I almost had a heart attack!
 

Went up to Los Angeles for a mini-vacation with my BFF and she took me to a fabric shop. Beautiful modern fabrics, but most of them were over $18 per yard!! I couldn't believe it! They did have a $5 shelf and I was able to get a few yards there. Sheesh!

Crazy !!!!

I really had to gulp when I paid $13 a yard but it was so-o-o beautiful. I got just 1 yard.

That is sticker shock! Hope the prices settle down soon. I haven't purchased fabric for so long, but just a couple of days ago I did buy a kit that I've been looking at for over a year -- it was 50% off -- it must have been meant to be!

Yes... we've been paying these high prices all along.... and I must say I was surprised last month when I visited a Joann store in Bellingham and found fabrics were as high as $10-$15 per yard..US....

i know prices have gone up on fabrocs!!!

This is getting to be a very expensive hobby. I'm glad that I have a fair amount of fabric that was bought some years ago.

Time to start shopping at the thrift stores and finding nearly new cotton clothing to use in quilts.
Hooray for square dancing skirts!

Being on a fixed income I just can't afford the price of fabric most of the time. I would hazard a guess that at least 75% of my stash has come from thrift stores and yard sales. Very good bargains to be found if you look for them. In my area the best thrift stores for fabric/sewing/craft things are the ones near retirement complexes or developments.

Cari

I buy on sale or clearance or direct from the wholesaler. I don't think I've paid over $6 a yard in the last year for fabric. Right now I'm stocking up on as many different prints and colors of wide backing fabric. That seems to be my biggest expense right now for my quilts.

I noticed this on my last shop hop. prices are going crazy.
glad I have a lot of ufo;s and stash to work with.

I know what you are talking about. I was in LA, and went to the garment district, and left with nothing. I paid a fortune for parking, but refused to buy at $13 a yard. I went to an estate sale, and picked up a ton of fabric, but a lot was dated. I tried to buy fabric that was not dated, like dots. I like making scrap quilts, and incorporate some of the dated with others.

Are you sure you weren't shopping in Canada? Our quilt shops here are all in the $14.95 to $18.95 range unless there is a sale going on. Even Fabricland (definitely not my favourite with some of the same "tactics" as Joannes) has fabric at $15.95 a metre. Some of our Mennonite shops and on farm stores are cheaper $5.95 to $12.95 but they often don't carry the newest fabric lines. I'm lucky as I have an extensive stash and only need to shop to fill in the gaps and for backgrounds.

Remember the market is driven by consumer demand. When we refuse to buy at that price the prices will come down. I REFUSE to pay such prices. I will use thrift shop fabrics and buy at garage sales and do a lot of other things first. There has to be a limit.

Shall I shock you a little bit? Over here prices start at 15€per meter, that means nearly 20$! And most fabrics are sold for 17 to 20€: that is about 22 to over 25$! These prices are good for several heart attacs!!

I hit Joann's this weekend and bought mostly from the sale table and it was 50% off. And the one novelty fabric a friend really liked someone there had an extra 40% off coupon. I walked out with interfacing , fabric and thread for less than $30.. And that was a lot for me. small fixed income here .. I just buy everything on sale or I don't buy. Thrift stores here don't have a many sewing things anymore and when they do they tend to toss everything in a bag for one price and there is a lot of double knits and such I really don't want . I am going to have to find out the days of sales in the thrift stores also, because shirts and skirts have gone up to almost $6 each . I told my friend this weekend when we were thrift storing , that I may be priced out of thrift stores soon too. :)

Guess I will be looking for a new hobby!

I had heard that cost of living was higher in LA. I hadn't thought of what that might mean in terms of quilting!

You should have headed for Buena Park to go to M&L Fabric (technically located on the west end of Anaheim). Most fabrics are price at $10 to $12 but they have discontinued fabric mostly from RK that are $5.98 a yard and flat-folds at $2.98. My ex-boyfriend's mother use to fly out from Michigan with an empty suitcase so she could take home all the fabrics she bought when I took her there.

And estate sales that say plus-size clothing! I walked out of an estate sale with almost 20 yards of clothing for $15.00.

I've often thought how aghast our ancestors would be that we purchase brand new fabric, cut it up and sew it back together to make quilts. And now the price we are paying for that fabric!! Remember what pretty quilts those ladies made with only what they had from scraps and salvaged from clothes that were no longer usable. Nothing was thrown out. How spoiled we have become--and that's not just with fabrics. Many usable items are taking up space in our landfills. "People are praying for the very things we take for granted."

I also find it hard to pay so much for fabric but I'm using that as a challenge to use what I have in my stash and I also find some good quality cotton in dresses, etc at thrift stores. The hunt is fun. I know cotton prices have gone up but not that much. I've lived all my life on a farm and when prices go up for farmers, everyone gets on that profit wagon but when the prices go down and expenses stay high - farmers are alone on the wagon. Not right but what do you do.
I love scrappy so using what I have works for me.

I guess I'll be buying more off the internet than I have done in the past. Those prices seem to be a little less and I do love free shipping.

Oh. That is pricey! I think I would've done what you did! I wouldn't even be able to 'look' at the more expensive fabric. You KNOW that I'd find something I hadn't seen before and just HAD to have! Clearly by my stash, I'd purchase it anyway.

I'm lucky, Beverly's is a local store for me. They carry most of the same lines as a typical LQS would, but their prices are generally a tiny bit lower (by about $1 per yard, but it adds up!), they will accept Joann's coupons for up to 30% off fabric (one coupon per purchase), they give 10% discount to guild members, and they usually have 2 discount tables set up; one for half-off fabric and one for 3.97 fabrics. The 3.97 fabrics are hit or miss and mostly miss for me (looks like stuff they buy in bulk; some of it doesn't even have contents listed so could be made of anything, lots of it is apparel fabric; rarely I will find nice cotton) but that half-off table is awesome. I find all kinds of good stuff on that table. Great table to shop for charity quilts; they often have lots of cheery kid's prints & panels on there.

Plus their staff are generally speaking pretty knowledgeable & helpful. One day while I was there, a young man (early 20's I'd guess) was asking about what he'd need to buy to sew the cuff back on his hoodie. He had the hoodie there and was showing it to the lady at the cut counter and asking what he should do; the seam had come undone a few inches. She just grabbed a needle and thread off the back counter and fixed it for him on the spot, no fuss, no muss, no charge. It was very sweet. I really like stuff like that; I feel like companies that support their employees doing that sort of thing for their customers are GOOD companies that have their mind set on more than just raking in the profits. It seems to work; they have several locations and there are always customers in there.

It makes me want to work there when I am in a position to go into semi-retirement. I would love to be the nice old lady at the cutting counter, stitching cuffs on hoodies for youngsters! Plus I'll need a fabric discount, who knows how much fabric will cost in 20 years!?

Shopping for anything from fabric to food will give you a 'heart attack' these days. Living on a limited income is far from easy.

Love M&L! I always take an empty suitcase when visiting DD.

The past year I haven't bought much fabric, I have been really firm with myself and opted to finish some UFOs and to shop my stash. I have discovered that I have some really nice fabric LOL

LOL! Same here. :)

Normal priced quilting fabrics are between $18 and $25 here. Some are nearly $30.

Sale prices are from $10 upwards.

Not a cheap hobby; though I admit I really enjoy using the remnants of blouses I make for myself, the good pieces from my menfolks old cotton shirts, old tablecovers and such like, in my patchwork & quilting.
Something satisfying about not wasting perfectly good offcuts.
Much I suspect as the original ladies who pieced did.

Mary

I, too, find myself shopping in my stash more and more. I've made some lovely quilts lately without having to buy a scrap of new stuff. But it is wearing down, so what am I to do--I absolutely would HATE to pay $18.95 for a yard of material. My feelings would then be like that of one of my GDs--"you buy that big piece of material and cut it all into little tiny pieces, Grannie. Howcome?" But she did win a blue ribbon and best of show ribbon at our recent county fair on a quilt that she made--so I guess she is beginning to see the light.

We were on vacation in Montana and we stopped at a quilt shop in Lexinton. Her fabrics were gorgeous and some were designs I had not seen before; but those had a sticker price of $18 and $19 per yard. Needless to say I didn't buy any of it. My quilts don't call for that expensive fabric. I enjoy the hunt for cheaper ways to acquire almost everything including fabric.

I just returned from a trip to Bali which was absolutely incredible. I went to the factory where the big batik companies have their fabrics made, you know the one's we pay about $18/yd. It was a real eye opener. The working conditions are deplorable, and the workers work at least 12 hours a day (day light hours). They get a cot to sleep on which were above the dye vats, and meals.
The finished yardages go to a warehouse to be packaged for shipping. While I only paid $2.30/yd there, my guess is the big companies pay much less. Then the quilt shops buy from those companies, and then us from the shops. All along the way there are markups so everyone can make a profit. And then there is shipping at every point.
I am not trying to defend anyone and hate to pay the markup at every juncture, but I do understand how it works. If I had a quilt shop, I'd have to pay the price and do the markups as well.
Goodwill is a great place to look for fabrics. Not always what I want but occasionally I make a great find, and the money is going to a good cause.

Next time you are in LA - try the garment district for shopping!

Please let me know where the best places to go are. A friend and I went last year and the prices were the same as LQS. Did not find any bargains, at least not quilting cottons.

When I first was introduced to quilting I was told it was an expensive hobby. My thinking was how expensive could it be--Grandma quilted and I never saw anything expensive in her home. Well she made quilts out of used clothing that people gave her. She would spend hours cutting 'fabric' for double wedding ring quilts that she hand quilted. I started with Wal-Mart fabric (that I refuse to buy now) and moved up to LQS. Guess where I shop for fabric now---your right---I shop at Goodwill. Brand names like Moda, Robert Kaufman, Northcott, etc. along with brand new flannel sheets for backing fabric. Yes some of the prints are 'out of style' but why does a scrap quilt have to be made of 'current style' material.
Living on a limited budget means cutting corners but not quality. I have never and will never spend $18 a yard for fabric. Grandma was frugal and wise---use it up or do without.

I might have had huge sticker shock at those prices. Regardless of how my DH and DS felt when we downsized, I drew the line when I had purged nearly 50% of my fabrics, as they wanted me to get rid of nearly all of it. Not happening, especially since we were moving to a 2-bedroom apt. and my sewing "room" was a corner of my bedroom. My DH did say that my clear totes stacked in our dining area made a colorful wall. Last year I made a full size quilt for our DGD and only had to buy backing fabric, the entire top was from my stash and I felt pretty good about that. Although I try to keep my trips to JoAnn's to a minimum, I haven't found any quilt shops so far in this area, but if I find a fabric that I just can't leave on the shelf, I buy just one yard to add to my "stash" and that keeps me happy.

If anyone is ever in So. Calif. in the Orange County Area (Disneyland, Knox Berry Farm) there's an amazing fabric store a stones throw from there. There fabric starts at about $2.49 a yd. A great of it is flat folds that are stacked HIGH, but they have fabric on bolts too. This is a great road trip but take lots of money. You won't be sorry.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/m-and-l-fabr...-store-anaheim

I have been buying very little from the LQS's because of the cost. I tend to splurge when we go out of town though because of the different fabrics I see. I have so many focus fabrics with little to with them so locally, I look for blenders, tone-on-tone, neutrals that are on sale.