Where Do You Hunt For The Cheapst of Cheap Fabrics?
 

Do you hunt down fabrics that cost less than $2-3/yd? If so, where are your favorite haunts?

Well, for me it's thrift stores, estate sales, and Craig's list. I'm typically paying about $1-2/yard or maybe up to $2/pound. Part of me would like a budget where I could just go out and buy whatever fabrics I wanted just for any given project or just because... but I have bought a lot of fabric in my past.

All of the on-line retailers have been hit pretty hard by both demand and supply issues with Covid. eQuilter currently has a couple of scrap packs available (have been sold out for awhile, usually there are more like 6-10 offerings). For the scrappy style I do, I find these to be a very good bargain in assortments of new fabric. There will be different themes/styles.
https://www.equilter.com/category/38...se-scrap-packs

I buy Dream Cotton by the bolt from Marshall's Dry Goods under $3 a yard. It's all solid colors. It's like Moda Bella solids and just like Moda it ravels some. Still excellent quality. I keep a bolt of white, muslin color, black and gray. I live close enough to go there so I have a bolt of every color bought over time.

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..

I can't find it that low, except sometimes at Marshall Dry Goods. I've been making many Modern quilts lately for a presentation I'm doing and solids are definitely cheaper! If you don't already include solids, that is a suggestion.

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 down-sizing 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 a 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.

There are several fabric stash sale sites on Facebook, where you can buy fabrics as cheap as $2-$3 a yard. Not everyone sells that cheap, but plenty do. Check out Sew Its For Sale, Fabric for Sale, Quilters Market, The Original Fabric Destash, and an auction is offered every weekend on Leesa's Fabrics.

Cheap does not always equal substandard or shoddy.
But, sometimes it does mean buying in bulk.
You can still get wholesale or warehouse prices.
As stated above, https://marshalldrygoods.com/ is a good place to visit.
One of my fave places to buy quality, name brand, modern quilting fabric is Textile Collections: https://fabric4less.com
the catch....you have to buy most fabrics by the bolt.
This place also has cork fabric (fat quarter size pieces-not by the bolt), polar fleece, flannel, home dec, and other fabrics, just like MDG
also, for just a bit more, https://www.quiltedtwins.com/ is a fun place.
and the hunt for clearance sales is always a fun challenge. :)

edit: oh, to see the prices at Textile Collections, you do have to register...create an account, but it's free.

There is a difference between cheap and inexpensive.

I never find anything I like at clearance prices. So I always have to pay 5 -6 and up. I always buy what I like and has a good feel.

I make lots of donation quilts and give away lots of quilts. I would never give away any quilt I would not want to keep for myself.

I just cannot keep them all. We only have have one double size bed. I have about 6 or more for our bed.

Marshall's Dry Goods does sell the quilt shop brands by the yard, most are under $6 a yard. Every brand but Moda. Hoffman Batiks, Robert Kauffman, Timeless Treasures, Bernatex, and fabric lines by Kafe Fasset, Edyta Sitar, Tula Pink, Allison Glass and all the other designs. I haven't seen those on the website but they are in the retail side of the warehouse. I have seen JoAnn's Keepsake, and Connecting Threads fabrics on the $1 a yard table. Marshall's has spoiled me and it's very hard to buy $12 a yard fabric elsewhere. It's worth the 2 hour drive to me.

I usually look at the clearance stands in the LQS but I never have gotten fabric for that price. I usually pay $5 to $6 per yard. The fabrics are getting so expensive lately. I went fabric shopping the other day and saw fabric for $12 to $13 a yard. That is out of my price range and it stayed at the store.

Got to go with that! I used to buy cheap cotton...which, of course did not hold up well. I spend a lot of hours quilting...I want the finished product to last a lot of years!

Definitely~

Generally, sale rooms at LQS are where I look for deals. I haven't seen much in the price range $2-3/yd unless the store is going out of business.
Also, I find it helps to shop with some type of list or idea of what you're looking for, as opposed to just getting anything & everything.
Don't rule out scrap quilts utilizing your own or friends' scraps.

My biggest regret and lesson learned was when I made my first quilt. I didn't want to mess up the good fabric so I bought low price fabric at Walmart. I loved the quilt and my DD wanted it. After a couple of years the fabric started to fray and weaken. It pulled apart and the colors were fading. This wasn't vintage fabric like feed sack or old clothes it was cheap low quality fabric. I have never used low quality fabric in any quilt since.

One place to look is in your own closet (or in my case....my DH's closet. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wink.png) He has so many old shirts that either no longer fit him or that he doesn't wear anymore. I can de-construct the shirts & use them in my stash.

If you live in or around Maine - Mardens. They are a close out place and have a huge fabric section with last years stuff. Full price is $5. And they usually have discount bins at $1-2. Its all name brand LQS quality stuff.

One of the LQS near me has a sale room where I can usually find great backing fabric.

Iceblossom, like you I am always on the lookout for a bargain & not ashamed to say where I have found some great deals-yes even thrift stores-I love shopping for a bargain. We aren't poor, we are very blessed to live on a comfortable budget but I also am careful where my money goes. People can be so wasteful & sometimes I am lucky enough to be the person that finds those tossed items at my local thrift stores. Yes, the higher-end part of town is much better shopping. I do not buy just to buy-if I truly don't have a use for it or its not decent quality I don't buy. Right now on Marketplace there are a ton of people that thought they wanted to get into sewing during the guarantee virus and now selling machines & fabric like crazy.

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!

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!

I agree. Quality vs quantity is my theme song. I should also mention that I hand piece and hand quilt. I don't want to spend months making a quilt only to have the material start shredding when I machine wash and dry. So, it can take me up to 9 months to make a full size quilt. My expenses aren't that much when you consider it takes much less time to make a quilt using a sewing machine.

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.

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

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.

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.

Maybe I should rephrase my question. I'm not looking for low quality fabric. I'm looking for lower prices on good quality fabric. Everybody loves a good sale. Although, I have to admit that I have put some questionable, antique and vintage fabrics in my past quilts that held up well with every day use. I just depends.

I think you're in the wrong century to find fabric 2-3 bucks a yard! I've been quilting since the 80's and I don't think it was that cheap even back then.

Marshall dry goods now has a sale on 30# box of selected fabrics that they say works out to $1.25 per yard. It came in an email this morning. I've never participated in this type of sale, so I'm not advocating buying it. I'm just passing it on.
bkay

Oh...not so! I just bought some calicos for $1.95/yd at MDG (plus shipping.) Even with shipping it comes out to only about $2.75/yd. I also used to haunt another store that just a couple of years ago, regularly had clearance items for $2.99/yd, but they don't offer it that cheap any more. I just checked their site and they do have one for $3.96/yd. These are all top quality cottons.

I'd like to hear about more recycled fabric sources too. I know of one place down in the silicon valley that offers free fabric to crafters, once a month, by appointment only, but I've never been there. I think that they have mostly home design fabrics.

I know that many of you are on a fabric moratorium, but I've been using from my old stash for years now, so I've been doing some buying lately. It's time to recharge the stash.

Wow! What is MDG?

Marshalls Dry Goods. It's a fabric store.