What kind of fabrics were they? I know some batiks are reaching that level.
One of the quilt shops that I receive a newsletter from just had this as their lead item: "Why is the cost of fabric increasing?
(Check out the 'Blog of the Week' in our catalog to read the complete articles.)
If you are wondering what is behind the recent increase in the retail prices of your quilting cottons, here is a brief explanation to help you understand the situation.
Cotton is a commodity and like all commodities prices are increasing. Most of the increases are attributable to the weakening dollar. As confidence in the dollar erodes, commodities prices rise. Additionally, we are also wrestling with a worldwide cotton shortage. Historically, when cotton prices rise dramatically, mills could blend their way to a cheaper product. The quilting culture simply does not support a blended product, not to mention the fact that polyester (a petroleum derivative) prices are also rising.
As if this weren't enough, the industry is also dealing with other issues. Most greige goods (fabric before it is printed) are imported. As the cost of these goods increase, the import duty on these goods also increases. In the past, our farmers would increase their cotton planting and benefit from the increase. In recent years, our government has paid our farmers to plant corn instead of cotton. China and India have experienced massive losses of their cotton crops due to poor weather and heavy rains. This combination is forcing the costs of raw materials to rise dramatically. To add to the burden UPS shipping costs increased 4.9 percent in January 2011!
Most of us have reduced our profit margins by not passing each increase to our customers, as we are trying to minimize the shock to the retail market. In spite of this, the unfortunate end result is that the prices have gone up more than 10% on both a wholesale and retail level and retailers and consumers are upset. "
The article they're referencing actually came out several months ago.