A lot of us have stash going back many years, to when fabric was a lot cheaper. There was a problem with cotton production a few years ago that sent prices up, and they haven't come back down. We also have a lot of online shops that sell very good quality fabric at around $8 per yard, or less, and there are lots of sales that can bring it even lower. I almost never pay more than $9 per yard for quality fabric. A lot of people also pick up fabric at yard sales and thrift stores, and that can be very inexpensive. A lot of the scraps in my stash came from the free table at a guild I used to belong to. Believe it or not, some quilters don't want to have a stash, and when they finish a project they just want to get rid of the scraps and buy new fabric for the next project. I sometimes wish I were one of those quilters...
Edited to add - I agree that some JoAnn's fabric is great quality, but it is usually at quilt shop prices.
Last edited by dunster; 01-15-2018 at 01:58 PM.