tildiemae

I recently saw Stof fabric in an Iowa quilt shop. It was very pretty and alittle more expensive than other fabric. It was tempting but I controlled myself!!!...this time!

Tashana

EU is really expensive compared to US. I remember a friend was visiting me here on Long Island and I gave her an extra suitcase because she went nuts buying things for her kids. Specialty items such as quilting things that are expensive here are rediculously expensive across the pond. Also, and this may have changed, availability ad certain items was an issue as well. Even in Canada, things seem to be much pricier then here. I visit Canada once a year and I rarely buy anything because the sticker shock brings me back to reality.

leighway

Sorry to be pedantic but the word stof is German for fabric. There may be a manufacturer in Germany that has created a brand named Stof, but when I lived there stof was German fabric mostly used for curtains and dirndls. Their fabric is heavier than ours, and often has lovely small motifs as well as gorgeous lace embroidery on the stof. And even when I was there back in the late 80's it was very expensive and the dollar was in good shape then.

Annlil

I am from Denmark (Scandinavia) but living in The Netherlands and I can only agree that everything is so much more expensive here in Europe compared to US. In Denmark the sales tax is 25% (on everything from milk to fabric) and in the Netherland 21% on fabric (from October 1.)
These high taxes have turned quilting into a very expensive hobby. As other people has indicated it can be difficult to find special things here. Internet is an option, but then comes the shipping and maybe the custom "fee" on top.

Actually I have only one thing that I have been unable to find - the curved presser foot. I can find it on the internet but the sellers does not ship it to Europe.
For the rest I can find it here, it is just more expensive.

I started quilting a couple of years ago and I am crazy about it. I love the preparation, choosing pattern and fabric, less to sew it and I do not like to finsih a quilt :-).

I have found the ideal solution. I am member of a charity quilt group. We get a lot of very beautyfull fabrics donated. I have just finish a quilt mainly made from Hoffmann fabrics. I can make the top (the creative part I love) and other in the group will finish the quilt. We have women in the grup who love to do the quilting and others who love to do the binding. Most of our quilts are send to poor hospitals in the east (former USSR), and some quilts are sold for gatting money for buying batting, threads etc.

Next week I go to New York, and for sure I will visit some fabric shops. Hope my suitcase will be big enough

squires1042

Its a lot more than 3000 from Alabama to Alaska but the you are right about the postage. We use the flat rate a lot as we can pack it and the price is the same. The problem is getting merchants or sellers to do the same. UPS and Fedex are extremely expensive for us in Alaska as it is in England also where I grew up. (Ipswich). I rarely buy from the quilt stores when I go back to England because of the cost. That being said, flat rate boxes can be used for overseas and in the large one you can get about 25 yards of fabric as long as as it does not exceed 20 lbs in weight, the cost is between $50-60. I work at a quilt store and during the summer that is what we use to ship for customers from overseas who buy their fabric from us. We usually pack the boxes and then they will do the post office part so that they are responsible for the customs part of it.

GladGrams

Here in Norway we have to pay 6 times more plus postage than the cost of a yard of fabric in the USA. The dollar to kroner exchange is 5.7. Hence we pay around $15 a meter for the most reasonable fabric. The cost of everything is so high that quilting is not for everyone. And "if" we do order on the Internet and the total cost including postage is over 200 kroner we have to pay customs plus 23% tax. Soooooooo we are happy when anyone will mail us things- We can't ask a shop to mail us as a gift because it is against the law for them to do so, but it is possible for a person to do this. So, I guess what I am saying is that to have a friend who would agree to receive something and mail it on to us would be a big help, so we could take advantage of the free shipping in the USA and only have to pay shipping from one place. Am I making sense?

Anastasia

Thanks everyone, this is all very helpful. That is why I have occasionally agreed to ship international. I don't do it every month cause i am also on a limited income but I try to do it sometimes. if we all said no because of the shipping cost, it would be sad, and to see how much people have to pay to get things there, it makes me even more sad that people are not willing to spend a little in postage, for them to save a lot. I understand limited income. But to send once in awhile may not break the bank. I am going to take into consideration not sending priority this time though. I just want to make sure it gets there by deadlines. But if I get started quickly on the made items, I can send it out early and it shouldn't be a problem. I just don't want it to take weeks. Besides, the things I want to send probably aren't going to fit in a priority box so it's going to be piecemeal postage pricing anyways, I'll just ask them for a balanced fast vs. price shipping method.

starshine

I have had an international partner a couple of times in the boards monthly swaps, and deducted from some of the posts that fabric prices were the big thing so I knew I would be sending fabric for the most part of the swap. Some things I learned/or knew; Priority mail is only a priority in the US postal service. Even for APO / FPO it is only priority to the base here that sends it on, once the base gets it the item is handled their way, but if it is heavy flat rate is a deal for those packages. And the few times I heard back regarding the packages they seemed to get there in about 10 days.
So when I send intern'l I just send first class parcel post or regular parcel post. I had a package to England delivered in 10 days, and a package to Canada that took a month-but it also was just after some strike there and there was a backlog on postal deliveries.

So if anyone on the board here takes part in the monthly Secret Pal swap posting info on the board is good or be sure to note in the sp form what items you would be interested in. I usually say yes on the swap, and it usually is several times between when I get an international. I think Lori does try to spread the opportunity around.

wordpaintervs

hi Anastasia...good question and great answers. Wish I were more knowledgeable and could have helped out here. HUGS (overlook spelling please)

CarolinePaj

Hi Cat,

Come with a case full of wadding and fabric and you can stay at my place for as long as you like!!!! Suffolk is beautiful...... Really!!! LOL LOL LOL

Hugs