I must have been really lucky. Over 30 years ago, I made my to DD's and my sister quilts with fabric from Wal-Mart. These quilts have been used, washed, and reused over and over and they are still as bright and beautiful. I have had to do repairs on all three quilts because of the use and the quilts just keep on living and being loved. I think it is silly to just buy quilt store fabrics (if you can afford it though, go for it) when there are plenty of places to buy fabric. Get to know your materials and buy wherever you can get the best price. Sometimes I think quilt store owners start these rumors as I have seen the same fabric at JoAnns or Hancocks that I have seen at the LQS for $1-2 dollars more, same feel, same everything.

As with buying any product, you get what you pay for (normally). I am not a "fabric snob", but the quality of the fabric at Joann's varies from excellent to very poor. My budget is tight, so I shop frugally and buy from both the lqs and Joann's. I check the "feel" and "drape" on the fabric in both stores. It seems lately that the poor quality fabric has been starched to make it feel thicker, so if the fabric doesn't "drape" well, I do not buy it. It is showing up in the lqs fabric too, the poorer quality fabric. I bought lots of flannel yardage from Joann's online on the black friday sale, and the quality went from excellent to poor, a couple of pieces didn't even fell like flannel!!! This is my first time buying fabric from Joann's online, don't think that I will do it again.

I think this will continue to be an issue as it seems everything is getting cheaper...the bread that I have been buying for years appears to me to have shrunk by at least two inches in lenght.
Seems the last time this subject came up there was issues with Moda...we just have to be savvy shoppers. If the big brands start losing quality we all need to stop buying and live off our stash...our only voice is in our wallet.

So far the fabric I've purchased from JA's & WM has been fine. I purchased 3 yds. from a LQS, only to get it home and find a 8-10 inch "splotch" on the inside fold. Very hard to work around. IMHO it doesn't really matter where you purchase your fabric....as long as it isn't see-thru, and it will suit your needs.

Fabric
 

We all want the best in life in all areas. The fact is we are all on different levels or stages. Buy the best you can afford and enjoy it.

I love reading about the deals people get at Joann’s, Wal-Mart, and garage sales. I love seeing the completed quilts and wish I could do as well.

I took a class two years ago at a quilt store and spend $100 on the fabric. The class cost another $100. I am not good with colors, so I thought the lady at the store could help with that. Wrong! I have finished my quilt but would never post it as the COLORS are bad. I hung it up and admire my mistakes.

I did learn most of all from the class not to be afraid of other quilting ladies.

My daughter does joke with me about it and says I have the best binding. I did do a great job on the binding.

I think it is all relative. There is some bad stuff at JoAnn and Walmart but I have also seen exactly the same fabric as a a quilt store. You got to feel it; pull it; look through it, etc. Sometimes you just can't afford that quilt shop fabric because some of it is rediculous

I can't say that I never use JoAnn's but I never use it for qilts or Totes that I intend to sell. I want my items to stand up. However, I use it for small craft items that do not require laundry.

Most of my business is at my LQS. I go to JoAnn for supplies as you can't beat their prices and coupons. Sometimes I buy fabric for pillowcases for the grandkids and small projects. If Im doing a quilt, especially for a gift, I spend the extra money for Moda etc. One shop I frequent has a sale corner with wonderful bargains. Lots of nice stuff for 4 to 5 dollars a yard, how can you go wrong?

It is true that many of the cotton fabrics sold at big box stores are inferior in quality although at first glance, they may "look" just like fabrics at your local quilt shop because they are often printed with some of the same designs. Don't be fooled! Of course, it depends on how you plan to use the fabric but if you are planning to put a lot of time into making a quilt as well as pay to have it machine quilted, it is advisable to use the best quality fabrics you can buy. If you plan to make crafts to sell at a fair, by their very nature, crafts are not intended to last as long as a quilt that is well-preserved.

Poor quality fabrics feel stiff to the touch because of the number of chemicals that have been added to give them more body. When washed, the fabric may revert to a very limp state. Often, poor fabrics have low thread count or are poorly woven and have snags. Some will fade more easily than others. Some will run when put in water, like there is no tomorrow!

The old saying is "You get what you pay for." In this case, it is true but not always. One of my favorite places to shop is at the Marden's stores in the state of Maine. The store buys first quality cotton on bolts from quilt shops that are going out of business and want to liquidate their entire inventory quickly. The prices are ridiculously low, far lower than even Walmart or JoAnn Fabrics, yet the quality is great.

For hand quilting, I love Northcott brand fabrics because they have such a nice weight and "feel." No, I don't work for them nor am I being paid to state this fact. Some designer brands I stay away from just because they notoriously fade and/or run and I've had bad experiences.

These days, I am making smaller quilts due to constraints of time so it is a lot easier to buy the best quality I can find. I don't want to waste my time with something that is going to look crummy just a short time later, or not stand up to use, if I give it for a gift. Not a quilt snob, but just hate to see "waste" - of any kind, including my own time.

Pat

I was told once buy a shop owner the main difference in the Quilt shop fabric is the amount of inks used in the processing. You see the dots in the salvage showing the colors used. Sometimes the J & Walmart fabrics will have the same fabrics as the LQS but the amount of color used is less. If you check the dots sometimes it is missing a color run or two compared to the LQS fabric.

In my neighborhood there is a highly respected LQS and am working on a quilt with fabric from there now. Even though a name brand, two of the fabrics are giving me fits because even though they feel great, they fray like crazy. Fabric is just not the same no matter where you purchase it. We no longer have fabric mills here in the United States so all our fabric comes from other countries. Are you all aware of that?

You can buy good and poor quality at both places. You need to know the brands and how to recognize quality. I'm working with some right now from the wall at Hobby Lobby and am not happy with it. If you are going to spend all the time on a quality quilt then buy from a quilt shop.

I have noticed that some of JoAnne's fabrics have a lot worse quality than LQS fabrics. Especially one of JoAnne's lines that commonly sells for $4.99 a yard here. I will generally not use that quality of JoAnnes fabric on a quilt top. However, given that, on the Saturday after Black Friday, JoAnnes had the $4.99 fabric reduced to $1.99 a yard AND I could use a 25 percent off coupon on top of that. I make charity quilts for kids, so I bought a lot of yards of the $1.99 fabric for the backing. For backs, I couldn't resist paying $1.50 per yard!! I am lucky to have a friend with a sheet-making business who gives me novelty scraps for the charity tops, so with the cheap backs I can make the charity quilts without spending much $. But if I were making an heirloom quilt I wouldn't use the cheaper JoAnne's fabric because I am fortunate to have 2 LQS that sell quality fabric for $5-$6 per yard.

I like the Local Quilt store fabric, the quality is so much better than at JoAnns or Walmarts. Once you feel QS fabric you won't want to sew with anything else.

I have been buying fabric from JoAnn's and Wal-Mart for years, and it's like any other store or even quilt shop. You need to check the fabric out, as I have seen very thin fabric at Wal-Mart and JoAnn's. A friend of mine used to be the manager of the fabric dept. in a local Wal-Mart. She told me that Wal-Mart buys the very same fabric as JoAnn's and the quilt shops, but because they buy in such large quantities they can get the fabric at a better price. Wal-Mart has brand named fabrics, like VIP, can't remember the other names right now since my local Wal-Mart has not carried fabric for quite some time, but just check out the fabric before you buy it. I have gotten some great fabric for $1 or $2 a yard and up, so I feel I get the most for my money. A Hobby Lobby just opened up near me, but I have not had a chance to go there and check it out, but my girlfriend said it is good fabric, just at a better price. With no local quilt shop to support and limited funds, I go where I can get the most value for my money, and the quilts I have made have lasted.

I also agree with Honeynga. My grandkids are not going to say, "Oh, I shouldn't drag this around the floor/ground because grandma paid lots of money for the fabric." I enjoy making quilts and whatever for my grandkids for them to use, not to put on the shelf. I will keep purchasing from JoAnn's - with my coupons. I also shop at a couple of LQS from time to time. I think you should spend your money where you can afford to and where you are comfortable with. Have a happy weekend. Going to finish my Christmas quilts now.

I shop at JoAnns mostly because of budget issues. $12 a yard at the LQS is out of my reach. Online I can save a bit, but the shipping is a killer. JoAnns does have some very good quality fabrics- mostly designer. Heavy weight, minimal shrinkage (I'm a prewasher). Using coupons and shopping sales is the ONLY way I shop. I can't believe their "regular" prices on seasonal items. They seem to be intentionally marked up in anticipation of the couponing and sale reductions. Don't know why anyone would buy those items at full price!

Get on the mailing list for Fabric.com. They are some FABULOUS sales if you are patient. Shipping is free for $35 or more. I have bought lots and lots of their fabric for $3.99 and less. It is brand name quilt shop fabric--just older lines. If they do not tell you the name of the manufacturing stay away from it. I got some lousy red white and blue junk...stiff and yucky.

Connecting Threads has some wonderful fabric for $2.99 right now--lots and lots of their lines. I think it is very good quality.

I make ALOT of charity quilts and use these bargain places for most of my fabric.

Last time I went to Joannes for some brown blender I was shocked at how much the prices had gone up for just the regular cotton on the wall. $7.99 for stiff junky stuff. I used to buy lots there.

I would rather buy JoAnn's. I never have a problem with it. I decided to go to a quilt store for some material. It is nice but it shreds. And it is more expensive. I like JoAnn's much better. But To Each Their Own.

Maybe her work wasn't any more beautiful when she had good and proper materials to work with but my guess is that is was easier to crochet with the items your husband bought for her. Bless your husband for his kindness.

Thanks for pointing that out. I have not seen anyone who prefers LQS fabric calling those who don't names. Seems to be the other way around. Completely uncalled for and rude.

I love that shop!!!!!!!!! I drive over 30 miles just to go there!

Gayle, you have fallen victim to fabric snobbery. Some JoAnn's fabric is not very good and some quilt shop fabric is not very good. Three years ago I called several well-known fabric manufacturers' offices to determine whether they sell 2d and 3d runs to WalMart, JoAnn's and other discounters. The answer was a resounding "No." The answer uniformly was that they sell fabric all over the world and they simply cannot risk their reputations and thus their customer base by selling inferior products in mass markets.

It is possible that when they have a bad run, they might sell it to wholesale discounters, but not to the big stores where people expect to get quality.

I bought fabric at an LQS away from where I live and that same day dropped into the WalMart there and found exactly the same fabric. People have argued with me that it wasn't the same--but it was--I am an old hand at judging fabric.

Moreover, all the fabric snobs need to do is think about the fabric our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers used for their quilts. Scraps from sewing clothing, worn shirts, skirts that their kids had outgrown, hand-me-downs from the neighborts, feed and flour sacking were all used and some of those quilts are still in use or are in the hands of people who cherish them.

And--how many posts have you seen that are ecstatic about yard sale/thrift shop finds. It is possible that the manufacturer/designer has his-her name on the selvedge, but is just as likely not and these lucky finders have no reliable idea where that fabric has been since the day it was bought. Nevertheless, the finder is thrilled.

My mantra is this: Use a little sense! If the fabric feels right to you and it fits your project, I am willing to bet that no one other than you will know its origin unless you tell them. And I am willing also to bet that the project, unless it meets with a catastophic event or is so well loved that it has to laundered every week in hot water and bleach, will last longer than you will. froggyintexas

There is NEVER a reason to call names on this or any other public forum for any reason whatsoever. :p

You have to go with your senses (touch, feel, drape) on fabric wherever you buy it. You can get some nice fabric at JoAnn's but you can get crappy fabric there also.

I used a lot of Joann's fabric when I first started quilting, but unfortunately some of the colors faded, especially the purples and blues and reds. (Which is extremely disappointing when you spent a lot of time on it.) Occasionally I do buy some of their medium quality fabric if it looks and feels alright, but use it mostly for backing quilts.

IMO buy what you like and can afford. To keep your LQS in business, purchase from them as you can. Remember our grandmothers made quilts from feedsacks and they are highly prized today.

Perhaps I am mistaken, and if I am I know someone will quickly tell me so, but don't ALL stores, LQS, Joann's, Walmart's, Hobby Lobby, etc. buy from more than one manufacturer? So if one fabric bleeds, all you really know is that the manufacturer of that fabric has unreliable dye in that color in that batch , not that every manufacturer in the store has unreliable dye in that color in every dye batch. Isn't this why we prewash fabric from every store before we invest hours of effort in it?

I was talking to a Joann's asst. mgr last weekend, who previously owned her own quilt store. I shared with her the stories I'd heard. What she said was that there was a separate section of what they refer to as the premium fabrics for quilting. I looked at them, trouble is they all have Joann's label on the bolt end. Then she told me about Joann's getting in fabrics from manufacturers that are 2 years old or more ( the designs) so you can sometimes find prints from the likes of Moda, Hoffman, etc. if you can recognize the print or the designer. Those bolts do not have their original manufacturer label, they have a Joann's label. Whether all this is accurate I cannot verify as fact, I just talked to an asst. mgr. who knew plenty about quilting fabrics. Bottom line, I do not ever buy fabric from W-M or Joann's, I learned my lesson the hard way.

I have found great fabric and lousy fabric at LQS and Joann's.

There is not even one quilt shop in El Paso ? Wow ... that's kind of surprising for a city that size ... sounds like you all need to get together and open a shop !!

All of above is so true, work with what you have. Several years ago I attended a seminar by a famous fiber artist-he sell his works for thousands. He buys very inexpensive fabrics-it is his embellishments & creative art that makes the garments worth $$$$.
I personally know a talented quilt artist-her quilts also sell for thousands & one of her quilts is in the Smithsonian. I know she buys her fabrics at Joann's-especially when there are the big sales.
Look at the antique quilts in museums-very unlikely that any of those fabrics came from LQS.
In a perfect world we would all buy only the best but in the meantime we do what we can. I do buy from the LQS sometimes, when I can, when my family has given me a gift certificate for a present or a special sale.
The happiest people are those who are content with what they have.

I see so many people say the same thing over and over "I can't afford LQS fabric." You are sitting in front of the world's biggest shopping tool. I've paid as little as $3.50 a yard for TOP quality fabric from internet stores and as little as $1 a yard in a LQS!! So be honest. You buy JoAnn's and Wal-Mart fabric because you want to and you're making excuses. Whatever. But don't call people snobs because they can shop smart and buy TOP quality fabric cheaper than you buy the so called cheap stuff.

I must be one lucky lady but I have used fabric from both Joanns and Walmart and have never had a problem with fading, bleding, shrinking or anything else. In fact, my favorite fabric is a gorgeous red paisley that I have only found at Walmart and have used successfully in many projects. I actually have found some Moda fabrics that were very thin and didn't work up as well. That's my two cents.

I had a bad experience with Joann's but I will Hobby Lobby fabric all day long! Especially since I realized they have the Robert Kaufman Kona. Also my Joann's feels just slightly larger than a bathtub so it is not a pleasant time in there.

I used ot buy a lot of fabric at JoAnn's when we had a store near us....never had a problem with it, and I always prewashed as it was used for clothes for my kids. Now I have to go either 60 miles or over 100 miles, depending which direction I travel. Would I go to JoAnn's again if one would open up nearer here? In a heartbeat! As many others have said, you have to go with your gut feeling when it comes to fabrics!

Likewise. I made Turning Twenty quilt using only FQs from my LQS...some of those FQs were a little on the thin side and not at all as nice feeling as the majority of the flannels of the others. I've felt the quality of the flannels offered in my local WM and they feel very nice! I'm going back in a few days to get some for receiving blankets. BTW, the fabric dept. in our WM did decrease in size with their remodel, but was phased out of the store. I've noticed more and more fabrics being added recently....nice!

I haven't really shopped at Joanne's since they closed their branches to create their super store. Now, they don't really carry as many fabrics but instead have more craft supplies and framing service. I am used to shopping at Fabric Depot which has a huge selection and is largely broken down by quality brand names. I received a Joanne's gift card of $20 so went to spend that last week. They don't carry quilters flannel but have a cheap flannel which I bought a piece of. They only have a selection of off whites in the large backing fabric. I bought a couple of Christmas things on sale but ended up only spending about $7 and that took a while. I did notice they had some fabric that was released several years ago which could come in handy for some people.

I agree with you , Amen !!!!!!!

Someone posted "I think JoAnn's fabrics was better quality years ago." Yes, true but so was the quality at LQS. That said, I shop for my fabrics by look and feel and buy at Jo's and LQS depending upon the quilt and/or my budget or stash needs.

Here's an example that shows that you never know where the perfect fabric is waiting for you. My DGranddaughter Elizabeth told me that she was sitting on the orange and cream quilt I made her for her dorm room and her roommate remarked how the fabric in the quilt was just so "Her". That's exactly my reaction when I saw the bolt of soft orange and cream fabric in Joann's. If I didn't stop at Joann's first when looking for fabrics for Elizabeth's quilt I would have never found the perfect fabric for it. May in Jersey