I'm so sorry to hear that fabric is going up so high....Of course, I have lots of fabric in my stash but it seems I always need something extra to finish a quilt or to do the backing.... :-(

I either read recently or heard on the news can't remember which about fabrics and it is going up across the board for all brand names. I can't remember why but it is if it hasn't already.

Eat less...save the money for fabric...

Figured it was bound to happen

It seems that everything has been going up. I've really notice food and medicine. It used to be that any fabric over $9 was super expensive. Now $11 - $14 is common. Maybe the overspending on sale fabric wasn't such a bad idea in the long run!
Susan

My LQS gives you a $5 punch on their savings card if you don't take a bag. (Not sure how many punches it takes to cash in the card though.)

Despite the prices, I will patronize my LQS and others in my area as much as I can since. If we don't, we'll turn around and look for them and they'll be gone. But I will shop sales and the clearance room as much as possible.

Charlee, I would have loved to hear your political comments - probably would have agreed with you - but better to stay away from the topic. :)

at my fav. quilt shop the new prices seem to be coming in at $12.00 a yard.....and the FQ's are $3.00 each.

You may want to consider purchasing fabric from Connecting Threads!

I just think that global warning seems to be an excuse for most things, normally costing us consumer more :roll:

Point 1: Here in the UK we pay "Import Duty" but we only pay it if our purchase is over £18, not including the postage. so I buy in relatively small amounts.

You can check you spend by using this currency converter: http://www.xe.com/ and of course pay via Pay-pal

Point 2: In a USPS Flat envelope which costs $13.95 at present, this will hold 6 yards of Cotton fabric and 4 yards of Flannel

Point 3: It will take 5 working days to get to you, so if you order on a Thursday you normally get it the following one, our post permitting!

So if you want large quantities of a fabric, like over 6 yards, split them into separate orders. Also most of their fabrics are "end of" runs so do make sure you order enough for your project.

I cannot praise them enough their service is second to none, all their fabrics are well known names and what I do love is that each purchase has a label on that tells you how much, what make and what name of the fabric is, so useful for your stash.

2 examples for you. I bought 4 yards of Northcott baby flannels which cost, including postage $28.69 = £17.60= £4.25 per yard
6 yards of Cotton, inc postage $31.85 = £20.80 = £3.46 per yard.

I do wish they would pay commision as I have recommended them to dozens of people :-P

Don't just mourn the rising cost of fabric -- I heard that the batting prices are going to be going thru the atmosphere. Good thing Connecting Threads is having a sale now -- I'm stocking up.

The owner of my lqs said some fabric could go as high as
$15 a yard, She has held hers down as much as she could, but with this new raise, she has no choice. I feel sorry for the owners of these small shops. I don't know how they will be able to stay open much longer.

Thanks for that info. I will definitely go back to their website, and order

That is why many quilters use old clothes.

I need to make some and keep them in my car. I think they are trying to get people off of the plastic habit which is good, yet those bags are so useful for other things besides carrying groceries etc.
The ones that the stores sell are on the flimsy side, heavy cans etc may break the seams.

Thanks for the warning, used a 20% off discount at the LQS today for club week. With some fat quarters and charm packs, love my Moda!

The owner of my shop said all cotton fabric is going up. They were frantically ordering all the fabric they could before Dec 31st. She said most up $.50 to $1.00 per yard. Cotton all over the world is going up.

Well the cotton crops in parts of Australia are underwater, we are having huge floods here, covering the land for hundreds of miles. I got a newsletter the other day from a online shop warning that cotton fabric will rise by 70%. Our coal fields in my state are under water too and we supply half of the world's coal. Railway lines are under water, so coal that is not under water cannot get to market.

QUILTERS, UNITE! Stop building your stash just because you like a piece of fabric. Buy what you need for the project you're working on. If there is a tremendous backlash to this price increase, the price will come down!

Well we pay approx $22 to $24 a metre here for quilt fabric, bump that up by 70% and it will be beyond a lot of quilters or they will get very choosy as to what they buy which will put a lot of quilt shops out of business with tight margins.

guess I will be making lap quilts, wall quilts and baby quilts and making them scrappy. If backing and batting get too high I'll just make quilt tops and put them away and ask for batting for Christmas gifts from my family. lol

They will be unaffordable for us if that is the case - we pay heaps now.Jelly rolls are around $88.

Hear this Fellow Quilters........$12 for a metre of fabric is NOT too much to pay if you want to produce a quilt that makes your heart sing. I have purchased fabric in Bonners Ferry ID and didn't find any under $9 a yard. In Cranbrook the cost is $13 a metre, and this is just for good fabric, not the "heart singing" kind. Fabric in Europe can start at $35 a metre. I would love to purchase good fabric for $5 a yard......but I think those times have long gone.

do you really think the prices will go down when there is more cotton available? I haven't seen too much price reduction in the past! LOL

Or they'll stop producing. If the price drops too low, no one can make any money from it, and it's not worth it to produce.

I am a quilter living in "cotton country" Texas. The cotton prices are by far the highest in history. No we are NOT cotton farmers! The prices are being forced up because India and China are BIG buyers of cotton in todays markets. Their economic situation is improving and they have more $$$$ to spend. So I guess you could say it is global pricing and we will feel the pinch in clothing, bedding and any thing made from cotton. Quilt fabrics are the first to go up as far as I can tell!

We pay more than that in Saskatchewan, and have been for a long time... a meter of good quality quilting cotton is over 16.00 and FQ's are over 4.00 each.. so that means we will be paying a lot more now if the prices are going up... good thing I have a stash.. lol

Connecting Threads have great prices, but they don't have much for nice fabric.. all they have is their own fabric, it's ok, but not as nice as some of the name brands.

If we didn't grow the cotton here then ship it to India and China the prices might not be so high, and it would create more jobs for some of our people here in the u.s.

[quote=jaciqltznok]just wait, it won't be too long before that BARGAIN fabric goes up too..,I don't see too many little shops
making it after Spring time this year...[/ Ijust bought about 1200yards at one of my LQS that was closing . Hope I have enough for a while anyway!!!!

I noticed that the fabrics on fabric.com are higher as well

If they do that, I'll be making reusable bags from the uglier parts of my stash. I should have done it by now, except I reuse the plastic ones for cleaning the cat litter and picking up after the dogs, and will have to come up with another plan.

Reminds me of postage stamps....just think...there's another increase coming there also....nearly $.50 for first class! If the price gets too high for fabric, might just have to sell off DH's stamp collection! :wink: :)

Feel sorry for us in Aussie Land. We are already faced with prices between $20-$26 for Moda and the same and more for really good batiks.

How is the fabric from Connecting Threads? Is it more like Joann's or like a quilt store? Do you know what I mean?

I do understand why quilters from your neck of the woods make such beautiful quilts with itty bitty pieces of fabric.
Waste not, want not.

I heard that the price of cotton has gone up so much that everything made with it will, too. That means thread, batting, towels, jeans and so on.

I will be thankful as though we don't have the selection here in Bangkok, the prices are about $4US for decent quality fabric.

Good thing I have a huge stash. I'll just have to shop my stash and make lots of scrap quilts.

I was in Norway a couple of years ago and the fabric was coming out at £20 per yard or $30 us dollars. I did succumb but only bought a couple of fat quarters. Saying that, Norway is a very expensive country for everthing