The average cost per yard of good quality quilting cotton is $10-12 per yard, which makes quilting a hobby that can get expensive quickly. Although there are many blogs and other crafty sites that offer suggestions on how to acquire fabric more cost effectively (I’m sorry… I’m just not ready to cut up old, thrifted sheets just yet), there is another way to look at the cost of quilting. Quilting may be expensive, but at the end of the day it’s a form of entertainment. What is the cost of quilting relative to other forms of entertainment? Let’s have a look:
- Movies – According to www.the-numbers.com, a website that tracks data about the movie industry, the average movie ticket costs $9.16 or $18.32 for you and a date. You could stay home, watch something for free on TV and buy 1.5 yards of fabric for that price.
- Dining – According to the good people at restaurant.org, the average cost per person for a casual dining experience is $12-20 per person. Would you rather have that instantly forgettable dried up Tequila Sunrise Grilled Chicken or another yard and a half of fabric?
- Concerts – The average price of a ticket to the 100 most popular tours in North America is $91.86. You could instead save what’s left of your hearing, not be stuck in traffic for over 2 and a half hours after the show and still buy over 7.5 yards of fabric for that price.
- Vacation – According to American Express, the average vacation expense per person in the United States is $1,145, or $4,580 for a family of four. You could have bought over 95 yards of fabric for the cost of your ticket price alone. Even the most voracious quilter would have a hard time going through that much fabric in three years!
- Car Ride – According to the knowledgeable folks at AAA, the national average price for a gallon of gas is over $3.18. To fill up most tanks, you are looking at over $50. Rather than taking a car ride to literally anywhere, the obvious alternative is to stay home and quilt!
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