Moda Marbles - recent changes (problems?)
 

Moda is now printing their "Marbles" fabrics on the same 60x60 (thicker) cloth that they use for the rest of their lines.

The "new goods" were those that came in around November (possibly a little bit earlier).

We had a bolt of Dandelion Yellow marble, and were terribly disappointed to see that it was printed on lower quality cloth. Let me be specific: it was nice and thick, with the same feel as you would expect from Moda. But when we unrolled the bolt, there were quite a lot of little lines in the fabric - fine dark lines caused by a single dark fiber, wrapped around the thread when it was spun, and then woven into the cloth. On a dark or heavily patterned fabric you would never notice it at all, but on light colors it jumps right out at you.

Have any of you purchased Moda Marbles in the last month or two? Have you noticed any problems in the light colors?

I don't mean to alarm anyone... but I am afraid to order light colored Moda Marbles if the problem I experienced is more widespread than just the one color I got.

It's really easy to tell the old stock from the new, for anyone who is used to using a lot of Moda Marbles. The older stock is printed on a finer weave, almost like the cloth that is used for batiks. The newer ones feel like Moda's "Sandy's Solids" line, which was always printed on the 60x60 (thicker) cloth.

Thanks for the information, i haven't bought any since the summer, but, I will head up to my LQS tomorrow and check it out. I heard that Moda's are going up to $14 a yard, and if they are getting lower in quality, I will be thinking twice about it. I will see if there is any defects in the marbles at my shop.

Nan, I don't have any of the newer marbles, but could you tell me how they compare in hand to Kona solids and Moda Bellas, both 60x60 broadcloths? My Moda Marbles all go back to before they got so thin in the first place, and if the hand is good I may just consider using them again. is the dark thread in the warp or the weft?

We don't carry the Moda Bellas. I would say the new Moda Marbles are as thick as the Kona Cottons but they are softer to the touch.

I sent the bad bolt back to Moda. I did take a couple of pictures of the fabric before I sent it back, and of those pictures the lines were all in the warp (parallel to the selvedges). But I don't know if there were also dark horizontal lines too.

Warp or weft... is that a clue to something?

They just used some poor quality yarn. Cheaper cotton? It could have been one
bad roll or one bad batch. If they've had lots of returns and complaints they
probably went back and reviewed their production.

I have wseen a lot of comments lately on the poor quality Modas and that is disturbing as I always thought of them a so good. I have been using up stash so have not bought any recently but will need to soon.

All these rising prices and lower quality standards, really worry me about buying on-line. Im a touchy feely quilter, but our LQS closed last month. You can tell so much about a fabric just by feeling it. How do these on-line shops handle returns of already cut fabric?

Here's how my favorite 'local to me/online to you' shop, Keepsake Quilting, handles returns...beautifully!
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/noquibble.aspx

ill really be watching this thread cause moda marbles is and has always been my go to fabric to back border or bind and pull difficult colors together on a quilt and theres just so many shades and sizes to choose from. id hate to have to find something else that would be horrible !! probably the reason i use so much is because i havent found anything else with that much versatility lol.
carla m