When I shop for fabric in stores like Joann's, I buy based on the feel of the fabric. After a while, you can tell if it is a good fabric or not. The good stuff has a nice, dense, smooth feel to it. One time I bought some not-so-nice fabric and when I got it back from the topstitcher it had several holes in it. The fabric was weak. Now my feeling is, if it is a wall hanging it doesn't matter but if it is something special I will spend the extra money and get good fabric.

I have shopped at Joanns many time and uses many of their fabrics. As most everyone above says you have to fondle it and make up your own mind. I have seen some inferior fabrics at quilt shops for which prices were more than 3 or 4 times what Joanns charges. No matter where you shop, you have to feel and look first ( am refereing to shops you go into - for online shops, I rely a lot on word of mouth)

Joanns...quilting notions & batting only for me..no fabric for quilting

I found some fabric at my LQS that I dearly loved but it was too much $ for me so I went to JoAnn's. I found the exact same fabric (same print, same brand) at JoAnn's for $2 per yard less. Then I realized there was a lot of that. I'm all for supporting small businesses, but not at the expense of my wallet when I can get the same brand and quality for less at the big box stores. I shop both LQS and JoAnn's because there are some different brands, but not necessarily different qualities.

my personal opioin is if I am going to put that much time into a quilt I can feel the difference right away, I want better fabric than JoAnn's and I like to support my LQS.

Totally agree...just like my gma taught me..feel the fabric!

I like to think of fabric as having 3 grades.

Grade 1 would be quilt-shop fabrics.
Grade 2 would be Joanns, Hancocks, etc.
Grade 3 would be Walmart.

There are a handful of manufacturers who only make quilt-grade fabric (like Moda), but many with sell the same print in two different grades of fabric.

IMHO the fabric is not as good as fabric at LQS. I never buy fabric there because I believe that they will survive without my purchases, whereas small LQS may close if we don't shop with them. Same with on-line. I do understand that many people don't have a LQS nearby, so of course you do what you have to do. But please consider the jobs lost and the local economy impacted when a LQS closes. Besides, it's more fun to hang out and pet fabric in a LQS!

Feline Fanatic, What it Retayne. Does ot keep the colors from running and what does it look like and where do you dt it. I have had a problem with red bleeding on my last quilt and i don't want to have any more of those. Thanks Suzanne

It's good to know that, for the most part, there is a difference in QS and chain store fabrics. It is also good that there is a variety of fabrics to choose from for not everyone can afford the same fabrics. Having choices give all quilters the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful hobby.