The beauty of any fabric, of course, likes in how it looks in the finished quilt.

And there have been many discussions on the differences in quality between quilt-shop fabrics and chain-store fabrics.

But, of the quilt-shop fabrics, when you're talking "basics" or blenders... fabrics that you probably bought because they were just the right color... are there certain lines that you think are worth more?

Let me explain where I'm going with this. Pretty much every fabric company has a line of basics/blenders. And some companies give you a little bit of a quantity discount, and some don't. All the prices have been inching up (well, ok, more than inching in some cases!). Just today I was looking at some of the new ones coming out by Robert Kaufman - they're Patrick Lose designs - and they're going to cost, on the wholesale level, about 75 cents more per yard than other companies' basic blenders.

Do you think the price difference is warranted? Are there certain basics and blenders that you think are worth paying more for? Which ones? How much more?

Truthfully, If I have a certain quilt in mind for a gift or whatever I will buy whatever fabrics call my name for that project, regardless of price (for the most part). If I am going to pay full price for fabrics it will only be for specific quilts or if I really really fall in love with it.
That said, the fabrics that I just buy cause I like and want to add to my stash will almost always be on some sort of sale. I am a sucker for half off sales. My local shop will have a 25 to 33% sale just about every 6 weeks so most of the time I wait for one of their sales.
Yesterday I went over there because I have a quilt I need to make for a wedding gift and I bought my focus fabric which will be used in the border as well and one coordinating fabric, full price. It was 10 something a yard, maybe $10.49. I will then try to pull as many other fabrics from my stash that will coordinate/contrast with these two. I never pay full price for my backing fabrics.

I would prefer the blenders to be lower prices. I am more will ing to pay a slight bit more for my focus fabrics than for any blenders.

Yes and no ( I know a real helpful answer).

If I am buying solid/blender fabric where an exact color match is not key, I would probably go with the cheaper fabric given that the quality is on par. Why pay extra when I am not really gaining anything???

On the other hand, I will pay more to get "perfect" match in the cases where it makes a quilt go from just OK to WOW. In this case, the few extra dollars do seem worth it.

I think you are in tough position as a buyer. Unless you have a magic ball that will tell you the exact needs of your customers, you cannot win.

"I" think there are so many blenders out there , that I could pick and choose from different lines . I would NOT pay more for a blender and truthfully very seldom pay full price for it , unless I am desperate .
Focus fabrics are a different story

Same here. Blenders can be found many places and by many manufacturers. I can pick and choose somewhat.

I went to the Kaufman site and looked at his designs..... not a fan , definatley would not pay a premium for them. They are not blenders the way I think of them , they have such a specific style ( not the same versatilty of many blenders, espeically the a few of the fusion collections) , I would not add them to my stash.

No.

Ok... then let me ask a question a little differently.

What would you say would be a nice everyday (retail) price to pay for a quilt-shop quality blender? A price that would make you think, okay, I *could* wait for a sale, but this is a pretty fair price. --?--

Maybe something that is $8 per yard or less. $6 -7 per yard is a great price for quilt shop quality fabrics!!!!

I won't pay over $6 a yard for any fabric. I can find quilt shop quality on clearance at one of the hundreds online fabric shops any time. I buy from LQS only when it's marked 50% off. One quilt shop owner told me she made more selling fabric at 50% off then she did at regular price. Then why sell it at regular price? I don't understand business.