Quality of fabric
 

I paid $13.00/yard at a quilt store for a personal quilt and I’m always happy to support a small business.
It appears (to me) it’s no better quality than JoAnn’s Fabrics we use for church charity quilts. Last week JF was $5.00 door buster sale. I realize big chain stores have buying power so they can offer lower prices and I appreciate the good personal service at the quilt store but $9.00/yard is quite a difference.

I absolutely agree Tranum. I try to support the few LQS's we have left in the area, but I have needed to stretch my dollars for quilting until they beg for mercy. I recently hit the jackpot at a Value Village thrift store. Six gently used 100% cotton sheets, queen and king sized, for under $8 each. I always launder with unscented soap, open all seams, press and fold--ready to be used as backing on charity quilts. This also allows me to double check that they are in good condition throughout.

The bonus for me, was a beautiful light grey king sized sheet. The label said Pima Cotton. Since I have a few scrappy patterns that I think would look better with a grey background, I am going to use it for yardage.

Interesting you should post this, as I was going to ask a similar question. I was wondering if others thought that quilting fabric, as in "designer" fabrics, like what quilt shops sell, not big places, have gotten thinner, even just in the last couple years. I haven't bought much in the last few years, but I just got some and I was surprised at how thin it seemed to be.

I can easily see/feel the difference between quilt store fabrics and JOF. I agree that the prices at LQS have skyrocketed, but the fabric is of better quality IMHO. I also don't like that the fabric purchased at JOF tends to have a lot of sizing in the fabric so it feels weird. A while ago I bought wide fabric for backing online (did not see/feel it in person) and it felt really coated. Almost slippery. After multiple washings it still felt stiff. Waste of money. Didn't end up using it at all. Luckily I have a lot of fabric in my stash so my quilt shop purchases tend to be small.

Washing yardage: I’ve not tried this yet but I will soon as I found it interesting. The article said up to 12 yards can be washed this way -
1). Open yardage & refold with selvages are on left & right & piece is WOF across. Then turn cut edges to inside (so it’s not exposed) and begin folding accordion style (I suspect no more than 12-15 inches). Piece should roughly be 12-15” x 42. Use 5 shiny new safety pins (no rust) on each selvage going through all layers. Wash fabric and dry. This will eliminate twists that can be hard to iron out. Please update us if you attempt it. This came from a blog I follow “From My Carolina Home”

I buy fabric online at shops sales. Every online shop has sales, clearances, and flash sales. I stopped buying fabric at the local quilt shop. The layer cakes there start at $48 and the basic fabric price is $11.99 a yard. Fat quarters are $4 each. The shop rarely has more then a 20% off, that does not draw me in. Most of the shops close to me are all about machine embroidery. That is the money maker for them. I go to Marshall's Dry Goods several times a year for Hoffman Batiks, Free Spirit and Riley Blake. I buy Robert Kaufman fabric at Hobby Lobby when it's 40% off week. Missouri Star has the best sale prices for pretty wide backing fabric.

ekuw, I have also noticed the sizing on some of JF to be crazy! I've learned to be very careful.

i have bought fabric from a lqs and it was no better than Joanne's . and it cost way more than Joanne's.

When washing - and then drying- long skinny pieces i
lf fabric like skinny quarters - I use thst method of pinning.

It does minimize tangling.

I overcast raw edges before washing the fabric.

I've noticed the same. I backed one quilt with blue fabric from Joann's and even after washing a few times it's kind of stiff. I used bamboo batting and expected a much softer quilt. I want my LQS to be around so I buy from them often just so they are there when I need them.