Thread: Quilt Store Quality Fabric

I haven't always, but now I try very hard to only buy fabric now from local quilt stores. It's partly a quality issue, but more than that, it is also a recognition of all of how valuable they are to me. If I have a question about colors or binding, etc., I can go in and ask them, whereas I'd never be able to do that at a crowded Joann's cutting counter, or a walmart. My LQS sponsors quilt retreats and work days. They know me by name. It's a community as much as a place of business. I'd be sad if they had to close because they couldn't compete with the lower prices of the chain stores. It does mean that if I'm buying for my stash, I usually buy a fat quarter rather than a yard of fabric, but that's OK because I like scrappy quilts.

Thank you guys for your awesome input and great points! I didn't mean to sound "uppity" myself! I was really just trying to understand if there was a difference and why one would specify something besides just "high quality quilting fabric". And yes, I absolutely agree that if you want to participate in a swap you need to follow the rules. I was not suggesting otherwise.

I've learned a lot - like I had no clue that the same LINE of fabric by the same manufacturer might have different thread counts based on the store it's sold in? Has this been verified or is it just hearsay? Seems crazy to me! I mean - how is one to know the difference, and who says at some point in the future the LQS's won't start buying this lower quality fabric if it looks the same?

Ok....back to drooling over all the fabric and quilt designs on these blogs I mentioned.

I too am not one of those "brand name needed" kind of girls either. I have purchased lots of fabric at many different sources. I bought some lovely pink flannel for a wholecloth baby quilt,at my local LQS, I washed and dried it, and then noticed the flaw right down the middle of the fabric. Needless to say, I won't be giving this as a baby blanket now with the flaw down the middle of the darn thing. I can cut up the fabric into blocks and salvage most of it that way, but, to say that ONLY LQS fabric is good is not true.

I find good fabrics wherever I shop, you just have to be careful and check it out good. I have found poor fabrics at LQS's as well. I was at Hobby Lobby two weeks ago and they were putting out some new fabrics that were so beautiful and the quality was really good. Came home with a bag full and will be going back for more this week.

I buy from several different sources. Online from J&O fabrics; local quilt shops; Joann's. It depends upon the project I am doing. Sometimes I am not as fussy about the quality as I am at other times. I do find one difference between Joann's and my local quilt shops; when I need help coordinating colors or need good suggestions, my LQS is much better. We recently had a new Joann's open near us and the selection of fabric is about half of what it was at the old location.