Is fabric cheap in America?
 

Reading the forum you all seem to have such a big stash and lots of fabric - it makes me think fabric is a lot cheaper than it is here in England. We normally pay £10 per m for ordinary quality fabric ( more for high quality). We can get cheaper but the quality is normally terrible. How do prices compare?

so 10 British pounds converts to about 13.80 USD. this is about the going price for quilt shop quality fabric here. one can buy walmart fabric for #4/yard... not good quality

A lot of us have stash going back many years, to when fabric was a lot cheaper. There was a problem with cotton production a few years ago that sent prices up, and they haven't come back down. We also have a lot of online shops that sell very good quality fabric at around $8 per yard, or less, and there are lots of sales that can bring it even lower. I almost never pay more than $9 per yard for quality fabric. A lot of people also pick up fabric at yard sales and thrift stores, and that can be very inexpensive. A lot of the scraps in my stash came from the free table at a guild I used to belong to. Believe it or not, some quilters don't want to have a stash, and when they finish a project they just want to get rid of the scraps and buy new fabric for the next project. I sometimes wish I were one of those quilters...

Edited to add - I agree that some JoAnn's fabric is great quality, but it is usually at quilt shop prices.

This makes me feel a bit better! We don't really have much online choice - there is too much very cheap and thin Chinese ( I assume) imported fabric.slu

We certainly don't have the range you do

I get my stash mainly from thrift stores. I sometimes get top quality scraps and yardage from previous quilters who have donated their unwanted stash. It is greatly luck of the draw, but my stash grows nicely on my monthly visits! I very rarely buy new fabric and when I do it is always from a sale bin.

I remember in New Zealand that quilting fabric ran at about $24 a meter. That was back in 2010, so I don't know what it is now. I couldn't possibly afford that, so I used thrift store shirts and sheets. I remember how amazed I was when I saw Joannes in the USA for the first time! I bought my first 'new' yardage, scraps of which I still have today.

I have never found fabric at a thrift store, but would love to.

I find most of my fabric from charity shops and sales. I will occasionally buy new, and yes, some fabric is expensive, but I cannot really agree that we have less choice in quality or price than the US does. I can find lots of fabric online if I need it quite easily, and there are at least 2 dedicated fabric/quilting shops within easy reach of my home. Hobbycraft have upped their game in the quality of the fabric they sell too. I can only speak for where I live, of course, and I hope you can find success in your fabric hunting.

I have bought fabric from Walmart and hobby lobby. I only buy good quality fabrics. I don't buy from quilt shops, too expensive.