After reading another post about the cost of fabric in Canada ($15 - $18 / meter), I thought it might be interesting to ask what the price is in other countries.

Please chime in and tell us!

In Oklahoma/Arkansas (and back home in Massachusetts) good quality quilting fabric runs about $9.00 a yard. If I am looking online, and see some for less than $8.00, I figure that I am getting a good deal. If it goes over $9.00 I have to look at it for a while before I make up my mind to get some. I consider that a bit high.

It depends on where you go. At the store I work in, which is much like a JoAnnes, I guess, quilting cotton runs from 9.99-14.99, if you go to the quilt shops, good luck finding anything under 15 bucks a meter, if it's not on liquidation.

Okay hope you're sitting down...
In France the fabric is between 18 and 24 Euros/metre - at current rates that's $25 to $34.
So I buy mine over the internet from UK where average is about 10 to 12 GBP, (about $16-$19), but then we have to add the postage as well. I buy when I can in (UK) sales and can find some for about equiv of about $11.
I have bought from the US, but with postage, and the french customs charges, and TVA (which is charged also on the postage rates) there is no saving.
The worst thing is having to select matches on a monitor, which as you know isn't ideal.
I also have to buy threads, batting and notions from the UK.
Quilt stores in France are very few and far between.

This is a dumb question but how big is a metre? We never had metrics in school.

Do you pay less in Customs charges if you buy from another country in the EU?

A meter is about 39". So, given US prices, figure it's about another $1 worth of fabric, to us.

It varies so much in the USA. Walmart goes as low as 1.50 a yrd. Shops vary from 6.98 to 12.00 a yd.
I shop sales for name brands on the web. Quilt in a Day is great for 3 dollars a yard for pages and pages of fabrics.
One shop here in Phx. sells all thier yardage for 6.98 a yrd.

No, we don't - but the prices are best in the UK. I know Germany and Holland are about on a par with France, don't think it is any better in Spain, Elle will know.

I do buy some bits & pieces from an online store in Switzerland, mainly because she on the border and crosses into France to post to her French customers therefore using national post rates, and has a good range of items - but again equiv of about $21/metre

Sorry meant to say we pay no customs charges from another EU country!

A friend of mine winds dozens of plastic bobbins full of thread and mails that to a friend in France. She can get dozens of bobbins in a tiny package. She said her friend can't buy good thread there.

I stocked up at Connecting Threads $2.99 a yard sale.
And bought enough piecing thread on sale to last for many years. The sale is still ongoing so I think I'll go buy some more after reading the prices elsewhere.

No it's a real thread desert here. I buy Superior, YLI, Mettler from UK suppliers.
Only thread here seems to be poly or if you can find cotton it' very low quality fuzzy stuff.
French quilters seem to use polyester all the time - usually Gutermann Sew All.

Here prices vary. Most of the LQS in the Twin Cities run about $9-10/yd. I have a couple of outlet stores nearby where I can find Hoffman batiks for $5/yd and some of the name brands like South Seas, Bernatix(sp?) and a few others for $3-5/yd. I try to get there whenever I can! That's as cheap as Walmart around here!

I'm emigrating!!

Well start packing, cause any one of us would sponsor you :thumbup: But seriously it is obscene to have to pay that much :evil: At my lqs the average is about $9 a yard. Do the wages support those high prices :?:

Wisconsin $8.00 to 9.00 cheaper if you go to walmart and Joanne's has fabric for $5.00 on sale.

*Le sigh*

Here in Toronto (Canada) I bought a meter of fabric (that's about 3" larger than a yard) for $14.65 today from the LQS. But it was really pretty! I'd say this is an average price for actual quilt stores in my area.

I'll often buy from US stores and have it shipped up here because it's more cost effective. You just have to be cautious about shipping prices.

Kristy

Bellaboo, Be careful thread definitely has a "shelf life/expiration date" even if they dont tell you. It can get dry rot just like fabric and is probably even more fragile.

Margie

Phx, has some great shops. I've been to a shop hop there.

For a good quality fabric, from a qs, we pay approx. $15.00 per meter (just over a yard). I buy alot of my fabrics from Hancocks of Paducah (sp). They're price plus shipping usually comes in a lot less. I have bought alot on ebay (name brands only) and I've got some pretty good deals even with shipping.

In England we can pay around £9 to about £12 per metre. I think this is about $14.

That said, I found some absolutely beautiful fabric at £14. I think it was really to much, but I couldn't leave it at the shop.

Joanne

Here in Australia it is about $20 Aussie dollars a metre..can be more or less. I think that is expensive and wait for sales where we can get it up from $3 - $10 a metre ($10 being the norm) but they arent the nice fabrics that you would drool over but they do for baby quilts etc. I do sometimes spend the $20 on a metre but only for very special quilts.

this is a site i use often and the shipping to canada isn't bad, because they use a flat-rate system. the fabric is way cheap and first first quality. f you're not familiar with it, take a peek.

http://stores.ebay.com/CROWSNESTQUIL...1QQ_fsubZQ2d33

When I stationed Germany back in the early 90s, I went to several German fabric shops and mostly is was 17 - 20 marks per meter which would have been $12 or $13 per meter. EXPENSIVE!!!! I did buy some purple fabric one time and paid about 10 marks per meter which was still pretty expensive. At a local sore, like a walmart, I could buy some fabric there for about 8 marks/meter which was about $5.30/meter. FYI: I used $1.50 =1 mark. Rarely was the rate that good, however. In Kansas, where I live, the LQS fabric is $10/yd approximately, Walmart doesn't fabric anymore, locally, and Joann's is average priced I think. I do shop on a lady's farm and most of her fabric, top quality LQS stuff, is approximately $5/yd. There, I try not to spend more than $100 in fabric, before taxes.

I wanted to go check out a fabric store when I visited family in Germany and there wasn't a QS anywhere in the area. So not only is it hellishly expensive, it is hard to come by depending where you live. Then I checked a few blogs that are associated to QS and they seem to have "typical" German hours of operation. In other words, when people are working and can't get there.

I'm over in the East Coast Australia and I can't even get icky fabrics for $3 - $10 a metre, my LQS had there Christmas sale on and we got a whole 20% off fabric that averaged $25 per metre.
It is a bit of a pain trying to match colors on a computer moniter but if I had to purchase all my fabric here I couldn't afford to quilt.
I would love to go shopping and actually come home with a heap of fabrics, nothing like being able to see and feel them, but at these prices I can't afford to, so I will stick to drooling over the computer moniter :lol:

There was one in Bertesgarten (sp) that I used to visit perhaps once a year when my unit (Army) would sponsor a company trip there and one in another city but can't remember where. Where we were stationed near Mannheim, there was a nearby store that carried yard goods, thread, yarn and other crafty stuff in addition to other items. That's where I shopped primarily as I loved the thread selection there as it was much better than the Post Exchange's.

This is a really interesting topic! I had no idea things cost so much in other countries. It makes $9-10/yd seem not so bad. I'm sorry that you guys can't get your fabric cheaper. Do you think it has to do with tariffs/tax breaks from some countries (China/Mexico) that trade with the US? I wonder...

the fabrics I buy are mostly from Spotlight and that is where they have the sales as quilting shops are few and far between over here. When the craft show comes to town that is when I buy some really nice fabrics. i havent as yet bought online but have seen some lovely fabrics on the net so will eventually succumb to the temptation!

Alot of items here in France classed as "non-essential" carry the top rate luxury tax, I suppose that could be the reason.
In all purpose fabric stores if there happens (rarely) to be a small patchwork counter, they are classed as "confection" (or decoration). Clothing, utility fabrics are not as expensive comparatively.

Now fancy classing fabric as non-essential!!!

Books are another item here very, very expensive.

Like Woody, we have to buy off a screen, and the QS's you all talk about are just a dream to us!

Well Katrine has given you the low down on France and I've nothing to add, except to say that I think Holland is just a smidge cheaper - for example I had a Kaufman Fusion here in France for 22 euros (31 USD) a few months ago. I have seen that same range in Holland for 16 euros (22 USD) a metre (39"). Plus in Holland there are a lot more fabric shops, here my nearest really good dedicated QS is a good hour away. My knowledge of French lady quilters (fairly limited, I used to go to a local guild) is that they buy fabric for a project - they don't stash build (hardly surprising at those prices!).

I order online, mostly from the UK like Katrine. If I'm in Holland, I treat myself to buying something I can actually stroke first! :-D

BUT on the upside, I can get a really great bottle of wine for a couple of dollars, so it's not all bad! :lol:

Do craft shows in Australia sell supplies? Here in the US, craft shows are for selling finished products, whether wood, fabric, jewelry, pottery, etc.

Maybe it's just the label "craft show" that's used differently.

Wow you non American quilters really have a disadvantage! With a Dutch SIL I can't imagine a quilter in Holland having any more fabric than what he/she needed for the quilt being made at the time. Prices here run $9 at closest LQS and $10 at the shop 20 miles away. Was in a shop a little further away Thursday and she had $8.75 per yard. A lot depends on overhead-rent, inventory, salaries, etc.

Looks like I have the best of both worlds, non?

Craft shows in Australia usually are for retailers and wholesalers to show their latest! They launch BOMs, new books, patterns, have fat 1/4's for sale and the usual LQS supplies. I have never seen finished products for sale.

Fabric around where I live starts at $22 - 28 a metre. I do support my LQS by buying thread, batting, sometimes backing or lining of totes, but the majority of my fabric purchases come from online shopping in the US. The exchange rate is approximately AUD$0.90 to the USD. Huge savings. I only buy from shops that do flat rate shipping.

On a side note, I also buy books from the states as well, I wish that would come in flat rate shipping! LOL

Well we do live downunder so I guess we would have different names for things! We only have about 2 craft shows a year that have quilts etc and yes they do sell supplies from books to material and threads to sewing machines plus they also have a quilt exhibition. One of the shows also has a lot of hands on workshops but is more tailored towards all other crafts but they do have some quilting things.

Ja! Du hast gluck! :mrgreen: Sorry can't do umlauts! :lol:

Checking in from Norway where "everything" is expensive. I pay anywhere from $6 to $8 for a FQ, so you can imagine what a meter costs! For decent fabric our prices run around $25 to $50 depending on where you buy it.

I order a lot of my material on the Internet, especially from Ebay sellers who use flat rate packages. I am careful to order less than 200kr each time so I don't have to pay for customs. I also load up a suitcase or 2 when I am home in the states for a visit.

The cost of living here in Norway does support the high prices, so I don't feel so bad buying FQ at my LQS. I like to patronize local stores to keep them in business. There is no such thing as big bargains in fabrics here.

39-5/16 inches (actually - if you want exact, exact - it's a smidgeon of a hair's width over 39-5/16" :roll: