How do you decide if fabric is "quality" (good enough for your quilt)??
03-03-2010, 07:10 PM
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 3,357
Def. do not judge by price as a firm rule. I have bought from all various places. Just recently bought 3 diff. 1 yd pieces from my LQS that I dearly love & shop there quite often, but ea.of these pcs cost me over $10 a yard. All 3 bled like crazy. I thought I would never get them treated where they would not run & bleed anymore. It shocked me. I have bought fabric @ Jo Anns and yes, WalMart & they did not bleed. So it is a case that you never know & cannot judge by price. They all felt wonderful. Some from the big box store has felt like cheesecloth. Some not. You will be able to tell by the feel soon.
03-04-2010, 05:03 AM
#23
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Somewhere in Time
Posts: 2,697
For my very first quilt, I went to Goodwill and bought plaid men's shirts, at first I removed the labels, but later decided they were part of the shirt (some are quite lovely). We did a summer porch (half-squares). Although it still needs a border. My quilt buddies really like the labels on some of them. While others concerned themselves with block placement, my eyes were having trouble keeping the plaids straight, I just decided to start sewing the blocks together -- it looks pretty good. Will post a photo as soon as this WIP is complete.
03-04-2010, 07:00 AM
#24
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Carolinas
Posts: 239
Just my .02, but maybe it will help. I've sorta figured out which fabrics to buy by brand. Walmart has their own brand - cheap price, cheap fabric, usually 2.44 or less per yard. They also carry AE Nathan - low to mediocre fabric, usually 2.44/yd; Cranston VIP - mediocre, but better than AE Nathan, usually priced at 4.44/yd; Fabric Traditions - better than AE Nathan and VIP - usually priced at 3.44/yd.
Joann's varies quite a bit, but most name brand fabric is safe. The VIP fabric varies there and I've even started asking them to tear a piece for me because it is off grain more than not off grain, especially prints with squares. Last time I asked them to do that, it was almost 2" off grain. I'm tired of getting it home and find it wayyyy off grain. Besides, it's 75 miles to the nearest JoAnn's for me. Hancock - main fabric is Absolute Cotton and it varies a lot in quality, but it's on the mediocre to ok range. The novelty cottons tend to be slightly better and they carry a few name brand fabrics that are rarely on sale, but at least decent quality. Quilt shops - I trust their fabric. Mary Jo's in Gastonia NC is totally trustworthy and they carry mostly name brand fabrics, but not the same ones as the quilt shops. OK...that's my .02. I can't afford $8-10/yd so I have to be thrifty but I hate it when I get the fabric home and it's off grain and/or thin - arghhh.
Joann's varies quite a bit, but most name brand fabric is safe. The VIP fabric varies there and I've even started asking them to tear a piece for me because it is off grain more than not off grain, especially prints with squares. Last time I asked them to do that, it was almost 2" off grain. I'm tired of getting it home and find it wayyyy off grain. Besides, it's 75 miles to the nearest JoAnn's for me. Hancock - main fabric is Absolute Cotton and it varies a lot in quality, but it's on the mediocre to ok range. The novelty cottons tend to be slightly better and they carry a few name brand fabrics that are rarely on sale, but at least decent quality. Quilt shops - I trust their fabric. Mary Jo's in Gastonia NC is totally trustworthy and they carry mostly name brand fabrics, but not the same ones as the quilt shops. OK...that's my .02. I can't afford $8-10/yd so I have to be thrifty but I hate it when I get the fabric home and it's off grain and/or thin - arghhh.
03-04-2010, 10:54 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: MO
Posts: 1,057
Originally Posted by BellaBoo
A good budget stretcher is to go to a thrift shop and buy men's cotton shirts to cut up. The shirts have the best plaids and small prints that's hard to find. If you buy shirting fabric in a quilt shop, if you can find it, it's very expensive.
03-04-2010, 11:39 AM
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
Posts: 701
Originally Posted by Gramof6
Def. do not judge by price as a firm rule. I have bought from all various places. Just recently bought 3 diff. 1 yd pieces from my LQS that I dearly love & shop there quite often, but ea.of these pcs cost me over $10 a yard. All 3 bled like crazy. I thought I would never get them treated where they would not run & bleed anymore. It shocked me. I have bought fabric @ Jo Anns and yes, WalMart & they did not bleed. So it is a case that you never know & cannot judge by price. They all felt wonderful. Some from the big box store has felt like cheesecloth. Some not. You will be able to tell by the feel soon.
And good brands don't always mean good fabric. I washed a fat quarter of Moda (Christmas fabric) and it shrunk 2 inches!! I was shocked. But the other Moda lines don't shrink, so I think it was just because it was a holiday line. I don't know why that would make a difference, tho. You'd think the company would want to have a good name with all their fabrics. :shock:
03-04-2010, 12:19 PM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Somewhere in Time
Posts: 2,697
I have found that most shirts have labels in them regarding contents. I only purchase 100% cotton and some of them are beautiful plaids. I also purchased some with orange/black/brown/and greens for a jack-o-lantern quilt I hope to make someday. It and a spider web quilt made from plaid strips are the reasons I joined a quilt guild and began this addiction. The men's shirts at my Goodwill are $2.50 and if you look for L, XL, and XXL. You can get considerably more than a yard of fabric, and a good selection of buttons from just one shirt. I usually take them apart while I watch TV.
My main problem is I usually find several shirts I would like to keep to wear around the house or while gardening. But that is becoming to be less of a problem as I dismantle more and more shirts. Happy hunting and enjoy all available resources.
My main problem is I usually find several shirts I would like to keep to wear around the house or while gardening. But that is becoming to be less of a problem as I dismantle more and more shirts. Happy hunting and enjoy all available resources.
03-04-2010, 02:00 PM
#28
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: PA
Posts: 2,879
Originally Posted by NCfleur
Hello Quilting Friends:
Newbie here with lots of questions.
I never sewed before I picked up an inexpensive machine to take my first class last summer so I don't have any sewing experience to fall back on. Sorry if my questions are really basic! :shock:
So I'm learning the names of some high end fabric manufactures like Jinny Beyers, La Moda, etc from looking at fabric at my LQS. I hear people say you should buy the best you can. But I also want to stay within a budget and I don't know how to judge "quality" of fabric.
Of course I know to stay with 100% cotton. I've seen cloth at Walmart that felt like cheese cloth and I know that's not good! LOL!! But honestly, if someone put samples of fabric in front of me without the labels, I don't know if I could tell which came from the quilt shop and which came from JoAnne's/Hancock's.
Then I think about the old quilts from the 1800's-1900's and how everyone raves over them. Some of them were made with flour sacks and old pieces of who-knows-what! What's a girl to do?? LOL!
Any help in developing some judgment would be greatly appreciated.
Newbie here with lots of questions.
I never sewed before I picked up an inexpensive machine to take my first class last summer so I don't have any sewing experience to fall back on. Sorry if my questions are really basic! :shock:
So I'm learning the names of some high end fabric manufactures like Jinny Beyers, La Moda, etc from looking at fabric at my LQS. I hear people say you should buy the best you can. But I also want to stay within a budget and I don't know how to judge "quality" of fabric.
Of course I know to stay with 100% cotton. I've seen cloth at Walmart that felt like cheese cloth and I know that's not good! LOL!! But honestly, if someone put samples of fabric in front of me without the labels, I don't know if I could tell which came from the quilt shop and which came from JoAnne's/Hancock's.
Then I think about the old quilts from the 1800's-1900's and how everyone raves over them. Some of them were made with flour sacks and old pieces of who-knows-what! What's a girl to do?? LOL!
Any help in developing some judgment would be greatly appreciated.
03-04-2010, 02:04 PM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: PA
Posts: 2,879
Oops - hit the wrong button!
Anyway, as I was saying, the color may be a bit off from what the designer had intended , so it is not sold as first quality in quilt shops. The wearability won't be affected in that case, so you have to decide whether you like it or not. As others said, you can generally feel a lower quality weave.
Anyway, as I was saying, the color may be a bit off from what the designer had intended , so it is not sold as first quality in quilt shops. The wearability won't be affected in that case, so you have to decide whether you like it or not. As others said, you can generally feel a lower quality weave.
03-04-2010, 02:09 PM
#30
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: East Oklahoma - pining for Massachusetts
Posts: 10,477
Does it feel soft to the touch? When I started quilting, I went by sight alone! (I like it. I want some.) That was all I knew. I go through some of the older stuff now, and wonder "What was I thinking???"
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