does anyone really care what year the fabric is from? from what i've read here, the older, the better. and members are always looking for additional yards to fill in for something they bought 2 or 3 years ago and didn't buy enough. if anyone refuses to quilt on anything but the current year's lines, i sure don't know her/him.
that fabric can be made available instead of introducing new lines and immediately making last year's line obsolete. it's like the appliance industry. built to self-destruct in 3 - 5 years instead of lasting 10 years. same with fabric. can't get the same stuff for more than 1 year because they deliberately underprint, forcing you to buy fresh lines or scramble around in clearance houses. that's why LQS are hurting and online stores are flourishing. i may as well save money and i have a better chance of matching last year's fabrics online.
it all come home to the same thing: they are greedy.