Hello Quilting Friends:

Newbie here with lots of questions.

I never sewed before I picked up an inexpensive machine to take my first class last summer so I don't have any sewing experience to fall back on. Sorry if my questions are really basic! :shock:

So I'm learning the names of some high end fabric manufactures like Jinny Beyers, La Moda, etc from looking at fabric at my LQS. I hear people say you should buy the best you can. But I also want to stay within a budget and I don't know how to judge "quality" of fabric.

Of course I know to stay with 100% cotton. I've seen cloth at Walmart that felt like cheese cloth and I know that's not good! LOL!! But honestly, if someone put samples of fabric in front of me without the labels, I don't know if I could tell which came from the quilt shop and which came from JoAnne's/Hancock's.

Then I think about the old quilts from the 1800's-1900's and how everyone raves over them. Some of them were made with flour sacks and old pieces of who-knows-what! What's a girl to do?? LOL!

Any help in developing some judgment would be greatly appreciated.

Buy fabric that feels good to you and falls within your budget. The cheese cloth feeling fabric you already know you don't want to work with. Start from there. If it feels good to your hands, you will probably be happy working with it. There will be lessons learned along the way. You will develop your own preferences.

I know there are those who will not use anything but quilt shop fabric but I have used fabric from other sources that I have just loved and the quilt has turned out beautiful. If I find a fabric that I "just can't live without", as long as it feels and looks good; i.e., not thin, 'drapy', can't see my fingers through it, I will buy it from wherever I can get it. I suppose if I were entering a big quilt contest I would be more concerned that I use "correct" fabric, but if it is just for me or for my family, I get what I like and what I think they will like. I know that the person that receives the quilt won't care if the fabric came from Wal-Mart or the most expensive shop, I made it with love. I do make sure the fabrics won't run if using dark colors but I do that with LQS fabric too. Please don't get me wrong, I buy LOTS of fabric from LQS (I LOVE my LQS) but I don't limit purchases just to them if I like something from somewhere else. I can only think of one time that I regretted using a particular fabric, and it was when I 'second-guessed' myself and used something that I had previously decided not to use. Learned a lesson. Even though you are new, use what you like and trust your judgement. You will be fine and I'm sure we will see pictures on the site of your beautiful creations. Best of luck and happy quilting.
Wendy B

Price is usually a good indicator. Priced at $2.99 you can be sure it will be a thin fabric that will not keep its shape, have a lot of shrinkage, ravels and will not wear well in a quilt. Medium priced fabric, $7.00/$8.00 will be a better product with none of the above mentioned problems. Will work well in a quilt. Higher priced fabric $10.00 a yard. Will be a good tight weave, fabric will be a nice thickness. Pieces will hold their shape well and will not distort when pressed. And will last a long time in a quilt. A lot of work goes into making a quilt. So you want it to last. A quilt made with $2.99 fabric will not last. Seams will ravel open and the thin fabrics will wear quickly. Buy good quality fabric and you will make a better quality quilt. Overall it will look better, wash up better, and wear better.

There is nothing wrong with fabric from Joanns or Hancocks or even Hobby Lobby. Buy what feels good,hold it up to the light,if your not sure..and what is within your budget. and Have fun!

A good budget stretcher is to go to a thrift shop and buy men's cotton shirts to cut up. The shirts have the best plaids and small prints that's hard to find. If you buy shirting fabric in a quilt shop, if you can find it, it's very expensive.

Work with what you like! There are many beautiful quilts out there that are made out of old clothes including denim!! Some from family members for memory quilts, T-shirts, etc. My grandmother worked at a mattress shop (her husband died and she had to raise 7 children on her own) and made my dad a quilt out of mattress ticking and stuffed it with blankets and tied it. I would absolutely never part with it. Crazy quilts have everything in them from the 1800's, girls dresses, lace etc (they're some of the most beautiful). I sincerely believe that we're the generation that has become fixated. Remember one who sleeps under a quilt is comforted with love!!! That's what matters most.

I have a variety of fabrics in my stash. You will be able to tell bad quality. Just because something comes from a box store does not automatically make it bad. If it feels flimsy - it won't handle properly or hold up, but even a flimsy piece among mostly strong blocks will be absorbed - particularly if it is the perfect pattern/color.

Don't buy $2 fabric if it is poor quality but don't think you need to buy only $10 yardage only. There are a lot of choices in-between.

Happy shopping!

You just got to go with what YOU think will be the best for YOU.

I would suggest that you go to a quilt store, where you are pretty sure they will have good quality fabric, and just look and feel the fabric, try not to get involved in the print, just the weave, weight and feel. Then go to Joanns or walmart and do the same, it will become more obvious to you. That is not to say that all the fabric at either of the stores will be all good quality or all bad, but it will probably expose you to both that way. Depending on what the use of the quilt will be, you may choose to use the good stuff (for a quilt that you put hours and hours into that you want your great-grands to enjoy), or for a baby quilt, or picnic quilt that won't survive more than a decade, you may choose the lesser quality fabric. I would add that sometimes the cheaper stuff is very hard to work with, it may stretch, it may ravel, bleed etc.. so it can make the process stressful for you.

I agree with you. I buy what I can from my LQS but I buy other places too.

Start feeling fabric and you can tell the difference. I don't have a lot of money so most of my fabrics don't come from my LQS. Buy the best you can afford and most important, have fun.

Pick out fabric that speaks to you. Stay with cotton. Practice, sew. You'll find out soon enough. Don't over think it.

You could carry a scrap of good fabric with you when you go shopping and use it for comparison... you will soon be able to tell what is a good deal or not :wink:
There are also some very reasonably priced online shops...they regularly have good prices or sales :D:D:D

Yes, This is true. I find a lot of good fabrics at clearance prices. Requires patience sometimes, but the deals are out there.

Watch the fabric sales. The nearby JoAnn Fabrics puts good, but outdated fabrics at 50 - 60% off. Then it gets a permanent sale price, put on the sale rack and at some sales it goes for 50% the sale price, as little as $1. I just "feel" the fabric to decide if it is what I like or not.

Thanks! All great suggestions I am an "over thinker" so it sounds like I just need to let that go and start feeling fabric!!

So true - go on their 1/2 off days and those xxlarge shirts give you a lot of fabric for little money.

I sat and read all of these wonderful comments, and I guess I am not a purist. I use anything I can get my hands on, even (horror of horrors) not 100% cotton. Using old clothes gives me a sense of thriftiness and some of my favorite quilts have a WIDE assortment of types of fabrics. I have found after they are quilted, then washed, all of the fabrics seem to just go together. The blends get just as soft as the cottons, and as a matter of fact they don't "age" as much (whitening of the fabric). I guess I am lucky because no quilt police live by me!!!!

Price and location of purchase is no guarantee of quality. You should look for fabric that you can't see through, without a loose weave and that has a good feel to it.

Def. do not judge by price as a firm rule. I have bought from all various places. Just recently bought 3 diff. 1 yd pieces from my LQS that I dearly love & shop there quite often, but ea.of these pcs cost me over $10 a yard. All 3 bled like crazy. I thought I would never get them treated where they would not run & bleed anymore. It shocked me. I have bought fabric @ Jo Anns and yes, WalMart & they did not bleed. So it is a case that you never know & cannot judge by price. They all felt wonderful. Some from the big box store has felt like cheesecloth. Some not. You will be able to tell by the feel soon.

For my very first quilt, I went to Goodwill and bought plaid men's shirts, at first I removed the labels, but later decided they were part of the shirt (some are quite lovely). We did a summer porch (half-squares). Although it still needs a border. My quilt buddies really like the labels on some of them. While others concerned themselves with block placement, my eyes were having trouble keeping the plaids straight, I just decided to start sewing the blocks together -- it looks pretty good. Will post a photo as soon as this WIP is complete.

Just my .02, but maybe it will help. I've sorta figured out which fabrics to buy by brand. Walmart has their own brand - cheap price, cheap fabric, usually 2.44 or less per yard. They also carry AE Nathan - low to mediocre fabric, usually 2.44/yd; Cranston VIP - mediocre, but better than AE Nathan, usually priced at 4.44/yd; Fabric Traditions - better than AE Nathan and VIP - usually priced at 3.44/yd.
Joann's varies quite a bit, but most name brand fabric is safe. The VIP fabric varies there and I've even started asking them to tear a piece for me because it is off grain more than not off grain, especially prints with squares. Last time I asked them to do that, it was almost 2" off grain. I'm tired of getting it home and find it wayyyy off grain. Besides, it's 75 miles to the nearest JoAnn's for me. Hancock - main fabric is Absolute Cotton and it varies a lot in quality, but it's on the mediocre to ok range. The novelty cottons tend to be slightly better and they carry a few name brand fabrics that are rarely on sale, but at least decent quality. Quilt shops - I trust their fabric. Mary Jo's in Gastonia NC is totally trustworthy and they carry mostly name brand fabrics, but not the same ones as the quilt shops. OK...that's my .02. I can't afford $8-10/yd so I have to be thrifty but I hate it when I get the fabric home and it's off grain and/or thin - arghhh.

Ok, this brings up something I have been wondering abt. for a while. Wouldn't shirting be polyester/cotton blend? What about using fabrics other than cotton? I have a huge fabric stash of other fabrics, since I've been sewing for years. Being really involved with quilting and not sewing for little grandkids any more, I would like to use up this stash on quilts. There are a lot of knits & flannels (which I know are okay), and poly/cotton blends.

What was the brand of these fabrics? I'd like to not make the same mistake!
And good brands don't always mean good fabric. I washed a fat quarter of Moda (Christmas fabric) and it shrunk 2 inches!! I was shocked. But the other Moda lines don't shrink, so I think it was just because it was a holiday line. I don't know why that would make a difference, tho. You'd think the company would want to have a good name with all their fabrics. :shock:

I have found that most shirts have labels in them regarding contents. I only purchase 100% cotton and some of them are beautiful plaids. I also purchased some with orange/black/brown/and greens for a jack-o-lantern quilt I hope to make someday. It and a spider web quilt made from plaid strips are the reasons I joined a quilt guild and began this addiction. The men's shirts at my Goodwill are $2.50 and if you look for L, XL, and XXL. You can get considerably more than a yard of fabric, and a good selection of buttons from just one shirt. I usually take them apart while I watch TV.

My main problem is I usually find several shirts I would like to keep to wear around the house or while gardening. But that is becoming to be less of a problem as I dismantle more and more shirts. Happy hunting and enjoy all available resources.

Some of the fabrics that are lower priced in JAF or Walmart have been slightly 'mis-printed' or the color is a bi

Oops - hit the wrong button!
Anyway, as I was saying, the color may be a bit off from what the designer had intended , so it is not sold as first quality in quilt shops. The wearability won't be affected in that case, so you have to decide whether you like it or not. As others said, you can generally feel a lower quality weave.

Does it feel soft to the touch? When I started quilting, I went by sight alone! (I like it. I want some.) That was all I knew. I go through some of the older stuff now, and wonder "What was I thinking???"

i have said it before and i will say it again and again and again and again. price is absolutely, positively, unequivocally NOT a reliable indicator of quality.

shop carefully. if you see a fabric you like, check several online sources before deciding where to buy it. you will be amazed to see how much the prices will vary between sources for the same fabrics - by as much as $4 or $5 per yard!

use what you like and can afford. be willing to experiment. keep a journal to remind yourself which brands of fabrics you've liked and disliked. have a section for shops, too - both in-person and online.

i'm fond of Red Rooster, Moda, Wilmington and Windham. there are other good brands, too. those just happen to be my current favorites. there are also a few Walmart fabs i really enjoy working with.

over time you will develop your own personal preference for particular brands. you will also learn what to avoid.

it's a process. ignore the Quilt Police, go forth and enjoy, Grasshopper. ;-)

NCfleur, When I took my first Color Class, 10 years ago, the teacher told me that Walmart and Joanne's had similar quality
of fabric, then Hobby Lobby, then LQS fabric. It depends upon
the quilt that you are making. If it's for a donation to a Charity, I'd used fabric from Joanne's and Walmart. If it is for a special person I will buy at my local LQS.
If you are making a heirloom quilt and are having it quilted by a Long arm quilter, I would definitely use LQS fabric.
I have bought from Walmart, Joanne's and LQS, plus Keepsake
quilting. I hope this helps in your decision making. Eiltcoq.

Flower sack fabric was fairly good as it had to be a fairly close woven as it had to hold in quite fine ground flour.
just my thought but it.

I am SO GLAD to see that someone else out there is like me! I love to use whatever I find around - scraps for any number of places, and any number of fiber contents. I go to the thrift shops also to pick up fabrics or gently used clothes. My quilts may not be the ones chosen by the judges, but that is not why I create my quilts! And not every quilt has to be an "heirloom" quilt.

I do think it's important to have a consideration for who will use the quilt and for what. The all-cotton quilters have a point on that since it is such a wonderful fabric. It's hard to beat for an all purpose quilting fabric and it's a known quantity and lasts well.

My first quilt was made with fabric I bought at Jo-Ann's, that was probably 6-7 years ago and it is still on our bed and only slightly faded....

About 30 years ago I made a quilt for my first GS. I had bought some new calicoes plus I had some pieces of clothing to fill in. The calico on the back is like new, but some yellow calico in the quilt has come apart. The same with the clothing in the quilt, some is still in good condition, some have come apart.
When I made this quilt, I couldn't afford all new fabrics, but it was bright and colorful for years. It has been repaired a few times, but short of replacing some of the pieces it has held up o.k.
I have learned so much about fabric and sewing since then. I still mix old and new fabrics in some quilts. I am laying one out now that is all from used clothing and is cotton polyester blend. I find they hold up well in quilts...
Don't be afraid to experiment. That is half the fun to me!!
Welcome to the wonderful world of sewing and quilts!!!

Ditter

I like the good quality fabric from the biggie mfgs (Kaufman, Hoffman, Moda, etc.) that you find in your local quilt fabric shops BUT I don't like the prices so I go on line and get the good stuff for really cheap. I don't have to have this season's line of fabrics. I just want something I think is pretty and will fit the style of the quilt. Try marshalldrygoods.com. for great prices. Also Connecting Threads make a very nice quality fabric (bought some and was impressed) and when it goes on sale it's usually half price of their regular $5.96 per yard price! That becomes cheaper than Wally World. :thumbup:

Wow! that's great information. Thanks.

That makes sense and is very help. thanks!

good thought! makes complete sense to me.