May in Jersey

Stopped at Joann's on Sat. to pick up some black fabric for the border of a black and white quilt I'm making. Very disappointed as for the most part the fabrics were thin, stretchy and kind of see through. Checked out the Kono black and that was always a good choice for a solid black colorwise as well as for thickness. Kono was a little better than Joann's stuff but still not as good as the small piece of Kono I have that I bought a few years ago. Didn't get to use my coupons again. Guess it's a long trip to the LQS for me.
May in Jersey

LyndaOH

Hi May - it can be hard to get a good solid black. Kona has two different blacks. Regular Black (#47) is different from Jet Black (#46) which is dyed multiple times. It's a bit more expensive (about $7/yard instead of $5/yard) but worth it in my opinion. I think Joann probably only carries the regular black and that may be why it didn't feel right to you.

Hope this helps!

May in Jersey

Thanks, that is good info to know.

frarose

I usually buy my Kona online.

k3n

Just to make you feel better, I buy the Kona Jet black here in the UK and if I'm lucky, ONLY pay the equivalent of around$12 per metre (39"). But I've never found a solid black to match it for quality, depth of colour or colour fastness. In my experience, cheap price = cheap quality, unless it's a genuine sale.

MTS

Have you ever tried the Michael Miller Jet Black Solid? It's amazing.
Blackest black I've found. There is no red or blue or green tint to it. It's just the most deepest black.
http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item--i-MCJ-BLK

k3n

I haven't but I have used other Micheal Miller fabrics and always found them excellent quality. When my bolt of Kona starts getting low, I'll campaign my LQS to get a bolt to try. She probably will oblige me as I've been sending hordes of ladies in there recently to buy metres of fabric for my kaleidoscope workshops so I'm definitely in her good books at the moment! :mrgreen:

Thanks for the 'heads up'. :-D

NJ Quilter

May, just curious, where is your nearest LQS? I was in Wildwood this past weekend and was looking for somewhere to go in the rain on Sat. and couldn't find anything nearby.

marknfran

Have you ever tried the Amish black fabric from Keepsake Quilting? I have been tempted to order some but first wanted to find out if anyone has used it.

QKO

If you're looking for a really deep double-dyed black, another great one is Maywood Studios Black Magic. We use it in our kits when we need a really black black with no other color tinge.

Maywood is also always on the highest quality goods. Not really that cheap, but worth it.