Quilt store prices
 

I haven't been a beloved quilt store in years, because of where I was living none were available. Now, I'm fortunate to be living near a quilt store. What is the price of fabric going for lately. I was in JoAnne's, which in my opinion is not a top of the line store. To my surprise some fabrics were $12.00 per yard for cotton quilting fabric. What's the going rate in a nice quilt store lately.

About the same. Depending on the shop and the area prices range from $9 to $14 per yard with the average being right around $12. Of course there are always the closeout/sale areas but for the newest lines with no discounts that is the going rate. Even more for some fabrics like yard dyed Daiwabo Japanese fabric.

I am lucky to have several great quilt shops near me. There is always a sale or special pricing at one of them. I seldom by fabric by the yard at regular price. I do buy quilt backings there at regular price and pay about $15 a yard for spectacular prints. I like great looking quilt backs.

I do not believe that Joann expects anyone to ever pay full price for their fabric, so it is all deliberately over-priced. I don't like this business strategy and always felt like a sucker when I absolutely had to buy something without a coupon. Unfortunately for me, Joann is only about a mile away and the closest alternative for basics is Walmart, with no other options for less than 10+ miles away.

In the Seattle area our quilt stores have been closing and we no longer have the options we once did. Most of the time regular fabric prices are $12-16/yard.

I mostly buy my fabric at the thrift stores now. That's typically about $1-2 per yard. True, I can't really pick what I want or how much I can get, but I get some really great finds and typically I leave more than I take. The Seattle area is a very wealthy area and our thrift store shopping can be sublime.

I mostly work with scrap quilts, but sometimes get enough for what I call a "planned quilt". This is my latest thrift store top, I'm calling it Seahawk Pink. The package of coordinated fabrics was $2.99. pieces were about 1.5-2.5 yards and I used about 2/3rds of it. The remainder will go to my crumb quilter. The batting I will be using is a queen+ sized batt, and I will get two tops out of it, bought at a different Goodwill for another $2.99. Backing has come out my stash, the binding is made and will be the yellow. Pattern is a "free 5 yard quilt" (google brings it up), I took the image and developed my own construction methods. No way would I pay $60 in materials nor would I give it away.

In BC Canada generally Quit shops are between $17 and $22 per metre, a bit longer than a yard. Now those of you in the US would save 25-30% on the exchange rate.

Kona solids are less expensive.

Yes the going rate is as Feline Fanatic said, I am fortunate to live three hrs from Amish country in Lancaster Pa. and make a trip down there once and yr and stock up as there prices are on the lower side. I don't usually buy fab from Joann's but have gotten some nice fab there on occasion. But our hobby is an expensive one no matter how you lookat it and so is golfing, fishing, hunting, bowling etc. LOLOLOL Enjoy

that is why we hit the Sales. prices are almost impossible for us.

I need help getting something sticky off my travel iron.
Mariah

If the sole plate is non stick then you can't scrub it so try a glue remover. There are several brands you can buy and all work for non delicate items. UnDo is the only one for paper or photos, it will not damage the colors.

My LQS has a nice sale section of older fabrics, or end of bolt newer fabrics and frequently has specials. Twice a year they also discount a large portion of the shop to $5.99/yd.

The very new fabrics seem to run around 10-15, usually dependent on the manufacturer (i.e. Alexander Henry is rarely less than 11-13). Solids are less, usually in the 5-9 range. They have a huge selection of batiks but since I don't buy batiks I don't know the price range.

I like to buy at a discount (so my mother doesn't haunt me) but will pay full price for fabric I adore. I like to shop locally when I can - keeping the LQS open is important to local quilters - it is such a great resource for techniques, tips, help with color combinations, classes, etc.

https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Sticky-Iron
several here, i like the one with table salt. I've heard that works well. Good luck.

Something I've learned from sad past experience:

If there is a fabric one is "absolutely in love with" - which does not happen very often for me - buy as much of it as you think you might possibly need - even at "full price" - because one may never find it again.

The LQS that was close to my house closed so my new LQS is about 20 miles away. There's a machine store that has quilt fabrics that are quite cheap that's closer, but I find a lot of their fabrics are also lesser quality so I usually just drive the 20 miles or wait until I'm going there for a bee. The prices are in the $10 - $15 range. Like bear if I see something I really love, I usually buy a few yards of it no matter what the price. It doesn't happen often and I feel that I'm worth and occasional splurge.

I have already spent my children's inheritance in LQS's. It's now a race to see what expires first, my stash or myself.
I buy little these days in any fabric store. When I work through quilting my 8 finished tops, and 4 or more unfinished tops, and see what's left, I might go searching again. t

I don't buy fabrics at quilt stores. They priced out of my range years ago. I have a large stash and am using it.

:DHere in So.Cal the prices average about $12 yd. Some a little more, especially backings. But most of the shops have sales regularly for one reason/occasion or the other. One of my favorites recently celebrated their anniversary date so all fabric and notions were 30% off. I enjoyed that sale :D I live in a semi rural area so have a drive of at least 30 minuted to any LQS. But I love the quality and just make a day of it, stopping at other stores along the way, like Home Goods.

As for JoAnn Fabrics, I generally don't purchase fabric or thread there but recently made an exception. I hadn't checked out their premium line until a friend suggested I might want to since she found the fabric to be much better quality than their so called quilter cottons. She was right! I bought a very pretty batik ($12.99yd minus 30%) and I'm not usually a batik person. It's washed up beautifully and now I've cut it up and am combining it with a stash fabric for flying geese.

Same price range here in Iowa as feline fanatic. I prefer to support local quilt store as much as possible we are lucky to have a lot of them in our state but some have gone out of business. If I am doing charity quilt (not QOV or some I know will be kept for a long time ie. for foster kids) I will buy at JoAnns. I always selecting for thread count first then color when shopping there.

Well, I hope it's your stash that goes first. :D
then i'll be happy to share mine with you. :D

I buy most of my fabric at JoAnns because I am quilting for fun or everyday use, not for prizes or heirloom quality. I can afford JoAnns and I like going there to be able to touch the fabric for the quality that I want. I have never had a problem with their fabric, even the sort that has the sparkles on it that I have used for grandchildren's quilts. They have held up well with use and laundering. Again, JoAnns carries a variety of fabrics from craft to the better quality--it's up to the shopper to find what they hope to use.
I'm disappointed in what I'm finding at WalMart nowadays though. When I began quilting, they carried so many nice pieces at affordable prices but now I see those selections becoming fewer and thinner. Those I pass on. I have heard that when Mrs. Sam passed away, that's when the fabric dept declined. She wanted that in the stores but the next generation didn't see the need. Whether that's true or not, the depts have dwindled and so has most of the quality that once was there. I still look at WM but am selective of what I purchase. I think their buyers are not those who create as there are mostly focus fabrics and not many blenders.--the "cute" stuff.
But back to the original question on going price of fabric. I think what you have found is pretty much what most fabric of any quality is running--or even higher.

There are many individual sites on FaceBook for someone wanting to "Destash" (sell off) some of their excess fabric. Some will sell as high as $10 per yard and others as low as $3 per yard. you have to join each site before you can buy from one of their sellers. If you check it daily and are the first to respond to an offer you can get some pretty great buys.
Other sites such as Quilt in a Day will have what they call skinny bolts and that is discounted end lots they are selling off at reasonable. Crafttown Fabrics offers an "All or none" deal quite often where they closeout their fabric. Of course on these on-line site you have to pay postage and wait a couple of days to get your order. I've never gotten a bad piece of fabric from these sites. Sometimes the color isn't quite right for what I need but it will work for something else. Good luck in your search for reasonable prices.

(Hi all, new to this site)
When I came back to sewing after many years hiatus, I was shocked at the prices!
I started buying online because the local shops didn't carry many of these new great designer prints I fell in love with. I buy from mostly Etsy but there are several other favorite online shops with reasonable prices, like Flying Bulldogs and Brooklyn Fabric Company. Hawthorne Threads has great sales and regular fabric prices too and they have free shipping so that really saves. Cheaper than even driving to the fabric store that sells for $12 a yard.

I have a local shop in our small town that takes in fabric & yarn donations from quilters, sewists and estate sales, they sell by the pound and I find a lot of new and vintage pieces. My stash has gotten so large I started selling on Instagram and Etsy for pretty cheap, I just have way too much to keep it all even though I would love to! All their sales go to the local senior center so that's nice.

Calif-Sue, Welcome from western NY and happy quilting :)

Quilt shops $10 to $13. a yard . being on SS I can't afford shop fabric . sometimes I can find nice fabric
on E bay at a good price , I do my best ….

I find incredible prices and of course the quality is great shopping at Hancocks of Paducah. You can get fabric as low as $3.99 a yard. Also the fabric online that is new release is less than the quilt stores (sadly I have none near me) but MSQC yardage is I believe $11 a yard, FQS is about the same and Kona is less expensive online than in store. Since I have to drive about 80 miles round trip to the nearest quilt shop these days it’s just easier and less expensive shopping online and paying usually $5 for shipping.

Hancocks of Paducah also has sale tables with folded bolt ends. There's a table for regular prints and a table for batiks. None of the tables are priced over $8.99. You can get some real bargains there. They also sell the 108" bolt ends bundled and the prices are fantastic and the 108" stuff has prints and blender colors too. (I buy a lot of this) Hancocks is expensive, but the orange sale tags and the bolt end tables can help even out some of your more expensive purchases.

I understand your predicament. There is s store in Batesville, AR, called Marshall Dry Goods. They have over 6 million yards of fabric. Most of it is priced much less than you would pay even at WalMart. I am not sure if their website is MDG.com or MarshallDryGoods.com, but they have displays of their fabrics on the internet, and one can order from them, and they are very prompt in delivery. I am very fortunate that they are located in my state. I do not make heirloom quilts. I make quilts for the joy of creating and seeing people appreciate my effort and use the quilts. I hope you will look into this website.

Thank you, that was a new site for me and the prices are great!
https://marshalldrygoods.com/

Hi Mariah,

Paracetamol - I don't know what it is called in the US... but google will help. Plug the iron in and let it heat up then rub the paracetamol on the sticky area. The paracetamol will bubble and melt and melt off the sticky stage. I couldn't believe it when I was first told this, but when I tried it, it worked!

Hugs

Caroline

Onebyone.
I made that quilt for my great nephew. His name is Finn and his parents wanted a sea quilt. I made this one and it looks like the same fabrics. It was a kit.
Love yours

There are very few QS's in the area's I live and prices range 10.99-22.99. I use to be able to shop at Joann's w/coupons but moved to De and the closest is in Dover 30 miles away. So I'm determine not to buy unless I must and my only choice is a couple of QS's Otherwise I ck out websites and order thru the mail when I catch sales being offered.

We have a young man here locally who is in charge of the fabric department. I'm not sure he is knowledgeable where fabric is concerned, so I have not been there in a while. I need to check back in, but, at my age, I now sew/quilt very seldom.

At a quilt store near me the price is $12.00 to $14.00. I think this is an outrageous price and I really have to like it or need it before I buy it.

In Idaho we have only one really good quilting/fabric store. The fabric is up to $14 a yard. I never buy it full price unless it is something that I just have to have (ha ha) or is so popular they can't keep it in stock. I usually buy from Connecting Threads and Jo Anns if the fabric is on sale and really nice. Right now I am quilting out of my stash but when that runs out we'll see. I do wonder why the fabric prices are so high?

Sadly, I'm so rural that the closest JoAnn's is over an hour and a half away, so I'm stuck with Hobby Lobby, Walmart and LQS. I've noticed the decline of the Walmart fabric departments over the years, but I've also discovered that it depends on the location. I know I can travel a half an hour north and find some good prints, batiks or blenders, but when I go a half an hour south, it's mostly kid prints, faux furs, tulle, organza, and a very large selection of solids. That Walmart has a much larger yarn selection than the one to the north, which seems to be geared towards quilters and there is at least one LQS in that town.

Hobby Lobby isn't that bad, basically the same prices at JoAnn's but they're always running a coupon for 40% off any item and I believe that includes full bolt prices up to 15 yards, though don't hold me to that 100%. My stash is so small and pathetic that I actually have to rebuild it before I can get any project off of the ground, so I'm looking for smaller items...layer cakes, charm packs, fat quarter bundles, jelly rolls, honey buns. A couple of layer cakes can make a good sized queen sized quilt and the only yardage to pick up would be for sashing, borders, backing, binding, etc. and all of those bundles always has solid packs for backgrounds.

I don't see a problem at all with buying one yard of fabric if your pattern only requires a half or even a quarter of a yard, it'll rebuild your stash effectively if you are working a multi-colored quilt. I'm looking at a Planned DWR for my younger sister in fall colors, that quilt only uses 1/4 yard per color, so I'm picking up a full yard so I can rebuild. Eight different colors and then a full bolt of Muslin from Hobby Lobby using the 40% coupon, my stash will be well on the way to getting rebuilt.

My issue comes with getting to Walmart, Hobby Lobby, LQS', I had a stroke in 2014 that grounded me from driving anymore, so I'm reliant 100% on my sister-in-law to get me from Point A to Point B and I'm on her schedule. So if there's a big fabric sale somewhere, I have to hope that we're going to be out and about those days or I miss out on it. Because of that, I've started looking online for fabric sales, Hancock's of Paducah has peaked my interest quite a bit and my LQS has a website and I can get fabric shipped from there.

I've also started off-setting my quilting budget by doing online surveys and getting paid for them, but that's for another thread entirely, lol.

If you are anywhere near Maine- Mardens! Quilt shop fabric $4-5 yard. When I was there earlier this summer they had 3 huge bins at $2 and $1.

I also do quilts for fun and to be used (no fine art stuff). One of my favorite sources for fabric is QuiltedTwins.com. Nice fabrics at very reasonable prices. I especially like the precut bundles which come out to $5/yard and are already coordinated to go together. By the yard fabrics on sale as low as $4/yard. -Bonnie

Oh goodness, those prices are right up my alley, thanks for the link, I'm trolling already, lol