I was just wondering - several of you have mentioned you have to drive a long way to buy fabric -

I live near St. Paul, Minnesota and there seem to still be several places that fabric is available within 30 miles of my home - although several LQS have closed, several of Hancock fabric stores have closed, JoAnns' have consolidated - there are two or three super stores around

What do you consider a "reasonable" distance - or if you are on an expedition or mission - how far will you go?

1 live 35 minutes from the garment district in NYC does that count as having a lot of fabric close by? i think so :lol:

I'm about 10 mins from Joanns and 15 mins from Walmart. That's all we have here, Just the 2. Otherwise I'd have to go to Port Townsend which is an hour away

It is 50 miles one way to the nearest place that has fabric. Our fabric store closed a year or so ago can't even buy a sewing machine needle or anything other than black and white thread around here.

I feel spoiled (not as much as KLue though). I have two high end LQS stores within 3 miles. I have the choice of two more that are about 15 miles away. I have a Joann's about 2 miles from my house and of course my computer, which allows me to shop day/night while I'm in my jammies! :shock: :-o

I'm lucky enough to have 4 that are very close, and of course the internet.

We have one Brother dealer in town that has some fabric and notions but the atmosphere of the shop is cold and unfriendly. JoAnns and Hobby Lobby is an hour away so I shop there with coupons. Most of my quilt shopping is online.

Denver still has quite a few LQS's. I can go anywhere from 2 miles all the way to about 20 miles from my house and find them, including a Joann's, which I don't usually go to except for supplies.

Well lets see, I have one fabulous quilt shop 1 mile from me, another shop two city blocks away and three that are within 30-40 minutes from me. How lucky can I get. Joann's and Walmart are further away and I don't buy there fabric anyway. I know, I am a snob, but it comes from owning my own quilt shop several years back. (retired) Marge

I am really lucky! I can see one of my lqs from my bedroom window. It is about a block away. The other one is about 3 or 4 miles away, but the fabric they carry is not as much to my taste. Other than that, my Walmart still has fabric- about 6 miles away.

I am an hour from Green Bay, WI, where there is a Joann's superstore, a Hancocks, and several independant quilt stores. What is readily available to me is mostly country-ish, Thimbleberries style fabric. I do see something of a trend towards more brights and batiks now, though, along with a fair amount of 30's repros. If I want anything along the lines of Amy Butler, Heather Ross, those kind of name brands, I have to buy it online.