Jim's Gem

I don't buy fat quarters very often. Unless it is a fabric that I need for a specific project and I am not overly fond of the fabric. Many times my local store will have fabrics on sale and 1/2 yd is the min cut. At 33% off it only costs me a tiny bit more to get a 1/2 yd piece instead of a FQ.

Shadow Dancer

I don't have access to a local shop, the closest is two and half hours away. Bottom line...if I had to buy my fabric at 15.99-21.99/meter I wouldn't be quilting. The majority of my fabric is purchased from the U.S. Do I feel guilty? Nope! :)

mjsylvstr

WOW...
I hope your SQA sees this post......perhaps it will give her some insight for a pressie sometime during 2010

aliaslaceygreen

Yes, because as someone else stated, while it may be cut and bundled during 'off time', that 'off time' is still paid labor. Off referring only to a quiet time in the store, you are not expecting your LQS worker to cut it at night while watching TV with the family for free are you?

Really, people need to look at the whole picture a bit more.

Is YOUR time worth so little that you are willing to stand and have your LQS worker cut 14 quarter yard cuts so you can save $3.50? You had to walk around the store, lug all the bolts and wait on line before you even had a turn. The time it takes her to cut all that is probably worth more than $3.50 unless she is being paid minimum wage, ($7.55 an hour I think? Thats .13 CENTS a minute.) because her boss has to pay her to do that AND put the bolts away. If all the fabrics you wanted were cut, you are in and out and she can assist someone who has questions, stock the shelves, etc...

MistyMarie

To expect them to cut at night on their own time is not at all what any customer would expect, I would hope. However, there are many times that I have walked into a quilt store and I am the ONLY customer in the store. So, I know that there are times when it is slower for stores. This is the time that can be spent cutting and such. I know that there are other duties (such as stocking shelves, organizing, et cetera) that needs to be done too, but they could use some of that time to make FQs.

As for my time, if I am in a hurry, I have a specific fabric in mind and am not going to be standing there getting several pieces of fabric cut. However, if I am not in a hurry, I would definitely take my time, pull out several bolts, and get them cut. When I go to the store to shop for stash building fabrics, I don't mind how much time it takes. It is enjoyable time spent daydreaming about future projects.

To assume that I am putting the employee of a quilt store out by asking them to cut several bolts of fabric never crossed my mind. If I thought that they took that attitude, I would NEVER shop in that store again.

patricej

Providers of the goods and services are human beings and equally deserving of respect and common consideration. however, i am always fascinated by what seems to be the modern notion that we are here to hand over our money at a time and in a manner most convenient to them. as though they are doing us a favor.

each shopper should decide for themselves what they're willing to put up with and what they're willing to pay. it isn't my place to question somebody else's choice on the matter.

my personal philosophy is that i couldn't care less how much time it took them to cut the fats. if they want my money, they had better offer them for a fair price. which, in my book, is for not more than i'd pay per/yard. period.

ggquilter

I have noticed that a straight quarter yard cut is sometimes not enough because it is crooked and you can't always get even 3 - 2 inch strips cut the width of the fabric. I find a fat quarter more usable if I need the full width of the fabric I buy 1/3 yard or 1/2 yard.
I don't buy much fabric anymore unless I am buying for something I have already started.

aliaslaceygreen

No, I don't think I stated that at all. My point is that you pay for convenience. Milk is less expensive at the supermarket, 7 miles away, than down the block at the 7-11, but you still (sometimes) send your child to walk down the block to pay the extra .89 cents at 7-11 so you don't have to wake the baby up from a nap and pack everyone into the car.

Its a convenience that you expect to pay for. A fat quarter is a totally different size than 1/4 yard. You get a different piece of fabric one way than the other.

Believe me, if I WANT 9 x44 inch strips of fabric, I have no problems asking the cutter to cut them. Even if I want 30 of them.
That IS their job. I get it. But if you want the convenience of walking around the store, collecting this and that fat quarter, you pay for it. Or we all pay for it, when the price is raised per yard to cover the extra time it takes to cut, pay for the label making machine and labels, the additional fixtures that are required to hold fat quarters than bolts.....

I have no problem walking around a quilt store for HOURS, and I am often not even willing to let them take the bolts from my hot little hands. They are mine, all mine!!!
:XD:
But, if I want a fat quarter of a bolt, my LQS is more than willing to cut one.... so, the .25 cents extra to get the 18x22 piece I NEED, versus paying for a 1/2 yard? Yeah. Worth every penny.

wishiwerequilting

just a little comment from one who has cut and sorted many fat quarters in her life....
A fat quarter is a half yard of fabric cut down the fold, so if the cutting is accurate, it should measure 18" x 22". When a fabric shop cuts a fat quarter for you, it leaves one extra in the shop. If the store can sell this fat quarter, great! If not, the store has lost that income from that fabric. So when you have the time it takes to cut and fold the fat, fold the other, and then see if it sells, that is what the additional cost is when compared to just purchasing fabric by the yard.

You must believe me when I tell you that fat quarters, though deliciously fun to play with and put into our quilts, become a major headache for shop owners. Those fat quarters will be refolded and neatened every day once they are cut. Storing them and keeping them organized is a major headache.

When purchased from manufacturers as a prefolded bundled group, the retail price comes out to be about $2.75 per fat when the yardage cost would be about $8.75 per yard.

Initially fat quarters were not sold as they are today, in full collection bundles. Appliquers loved larger pieces of fabric so they could get longer strips of bias for stems, as compared to a "skinny" 9" x 44" quarter yard. And for block backgrounds (12") - you can't get that from a regular quarter yard. Shop owners would take the last little bits from their bolts and cut them into fat quarters and you may have seen a little basket of them in the front of the shop. Now they are a major factor in a quilt shop's inventory and add to that layer cakes (10" x 10" squares), jelly rolls, and charm squares. The packaging and processing is what you are paying for - just like if you purchase a single can over a case, a half pint rather than a gallon, etc.

If you are using a pattern which calls for fat quarters, please read through the instructions carefully to see if you will be able to use regular (9" x 44") "skinny" quarter yard cuts, as they are not always compatable. A pattern the suggests stacking fats and cutting a 10" strip and sub dividing it into 10" square is not going to come out of a skinny quarter. If you are strip piecing quilts and using a rotary cutter, however, the longer skinny quarter is often more useful.

No matter what you pay, or where you get them, they are a joy to sew with and lots of fun to use, so I expect we will see them forever in the sewing community.
Lisa

Shadow Dancer

I bought a fat quarter bundle, it was 189.99 plus the taxes. It worked out before taxes to 4.75 per fat quarter. Jelly Rolls run between 39.99 to 69.99 up here.

No matter how you look at it, it's insane!!