Was in a LQS this wk end & noticed prices had gone up, at least twice since I was there a month ago.This is not a big shop in a tourist location,but a small place in a working class neighborhood.
Most new cottons were $12.49 yd.Quilting notions were off the chart.I was just looking & didn't need a thing.Only saw one customer making a small purchase.Not looking good for LQSs or quilters needing fabric.

Wow! I would really be desperate for fabric to pay $12.00+ for a yard of fabric. I know they (LQS) have to charge an amount to make a profit but I can't pay that. I will keep looking for bargains on fabrics to add to my stash.

If these prices continue to rise, I am afraid that alot of places are going to close..Which is so very sad..I would think that if a business lowered their prices, and more people came because of it..They would make more money instead of losing money..

Isn't it up to the manufacturer as to how much the fabric sells for at a base price? If the shops want to make profit, they have to add to the wholesale price that they get the fabric yes?
I wonder how many shops that are not already online shops go online to make sales instead of closing. One local shop here where I live is online, but they do not ship fabric, etc.

I have been in three shops in the past week and a half (Concord, NH area) and the average price at all three was between 8.40 and 9.40 per yard...new lines included (and tax free). I [img]http://www.pic4ever.com/images/16.gif[/img] NH.

90% of the time I am relegated to Joann's. the only quilt shop here is a 5- minute drive - I usually buy online - on sale and without shipping. Tax here is 9.5% but no State income tax - it all works out - but I am afraid to go into Joann's this week. . . the flyer in the newpaper had virtually no fabric on it - but I need some batting so. . . $12/yd adds up too quickly for me

at my LQS they have a sale 20 to 30% off on the first Saturday of every month. They were hoppin this past weekend and managed to get 23.00 out of me. Great people I hope they can survive the increases in fabric prices.

Prices are getting crazy no matter where you turn! :(

I went to my favorite one a few weeks ago, where her prices are usually pretty low, and even her new stuff was over 9.00 a yard!

We hit $12.50 per yard here, about 6 weeks ago. I was a bit shocking, and it did affect my final purchase.
Hate to say it but .....I love the LQS .....but , I have been buying more and more at on -line sales.
I just hate were this economy and cotton prices have taken me. I considered myself a commited consumer to my LQS, as I feel strongley about supporting local business.... but my wallet is smaller than it was ... and I am forced to balance the issues of online vs LQS.

here in canada $12 per yard is realy good for lqs fabric my favorit shop here in town is only at 12 for all the new stuff and batiks but any other shops ive gone to are sharging 14-20 per meter. its crazy makes me whant to take a trip down south to get fabric but then the gas prices would kill me

You've said it better than I can.How can any local business make it,when prices are more than ppl can pay?
We've always lived on a budget & with DH retired, the buget has to come first.DH says "it means not living past our means".That has to go for everything, quilting included.
The higher prices go, the more I'll order on line.Not my first choice, but could be my only choice! JMO

So sad as I love my LQS, she is just trying to make a living! Unfortunately all. Prices are going up! Gas , food everything!

Wow! $12 a yd. I'm now doing amost all of my shopping online. I also look for free shipping. Everything is going up except for the income!!

It will be real interesting to see if we have a bumper crop of cotton this year, will the prices come down to last years rate or only come down a little if at all!!!

It's not just about cotton prices; it's also about fuel to ship the product. Prices are also affected by expectations of cost, so I doubt we'll see lower prices, at least for a while.

My LQS warned us last fall we would see a lot higher prices on the new stuff. She has seen her prices soar as well as her shipping prices. The other day UPS dropped a bolt of fabric and the invoice has shipping at $10. That is a dollar per yard she has to pass on to us to just cover her shipping costs.

The manufacturers are also becoming more and more difficult to deal with. If you don't preorder a line don't count on getting it. We did the Thimbleberries BOM last year and were short a bolt of one of the fabrics. It kept showing up as backordered and when she finally called they said oh sorry we aren't reprinting that. What I preordred fabric for 15 kits she says and didn't get that. It was a mess to say the least.

kind of sad how some shop owners behave like gas station owners behave...a rumor goes around and they run around raising all their prices....
it makes no sense for a shop to raise the prices of the fabrics already on their shelves- they did not pay the higher prices for it- the higher prices should only be effecting new fabrics that are coming in at a higher price. funny how some gas stations hear- "oh-oh oil went up today" and respond with- we better go raise our prices---
IT IS PRICE GOUGING PEOPLE- and i would not frequent a shop who was doing this- really seems un-ethical---and to lower themselves to the standards of (oil barons) is really sad. i am so happy the 3 shops close to me are not behaving so poorly

You're not going to see prices come down, no matter what size the crop is. A bumper crop might slow down the rate of price increases, but prices will continue to increase, for several reasons; The demand for cotton goods is far outstripping the worldwide supply, and will be for the foreseeable future. Remember, quilting cotton is a very small fraction of the total cotton market. And -- there are a lot of other costs involved in cloth production and distribution, not the least of which are dramatically rising transportation costs and the costs of oil-based chemicals and dyes used in the production process.

Sourcing high-quality base goods is really getting problematic these days for manufacturers. The manufacturers of fine cotton quilting fabric have just a few choices now -- they can dramatically raise their prices and keep quality standards high, they can lower their quality standards and slow down price increases, they can print fewer and smaller lines, or they can start moving into other product lines. We've seen various manufacturers taking different of these choices. There are several threads on this board about some manufacturers lowering the quality of their products.

Stores of all types, B&M shops, online shops and giant corporate stores like WM and Joannes have the same choices; raise prices to match rising costs, maintain lower prices by offering lower quality goods, diversify offerings if possible, or move out of the fabric business.

As consumers we'll have the same type of choices; pay dramatically higher prices for quality goods, pay increasingly higher prices for WM-quality stuff, pay more for less choice, accept lower quality in return for more slowly increasing prices, or explore different fabrics and materials for our sewing needs. I guess the other option is to quit sewing.

As more and more stores close, you'll be able to buy closeout goods at reasonable prices if you shop around, but this won't last forever -- eventually those sources will be exhausted and you'll have fewer and fewer choices on where to buy. Some shops that deal in the highest quality goods and that maintain their standards will survive but only if they have loyal customer bases with clients that have the money to pay higher prices.

Another thing to remember is that the prices you're seeing in stores for new goods now reflect the wholesale prices locked in 6-12 months ago by the retailer -- there have been dramatic price increases since then in the goods we're receiving now, and again for the goods we're ordering for delivery in the next 6-12 months. Those prices, on the highest quality goods, are at least a dollar/yd higher than what we paid last year at this time.

It's getting ugly...

I understand why the price increase in fabric. Why would that change the price in notions????

Some shops may be doing this, I don't know about others. Most of us are trying to price product based on what we have to pay for it, plus meet our overhead.

It's also irritating to us when it seems our suppliers are raising prices on in-stock goods. We have a lot of basics that we know have come into their warehouses at lower prices, and when the new prints come out they raise the prices on everything in the line instead of just the new ones.

However, a lot of that is new, reprint stock that is coming in at much higher prices.

What your local shop is doing isn't price gouging, it's trying to survive. They're trying to keep their average prices down by spreading their price increases over a lot more goods rather than just having their new stuff sit there because the prices on those are so much higher than their older goods.

I understand why the price increase in fabric. Why would that change the price in notions????

A couple of reasons. Many notions, like rulers, are made from plastic, and since plastic products are made from oil, all plastic products are increasing in price. Also oil prices are affecting manufacturing costs and transportation costs on everything -- pretty much everything you use in your life uses oil to produce and transport.

Secondly, distributors, and some shop owners, are trying to average dramatic cost increases in some areas (like fabrics) across many products, so if fabric goes up by a dollar or two a yard, they may choose to spread some of that increase in the overall cost of doing business to other articles they distribute to stores, or as a store owner, retail to the public.

It really doesn't matter why goods are setting records with prices going.....always...up & up.
The bottom line for me, is how much I have to spend.I gave up on buying a lot of expensive groceries,passed on better clothes unless on deep discount.What I don't buy on sale doesn't get bought & the same now holds true for quilting,be it notions or fabric.
On line,with free shipping is what I shop for.There's no way our retirement income will ever keep in line with price increases.When my stash is used it'll be time to sell the machine. Just a fact of life.

I agree with what you said. I think I'll be o.k. for a while. I only shop sales with the exception of a hand full of fabrics I just loved. I can only think of 2 I paid regular price for. A batik with snowflakes and another with beautiful birds on it. Like I said I think I'll be fine with what I have and I will continue to shop sales only!

I agree with what you said. I think I'll be o.k. for a while. I only shop sales with the exception of a hand full of fabrics I just loved. I can only think of 2 I paid regular price for. A batik with snowflakes and another with beautiful birds on it. Like I said I think I'll be fine with what I have and I will continue to shop sales only![/quote]

got to say - love your displayed fabric - what a pretty place to quilt and such organization! I have my stash in bins in a closet sorted by color and type but I love the decorating aspect of how you did your room !

Nice, and nicely organized, stash!!!! :thumbup: :thumbup:

I will NOT pay 12.00 a yard for any cotton material.
I have a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's but the sale starts on the 10th of april.
It's going to have to be really something special for me to spend 6.00 for a yard of material.
I used to work at a store selling material. They had little machine where you slid the material in,( you always got an extra inch) and pulled it to the amount of material the customer wanted, 2 yd, 3 yd. Then pushed a button and it would clip it, take it out and rip it. It cost anywhere from 10 to 29 cents a yard.lol I guess that dates me.
Syl

I loved those machines! I thought they were so neat! To bad when the whole double knits era began they were taken out, since often the fabric got stretched.

Right not Connecting Threads has nice fabric for under $3 a yard. Buy it!

Is that why they went away? I always wondered!

I've got 5 samples due in the mail anytime now from Connecting Threads. I hope it is what I want.

Even with coupons, our area Joann's and Hancock's, Hobby Lobby and Michael's are about to be out of my range. I love online shopping. It is easier to compare shop and I try to stay with free shippng. Today I had a large order from the Thriftyneedle.com. I don't shop there real often, but I could not turn down some things today. I got two new patterns for half off and some cloth by the pattern designer for thirty, and twenty per cent off. Had to pay shipping though.

I took a class at my LQS on March 26 and instructor said they have been told prices of cotton will go up 120% by the end of the year. Most fabrics are $9-$12 now so the average price will be about $20 if that's true.

Thanks for your answer. Afraid you're right.

In one quilt shop recently where some of their fabrics were $35 per metre! Guess who didn't buy any! $12.49 per yard? I wish.

I would never pay that much for fabric. Never. Too spoiled by Walmart and Joann sales, not to mention great estate sale finds.

I guess we will all have to consider returning to the "spirit of our Grandmothers" with price increases...

I wonder what I have in my closet that I can cut up???

Don't cut it up unless you're sure you are done wearing it!

Remember... if the cost of cloth is going up, that means the cost of clothing will also go up.

as the oil prices goes up so will everything else I think we are heaed for some scary times as it is getting so the farmer cannot even afford the fuel to plant and harvest crops so food prices will sky rocket