notmorecraft

ManiacQuilter 2 if you bear in mind most cottons are produced in the far east, the shipping cost wont vary much from country to country, certainly not in the amounts that manufacturers ship around the world, the same container ship calling in several countries. In the UK its the duty and the sales tax that causes the higher price. Our sales tax is 20% and duty is a killer too.. if we order from shops in US, any parcel with a value higher than £20 (approx $32) is then subject to tax and duty on arrival in the uk.

Amythyst02

I do most of my fabric shopping online, and here on the boards. I watch for sales!!

BettyGee

I buy almost all of my fabric from online sellers. Over the years I've amassed a very large stash and suffer from SABLE big time, but as the old saying goes "... they might stop making it so you better buy it now." I've noticed that many of the fabrics that I am drawn toward are hovering around the $11 a yard and for me that is too much. Connecting Threads has some of the greatest deals available, Missouri Star Quilt is my go to for pre-cuts and when Craftsy has a flash sale with fabric at $5.75 a yard I gobble it up. In order to continue my DH's desire to have his dinner I've established a quilt budget for each month and right now I'm working on September of 2016's budget. See how well that works?

lclang

While I hate to see the LQS close, I still have to look after my budget first. We have only two places in town to buy fabric, Walmart and a LQS. We used to have four pretty good sources for all things sewing/quilting. It's 50 miles one way to another town with one LQS and no other options and 100 miles the other direction with several options. Unless you are going to buy a big pile of fabric or have other needs to justify it the gas alone makes it hard to just go for enough to finish a quilt or start one. Therefore I shop on line, at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. You do what you need to do to keep your family afloat.

gabeway

Surprising what you can find at thrift stores and estate sales.

coopah

I bought some kits and also fabric that I just liked before I retired. That's what I'm using now. When I use it all up, then I will think about buying and prices. My thinking is that quilting is "hot" industry right now. Like ceramics, beading, card-making, knitting were in the past..all these follow trends. Then when the bubble bursts, prices level out and become more "real." If I need fabric, I'm very selective and buy on sale. No more buying because I like it.

justflyingin

So do you think it has gone up in popularity since the mid-late 80's, or down? I'd say way up. There are a lot of bloggers who recently started blogging and they are young. I think general sewing has fallen into a specialty only category--like costumes, crafts, home decor while very few are sewing clothing.

I hesitate to put quilting in the same category as card making/scrapbooking as there is no way to make an "electronic quilt" whereas there is a way to send cards via email or on line and you can do all the scrapbooking on line and then print out the final copy. However, workign with fiber is just that--working with fibers.

But I could be completely off--after all, we came to Poland in 1994...so I've not been around a lot to see who is or who isn't quilting. But by the numbers of young bloggers, it is hard to believe it is a dying industry or one that is going downhill. I think that there is quite a ways to go (UP) with quilting in the USA. Even more here in Poland.

DebraK

so not dying! as long as there is cloth on Earth, there will be quilting ;-) young people around me go crazy when they see what I do. they want something, so i teach them. I'm confident my son will teach his kids about quilting one day.

Lucy90

In my area we have had 3 LQS close due to sales going down. People are on limited incomes & prices of everything is going up. Also internet sales have hurt LQS. There are so many deals on line.

trolleystation

I think that our skill and imaginations are what makes our quilts special....not the very latest in fabrics. Buy the best fabric you can afford and put love into your quilts.