Barbpr

Where do you find member's fabrics for sale?
Thanks

patchsamkim

Very thankful that I have a "stash" that I purchased years ago at much lower prices. It is incredible how much prices have risen, especially in the last few years.

Cybrarian

Generosity, kindness and sacrifice have a way of being rewarded. You will be blessed because of this. Also someone is going to be beyond thrilled to receive such an awesome quilt. I haven't seen that fabric, but I'm sure it's wonderful- can't go wrong with Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang!

adamae

When I was at a Walmart store in NoLRock, I found fabric at $2.00/yd, it was fair quality but the two other prints I found were $.86/yd and much nicer quality. Dumb me, I just bought 2 yds of one and one yard of the other at 86 cents. Oh well, maybe I'll go back. I'm 79 yrs old and will never use up all my fabric! Can't resist a bargain. I am donating fabric and helping make charity quilts but concerned my health (arthritis) will allow me many more years of sewing.

happydaze

Be blessed, as in Australia we pay for good quality fabric, anything from $20 to $30 per metre if lucky we can get it half price on sale or less40%

mummyismean

That's cheap compared to prices here in Australia

duckydo

Some of the LQS are charging $14 a yard, I choose not to spend that much. I will order from web sites that are much cheaper.. connecting threads has good fabric lots cheaper.. Marshall's Dry Goods in Batesville AR is way cheaper... I know there are still some folks that will pay that, but not me.

quilterpurpledog

I have a 'game' I play. I plan my grocery shopping carefully and use the store coupons, online sites to sign up such as just4you specials at Safeway. Kroger stores also have this service. I only buy basic foods we use, (around the outside of the store) never mixes, boxed or frozen dinners, etc. I cook everything from scratch. I stock up on special items when on sale. My reward? I count the money saved as my quilting kitty. Had I shopped differently I would have spent lots more money in the grocery store. I keep an accounting record of my 'savings' and my quilting expenditures. Last year I broke even. There is only so much income and only so much of the costs of living is under my control. I want to quilt so I need to carve out the cost some way. As mentioned before other hobbies and activities are also expensive.

TeresaA

Fabric prices seem to be keeping up with inflation. Unfortunately wages are not, so our real costs of buying are exceeding inflation. I never pay full price for anything. I refuse to buy $12-14/yard fabric. Whether or not that price is justifiable, it's not worth it to me. The fabric manufacturers want to stay in business so pricing pressures will cause them to lower their prices. They are, IMHO, where the problem lies. They take orders ahead of time and for the most part, only order what they've presold. The quilt shops have to double the wholesale because they may or may not sell everything they order.

I thankfully have a ridiculously large stash, but it gets 'stale' to me sometimes so I have to have a few new things once in awhile. I allow myself one yard of local fabric, under $10 a month. That's it, and I often don't buy anything! I can also buy online and meet minimums for shipping, but only if I get things I love. I can't just buy something because it's cheap.

I also have taken to hand dying, both because of the price and because I can't seem to get what I want from fabric stores. Everything seems to be either "modern," novelty, or batik. Where are the good, soft, tone on tones? Batiks are like my hand dyes, but I don't like to quilt the greige they're printed on. I can use soft Kona cottons for my own dyes.

What kills me is the price people are willing to pay for THREAD. ($25 for a 2000 yard spool of cotton?) This is something new since I stopped quilting in 1999. I know someone wrote an article justifying it, but they used full retail, rather than the discounted prices people typically pay at places like Joann's when they did their comparison.

SimpsonFrances

It was not only labor costs that ran the manufacturing overseas. The process of making fabrics and especially dyeing fabrics is highly caustic with the chemicals that are used. Our OSHA requirements made the manufacturing process very very expensive. But it is true that the overseas wages are so disgustingly low, I'm sure the raise in prices to us do not hit the pocketbooks of the people doing the labor! Not sure this problem will ever be corrected!!