If you are making a quilt that has lots of different fabrics and/or colors, FQ's are the way to go. Someone else has already selected a group of coordinating fabrics. Sometimes looking at bolts of fabric and trying to select ones that are pleasing and go together is mind boggling.

I'd pay 2.25 for a fat quarter...but then our fat quarters are 5.49 each!

In that case, THANK GOD for the Internet. There is NO way I would pay that price for a FQ.

i will not buy fat quarters if they are priced higher than the per/yard cost.

i don't own an LQS and have never worked in one so i may very well be wrong about this. however, my general impression is that fat quarters either come that way from the factory, or they're cut in the shop from bolt ends or yardage that isn't selling off the bolt.

the quarters may be fat but my wallet isn't.

Shadow Dancer is right - the prices here in Canada are horrible for quilting fabrics and accessories...here in Montreal if I want a meter of quilting fabric the average price right now is about $15-18.00/meter...(that's the lower end of the price scale...)....

Oh my goodness, 1 meter = 39.3700787 inches. Even with the exchange rate, that is outrageous. You are paying twice what we do. Bill, LMK if there is something special you are looking for. If I can find it, I can gift it. I guess you get better deals online if they'll ship internationally.

If I just need a fat quarter I'll most likely buy a half yard. Just a little something for my stash.

Why are the prices so high? The Canadian dollar is at 95 cents to the US dollar today. So it's not the exchange rate... are there high duty fees when the shops import them? Does the price you quoted include GST, or is that on top of the $15 - $18?

GST and PST are not included in that price, that's added at the cash register. :(

Ow! That's a painful price! (Not as painful as what I've read they pay in Australia, but still plenty high!)

Have you looked into ordering from the US? It costs about $12 to send an envelope to Canada, plus a $5 cross-border administrative fee (and tax, that's unavoidable anyway). So... you'd save about $6 / yard on fabric, and the envelope holds about 8 yards. You'd come out ahead, as long as you ordered at least 3 yards. And there are probably LOTS of US shops that ship internationally.

Of course, you should support always your local shops... but they can't always carry everything that you might want.