Welcome Jamie! :c)

I know a lot of people here will tell you that you get what you pay for, and in some cases that's true. You DO have to watch what you get though. Much of what you buy in quilting and fabric stores is better quality, but I have to tell you that I have bought fabric at Wal-Mart to use for a project, and later see the EXACT same fabric at another store or even on eBay for twice what I paid for it at Wally World. If it was a heavier, better fabric I could see it, but I'm talking the same fabric in every aspect. By all means shop at the more expensive shops...you WON'T regret it. Just compare prices and quality like you would with any other item you buy for your home. Hope this helps! :c)

Donna :)

Those prices are comparable to our shops. Other members of the board have had good suggestions as there are ways to obtain good fabric at more reasonable prices. One must learn the makers and to judge the fabric.
Do get to know your LQS. Check to see if they are online so you can receive notices. Visit once in a while to learn what they may have planned. Our two LQS have an area with clearance fabric, some 40% & 50% off. Once a year there is a sale on batik and once a year there is a 50% off sale on selected items. I have to have a plan or a list before the sale.

I had another thought on this. Are you a member of a local quilter's guild? I found one through the local cooperative extension services here and became a member at the 2nd meeting I go to. With a membership card, many quilt shops will give a discount on purchases. I just went to Hancock Fabrics last night and got a 15% discount on my entire purchase, and everything I got was a clearance item! :c)

Donna

I've bought the same fabric at Walmart that the local shops have in stick

Sorry fat fingered that! It boils down to if you "have the newest prints" you'll pay the price. If not you can save money by shopping

I go to the local thrift stores: Value village, goodwill etc. I too buy bed skirts from the thrift stores, there almost always new, most people don't use them, have used bedsheets too, the only time I go to the good quilt stores is when I am making a wallhanging an need a certain fabric, I make alot of personal wallhangings for myself or friends. I do use Walmart fabric even the $1.50-2.00 stuff, you have to like the feel of the fabric and some of it is pretty nice. My son needed curtains for a big padio doors and I got his fabric at walmart for a $1.50 a yard, good enough for curtains for his place. Joanns has pricey fabric too, I just wait for a coupon.

well without stating my actual age,aheeem. I was raised during and after the great depression, we made quilts to last and last thru life. I have quilts that have survived to this day made from old clothes etc. When I got rich,lol, I even made quilts from Walmart fabric and they are still being used and are whole. I have us LQS fabric that does NOT hold up like that. One or two washing and they were faded and the colors ran. Seams pulled out , Yes I am a fabric snob,I use what I have or can find at a reasonable price that I can afford.

Another thread about fabric costs listed many online fabric stores. I'd suggest giving someone your credit card to hold while you look! Being new to this board, discovered these stores, and with brand new twin grandaughters and another grandaughter on the way went a tad crazy. The selections are wonderful, way better than Jo-Ann's, and much better quality, and I only let myself shop the clearance sections. Fabric.com and thousandsofbolts.com are my suggestions but I'm going to be forced to check on some that are in this thread as well :) I don't know about any of you all but this day job is really interferring with my sewing!

That's a GOOD price for quality fabric!~ As the LQS get new things in, it will be going up towards 11~~so better buy what ya can at those prices!
There is NO comparison in quality to walmart fabric. I'm not saying you can't use it, but it's not the same quality. I mean, if you compare apples and oranges.
But, you can make quilts from ANYTHING, old clothes... look at Bonnie Hunter!
Just have fun! :)

I have some Walmart fabrics that are just fine. I just received an order from Connecting Threads and I am impressed with the quality of the fabric and the speedy service. I ordered at 9 o'clock Monday evening and received my order in Wednesday's mail. Really quick!

wow, $9.00!! most of my lqs have gone to 10 to 12 a yard....that is why i am always looking for bargains!! sales!! coupons!! anything to cut the cost.....

Ditto on the day job!

That's the regular prices around here. Went to a LQS the other day and the prices were from 8.50 to 9.50.

Sad to say that the price of cotton is sky high. Same for the batting. I buy most of my fabric on online. Fabric Depot has some good prices on backings right now. I have a list of about 40 places that I check when I'm ready to buy. Free shipping is always a plus!

We can all expect to pay more for our fabric in the near future. I live in Texas and the drought has severely affected this year's cotton crop - the plants died before producing any cotton. This will really cause the costs to skyrocket, as all the cotton will need to come from other countries. I realize most of the fabrics we get come from China or India or such, but with 1/5 of the cotton out of the market this year, prices will be high.

So stock up while you can, next year will probably see prices of $12 a yd.

I actually just heard this morning that the price of cotton was coming down. I have my doubts as to whether or not that will affect OUR costs though. LOL!

Donna

When I had my upholstery business, foam would ALWAYS go up when oil went up.. It NEVER ONCE came back down accordingly. lol

We are only beginning to feel the pinch from the drought down south. Cotton will continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Buy what you can now.

connectingthreads.com is also a good one

If you read this article, you will understand better why costs are not likely to come down, and why the textile industry in the US declined so dramatically.

http://www.tradereform.org/2011/10/a...ile-exporters/

Yeahp!~A friend here who has a souvenier type place on I-95 needs pecans(they sell citrus,etc.) She can't get any!~China has bought up all the big crops here in GA and it was a bad year... So, it's other things too. People just don't think past a price tag or this month. It's been coming a long time and it's going to get worse. Good article.

Quick question............why would anyone ever bemoan the cost of good quality fabric, if you're going to back your quilt with a sheet? Does anyone really think that the fabric from cotton shirts or Goodwill, or any other place, is going to be compatible with "quality" fabric. I say..........buy whatever fabric you're happy with, Walmart or LQS, do a good job in constructing your quilt, and be happy. The enjoyment is in the making!

I too have noticed how high cottons at the LQS have gotten. I recently went to 4 quilts shops while on vacation and was floored. I found a charm pack that I know is at least 2 years old at all 4 shops. I originally paid $6 for a charm pack but have recently also paid $10.98 for a yard of the same collection and the same pack was anywhere from $9 to $10.50. Needless to say I'm going to try real hard to just use what I now have on hand. (But fabric is my addiction! Maybe I need a Tweleve Step Program for fabric addiction.)

Cotton prices have gone way up do to the flooding, sunamis, and storms throught the country. Hopefully things will come back to more sensible prices when this country gets back to what was once normal?

Good Luck
Suzy

I think you are right about that.

Today I just bought some yarn to make a shawl wrap for my daughter. She may like it or she may hate it (being 14, who knows?) but I figure I still have the entertainment value of the time I spend working on it. Cold winter nights with a cozy project... works for me!

I buy a lot of my fabrics at : www.thousandsofbolts.com

I do buy from the local quilt shops too. I don't want them to go out of business.

I thought that Fabri-quilt was still made in the U.S. Just got back to the motel from my first trip to Mary Jo's and had slight sticker shock. Oh, and severe traffic shock. But the selection is incredible. Online prices are often better, but you can't pet the fabric before your buy it LOL. Seriously, it is tough for me to buy fabric that I haven't really seen. But some of the batiks were $18.95. While I do believe that the people who make the fabric deserve to be fairly paid, that will reduce the amount that I can buy. And that isn't all bad. Do I think that there is an award for the person with the biggest unused stash?

Hi, I'm on a really tight budget and it keeps getting tighter. But when the times are a little better I buy a yard, here a yard there, fat quarters and so on. I also buy some fabric at thrift shops. So when it comes time to sit down and plan a new quilt I take some from my stash and buy those super wow pieces from the quilt shop. I usually spent a while making a quilt and it's always for a special person so I think it is worth it.

As to cotton fabrics, I believe Fabri-quilt does the quilting here in the US (as in layering one or two fabrics to batting and doing the stitching to make single- or double-faced quilted fabric)... but the fabrics themselves are printed overseas.

They do sell synthetics, too, but I don't know the country of origin of those as we don't carry them.

Bummer

Yes, fabric is expensive, especially now. Quilting is not a cheap craft. There's a shortage of cotton. Australia cotton crops have been damaged from widespread flooding and China's crops from a cold snap. These countries supply a lot of cotton to the world. We can't produce enough to keep up with demand. Thus, some of our LQS sell fabric around $10.00 and up now. I get a lot online and I try to buy it on sale.

That's normal. The owner of my LQS told me that most fabric is now made in China and prices will just keep going up.

I probably have enough fabric on hand to last the rest of my life but I'm sure that won't stop me from buying more.

Fabric prices are going up because of the hot weather and lack of rain on the cotton crops. Hopefully next year will bring better weather and more cotton so the prices can come down. I know I won't be buying alot of fabric for a while. lol Be working more from my stash

Here in Idaho, in the little town we live in we have the most incredible old time five and dime. There is a fantastic fabric department....Benartex, Moda, minkee's, flannels that are known quality fabric names.

Prices for those fabrics run anywhere from $8-13 dollars a yard...then every day discount of 25% off of the price on each bolt. Weekly sales add anywhere from another 10-15% off depending on the week, so added to the everyday % off I think for this day and age it makes the fabric afforadable. When seasons change all fabric is reduced to $2.99 so I can get summer moda's for $2.99 a yard...but you must take all of what is left on the bolt.

Now come Black Friday...all fabric is reduced a minimum of 50% some 75%...needless to say in this neck of the woods this little gem of a store is quite popular.

As rthis poster said, this is the going rate for QUALITY cotton and you can find MANY bargains online from quality fabric shops like fabric.com, keepsakequilting.com, connectingthreads.com...

Well, earlier this forum topic I spoke about my favorite quilt shop. Yesterday I got a phone call from a friend telling me they were closing and all fabric is 40% off. I called and verified and yes they are closing :( So today I took off for the shop (60 miles away) and bought what I could. The prices were normally about 10.98 a yd so basically they were 7 a yard. I bought 14 different fabrics. I bought 1 yard of about 4 of them and 3 yards of the others. I tried to pick blenders to have on hand. I also picked a few others that caught my attention. Man, I wish I could have bought more. I just felt I had to put a stop to it somewhere. But still I am so sad :(

My not so L, LQS is selling for $18+ a yard for cotton, and over $20 for batik. No thanks, I'll shop online.

What State do you live in?!?!

NJ. She calls herself a "specialty shop" she apparently, "caters to tourists"

Try Thousandsofbolts.com, connectingthreads.com, fabric.com
I buy most of mine on line AND on sale. Only rarely will I part with 8 or 9 for a yard of material. I don't quilt for shows and most of my quilts are for family and friends and they don't care. I have made many quilts from Walmart fabric for kids and they have stood up very well with wear and washing. Just stay away for the under $3.00/yd ones.