DogHouseMom

Yes, if you look at a batik or a homespun it's next to impossible to tell right side from wrong - and most of the time there is "no" right side. I've found only a few batiks that made a difference.

the price of cotton has indeed gone up, but at $13.00/yard it could be a specific line from a designer that costs more, or perhaps an imported fabric. Some of the designers will charge more for one line than they will another (for example if there is a lot of gold on the print, or if the print required exacting registration (registration = the correlation between each of the die boards laying down different colors - the more intricate the print the harder it is to register one die board/color to another). Some of the imported African, Australian, and Japanese fabrics cost more as well. Here it's more of a cost of import issue than it is a quality issue.

DogHouseMom

Oh yes!! On a few of your posts you mentioned that some of the lesser quality fabrics felt like bed sheets. I thought that odd ... but then my bed sheets are 800 count and they feel like silk. You can't even see the weave let alone feel it. I've also fingered 2000 thread count imported Italian sheets ... oh my oh my!!

Jingle

I use fabrics from Wal Mart, Joanns and Hobby Lobby. I pick out what I like and quality I like. I don't care how long the quilts last, I don't make heirloom quilts. They all will out last me.

Polliwog

Please feel free to PM me. Lived in Baltimore, Howard, and Carroll for over 40 years and learned so much from classes with Mimi. Still working on the actual quilting of my Baltimore Album.

karenpatrick

My avatar is a quilt I made for the daughter of a friend as a graduation present. the navy and cream homespun in the sashing came from Joann's and I paid $15.00/yd for it. Over the weekend I saw the same fabric at Walmart for $3.99/yd. I have no explanation for this but I really felt robbed by Joann's after I saw the same thing at WM for so much less. I guess you just have to shop at lots of places and handle everything. You can't go by price.

yayaquilts

It seems 30 years ago there wasn't as much of a difference in quality of fabrics as there is now, although quilts I made 30 years ago do have some fabrics that are so thin they've come apart at the seams, and no one wants that to happen.

This being said, quality fabrics definitely have a nice "feel" about them. Sometimes LQS's can get a line of fabric that doesn't feel like top quality--so I always trust my instincts and the feel of the fabrics before buying them. And once in a while you can find better quality fabrics at JoAnn's, but you really have to be careful. If the fabric feels stiff or rough, or has a looser weave that you can see, it's probably not going to last and these fabrics tend to also fade over time in the wash or by light.

When on a budget, it's hard sometimes to justify spending more money on fabric at the LQS, but remember "you get what you pay for!"

jljack

I buy fabric from LQS, Walmart, Joann, Hancock, etc. It all depends on how the fabric feels to me. If it feels or looks "cheap" I won't buy it, even if it's at the LQS with a $10 per yard price. So...to each their own. One of my favorite fabric shops is Connecting Threads...I buy lots from them online. I love their fabrics.

luvstoquilt301

I usually buy quilt shop fabric. I buy lots online at discounts. I was VERY disappointed to purchase some Windham---top name in fabric--and find it VERY thin. I would never have bought it if I felt it in person. Will use it for bindings.

patski

I buy at quilt stores and Jo Anns, just have to check for quality. If its so thin you can see through it I wouldn't use it. Our Wal mart does not have fabric so I can't comment on that. Also go to quilt stores and check out the end of bolt sales and sales on line and you can find fabric for $4.50 a yard and sometimes less. I don't pay the $12 or $15 a yard, just too much since I give away most of my quilts

feline fanatic

I prefer LQS, Amish shops or mennonite shops and shopping on line. On line I have never been disappointed in quality except once with some closeout stuff I got from Connecting Threads. I liked the thickness of the fab but the printing process they used on it was heavy, almost rubbery. But I only paid around $3 a yard. It will get used somewhere. I have been disappointed in that the color wasn't exactly what I thought it was on a few occasions. Again the fabric will eventually be used, just not for the project intended.

I have been burned by Jo Anne fabric so will not buy fabric there. It faded horribly and did not last and this is in i a quilt that doesn't get heavy use. I will buy notions and such from there and batting but not fabric.

When I spend years working on a hand quilted quilt I DO want it to last so I will buy the best I can afford and shy away from the big box stores like Walmart, Hobby Lobby and JoAnnes.

Batting is something else you should consider. If you are handquilting I would stay away from W&N or W&W. Very difficult to needle. If you want 100% cotton you can try Mountain Mist, Hobbs, or Quilters Dream but QD cotton batting is very very low loft. Your BAQ sounds like it should have wool batting! Dreamy to handquilt and heirloom quality.