Aren't you lucky you don't live in the UK?!!!

I don't usually buy fat quarters unless I cannot find a particular print I really like in yardage. I have only once spent $2.99 for a couple fat quarter peices I could not live without. I was horrified at the price though.

I went to a fabric wholesale business yesterday and where they used to sell FQ for 50-75 cents wholesale they are 1.25 to 1.50 wholesale. Fabric is normally doubled, so $2.50-3.00 looks to be the new selling price. Most fabric by the yard at the wholesaler was between 5.50 and 6.50 a yard. Expect these to be doubled at the LQS too. I guess I am going to use a lot more of my stash. Then maybe the prices will at least level off for new fabric.

Fabric has gone up in price by at least $1.00 a yard; and the sad part is, all of it is made in China, even the "high end" brands. When I lived in NC, I used to buy at Mary Jo's all the time, and Mary Jo herself told me about the price increases. So when a shop owner buys a bolt, they have to reprice by the yard.

Fat quarters at $2.50 were too much to begin with imho; they are basically scraps and on many you have to cut off the selvage.

Remember when fabric was actually made in the USA?

I buy most of my fabric at LQS, but there is no way I will pay $3.00 for a fat!

I buy most of my fabric at LQS, but there is no way I will pay $3.00 for a fat!

How about 4 quilters going shopping and each pick out their favorite fabric.....

and then each buy a yard of same.....

after that, one happy quilter with a new sharp blade zips through
4 yards of fabric with just 4 slashes and each quilter now has
4 FQs......

walk away 4 happy quilters !!!!!!!!

(and at the price of running yardage)

I have been paying at least $3.00/ FQ for several years.

Not really.
Cut it in half: 2 pieces 18 x 44.
Now cut along the fold in the center of the fabric: 2 pieces 18x22.
Still 4 fat quarters.
Then trade with your friends.

My local qs is just barely hanging in there. but we are rural so when people are squeezed for cash the first thing they have to cut out are the extras. I am hoping she can pull through and make it but unfortunately she is so worried about her customers, that she is pricing herself right out of business!

Sounds like greed to me!

My favorite LGS has raised their FQ prices to $3 also. And if you ask for a 1/4 yd off the bolt and they cut you a FQ (they ask if you want it in a FQ) then you pay FQ price (even if the bolt price is cheaper). Also they cut FQs from new bolts - it's not the old stuff.

I pray for your LQS and hope for the best.

In America you might complain about paying $3 for a fat quarter. In the UK we have to pay £2.50 for same which works out at about $3.90

baaahhhhhhh this is awesome! I am picturing the ladies sitting in the back fanning themselves out of exhaustion! thanks for the laugh i needed that LOL

very good point!

I paid $3.00 for one of the new fabric lines only because she didn't have the color in yardage. I have fallen in love with the Stone Hedge fabric. I bought a Christmas Wallhanging and the backing a few weeks ago and I'm really anxious to get it made but normally I don't pay that much. $2.25 is about my limit for fat quarters.

I would probably buy the half yard and have 2 fat quarters.
One for me and one for my quilting buddy or one to set aside for a quick quilty gift.

yup 3.25 up to olmost 5 is whay ive seen some places im very fortunate to have a Lqs that has a large selection off fat quartes for $2 each its a realy good deel since that makes them cheaper than most off the yardage that runs from $11 to $13 so farfor new fabric $7 or $8 for clearance.

I found that the fat squares are made out of bolt end left over fabrics. I can cut a lot of fat squares for $12.50 a yard.

I paid 2.99.

I was in Longview (TX) over the weekend and I paid $3.00 for a fat quarter. If I hadn't needed to fabric I certainly would not have paid that much. Won't do it again. And I read in one of my groups that cotten has dropped in price.

At one of the hobby shops near me (it might just be local), they have fat quarters for $1.33. I checked on the selvages, and the ones I found were from RJR and Thimbleberries. They are probably older prints, but I don't care.

better to buy at 1/4 yard and get twice as much !!

That's an outrageous price for a FQ!!! I would certainly never pay that much.

But that wouldn't be FAT quarters... just 1/4 yards. There is a difference.... they wouldn't be as wide.

Right, you would need to buy 1/2 and you would get 2 fat quarters. The problem I have with these is that I never want to use them. I'm always afraid I will either be short or something. But then cutting any of my fabric is hard to use. Why? I have no idea, it's kinda like loosing my best friend.

3$ seems to be the standard for fat quarters. If I want more I buy the 1/2 yard. FQ's are impulse buys for me. I have many and am not sure what to do with them. Working on it!

$3.00 is a lot to pay for a fq in my budget.

I often purchase 2 fat quarters of the same fabric. If the price for 2 is less than the cost of 1/2 yard, I purchase the fat quarters. If it is more then I purchase a half yard of the fabric. It will be a long time however, before I pay $3.00 for 1/4 yard of fabric, no matter how much I like it!

If I can I have them cut me a FQ because I've seen all too often that when I get pre cut ones home they aren't always accurate. If you are there when the cutting is happening then they know who cut it and have to be more accurate. I only do this when I don't know the store or I know the store has had this problem. I get charged for a 1/4 yrd

I was just wondering about this last week when I was at my LQS. Their FQ are $3 also & I was shocked. Since I rarely buy less than a yard I never looked at FQ until I decided to make a jar quilt. Sadly this LQS just moved into a dark, cramped old house. They were never friendly to begin with but I still went because it was well lit & easy to find what I needed. I have 2 other shops who need business enough to be friendly so I'll travel a bit farther to buy from them. LOL, now I am not asking to be anyone's BFF but I don't like feeling like I'm bothering them if I ask questions either.

me too!

Actually, this isn't quite correct. Most greige goods are made in China, i.e. the base fabric is cleaned and woven there. Some is also made in Pakistan and India.

Most top-end printed fabric is printed and finished in Japan and So. Korea.

Some of the more mid-low end fabrics, like David Textiles, Springs Creative, lower-end Cranston, and most of the the stuff you buy in Wally World, are also printed and finished in China.

Connecting Threads has their fabric printed and finished in Mexico.

Batiks and hand-dyes are mostly dyed, stamped and finished in Indonesia and India.

There are many reasons fabric isn't made in the USA anymore. If fabric were in fact made in the USA today, with all the government regulations and union labor, fabric would probably cost about 25 dollars a yard, and you'd be talking about FQ's at 8 or 9 dollars each.

FQ's aren't scraps, or made from scraps in any shop I've ever been in. FQ's are made in most shops by cutting a half-yard off the bolt, then cutting the half-yard in half lengthwise. In more careful shops this often involves starting with an oversized half-yard cut which is then re-folded, trimmed and straightened before cutting, so that you get a true FQ that is straight to the pattern. There is a lot of time involved and some trimming loss to making a perfect FQ, thus the increased price. Labor might be free in some places, but it isn't in most shops. Personally, as a shop owner I'd just as soon not cut FQ's because there is waste involved, but you're almost forced to offer them because so many patterns are based on FQ's.

If you do find a FQ pattern you like, it probably is worth your time, and you may save some money, by seeing if you can easily adapt that pattern to long quarters. I'd be willing to bet that many FQ patterns can use long quarters, which typically cost less than fats.

If the FQ are all OLDER fabrics, then yes it sounds like they're taking good advantage of price increases ... if they are from brand new lines, then I'd say No :roll:

I've seen some on ebay for $5.25. Don't guess I need to mention I didn't buy any.

Around here if they are older fabrics the FQ are around 125 to 150; you get a discount the more you buy. The latest FQ are normally 250.

The "labor" to cut FQs is really NO different than having any fabric cut at the cutting table ... It just takes 2 cuts vs 1. Big deal. Oops I forgot about the folding, or rolling ... whew ... now THAT'S labor intensive !!
When I worked at 2 LQS before, we cut FQs when we weren't BUSY, and we also cut them for customers ... and we didn't get Gatorade or get to put our feet up afterwards !! LOL :roll:

at our LQS FQ's are $3.00 also. You have to consider that it is a 18x22 piece of fabric and that it has been cut for you. Most of the new cottons are now priced at nearly $12.00 to $13.00 a yard - and it a quarter yard would only be 9 inches x WOF.
I know that fabric is getting more expensive and the cost of making quilts is going up. Guess my thinking is that IF I am going to make a special quilt....put all my time and work in it....I want to make sure it is quality fabric and thread that I am using. Please don't think I am a fabric snob....LOL.... because I use fabric from other stores too....just depends on what I am making and how it will be used and saved.
I have to save up to buy quilt shop quality fabrics and I treasure those fabrics.
Happy Quilting.

I only buy FQs bundles. If I really love a fabric line and cannot afford to buy several yards of each, this fits the bill for me. It's like I really love an expensive, delicious red wine. Cannot afford the whole bottle but when my wine shop has tastings I jump on a glass for $10. Kind of the same situation for me.