A meter is about 39.5 inches.

I usually pay between $7 and $15 CAD per meter at the local fabric and quilt stores, depends on if the fabric is a "designer" one or not. Cotton broadcloth runs between $3 to $5 CAD a meter.
Zoo

I have several quilt stores within driving distance, I usually buy my fabric from their clearance and if I need for a project I buy fat quarters or 1/2 yard if I can get away with it. most of them have great sales also. The last Fri of the month is called Fat Friday because the store will have them for $1.25. It seems the quilts I have made lately use less fabric except for backing and I buy neutrals or fabric that will go with many colors when they are on sale. I have quite a few 4-6 yard pieces and I piece the backs if I don't have enough of one fabric.

The higest fabric cost per yard I've seen in most quilt shops is $12.99 a yard. Usually it's about $8 a yard. I buy on sale or when I find a clearance. I don't know about shipping but Connecting Threads has great sampler packs of their fabric lines. Some are 20% off now too. The code Charm will give you 15% off total order.

I will buy my fabric where I find something I like but I also know that I can't afford to buy a lot of quilt shop fabric at their regular price. If I love something, I will buy some at regular price and then try to find coordinating fabrics for cheaper. I have a Walmart where prices run from 2-6/yd, Joanns 3-9/yd, Hancock (don't really go there much) and a Mill End where fabric runs from 1.99-4.99/yd and they usually have a 40-60%off coupon. All of these are within 10 mile so I have great choices. I try not to spend more than 5/yd if I can help it, otherwise DH would probably ring my neck! :lol: Of course, what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him!

For those of you outside the U.S. are the online shops willing to ship, and if so, is postage too prohibitive? Otherwise, there are probably some of us willing to drop items in the mail...I know I would.

That is really sweet of you. The cost of fabric here is around 14€ equates to 20.41$ per metre (39") but I can pay for fabric on line and the shipping is not prohibitive, Its still cheaper to buy on line for me.

thank you anyway.

Elle

Hi Vanessa, I to live in Australia and the price of fabric is unreal. A friend put me onto www.hancocks-paducah.com and if you register with them they send you email with specials etc. Also about every 3 months or so they have free shipping internationally if you spend over $75-00 US. The free shipping only lasts a few days so what I do is look at things I want when I have time and add them to my "wish list" you can then send your wish list to a friend or they can send theirs to you so you can put in a combined order.
Their quality is great and their prices are from $2-98 per yard whick is great for fabric to use as backing and their good stuff is around $12-00 per yard, they will even ship batting and it's a great price.
I do support my LQS when I can but if I had to buy everything from there I wouldn't be quilting.

I do not like to pay anything more than $10.00 for good fabric. Sometimes I can get it for less. My sis just visited a place in Arkansas called Marshalls. She got me some 108" backing for less than $5.00 a yard.

the local quilt shops in my area charge $8-$12 a yard depending on the quality - batiks are the most expensive - i only shop at the LQS when there's a sale.

i live near the garment district in NYC so i go there to buy bolts like Moda/etc and then i pay about $3-4 a yard and for PFD i pay $2 a yard.

when i don't want a bolt i order online.

Some online shops (US-based) do ship internationally, and others won't. It is extra work to ship internationally as there are Customs forms to be filled out.

If you do decide to order from overseas, be sure to check out the detail regarding shipping. Though most international packages do get delivered promptly, delays and lost packages sometimes do happen. You want to be sure that there is some sort of insurance available or included, in the unlikely event that a package gets lost.

Being in Australia, when it comes to ordering from out of the country, you're much luckier than if you were in the UK! I believe that Australia does not charge any import taxes/fees unless you're importing more than $500. (At least, that is what I was told several years back from one of our repeat customers in Australia.) In the UK, they charge a handling fee, PLUS taxes... and even the shipping fees are taxed. (Now that seems pretty heartless!)

I'm wondering if the prices you pay for fabric in Australia vary depending on the exchange rate? I've occasionally gone onto Australian quilt-fabric websites, but not often enough that I can get a sense of how the prices change depending on the relative strength of your currency.