something that could be recycled to be used as wadding?

Old flanelette sheets, but a layer of flanelett is heavier than a layer of conventional wadding.

Pieces cut from a discarded/charity shop woollen winter coat.  Wadding can be joined by butting it together with no overlap, and making really huge hand oversewing stitches to hold it together.  You can't tell from the outside that there is a join.

As above but use pieces from discarded fleece jackets.

[Lachica]

Low cost wadding - mattress protector, a few £ from supermarket or Primark, or maybe charity shop. Lighter weight than proper wadding.

[BrendaP]

And of course vintage machines are excellent for machine piecing, and with the feed dogs dropped and/or stitch length reduced to zero (you don't have to have a cover plate) they are good for free motion quilting.  A generic low shank darning/embroidery foot will fit most vintage machines.

I use one of these which 'belongs' to my less old Husqvarna on my Singer 201, but I certainly didn't pay that sort of price!   
Something like this or this should work just as well.

[StitchinTime]

The last few "quilts" I have made have just been two layers (I think quilts are supposed to have three layers) - a pieced top and a fleece backing. You might be able to find a cheap fleece throw to use as the backing or as a wadding if you decided to go for three layers.

[arrow]

What does enough jelly rolls cost to pussle together a nice pattern of patches? I think I would spend a bit of money on the wadding, the thicker cotton type makes it nice. Some people seem to churn patch work blankets like a hen laying eggs, others make one or two, and might not do it until 8 years later when someone is in need of a new one. I like the idea of making something nice of fabric remains and cut offs, but you sort of need the big box of cutoffs to start with.

[fajita]

I'd get some fabric. I'd cut it into 6" squares. I'd take three of them and join them in a row. Then another three into a row and add it to the first row. Then I'd do it again. I'd then have a block.

I'd repeat the process until the blocks when placed together would be a decent size for my requirements.

Then I'd come back here for next steps.

[Snowgoose]

Charity shops are wonderful for fabric!  I bought a big bundle of scraps - offcuts of old curtains etc - for £3.50  enough to make some simple zipper purses and some  and  bedding  I found two big pillowcases for 50p each, too, a lot of fabric to cut up and play with 

I last used the inside wadding from an old sleeping bag to make a 'quilt' for my  with! Fleece backing and a very cheap poly-cotton from e-Bay for the top. 

There are some lovely poly-cotton fat quarter bundles on e-Bay and Amazon.  Much cheaper than pure cotton - it's less frightening if I make a mistake, knowing I haven't ruined expensive cotton 

I am using my lovely hand-crank machine, it's nice because it doesn't run away with me 

[rubywishes]

If I was this total beginner I wouldn't stress about cutting and joining squares. I would buy some cheap fabric and cut it into strips and do a JellyRoll Race quilt.....no need to buy the expensive jelly rolls..........I'd just buy whatever cotton was on sale at the local haby shop. Cutting up long strips and just sewing them together is going to be easy peasy...no corners to match etc etc. I'd use a cheap throw blanket or similar for batting.  If I was a total beginner I'd google Jelly Roll Race quilt. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with my 35 year old bog basic Janome sewing machine going on the learning journey with me.....whack in a new needle and off I go.

[wrenkins]

As a total and complete "never cut a piece" beginner, I went to a workshop and made a log cabin Christmas Tree wall hanging!
Don't tell anyone but it's cutting up wee pieces and sewing them back together in the straightest lines you can manage. Nobody notices the wiggly bits, they just see the lovely Tree! 

[Iminei]

Hello again my Dear ..... ..... Let me walk you through this .....

http://thesewingplace.org.uk/index.php/topic,1574.0.html

Don't take any notice of the quilting I did on this, I got carried away with myself ...Two lines crossing the diagonals of the squares would look super.

Cheap ideas for wadding include cheap fleece throes from Ikea (about £4 a pop or other bargain basement emporia ... Primani ? Matalan ?? The Range ???

Workshops, as Wrenkie says, are an excellent place to start ...Hansons in Sturminster Newton do excellent ones as everything (generally) is included so you can try before you buy if you will ... they also have do a fantastic lunch!!

http://www.hansonsfabrics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/SWN-46-Autumn-2017-ONLINE-1.pdf

Or a visit to the Dark Sides Devils Den in Blandford for a play might stand you in good stead too