Originally Posted by sewin'sam
You have to really watch Joann;s fabric but when I was in the quilt shop yesterday (I only buy their sale items!) I saw 3 fabrics there for $8+ that I bought at Joann's for $3.99 OR less with coupon?? & that was just on 2 shelves! :(
It is less at Joann's because the quality of fabric is not as good. Unless your LQS is buying cheap, their fabric should be made from the last run at the manufacturer. When making fabric the company will first do a test run on poor quality fabric to check the dye and the pattern. This fabric get sent to places like WalMart. Then the manufacturer does a second run, using a little better quality fabric. They recheck the colors and patterns and make sure the registration lines all match up. These are the fabrics that get sent to places like Joann's. The final run is done on the best quality of fabric and these are the fabrics that get sent to your LQS. It's also why it can cost so much more. My aunt used to own a quilt store and she explained all this to me, in a horrified voice because she learned I was buying fabric from WalMart. Something I don't do anymore, but I do shop at Joann's because I can rarely afford the fabric from my LQS. It's just something to think about when buying fabric.