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Originally Posted by Iceblossom
(Post 8417754)
I should always mention in my getting things at thrift stores is that I am lucky to live in a rather affluent part of the country, the Seattle area. Not all thrift store shops are equal and the best stuff is typically in the higher-priced zip codes. There is a surplus of high-quality everything here. I don't buy every piece of fabric I come across, and those I buy are from known brand names. I'm often getting entire collections from someone who bought it new at the LQS and never used it and is now downsizing or moving or getting out of the hobby. Last year for example, I bought a large bag of someone's batik souvenirs from a trip to Indonesia. Yards and yards of gorgeous high quality heavily gold embellished fabrics perfect for an OBW or many other things for $5.99. You are just not going to be able to find things like that often, even here, much less somewhere else.
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Another great way to save on fabric costs is to join a quilt guild! In pre-pandemic times, my quilt guild had lots of smaller pieces of fabric (left-overs) that people could take for free. Larger pieces (often donated by shops) were reserved for people to sewing "comfort quilts" to be given away by the guild. Plus, you can make friends with folks who might be happy to pass along their left overs to you. (Some people love saving scraps for future projects, and some folks are happy to get all the scraps of a project out of the house once the project is done.) My guild is looking at doing everything on-line for the next 9 months, but some day we will meet in person again!
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Another great way to save on fabric costs is to join a quilt guild!
My guild is meeting late afternoon today in a pavilion at the park. We will have our free table set up at another pavilion right next to us. I know there will be lots of fabric and quilt supplies, as most have said they have cleaned their sewing rooms. I have several laundry baskets of scraps to take myself. |
Needing fabric for a baby quilt, I went (after a looooong wait during Covid lockdown) to my local JoAnn where I've been buying fabric for years. Imagine my surprise when I could not find a single fabric I liked in the entire store! I found a quilt shop not too far away, made an appointment (keeping it safe!) and lo and behold...the angels sang! Those fabrics at JoAnn are so thin and cheesy compared to what I found at the quilt shop...mostly Moda! Lesson learned!
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Originally Posted by Mdegenhart
(Post 8417747)
I don’t. I won’t spend hours and hours of my time to make something with substandard shoddy fabric. I do check clearance items on quilt shop quality fabric, but it won’t be a couple of dollars. I also won’t buy cheap fabric I consider ugly to be able to crank out large volumes of ugly quilts, regardless of who they are destined for. Quality vs. quantity..
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The least expensive place I found fabrics were at JAF. I purchased 141 yards of fabric last fall for a penny a yard. Total cost for fabrics was $1.41 !!!! I also look on line at places like fabric.com they have good prices on some of their clearance fabrics from time to time. JAF is the best bet for clearance but not always the best quality.
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I’m not sure why you are searching for the cheapest cheap fabrics? I tend to place value on what I’m going to spend my money on- so although I do watch for a good deal I don’t spend my money on ( cheap- stuff that’s not going to hold up in the long run) I want quality for my hard earned funds
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I think finding fabric at that price per yd. (with a few exceptions) that will last the test of time would be difficult. The one exception to that rule for me has been to always be on the lookout for quality cotton sheets at thrift stores. I have been fortunate enough to come across some very pretty ones from Pottery Barn, Laura Ashly, etc. These are only one print of course, therefore more suitable for using as the back of your quilt. But again, you must consider coordinating the back with the front. Not always an easy task. But if you can make it work, it's a great savings.
There are many more 50/50 blends to be found in sheets with a pretty print, and when used for your backing, I don't think should be overlooked. Just my opinion. Would be interesting to hear what other's experiences have been with this. |
You could also consider making quilts from solids. They are usually less expensive than prints.
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the only time I am looking for cheap fabric is for foundations for string quilt blocks. Of course, I am always happy to find a bargain! But I agree with a previous poster, it's false economy to put all your time and effort into making a quilt with cruddy fabric and then it falls apart in a couple of years.
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