Forum readers, I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Windham Fabrics has some wonderful designs, and they also offer pre-cuts for at least some of their collections. Their price for their FQ bundles seems okay to me, but their Fat Rolls (5" x 44" strips of fabrics, rolled up) seems way too high.

So before I order any of these types of pre-cuts for my shop, I would like to know how it seems to you.

Here are pictures and prices from Fat Quarter Shop, a reliable website that has pretty much standard-retail prices for the newer collections.

The Seville FQ bundle has 32 fabrics and is priced at $84.99, so that's 8 yards, which works out to a price of $10.63 per yard.

The Fat Roll, is priced at $69.99, and with 32 fabrics works out to 4.44 yards, for a price of $15.76 / yard.

Now it's fun to have a little bit of every fabric in a collection, which is what makes the pre-cuts a nice idea. But the fat roll contains just a tad more than half the yardage as in the FQ bundle, and it's not very much less in price.

As I look at it, the Fat Rolls are just NOT a good value. Since Windham doesn't do jelly rolls, I suppose if you need the full width of the fabric and want a little bit of everything you'd have to go with the fat rolls but... seems to me it's definitely overpriced.

What say you, wise and financially-savvy quilters?

I haven't bought any precuts yet, but the size of the fat roll is what I would like IF I bought but not for that price, that's just out of the question.

I stay away from the fat rolls and the FQ bundles. I generally do not like all that matchy matchy fabric. I rather pick and choose each of my FQ to get exactly what I want. I do like the convenience of the 5" square packs for a quick quilt.

To expensive for my taste.

I would not buy it and would get the FQ. I always figure out what it costs me a yard. I buy a good amount of quilter's quality FQs but do not own a roll yet.

Too expensive for some. I'd thinking and hard before I spent that much.

way too exspensive dont get them

I would never pay that much for a precut. Ouch.

I agree, I always figure out the cost per yard with pre-cuts, I expect them to be slightly more, but not that much more. I would not buy that at all. I would pay the extra $15 and get the FQ bundle myself.

Rachel

I've looked at other pre-cuts at Fat Quarter Shop and thought they were very expensive compared to other shops on the web (IMHO). I love pre-cuts and have bought several jelly rolls, charm packs, dessert rolls, layer cakes and turnovers to use in my quilts. They certainly are convenient and I like that all the fabrics coordinate. I would shop around if it were me :)

We've gotten a little bit into pre-cuts for our shop this year, and to be honest the staff is really enjoying the convenience of "Just pull it off the shelf and pack it, these are even folded already, how great is that?!"

And there's none of the "shrinkage" that comes with cutting yardage off the bolt; believe it or not we usually "lose" 3/4 yard on every bolt (we give the extra inch on our cuts).

So I'm trying to figure out whether we should buy pre-cuts from the fabric manufacturers, or come up with our own combinations (we have lots of fabrics already here to choose from) or maybe invest in an accu-cut so that we could make and market our own charm packs. The advantage of the last two is that we could come up with a combo that nobody else on the web is offering.

Buy the Studio:> I love mine and it would be a tax write off for you<insert angelic, innocent face>

Those prices are too rich for my blood :shock:
I would love to see your fabric pack combinations :D:D:D

This is one reason why I love Connecting Threads. Their prices for precuts and rolls matches their per yard price. Much easier to figure out what the deal is.

Yeah, I agree. For me to pay 10 or 15 dollars a yard it would have to be on sale 50% off.

It would have to be something I really, really wanted. As a rule I do not use pre cuts unless I find a good sale.

So true. I actually did the math one time, and it was all the same price per yard no matter how they cut it for you.

Too much for me. I'm trying to use my stash as much as I can. It's not free but it's paid for!

Way too exspensive. I would never pay that for a jelly roll. And I only buy small packs of fat quarters so they aren't so exspensive.

This is exactly what I do and don't do too. Dani

I agree with you....way too much money for me

I would love buying the pre-cuts, but the prices scare me away. Plus, I am scared I would run out of whatever I had and not be able to get more to finish.

Way too pricey for the rolls. Even tho you and the staff would have to make time, I think it would be a wise investment with the Accuquilt Studio cutter and start with the 2 1/2" strip and 5" dies to make your own bundles. You could even rent it out for customers to use after a quick class on procedure and safety. Some even have a personal Go cutter and are selling the die-cuts.

Charm pack - 40 5" squares = 2/3 yards
Candy Bar - 80 2-1/2 x 5 strips = 1-1/3 yards
Jelly Roll - 40 2-1/2 x WOF strips = 2-3/4 yards
Layer Cake - 40 10" squares = 2-3/4 yards
Honey Bun - 40 1-1/2 x WOF strips = 1.8 yards
Turnover - 40 6" squares = 1 yard

Keep those figures in mind when buying precuts. However, having the strips and squares on hand in many, many different fabrics is also convenient.

I agree with the rest of the ladies; it's too expensive. I don't want to pay that much of a premium just for the convenience of having it precut for me.

I emailed them asking why the price is so high for so little fabric.

That is to expensive for me.

to rich for me I have started only buying what I need and
mostly work on UFO's both patterns and fabric is to expensive for me I prefer to pick up single fat quarters rather than a pack

At my LQS, I have found in some cases that 1/4 yard cuts are cheaper than FQs. I don't know why this surprised me. So I will usually get a !/4 of a yard and have some for my stash.

I would also prefer quarter yard cuts a few at a time and make my own jelly roll or layer cakes

totally out of the question - Love their fabrics, but would never pay this price for strip cuts.

Way too pricy for me...I really prefer to pick and choose my own fabrics and cut and plan - also like to have some fabric left over for my ever growing stash.

I totally agree with everyone else on here. I have looked at some of these also but will never pay that for them.

Too expensive for me!!

Yes, sometimes pre-cuts cost more if you calculate their cost at "per yard" figures. However, if I don't have a specific quilt in mind and therefore specific yardage, I am more apt to overbuy cut fabric. For example, I might but 1/2yd or yd pieces of many fabrics then only use part of the fabric in an actual quilt. My stash benefits, but the actual cost of my quilt has doubled because I didn't use all the fabric I bought. It's kind of like buying a whole chicken and throwing half of it away because nobody wants anything but the breast and thigh. It would be cheaper to just buy the breast and thigh parts.
That having been said, I admit to a fondness for pre-cuts and I buy them to get a "core" selection of fabric for my quilt. If I need more then I can fill out with other, coordinating fabrics or go on the hunt for fabrics in the original pre-cut. For me, the hunt is as much, if not more, fun than the making of the quilt.
Also, I don't do huge bed-sized quilts so a pre-cut and a little extra for borders or setting triangles makes me happy.

They have good fabric, but I only buy fabric on sale & from places on line with low prices.After adding shipping,it averages out at around $5 a yd.That's top dollar for me,but I know lots of ppl can afford to pay way more.

I frequently buy pre-cuts also; however, I don't like being taken advantage of. Moda's pre-cuts tend to factor in $10 per yard, plus a small cutting fee ($2 a yard or so). That's acceptable to me because I might lose that much squaring the fabric up and/or miscutting. However, to charge $70 for $45 worth of fabric is out of line. I have emailed Windham and told them just that. I'd be happy to pay $50 for the Fat Roll, but not an extra $20. Nope, too much.

I always figure out the per yard costs to see if its a good value. I also consider that most times there are one or two of the pieces that will not be to my liking and will end up in the scrap bin. So the costs you are talking about... I would be out of love with the fabric really quick.

I have never bought precuts. I think they are priced higher than
buying yardage. You have to pay for someones time to cut them up. With buying yardage you have extra for your stash and the next quilt. :lol:

that peryardage price is insane (for either of them). for that price, I'd buy yardage.

but preference wise, I prefer the rolls to the FQs. I seem to have more waste on FQs.