With prices being so high, where do you ladies shop for fabric? Seems it would make sense to purchase from the online shops in the USA, unless there is some prohibitive reason not to.
What is the response of your local shops when you tell them the same fabric is available online for less that half their costs.
I must be missing something, why do quilters pay those high prices?

I have just started ordering online :)

I am a very slow quilter and I hand quilt so don't buy fabric as often as I would like to. Up till now I have bought on sale. I went looking for ideas today and saw FQs priced at $7.50 and $10. I am still recovering from the shock!!!

(I am in New Zealand)

I'm not sure if I would have been able to pick my jaw up off the floor at 10.00 a fat qtr. I do wonder how you can handle those prices it would definitely put a bind on my pocketbook.

OMG! I don't know the exchange rate between New Zealand and USA but $7.50 -$10 for a FQ can't be good anywhere. I guess I'll stop complaining.

Although I have bought fabric online and will continue to do so for price, I really like to see and feel the fabric before purchasing. I buy from my LQS in order to support them. One where I shop has a plan where you pay $20.00 upfront for a 20% discount on anything in the store for a year. It's well worth the $20 investment! I don't buy yardage without a project in mind, but I will pick up remnants on sale or FQ's on sale if I like them. Someday I'll make a scrappie quilt with them.

In the Netherlands they make smaller quilts and more detailed. If the prices were that high I would seriously only look at recycling used clothing and buying stuff from the USA with others so I could safe on shipping.

I've been buying from USA for several years now. I know the LQS owners would be unhappy with me but as I make the majority of my quilts for charity I just can't afford their prices. Soooo, I don't tell them.
I have had the quilt police try to tell me off a couple of times but I ask if they give any of their quilts away. That usually shuts them up.
If I buy from USA I can make 3 kids quilts for the same price as one using local purchased fabric. Postage is normally $12.00 - $14.00 for 7 -8 yards

I buy from Spotlight (a chain that sells fabric, party supplies, homewares etc) when they have quilting fabrics on sale. Have set myself an upper limit of $8/metre for 100% cotton quilting fabric. If its more than that I don't *need* it.

For batting I wait for a free shipping promo from Hanckocks of Paducah. You have to spend $100 to qualify for the free shipping and I generally spend up on jelly rolls and backing fabric to get to that (you can only get 2 batts per order without paying an extra handling charge). I've had great service form Hancocks so far.

I'm in Country South Australia and sometimes buy from my local QS she has FQ's from $4.00 or buy 4 and get the cheapest 1 free. If I am going to our nearest major town I shop there for specials. We have a fantastic QS 45 mins away, a few of us get together and go shopping, because we usually buy up big we get discount! They have fabrics from $8.00 per metre. Sometimes I buy online. I have such a big stash now I need to stop buying and start sewing! If only I had more time.

spotlight is the only store near me so I mainly buy from them. When I am in Victoria/melbourne I sometimes shop in LQS. I bought material for my grandson's quilt from my sister's LQS for civil war type RK prints Prices ranged from 17.50 per metre on special to 28-00 per metre. Good quality. I do usually look for specials when I shop. I find most Tasmanian LQS out of my price bracket as they are usually dearer than the mainland. Guess it is to do with living on an island.

Have you looked at this business? http://www.theozmaterialgirls.com.au/
A few years ago I used to order from them regularly because they had religious prints that I couldn't find anywhere else. It might be worthwhile to look into their wholesale inquiry area, too.

This is a tough one. Prices here in the UK are so high, but if we don't support our LQS we'll lose them. But if I always did buy here, I wouldn't be able to do as much quilting as I want to, because I'm on a small income. So I do a mix. Sometimes, as someone else said, I want to get the colours exactly right or try colours together or look for ideas, and then I'll shop locally. At other times when it's not quite so crucial or I want backing fabric, I might buy online from the States. All my (American) threads are now bought here, because I've found a great supplier. And actually it's not always that much cheaper to buy from the States by the time I've added on postage (USPS rates seem to have gone up) and at times when the exchange rate is against me. Plus if I buy more than 3-4 yards, the parcel might get stopped by Customs, and the duty then makes it MUCH more expensive. I'm always looking for the bargain, the cheapest way of getting my supplies, and just have weigh it up each time.
When I come to the States next year, I'll probably need an extra suitcase when I come home :-)

I do not have a 'local' quilt store. Ours closed a couple of years ago. Too bad too. We were sooo happy when she openned, but she really got in our faces when we signed up for a class and then came with our own material or brought in a top or pattern for help and did not purchase anything. I used to check thru the window to see if the owner was in or just one of the clerks, before entering. With the price she was charging for classes, I just could not buy her fabric too.

But I do buy from the US online. Often it is a specific fabric that I have seen in a magazine or at a store. My DH works mostly in the US so I can have it shipped to his hotel and save postage and duty.

www.darncheapfabrics.com.au - 113-115 Burgundy St, Heidelberg Victoria - (03) 9455 0699 - Small selection craft fabric - $6.50 metre

Gj's Discount Fabrics 443 Lygon St, BRUNSWICK EAST, VIC, 3057 Phone: (03) 9380 2989 - Vast selection - $22.00 metre

Craft Collections Unit 1, 13 Mummery Crescent Bunbury WA 6233 (08) 9791 1961 - Vast selection - lastest fabrics - $22.00 metre

Bunbury Sewing Centre Unit 1, 13 Rose St, Bunbury Michele (08) 9791 2740 - Good selection - $22.00 metre - Hires out her long arm quilter (on the premises)

Textile Traders (West Australian fabric chain) Seconds - $11.00 to $15.00 metre. Bargain table $7.50 for 1 1/2 metres. 20% off with Member Card.

Spotlight - National fabric chain - Big selection - price varies - average $16.00 metre.

Online is a bit of a trap even with the favourable exchange rate. I've bought some absolutely gorgeous fabric online but matches nothing in my stash or my LQS.

LQS is cheaper in the long run because it takes the guess work out of matching colours and I save by not buying fabric that ends up a mistake. Also, the hour or so browse time provides me with a degree of meditation. Ahhhh....