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.