Railroadersbrat

Hobby Lobby is a good store to find some incredible fabric. Keep an eye out for their 40% coupons, whenever they're available is usually when I go to get a good stock on background fabric. Coupon is only good for the first cut, so you won't get 40% off your entire stash of fabric, so what I do is go in with the coupon, get the background fabric, get the 40% off and then I go back in to get the rest of my fabric. I'll be getting my sister's background fabric through HL, 40% off an entire bolt of Muslin, I might get out of there spending less than $20 for 20 yards of fabric. Coupon is good for online purchases, too, just have to watch when it's available.

IceLeopard

It seems to me that Joann's is a fabric store with some craft stuff, and Hobby Lobby is a craft store that has some fabric.

sewingpup

I really don't go to either one although I have both just about 2 miles from me...and they are about 2 blocks apart. Hobby Lobby seems to sell a lot of artificial everything used for decorating...I prefer my live houseplants and odds and ends stuff I have inherited or collected over the years and I just don't like having to closely examine fabric to determine which might be of fairly decent quality and what isn't....the same thing for JA's but there is a least more fabric and sewing stuff there. My preference for fabric buying is the local quilt shops as I find in general, the quality of the fabric is usually pretty good. I read somewhere that when a designer first releases the designs...they are printed out on good quality cotton and only available in quilt shops...or online...then, there is another run of design...this time on a cheaper poorer quality cotton...and this is the fabric that gets sent to the large box shops like Hobby Lobby and JA. Years ago, I purchased some fabric at the local quilt shop...needed some more of it and saw it at one of the chain stores, purchased it at a much cheaper price, and when I got home I was amazed at the differences in quality. The fabric at the chain store had a different feel, the weave was loser, the design was the same, but the colors were less vibrant. Now, in my experience, you can sometimes get good quality as sometimes if the original run did not sell as well as thought, they will send the remainder to the chain stores. As I now have accumulated a fairly large stash, I do pick up fabric at the local quilt shops when it is on sale and this is especially true for any thing I think might make a good backing and there is enough of the sale fabric for a good queen sized quilt....I don't need my backings to always "match" my top...I just need them to look like they belong in the color scheme....

Sharon5012

There is a dramatic difference in the cleanliness and staffing and friendliness between the HL and JA in my area. I suppose it varies in different areas. I am grateful to JA for being available in my area, and for staying available during this time. But I have to be pretty desperate to tolerate our local store experience. Unpleasant.

SusieQOH

The Joann's right near me used to be horrible- very dirty and messy.
They totally remodeled it last year and it's now much nicer, but to be honest it's so large that I get overwhelmed in there.
During the holiday seasons the aroma of cinnamon and other scents gags me!!
The clerks are very nice though, although they don't seem to know much about sewing. I only go there once in awhile.
I think maybe it's just me but I don't like huge stores. I have a tendency to have panic attacks and big stores will do it every time!

quiltingcandy

I do not give Hobby Lobby my money - no need to go into details so I prefer Joann's. We are losing the LQS here and I do hope they come back. There are different levels of Joann's though - one is the superstore which is bigger and more open. Then the middle of the road and one is like a remnants store - it appears to be where all the old unsold fabric ends up if it didn't sell.

I do not believe there are separate levels of fabrics - I have read a review by a couple designers that said it was not true because it would damage their reputations. They are proud of their products and want the quality to be good whenever and wherever you buy it. It may not be this years's designs but the quality should be the same. Not to say some places may find a knock off and the brand closely resembles a top name - this happens in the the clothing industry all the time.

Peckish

I think this is true of a lot of stores, regardless of brand or location. Someone upthread had said they disliked the one Craft Warehouse they had gone to. There are two CW stores in my town - one is older, smaller, darker, and incredibly cluttered. When they bring in new stock, it is almost always stacked in the store itself and not in a storage area in the back, because they don't have that kind of space. They do their best to make the boxes part of the display, but visually it is very ugly. The employees always seem harried and overworked. In short, it's not a pleasant place to shop. The other CW store is bigger, brighter, newer. The aisles are wider, the staff seem much more relaxed and friendly. It kind of makes you wonder how much effect all that clutter has on the employees at the first store! I can say the same thing about the 2 Joann's stores in my town - one is newer, brighter, cleaner, the other one is older, smaller, more crowded.

Mariposa

I do prefer HL to JA. It's a much cleaner store, and the employees are more friendly and knowledgeable. I also find that the quality of goods I can find at HL is better. I find JA to be more expensive too. But to each their own~

trustme2

I much prefer Joann's over Hobby Lobby. About 3 years ago I spent 45 min in HL. Not one store employee spoke to me much less offered help to find what I was looking for. Not even the cashiers as I walked by to park me cart. I don't return to stores with snobby employees. The gals at Joann's will walk to the furthest corner of the store to show me the stock they have.
trustme2

mimspencer

when I get back to Olympia (we are in Maine for the summer), I will have to go to HL -- There is one in the next town. FAF is only a mile from where we live so I have been going there. The 2 quilt fabric shops have closed where I always bought my fabrics and I miss them.