I bought some fabric from fabric.com this weekend and thought I really got a good deal. I needed half a yard of a Moda to finish up a border, and my LQS was out. Checked online and ended up there. The fabric I needed was on sale, and I started browsing. Put some more in the cart, thought I would think about it, and then found a coupon code for 20% off total purchase. :-) I ended up with 6 yards of fabric - all name brand- for a total of 34.70. They have free shipping with orders of $35 and more and apparently my order was close enough to qualify.
I agree that it's nice to know what you're getting. I had seen 3 of the 5 pieces I got, and have always been satisfied with the "brand" of the other two. I'm looking forward to getting my order.

Connecting Threads is my favorite....great sales, quality is great, customer service is wonderful, and I love their thread!

Whittles Fabrics, lots of $5.00 a yd. and $5.00 shipping.

I recommend www.connectingthreads.com

and

www.equilter.com

Both have excellent quality fabrics and great sale prices

I have to buy online as Im in the country and no shops near by.
Connecting Threads is my favorite but like Keepsake Quilting also. Missouri Star has great daily deals and love their videos on You Tube.

I never use cheap fabrics. I did once, many years ago I purchased fabric at Joanne's and made a quilt for my sister. It fell apart. If you are going to put many, many hours into making a quilt, I want it to last. I do sometimes buy novelty fabric to make a quick table runner but don't buy it for my quilts.

I buy most of my fabric online. Any name brand fabric that is on clearance or kits. Connecting Threads has great clearance prices, under $3 a yard. Their batiks and flannels are great. All the quilt shops are over an hour from me but seems I go see what's new every week at each one. I buy all my muslin, Pellon products and what I call basic supplies from Walmart. I order a lot from Walmart online and have it shipped for in store pick up.

http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/

http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/ Their web sales. Best deals around

GREAT source for inexpensive LQS quality cottons: http://www.quiltingcotton.com/

I've had good luck here but I don't like the way their site is set up. http://www.whittlesfabrics.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi

http://www.fabricdepot.com/

http://www.connectingthreads.com/Quilting.cfm Great customer service! They have always stood behind their fabric with me. One time they sent the wrong color. Called them. they sent me the right color and told me to go ahead and keep the wrong one (a full yard)! YAY free fabric. another time they forgot to include a package of needles, sent me a new package no questions asked. I also love them for their batting sale which is going on right now. $50 order gets you free shipping. Buy a few yards of fabric and a couple of packages of batting and you are there!

Have fun shopping.

If the shop near your work has good quality fabric it would be good to support a local shop...That is if the prices are fair and the service good. It is good that you realize that if you are going to spend the time making a quilt it pays to use good fabric. Personally, I buy a bolt of white Pimatex online from Dharma Trading and paint it as needed, but I make art quilts!

I've purchased fabric from thousands of bolts and connecting threads for years and have NEVER been disappointed with anything I've gotten. Their prices are far better than LQS but the quality is just as good. Plus, thousands of bolts only carries name brand fabrics...... and both companies have excellent customer service.