No-iron muslin at JoAnn's with a 50% coupon.

I bought a bolt of white & black from joann's on a black Friday I think it was $10 each and I also got a bolt of dark blue flannel. I haven't even opened the white yet!

No, never have. I am always surprised when I see some of the sewing rooms of the members here, and see so many bolts, or partial bolts of fabric. I recently needed a solid cream for a quilt I am planning. I sent away for 10 or 12 samples to find the "perfect" color. Believe it or not, only one of them really looked great. The next quilt I need a cream for might look better with "ivory" or "snow" or "vanilla" or "off-white". I am interested in trying a few different battings, I've mostly used Hobbs 80/20, so I don't want to buy a bolt of anything yet.

I've purchased batting, muslin and fabric that I would use for backings (you know those all purpose ones). I think I probably got them at JoAnns with a 50% coupon?

I've bought a bolt of muslin and I buy bolts of stabilizers for machine embroidery. I think I would not buy full bolts of anything else though, except batting.

I buy full bolts of warm and natural all the time - using the 50% off at JoAnn's... and I've purchased whole bolts of fabric the same way.

I am lucky to live in reasonable driving distance of the Amish/Mennonite community in eastern PA. There is a store and it's partner called Sauder's who holds at least two huge sales every year. They offer whole bolts of fabric for as little as $1.99 a yard. You have to purchase the whole bolt. The bolts range from as little as 5 yrd to up to at least 15. They have everything from batiks to top of the line fabric collections. The rest of the store has great prices on so called remnents. Most of those pieces are at least three yards or more. You have to purchase all of the piece but most of them are not more than $2 a yard. Then they have all of the national lines, Moda, Kaufman etc. etc. The sale draws busloads. They also carry all the notions at great prices, batting, thread, rulers, etc. etc. As a bonus they also sell bulk food items like flours, nuts, spices, noodles, snacks like pretzels, candy and candy makiing supplies and the list goes on. This trip I spent a little over $40 and will probably get eight or nine Linus quilts out of that fabric. I have several bolts I purchased on a former trip that I have yet to open. They even offer huge rolls of batting as well as packages single batts.

I have bought a whole bolt of fabric...wasn't looking for a deal.....just loved the fabric!I thought it would be good backing material for my boys quilts.....then they found minky....they will no longer let cotton fabric back their quilts. LOL.

Well, those of you who know I am a bargain hunter... I bought quite a few bolts of fabric when 2 different stores closed here in town, and they had an auction. One was a quilting store, and I got 10 bolts of really nice fabric. The other an old upholstry shop, and I got vintage bark cloth, and home dec fabric. That was a 3 day ordeal, but here in town, so I was able to go each day. Great stuff!

If you want new (just-released) fabrics, and you want to pick-and-choose from the various manufacturers, the best place to start is at a distributor, such as www.eeschenck.com, www.needlecraftinc.com, or www.checkerdist.com. (There are others but these three have pretty good websites.) However, they do have order minumums, and might even have a minimum of how much you need to spend per year, to remain a customer. You'd have to check with each place individually as their policies are probably different. Oh... they may require you to have a tax number, as these places really exist to sell to businesses.

If you don't care if it's last-season's line, then you could try a place like Marshall's Drygoods. (I have read on this forum that they do not require a tax number.) Marshall's buys closeouts from the manufacturers. IMHO the best prints never make it to closeout status... I rarely find anything terribly appealing in the "leftovers". But that only reflects my taste, right? I think if you're into historical prints, or just want yardage for backings, you're likely to find something that's appealing to you. But be sure that you know what brands they're selling. Get a good brand name with a quality that you're familiar with. 'Cause a bad fabric is not a bargain, no matter how low the price is.