Hello everyone,
I am new to quilting and sewing in general. I have been watching different sites such as etsy for scraps and fat quarters, yardage, etc (and I am learning the terminology hehe).

I never know what is a good price for fabric... so... does anyone have any general guidelines for fabric cost... especially when purchasing fat quarters and charms... or even jelly rolls, basically any precuts... what is a general good base price to look at?

Thanks
Edie

Calculate the yardage in the precuts and then compare with the price of fabric by the yard. You will discover there is a "cut" charge built in.
Fabric in quilt shops is now selling for $10-$12 per yd
So probably any price less than this is a good price.
However, check the quality if much less.
There are shops that sell for less and quality is good

I posted a request for suggestions for reasonably priced fabric. Search for that posting.

Many shops still have fabric at around 7-8$ per yd.

thank you so much.(I tried searching the forums, these forums are huge... takes forever to find anything) :(

The calculating the cost per yard is what I have been doing... so I am on the right track.

And now you have given me some numbers to work with for comparison. thank you :)

Prices vary somewhat by region or in my case by suburb. Question is do I want to drive for over an hour past 5 or 6 other stores to save? I'd probably lose the savings in gasoline.
Check your stores.

My WalMart has fabric priced low..... $3.00 a yd. Watch it!
Always hold end of fabric on bolt up to light, if you can see through it....pass it by. The higher end.... priced at $5.98 and up is usually better quality, I have found that it holds up just as good as your LQS fabric.

I agree I would end up paying more in gas, to drive to a bargin.

I am mainly looking for a general idea of cost, for determining if I am paying too much for something off of say... etsy, artfire, etc.

Thanks for the tip about holding it up to the light... I would not have thought of that

MSRP on top-quality quilting fabric that's now coming in to the shops is 12.95/yd and even higher in many cases. Large dealers don't always carry the top lines -- in many cases the top lines are reserved for quilt shops only and aren't sold to big online dealers or chains. Some small online stores do sell for less on first-run, top-quality fabrics.

Some shops will average prices in their shops, marking up the older fabrics in order to keep the prices down on the newer, higher priced fabrics. Others will put a more honest price on the newer fabrics and leave the older ones at the old prices.

Mid-quality and low-quality fabrics can be purchased for less. Some popular lines have been reducing quality due to the very high prices they now have to pay for, and the shortage of certain types of base stocks.

Since fabric prices are going up so dramatically, a lot of shops are closing, unable to compete with large online outlets like Amazon.com (who owns fabric.com) who are willing to use predatory pricing to drive competition out of business. These businesses also have huge advantages in shipping product due to their ability to get very favorable pricing from UPS and other shippers.

Thus you will find a lot of store closing sales out there, or other sales because of critical cash-flow situations in smaller shops and smaller online stores. So a lot of bargains are to be had out there.

Re: precut fabrics -- generally the smaller the cut, the more per-yard you'll pay.

The main thing, as a new quilter you should learn all you can about fabric quality. Generally, when you pay low prices, you'll get low quality, and vice-versa, but this isn't always true. You can find bargains and sales on very good-quality fabric if you look around and shop sales. The fabric you're getting might be one or a few years older, but if it's top-quality, it'll still be top-quality when it's marked down.

Learn the difference between the good stuff and the junk, and that way you won't put a lot of time and effort into making projects you'll be unhappy with after they're completed. I'm a firm believer in the theory that if you're going to put a lot of your own sweat and labor into a project, why use fabric that won't stand the test of time?

Go to good quilt shops, ask questions, and feel and touch the fabric. Talk to the store owner, they're usually the most knowledgeable. (Part-time clerks don't always make a study of the fabrics the way owners often do.) After you learn what makes a good-quality fabric, and you're going to buy, if you buy online ask for samples first if you're not sure.

And finally, welcome to the wonderful world of fabrics. Once you get hooked, look out! :-)

Certainly not 100% of the time, but most of the time you get what you pay for. In our area it's $10 per yd now for good quality quilting fabric...and then fq prices are according to that.

I try not to pay full price if it is fabric to add to my stash...so for that I look for sales/clearance at less than $6. it helps to do the fabshophop because I often check the sales/clearance at the shops.

If it is for a specific quilt, I try to stick less than $10 a yard and try to bring in some stash.

But a lot will depend on your access to shops/sales and coupons.

Try looking at these on line stores for prices:
Connecting Threads
Marshall's Dry Goods
Handcock Fabrics
Missouri Star quilt Co.
and there are plenty more online.

I have seen fabric at some of these stores that is also at Wallmart.

if you need to know how many charms make a yard, or how many jelly roll strips, you use this chart!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-143977-1.htm

Yesterday I went to my local quilt store and the fabric was $15.95 and up. I live in Canada but that is ridiculous! so I ordered it online and even with shipping it is cheaper. I wish I could support my local shop but I can't afford too!

watch online sales. you can get sale fabric for as little s $2.99 plus shipping. the low price makes the shipping worthwhile. if you can afford to buy enough, there are sites that offer no shipping.

this is a site i use when i can. the shipping is very fair and the service is excellent. you can see how low the prices are.

http://stores.ebay.com/CROWSNESTQUILTINGFABRICS
(******NO*****.COM******)

also, joann sells their fats for $1.99 regularly.

Good Shipping rate only for US .Canada is $13.99!

Also, sign up for emails from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. Each day they have a "daily deal" and it's often charm packs for $3.00 or so.

http://www.missouriquiltco.com/deal-a-day

Well written. This is a big help to me too!

you can often get a better deal buying new fabric from on-line quilt/fabric shops than what you get from ebay/etsy
shops like 'fabric.com' which gives you free shipping at $35 has many price ranges-and great sales-
connecting threads- free shipping at $50 also good sales-
instead of paying as much shipping as it would cost for 1 or more yards of (used fabric) i would check out what is available new---from reputable shops

sorry about that. canada is a little less than international, but still a lot unless you buy between 28 and 40 yards. then it's less than $1 per yard. do you pay VAT?

CANADA

UP TO 8 YDS $12.95 PRIORITY MAIL FLAT RATE ENVELOPE

9 TO 28 YDS $27.95 PRIORITY MAIL FLAT RATE MED BOX

29 TO 40 YDS $35.50 PRIORITY MAIL LARGE FLAT RATE BOX

FLANNELS ARE EXTRA!

this is a site called $5 bucks a yard ....

http://www.5bucksayard.com/items/Shi...ation/list.htm

i checked a few others and they all appear to be close in price. the more you can order, the better the shipping gets.

also, http://www.whittlesfabrics.com/shipping.html now ships to canada. call or email for prices.

Another good online site is:
theoldcountrystore.com

Am going to stick to Walmart for at least the next year.

this is a canadien fabric store that charges a flat $5 for shipping within canada.

http://www.pinkpandafabrics.com/

as you can see, the higher shipping cost from the usa is offset by the lower prices available. especially if you buy more yardage.

http://www.fabric.com/ has a flat-rate shipping charge to canada of $15.95. email to find out what that includes. flat-rate sounds to me like flat-rate.

I buy some of my fabric from the fat quarter shop online - they usually have great sales if you keep checking back - I just recently got a line From Amanda Murphy Designs for the most part on sale running 5-7 dollars a yard and I got enough (PLus some) for a quilt pattern I just love that uses 5 different fabrics....you just really have to watch sales and clearance

Almost every Quilt shop I have ever been to has a clearance area I have gotten some gorgeous fabrics for really low prices in some of these areas I am not adverse to buying for more it just benefits me to shop around...