>>Like all things, if we want things of quality, then we'll have to pay a bit more! Maybe now is when we turn to the methods of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers and recycle clothes, linens and other fabrics for our quilts!
I bought a book recently with a pattern that I fell in love with using all plaids/madras/homespun fabric. Very scrappy with emphasis on light/dark patterning. I was thinking I was going to have to buy LOTS and LOTS of light and dark colored plaid FQ's to make it, and wonderin how long it would take (I have very few plaid in my stash). Well ... I had some time to kill on Sunday when I was at the mall so I stopped in at the goodwill store (I've never been in it before) and there before me were racks and racks of mens and boys cotton plaid shirts for sale - they were either $1 or $2 each and clearly much larger than a FQ. I know if I scoured garage sales I can get them even cheaper!! So now I know where I'm going to get my plaids from. It may take a while, but it would have taken a while to get the variety I wanted in FQ's as well.