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Originally Posted by ritamaew
I went to a LQS for a sale and found that all fat quarters that have been precut are $3. Now that computes to $12 a yard. Most fabric in this shop is $9.50. And many fat quarters were from older ie cheaper fabric. I am wondering is this typical or this shop taking advantage of customers?
Rita |
Oopps to me, too. See below.
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Originally Posted by FirstQuilt
Originally Posted by wannaquilt1
Originally Posted by mjsylvstr
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) |
Now you shouldn't have to wonder why people go to GS and good will to shop, We are looking for a good deal. So there goes the LQS.
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I love your idea....you could make a lot of money doing that way (it it worked). Start a new trend!!! LOL
Originally Posted by twinkie
I think it would be a good idea for us to go into a shop and buy a few yards of material, take it home and cut it into fat quarters. Then take the FQs back to the shop and get a refund for the FQ price. Wonder if they would think that is fair? They said they are having to pay someone to cut the FQ, why couldn't it be me? LOL
Originally Posted by ckcowl
some shops insist that fq's should add up to more than the yardage price- because they are paying someone to cut them-(the convienience you pay for for not cutting them yourself)
i asked one time---well why doesn't it cost more if i have to cut a 1/4 yard for someone at the cutting table then? boy the daggers that flashed! :) and she took a breath and said- well fq's have to be folded a certain way too- it takes more time- - - i learned to not ask many questions of the owner in this shop (i worked in for over a year:) ) i still wonder though---how you can go through and raise your prices 30% then post signs all over for a HUGE 20% OFF SALE!!! some people are (business people) not quilters-and they are there to make money but bottom line is- pre-cuts cost more than yardage because it costs someone to PRE-CUT and we pay for the convienience-it saves us time-not money |
In my little business, the FQ are still $1, but with wholesale prices skyrocketing I will soon have to raise the price to $1.25. The FQ's are the ends of bolts which are always 1st quality.
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Originally Posted by ritamaew
I went to a LQS for a sale and found that all fat quarters that have been precut are $3. Now that computes to $12 a yard. Most fabric in this shop is $9.50. And many fat quarters were from older ie cheaper fabric. I am wondering is this typical or this shop taking advantage of customers?
Rita Sooo, now we ask for a 1/4 yard ct, or 1/8 yrd cut.... we get a better deal that....at least we feel better... |
If you think thats high look on ebay under "fat quarters". Some are charging over $5.00 for some designer fq's. Its insane. I would nevr pay that.
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Originally Posted by QKO
Originally Posted by QuilterChick
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? 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. |
I was thinking about this when doing my first ever quilting fabric shop recently ....
Bear with me because it will all be in metres and Swedish kronor but the point is the same! Fat quarters were 19.95 - call it 20 SEK - which is 3.02 US dollars so exactly in line with this thread! A metre of fabric, a yard and 4 inches, could easily be 67, 79 or 87 just based on what I picked out ... and many of the same fabrics as the FQs were sitting there on the shelves ... So, taking four fat quarters as 80 SEK = 12 US dollars means that I might be able to save money by buying a metre to cut into FQs of the 67 SEK cottons but the really wouldn't be much in it of the 79 and 87 ones (87 = 13.12 US dollars) I think the slightly extra cost of the FQs is often worth it if I am unlikely to be using more than one FQ of that fabric ... but as soon as I start picking up more than one FQ of the same design - perhaps to have one to swap - I should probably think about whether it is worth getting a metre cut instead .... As many of the fabrics were available on the roll as well I don't think my fabric store was using up ends of rolls for the FQs, but I can see how that would be a good idea for the store. I did sift through the 'end of rolls' or 'cut badly' 'has a fault' table but found it quite annoying that I had to search for the fabric type constantly. Helen |
Originally Posted by ptquilts
You are paying for all the heavy, intensive, labor and equipment involved in cutting one quarter yard of fabric.
See those ladies sprawled in chairs at the back of the shop, sweating, drinking Gatorade, and panting - they just cut a fat quarter for you. :lol: :mrgreen: :lol: |
Personally, I would rather buy a half yard than a fat quarter and one of the shops I go to encourages this. I don't know why I sometime buy them.
Originally Posted by ghostrider
Originally Posted by QKO
Originally Posted by QuilterChick
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 $2.50 were too much to begin with imho; they are basically scraps and on many you have to cut off the selvage. Remember when fabric was actually made in the USA? Most top-end printed fabric is printed and finished in Japan and So. Korea. Some of the more mid-low end fabrics, like David Textiles, Springs Creative, lower-end Cranston, and most of the the stuff you buy in Wally World, are also printed and finished in China. Connecting Threads has their fabric printed and finished in Mexico. Batiks and hand-dyes are mostly dyed, stamped and finished in Indonesia and India. There are many reasons fabric isn't made in the USA anymore. If fabric were in fact made in the USA today, with all the government regulations and union labor, fabric would probably cost about 25 dollars a yard, and you'd be talking about FQ's at 8 or 9 dollars each. FQ's aren't scraps, or made from scraps in any shop I've ever been in. FQ's are made in most shops by cutting a half-yard off the bolt, then cutting the half-yard in half lengthwise. In more careful shops this often involves starting with an oversized half-yard cut which is then re-folded, trimmed and straightened before cutting, so that you get a true FQ that is straight to the pattern. There is a lot of time involved and some trimming loss to making a perfect FQ, thus the increased price. Labor might be free in some places, but it isn't in most shops. Personally, as a shop owner I'd just as soon not cut FQ's because there is waste involved, but you're almost forced to offer them because so many patterns are based on FQ's. If you do find a FQ pattern you like, it probably is worth your time, and you may save some money, by seeing if you can easily adapt that pattern to long quarters. I'd be willing to bet that many FQ patterns can use long quarters, which typically cost less than fats. |
actually in the little shop that opened up around here some months ago sell their cotton at 20$ a meter......
Originally Posted by Ripped on Scotch
I hate to tell you but that is normal in Canada. if not a little on the low side. Cotton is about $15\meter.
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Most of the time if I can find the fat quarter
that I like on a bolt I will buy at LEAST a 1/2 yard and cut my own fat quarter and get 2 instead of just one. That is how I have managed to get almost of the stash of fat quarters that I already have. But no way would I pay $3 for a single fq. |
someone had to make a mistakes at pricing
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yes, i've been seeing them for $3.
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My local quilt shop charges $3.25
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oh, yeah - definitely gouging at $3 a FQ for a typical FQ.
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too much for me!! i always buy yardage
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I just came home from the fabric store and they were selling their fat quarters for $1.79. Now I'm not sure how good a quality they are but.... I also saw that they were selling bundles of Hawaiian print fat quarters as well as Hawaiian print jelly rolls, too. It looks like they cut their own Hawaiian print types.
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I noticed several years ago that FQ were an expensive luxury. My LQS was selling them for $2.25 when fabric was around $8/yd. Net profit was $1/yd. You won't find any of the fabric on the bolt, either, since they only cut off the ends of the bolt.
I really did myself a disservice a while ago and calculated the price per yard of charms, layer cakes, FQ bundles and strips. We do pay for convenience there too -- probably because they feel that folks won't calculate the price of yardage when there are all those little pieces. I have to REALLY like something to pay that price. |
Won't pay that much!!!
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I have seen fat quarters as high as $5-6 in LQS and even online retail stores.
I've seen fabric by the yard as high as $14-16 a yard. We have an artist around here that creates one of a kind batiks which he sells at $28-30 a yard and actually sells them. |
I'd pay $3/fat quarter like I'd pay $10 for a hamburger from Mackydees....not no, but h----, no!
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WOW...Fabric is getting higher all the time. I was in a LQS today, but didn't look at FQ's. But most of the newer fabric is 9 to 12 bucks. This quilting thing is getting quite expensive.
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LOL
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Most I've seen in general is $2.50ish. I haven't seen too many higher than that. Only time I pay more than $3 for a fat quarter is if I'm buying Moda Marbles fat quarters from a buyer on eBay, but that's also including the shipping.
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Wow! In Australia $3 for a fat quarter would be considered a bargain!
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i would never pay that for fat quarters
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If I don't agree with the price of a FQ, I just buy a 1/2 yard (cut for free)and make my own 2 FQ's. It is worth my time to get quality material that I can afford.
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$3 is a rip off, worked in a fabric store, not that hard to cut a fat quarter, and most of the fabric is left over fabric... I would never pay that.
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I agree with the British, Australian, Canadian and Swedish posters on this thread! If fat quarters here were $3 US, I'd consider them a real bargain!
Batiks here, for example, run about $25 to $30 a meter...which includes 17% sales tax, customs taxes and the mark-up the shop owner needs to stay in business. I live in a country with ONE quilting shop. One. So I buy online or on trips, and I buy a lot of fat quarters just so I can have some variety in my stash, so that I know what is going on in the world of fabric, and because I really like to make quilts with lots of different fabrics. I also buy them to try a fabric out, as a border for example, before ordering a larger quantity. I honestly don't mind paying $3 for a FQ, plus shipping (I try to buy enough fabric at a time to fill a flat rate envelope, which makes the shipping cost more reasonable) and try to find cool projects to use them in. I may end up buying a lot less fabric than quilters in the US, but if I want the joy and satisfaction of my hobby, it's the price I have to pay. |
I have found that if I just buy a half yard, and keep a forth for myself, I always have a fat quarter for raffle at quild. Believe me, if you cut your own, you get a FAT QUARTER, and you do not always get that when they are pre-cut.
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Originally Posted by GirlieWhirlie
I don't know but I would never pay $3 for a fat quarter.
We pay $6-50 for fq in Australia where I live. :thumbdown: |
Here in Bendigo Australia, our Spotlight Store sells
fat quarters at plain @$2.50 + PRINTS @ $3.00 |
I have be buying 1/2 yards of fabric. Better deal and have more fabric if needed and build stash!
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sounds like we all should be building our stash, the way prices are going up.
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Walmart sells the fat quarters for $10.50. I have seen higher prices which I left at the store.
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I questioned the owner of a local quilt shop why her FQ had gone up to $2.75 and $3.25 for batiks. She said the prices she was paying at the wholesaler were up and she really was only adding a 10% raise and sometimes 5% to make up for it. She told me was paying $ 7-8 for a bolt of fabric that last year cost her $5-6. It just means our stashes are growing in value.
Sally |
"Walmart sells the fat quarters for $10.50. I have seen higher prices which I left at the store."
Are you sure that wasn't a fat quarter bundle? |
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