For allergy reasons generally do all my fabric shopping on line and it is very hard to buy solids and get the right color. Plus, the one local store I've gone to that I don't have a horrible reaction to carries very, very few solids.

Somewhere online I swore I saw a swatch book available for purchase (I think it was a new and revised one that was going to be available to buy in October if I'm correct). I can't remember if it was for Bella or Kona. I seem to remember it was maybe $60 which I know is a LOT of money, but in my circumstances, it seems like a necessary outlay. The other day, I had to place an order with Fabric.com and just picked 3 different creams and 3 different pinks and hope I get one cream and one pink that will work well with what I need.

I have done a bunch of different Google searches and can't come up with anything. Have you seen or know of this? Any info would be helpful.

Okay, I spent a week searching for the swatch books and then 2 minutes after I make my post I found them. They were at the Fat Quarter website. The Kona one is available now and is $29.99 and the Bella one should be available soon and is $34.99. Does anyone have these? The Bella one definately uses a real swatch of fabric but the Kona one almost looks like paint samples instead of an actual piece of fabric. Is this correct?

Sorry, I can't help you. I do know that some people find them useful if they use a lot of solids. Fortunately, I have no allergies so I visit stores to get the name of what I want and then shop for it online for better prices.

Just to throw this in to the conversation: Would it be cheaper to get a Charm Pack of the specific fabrics you like? Am not sure if charm packs are made for all lines, but you might consider it. Some websites really have quite a few selections.

Hancock's of Paducah also has both, though the Bella one there is the older one with fewer colors for 19.98. I have the Kona card and a Moda Marble card. The swatches are 1" square...smaller than paint chips actually. :D It is actual fabric, however.

If you order often from any of those lines, the cards are worth getting, imo, though the dye lot can make some minor differences in the colors you actually receive when ordering.

Robert Kaufman does have sample card for Kona Cotton. They are usually given away at wholesale shows. You might want to see if you are able to contact them explaining why you need one of them. $60.00 is a little excessive for something that is given out for free. (or they use to in the mid 90's) Most sales rep of fabric companies have fabric samples to show clients that are small cuts of the actual fabric.

Just a note, I just received my first Hancock;s of Paducah catalogue. On the last page, they have pictures of the fabric swatches and to me who dealt with Kona Cotton, the colors appear to be very accurate. They also have a swatch card for sale for $29.98. ID number is KC CARD. Their number is 800-845-8723. They do post their specials on the board when there is free shipping. FYI Good Luck !!

Fabric.com has them for solids.