thrums

I use quitshops.com when I'm searching for shops carrying a specific design or line of fabric. Do you know of any other website that offers the same/similar service?

Thanks!

ManiacQuilter2

There is a search engine called http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/. There is also a search on the Fab Shop Hop website. I also have found fabric by searching thru the images posted on a Google search.

joe'smom

I usually just google the name of the fabric line, including the selvage numbers if I have them. The shops that have the fabric in stock seem to be listed first in the search results. I have also found things by checking the google search images. The quiltshops.com search sometimes gives results the google search doesn't list and vice versa, so it's not a bad idea to search both ways.

Bree123

Honestly, by me, each of the 5 LQS'es has its own theme. So if I know I'm looking for a RK batik, I call Quilter's Destination. If I'm looking for a 1930's repro, I call Pieceful Gathering. If I'm looking for a printed fabric from Japan or Denmark, I'd call Linda Z's. If I want a seasonal/holiday print, I'd contact Quilter's Heaven. If I want some fun country print, I'd call my friend Heather who runs Buttons & Bolts way up in Wisconsin so I could get it at the next guild event. And if I just want to be given a hard time, I'd call the 5th quilt shop in my area (seriously! with 4 competitors, I just don't get why an owner would be consistently rude to customers; plus, I don't know if they're ignorant or just mean, but I'd get random, wrong information from them like "linen & cotton are identical; they both come from the cotton plant"). Not cool, Quilt-Shop-That-Shall-Remain-Nameless. Not cool.

Anyways, if a LQS doesn't have it in stock & isn't ordering it, I'd just buy it from an online retailer. There's only been two times when I couldn't find a fabric -- both by Benartex. The first one was a Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry design so I checked her website & she said where to buy it at a bricks & mortar store in Texas -- that kindly shipped it to me in IL. The second time I just emailed Benartex & they tracked down the Holice Turnbow stamped wholecloth kit I had been searching for high & low; it finally showed up at an online retailer who sold out almost as quickly as they got some in.

The other thing I've used a few times when I didn't even know anything about the fabric was the image search site http://tineye.com

thrums

Thanks for the information everyone. Sometimes I need just a bit more fabric and know somebody, just somebody has it on a shelf somewhere.

tineye an image search looks really interesting.

I'll add it, http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/ and http://www.fabshophop.com/ to my list of search engines.