Honey

The greed thing seems to be rampant. When is enough, enough? That goes for money, fabric or anything else you can think of. People seem to think that whoever dies with the most, wins. That is just wrong! When it comes down to it, I could quilt quite a while with what I have. Would it be exactly what I wanted at the moment, maybe not, but I could make it work. If we work strictly on supply and demand, eventually the prices would have to come down. Maybe we should have a six month moratorium on buying anything that isn't an absolute necessity. This is not to punish anyone, but to let all manufacturers know that we are not going to put up with rising costs anymore. There are very few of us that couldn't stand to live more frugally. We have all gotten used to the "I want it and I want it now" mentality. We need to really take some lessons from our parents and grandparents.

garysgal

I want to add this even tho I already replied.(blush)One of the fabric stores in town has a back room that you can shop in and it is piled high with bolts and bolts of fabric. And more is coming in. It seems to be the same at all the stores I visit. What I think would be a good idea is to stop buying all the new stuff and sell what they have, and then start buying again. I know this would mean that we wouldn't be able to have access to all the newest fabrics, but it seems so wasteful to me anyway, that the LQS keep adding to their fabrics when they aren't moving as much as they use to. In the smaller town closer to me, I know the fabric store owner and she says she is trying not to buy so much because fabric is just not moving. The drug store I shop at has a craft & fabric dept. and they sell a lot of fabric but have noticed a definate slowdown. We also have a "free store" in town and there are a lot of beautiful shirts and dresses and skirts that have a lot of fabric in them. Several of us quilters go there to see if we can find nice fabric.

JoanneS

[quote=shaverg]If it happens everyone needs to boycott. quote]

Boycotting won't help if the LQS costs are increasing. All we'd do is put them out of business, and THEN where would we be? Long term, prices will go up regardless of boycotts

I hope this is NOT a huge increase, because a lot of us will just have to cut back on how MUCH fabric we buy, because we're probably not going to have more $$$ to spend.

craftybear

that is terrible

aussiequilter

Sounds like things are a bit different in the US and you have more choice all round. The one or two larger chain stores we have stock some fabric that is OK but the majority of it is from Asia or somewhere, and they certainly don't carry the specialist tools and books that quilters need (they also come from the US) or run classes, etc.

We have nowhere near as many LQSs as in the US, and one of the things that adds to the cost of our fabric is shipping it from the US to way down here, so no matter where you get it from there is always that additional cost.

It doesn't seem we can win here. But at least while the LQSs are around we do have a bit of choice.

butterflywing

aussiequilter, when we look at the bolt-ends and read the cardboard, we can see that every bolt comes from somewhere in asia. at least i haven't seen any that haven't. so we're probably getting the same stuff that you are. what i also find unconscionable is lqs that bought at lower prices and are now selling as though they bought at the higher prices. just like the gas stations.

fktsewing

I was the one who informed the board about the substantial increase in price on cotton fabric---my friend went to Paducah last week and talked to the owner of Hancocks of Paducah.
I also have talked with several lqs and they told me the same thing, but they do not know the reason why either.
I feel sorry for all of us on this board who are on limited budgets, but I also feel sorry for the lqs. But as someone said, it is not Washington. I know a friend who works for a wholesale company and she said that their prices were going up to, because of the factories in China---they are wanting to make more of a profit than they have been. Yes, I too would like to see our factories move back home to the USA, but it would just raise prices too---mainly because they are expected to pay way more for labor than China does. It is a no win situation. Let's face it, the whole economy is like this. Food, gas, etc. Honestly, I am not sure what is going to make it turn around.

wildyard

Well after the depression, into the 1950's, my dad bought feed for the animals he raised to feed our family. When the feed delivery truck came we girls rushed to be the first to choose which sacks were left, as we knew we'd be wearing that material to school. Some of that stuff gave ugly a bad name, but some of it was pretty. We wanted to have a say in which ones were delivered or he would leave the ugliest ones. He always left the ugly ones at the houses where no one was there to pick and choose.

wildyard

Those feed sacks did find their way into the quilts but only as scraps after the clothes were made and salvagable pieces after we had handed them down, or till they were worn out or outgrown by the last one of us, which was me. Smiless.

butterflywing

i was the one who sad it wasn't washington, and it isn't. i spoke with my dil this weekend and she said that her company, which outsources financial services, is starting to feel the pain (yeah!) because as third world countries become better educated and more in demand they want their own wages to improve. slowly the difference in wages won't be that great among high end jobs, but the difference in benefits will be the deciding factor. third world countries are still willing to do factory work under conditions that we find unacceptable and we don't put ten-year-olds to work. i still maintain that large manufacturers are squeezing the working and lower-middle and middle class in order to keep up with their shareholders demand for big profits. here we are in a recession and i keep seeing huge houses gong up. the little guy isn't living there. where is the money coming from?
someone is profiting and big. i guess i made the wrong investments.