A friend from work just came back from Paducah. While there she went to Hancocks of Paducah and had a blast shopping the sale tables. The owner was on hand and while chatting with him, he told her that cotton fabrics were going to be going up incredibly in price next year. He gave no indication how much but said it was substantial.
Just thought I would pass on the information to all my quilting buddies.

Isn't that just wonderful!!! :evil:

What isn't going up. Makes you wish for the "Good ole days".

Did he give a reason?
If he's correct about the higher prices it'll sure take a bite out of my quilting "therapy".

Like Dorthy said, Everything else has gone up, so it wouldnt surprise me! I wonder if the cotton crop was bad last year or something?

I dont think it was, cotton and soybeans are the cash crops around this neck of the woods and I never heard a farmer complain yet. They will probably blame it on the transportation cost of something like that.

Billy

Bad news! We have to pay a lot more money here in Europe for our fabrics... for a high quality one about 16 or 17 Euros per meter, this is about 20$ per yard. I'm glad my stash is filled with material for the next 25 years I think.

Hurry Hurry Girls, The person with the most stash by January 2011 is the winner. The prize, you can quilt forever and never worry about buying high priced fabric again.

fabric.com has a $3.95 cotton sale right now, batiks in the sale too!

Then I will have to get out of the quilting business ... I don't have a huge stash ... and can't afford to stock up at this time as hubby is in school :(

I like your way of thinking! :D

Well, this will just give us all an excuse to run out and buy a bunch of fabric NOW, so we can SAVE later, LOL!

fabric is already expensive in Australia....

$20+ per metre

hope it doesn't go up too much more

I know, I know, I'm repeating myself, but I still say I find some really nice fabrics in 100% cotton at thrift stores and garage sales. You can't get the yardage as in a shop, but you can find really beautiful fabrics! I bought a XXL red plaid men's cotton shirt at a garage sale Sat. for $.25 and 2 red plaid skirts at a thrift store last week for $.99 ea. One pleated skirt has almost 3 yards! The other is at least 1 1/2 yds around at the hem and is about 34" long. Lots of fabric for $2.25!

With the way the economy is recycling is the way to go!

Our Grand Parents and Great Grand Parents experienced this when the Great Depression happened. And I am a firm believer it is only going to get worse before it gets better, so it is back to the days of flour sacks and sheets for making quilts.

But look at all of the wonderful "Scrappies" that will be made!!

Billy

LOL, you have to be careful recycling though! Last year I was making a flannel and blue jean rag quilt for Boyfriend for Christmas. I kept eyeing up everyone flannel shirts, wishing I could just cut 1 little square out!

Welcome to America! :lol: Hey, we'll figure it out, don't worry! :thumbup:

Well there is a way to halt things. Supply and demand just like gas!! If everyone halted purchases and got from other sources, Goodwill, Salvation, yard sales, etc.

Quilting has become a very lucrative business. The prices for some of the notions, books, etc. I"ve purchased in the past have gone up soooooo much I can't understand how individuals just getting into this craft can afford it all. I'm just glad I purchased when I did, its made a huge difference on my pocketbook. Can't imagine just starting out in this!! Just look at what they charge for a rectangular piece of plastic with grid lines. Maybe, I'm being generous here, a nickle to make? What a profit margin!!

You can go to Home Depot, Lowes, etc. and purchase a large sheet of plex-glass and cut it down, have multiple sizes, put sticky back grid on back and mark top with permanent marker. Its not like a lot of engineering has gone into this!!

Sorry for rambling, but I hate it when people get it put to them!! I guess I'm just a frugal yankee!!

Unfortunately, prices do go up. For everything.

An lqs owner has told me the shippers have raised prices, and manufacturers have raised prices. So, to stay afloat, she has to raise prices.

Unfortunately, prices do go up. For everything.

An lqs owner has told me the shippers have raised prices, and manufacturers have raised prices. So, to stay afloat, she has to raise prices.

Quilters always find a way to keep quilting. Recycling sounds great to me!

France is worse - in a quilt shop here, quality fabrics are between 24-26 Euros - about $31 to $34 currently. Most online prices around 18 Euros.
All other supplies - IF you can find them - are proportionately as expensive.
We tend to buy from UK online.

Tonight is the first meeting of a group of women at work who've asked me to teach them quilting or, as I say, teach them the little bit I do know. :) Their timing was rather good because the last few weeks there have been tremendous sales at Joann's.

I put together a basic list of supplies (mat, ruler, rotary cutter, notions, some fat quarters, etc.) and, using 40% as the discount, it came out to about $125 which turned into a bit less than that due to the 50% sales going on. If you can get the more expensive basic items on sale, it's not too bad getting started. I figure that what they bought will give them some idea if they'll like this hobby (how can't they like it?!) and, if they don't like it, most of it can be used for something else (e.g., rotary cutter to cut wallpaper).

Hope it goes well tonight! They all went out and bought new machines (not included in the $125 quoted above) so I'm determined to live up to their expectations. Should be fun! I'll let you know.

Good Luck and have fun!!!

PRAYING that it's just a "scare tactic"....Things may change in November when the elections occur. I believe many scare mongers are saying prices are going up because they're anticipating paying more taxes for the health plan. Ironically, the manager of our local grocery store said the price of food will go up immediatly....he had it from the horses mouth. Well......the plan passed and his ad today has milk at the all time cheapest we've seen in 5 yrs!!!!!!!!!!

That's good news to me. It helps me to rationalize shopping even more intensively for more fabric. I gotta' get it before it's too expensive.

You've got the word now---shop until you drop!

Have fun ... I wish I could join you :D

Am not surprised!!!! The groceries are getting rediculous and gas is back up there.
I remember in school (a long time ago lol) talking about predictions that someday American would be the land of the "rich"....as only they would survive; and it is definitely headed in that direction. So sad!!

OH NO :shock:
Well...we quilters have always been a very "creative" group...we will always find ways to economize so we can continue to make quilts, and reycyle as previously mentioned :wink: :D:D:D

I guess I should do some substantial buying this year.

I do a reality check every so often when I'm tempted to buy an new quilting product. All I use 99% of the time is a straight stitch machine, a rotary cutter, a ruler, needles, thimble, and a pair of scissors to make a quilt. The rest is just gravy. As long as I have ample supply of my basics that is the most important.

Will definitely make my LQS sales this year for sure. She has 2 a year, January and June. Stock up for winter quilting projects. :thumbup:

I like the way you think!! :thumbup:

How do you cut plex-glass?

Normally you cut plexi-glass with a SkillSaw but with the round blade put in backwards. This avoids splintering it(?). Unless you're very good with a saw, you might not get the accuracy you need for a ruler. Then, there's the problem of adding accurate markings.

I tried getting a ruler cut at a local window place but it came back an 1/8" off. Didn't go back there again!

I am with you. Been using my stash for the past year, buying ONLY what I need to finish a quilt, maybe backing on sale of course, I refuse to pay retail $10.00 yd for backing.

Oh good now i have a reason to go on the shop hop tomorrow, have to get fabs before they get too expensive.. LOL, like i need a reason to go

I guess I'd better get going to my fav LQS and stock up - for the rest of time! Prices always go up, never down. Now let me see - I need at least 4 yds of the basics, batiks,30's repros, etc, etc. Now this is a challenge!

In Alabama we had too much rain and it was very difficult for farmers to get in the field and harvest their crop.

I always buy on sale anyway. Have to. So this won't change much. I have also been using my stash and just getting fabrics I need to finish. However I have given in to pressure from the other women in the humane society I volunteer at and am going to start making doggy belly bands and crate pads and covers to sell. This is going to really put my costs up from where I wanted to keep them.

This brings to mind the fact that, even when prices rise for commodities, it is not the farmer that benefits. So the extra we pay does not translate into higher return for the producer of the raw materials. It seems the middlemen get more.