Buying fabric online???
03-12-2012, 02:05 PM
#42
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Jozefow, Poland
Posts: 4,474
but for all general shopping I support my LQS. Once they are driven out of business, where will you go to check colors and the hand of fabrics??? Besides, don't you think it's a little rude to use the services of your local shop owners in order to go order elsewhere? Let's keep jobs in our towns and let's keep local shops open for our own shopping fun! (full disclosure: I teach at a LQS, but they sell machines almost exclusively, very little fabric.)
But the quilt shops need to adjust with the climate of the net just like computer shops, bookstores, etc. Either change or be forced to shut.
03-12-2012, 05:37 PM
#44
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 6
Being in Australia I buy ALL my fabrics online... Unless our local craft store has a super sale on... Then I have been known to...
We pay $20-$25 per meter for quality brands like Moda... And I simply cant afford to domthat... So I wait til Hancocks have a free international shipping event on and buy from them.... Same with battings... A queen sized hobbs 80/20 costs $56 AUD here... I make a lot of charity quilts and as generous as I am, I have to source the cheapest suppliers... I recently brought Singer titanium needles from the USA... Even with the shipping they wroked out at $1 each... Here I would pay over $20 for a pack of five..!!!
As for colour matches I KNOW the moda pallettes so stick with them... And if something wasnt what I expected in other brands I simply put it aside and use it for soemthing different later on...
The only place I would never again buy fabric from is ebay.... I brought two lots... One was the most appalling quality, I donated it to my daughters infant school for craft lessons... The other was from a smoke/pet fee home and STANK !!!
It was more expensive returning them to the USA with shipping than keeping them ....
I havent seen FQS do a free international shipping offer for an awful long time... Because I used to love their fabrics too...
high shipping costs is the price I pay for living in paradise! LOL
We pay $20-$25 per meter for quality brands like Moda... And I simply cant afford to domthat... So I wait til Hancocks have a free international shipping event on and buy from them.... Same with battings... A queen sized hobbs 80/20 costs $56 AUD here... I make a lot of charity quilts and as generous as I am, I have to source the cheapest suppliers... I recently brought Singer titanium needles from the USA... Even with the shipping they wroked out at $1 each... Here I would pay over $20 for a pack of five..!!!
As for colour matches I KNOW the moda pallettes so stick with them... And if something wasnt what I expected in other brands I simply put it aside and use it for soemthing different later on...
The only place I would never again buy fabric from is ebay.... I brought two lots... One was the most appalling quality, I donated it to my daughters infant school for craft lessons... The other was from a smoke/pet fee home and STANK !!!
It was more expensive returning them to the USA with shipping than keeping them ....
I havent seen FQS do a free international shipping offer for an awful long time... Because I used to love their fabrics too...
high shipping costs is the price I pay for living in paradise! LOL
03-12-2012, 06:26 PM
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Wilmington, Oh
Posts: 509
no matter what, the color is never true-, but that doesnt stop me from buying amazing fabrics at www.5bucksayard.com, or www.fabrics.com. I look at it like a surprise, its a surprise til I get it, then the task as hand is to figure out what to do with it! happy hunting!
katz
katz
03-12-2012, 06:28 PM
#46
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Winston-Salem NC
Posts: 659
I have never had a problem buying online and getting a "surprise" color. That said, I don't usually shop trying to exactly match colors - more of an impulse buyer, who then makes stuff from her stash. Years ago I bought a Moda marbles sample board - all of the colors laid out rainbow fashion. I suppose I could match the color of my sample to the color of the Moda marbles onscreen (nearly every online seller I've seen sells Moda marbles) to see how close they are and then extrapolate to the other onscreen fabrics. Never done it yet, but I suppose this could work to compensate for my computer monitor's color quirks. 'Course...there's the investment in the sample board to consider...
03-12-2012, 06:43 PM
#47
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Independence, MO
Posts: 3,560
I've noticed that many of you purchase fabrics online from several sites. I've looked at some of them but find it a bit intimidating. My question is, how do you know exactly what the color will be since color can vary from monitor to monitor, and how do you know what it will feel like? Do you "pre-shop" at a store but purchase online? Any advise/answers would be welcome. Thanks!
03-12-2012, 10:59 PM
#48
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 148
Online is a great place to get more of fabric you LQS has run out of. Also if you're getting fabric for a project, many fabric companies make "collections" They are all made to go together so you're pretty safe. Enlarge the photo and it will give you a pretty good idea. If it doesn't work you just add it to your stash!! I've had good luck finding fabric online
03-13-2012, 12:09 AM
#50
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Bountiful, Utah
Posts: 59
I have really got hooked on fabric series and the two online shops I find the easiest to navigate is Connecting Threads and Fat Quarter shop. I have been very satisfied with quality of fabric from both. Fat Quarter Shop is a bit more pricey but they have a large selection from many manufacters and designers.
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