teddysmom

I've bought several quilt kits and find that I need to be extremely careful in cutting since most kits don't have a lot of extra fabric. Have been pleased with the quality of the material. The only one that was a "boo-boo" is one that a bought in batiks. Later learned that batiks should always be machine pieced and quilted. The quilt top is in a bag at the back of the closet waiting to be quilted or something. I learned a valuable lesson but since I'm a newbie I didn't realized that batiks are very hard to hand piece and hand quilt.

jcrow

I always buy quilt kits. I buy them from Keepsake, Clothtide, Fons and Porter, many online quilt stores and also real stores. I love quilt kits. I have a hard time picking out all the fabric for a pattern. I can't decide which will be what part on the quilt. I love the kits. I even do 6 block of the month clubs online. I always am very happy with my purchases. My local store has quilt kits that they make up and that's all I buy. Usually they have the quilt on the wall and then the kit for it right below it. I always love the quilts they have hanging so buying kits is wonderful. But I have a huge stash of fabric and also many patterns, but I do the kits. The fabric just sits there.

redeagle

I have bo't kits from Keepsake Quilting and never been disappointed. Fabrics are quality quilting fabrics. I have also bo't kits from other places merely because I really liked them. And I buy patterns and yarding locally also. Luckily, have never had a problem. Once I had a shortage of fabric for binding, notified the shop, and they immediately sent me the missing piece.

Alondra

This is just my experience, but I'll share it with you, since I've been burned. Unless the kit specifies the maker of the fabric, and you're familiar with that line and like it, don't bite. Once I ordered a really cute kit and found, in spite of frugal cutting, I was shorted in a couple of the fabrics. I called the company, and they immediately sent out a replacement fabric - more than the pattern had called for. The fabric was not the best quality, but the quilt was so cute and comfy-looking, so that wasn't the issue... it was the shorting of fabric. I'd say you'd be pretty safe to stick to the designers (i.e., Jenny Beyer, Hoffman, Moda, etc) and don't order off-brands or unknown fabrics.

Sometimes they offer a kit OR just the pattern. If you order just the pattern, you can select your own fabric. After all, you're after the pattern, mainly. If it's the fabric you're after, stick with known lines, as that offers some safety.

MacThayer

Keepsake Quilting is a high quality store. I've bought a few kits from them, and always found the fabric to be ample and high quality. They say you don't have to pre-wash it, but I do anyway, in the sink, in warm water and vinegar, and then rinse and let air dry to moist, and then iron. The first time I did it, it was worried it would shrink to the point I wouldn't have enough fabric to finish the quilt, but that turned out to be a baseless concern. You can't go wrong with their quilt kits, especially the ones in clearance, and they have super customer service if you have a problem.

If your concern is about dollars, and who isn't concerned about dollars, I would choose a pattern I liked and knew I could do. Then I would go to the clearance section of fabrics for Connecting Threads. They also have terrific fabrics you can trust to be high quality. In my opinion, it's the best place on the web to get reasonably, and even cheap, fabric that is always high quality. I think they're leftovers from their own kits. Anyway, pick your fabrics from there. If you hit $50, shipping if free. And I'll bet you can make a quilt for $50 of their fabrics, or very close to it. So for the cost of a pattern, or find a free pattern, or use one you have, plus the fabric from Connecting Threads, you'll have a quilt of your choosing! Mind you, in the clearance section of Keepsake Quilting, there are kits that hover around $50. So take your pick. You can't go wrong either way.

maxnme01

Although I have an insane fabric stash I will buy kits from many websites simply because I like the fabrics. I also hate and rarely purchase just a pattern for $9.00. Goes against my grain when there are so many free patterns out there especially on the fabric manufactures websites.

I have purchased from Keepsake Quilting (one of the costliest), Connecting Threads (Truly smart buys), and a website www.fabriccafe.com which has 3 yd. quilt kits for $24.99 and less (register for newsletters so you receive notices of their sales). Hancocks-Paducah has great kits with plenty of fabric. I've purchased some kits that if you cut one piece wrong you don't have enough fabric for the pattern-sigh!

For those with limited budgets I highly recommend Connecting Threads and Fabric Cafe. All of these have good quality fabric.

Good luck and happy stitching, Carol-Victorville, Ca.

MadQuilter

I like to pick my own color/fabric combinations so kits would not work for me. If you don't mind that the fabric isn't prewashed then I think going with a kit can be a great time saver.

Martina

lovelyl

I purchased the Posey Patch table runner kit from Connecting Threads and was very pleased with the directions and the quality of the fabrics. Plus, I had quite a bit of leftover scrap material that I can use in another project. I waited until the kit was in their clearance section, so I got it for I think 30% off. I think it was well worth the money.

KathyPhillips

Keepsake has the best prices, since their fabric is usually several dollars a yard less than at LQS. They pass that saving on in the kits. I agree with Carolyn about not having to get dressed and drive...when you could be sewing!

Kathy

KarenR

There is a site on line where you can pick your pattern and then your materials.