butterflywing

i only ever see them at clearance prices online. again you have to buy a lot at a time to make it worthwhile.

mar32428

I never buy all the fabric for one quilt at the same time. I buy fabric that hits my eye and meets some quilt idea I have in the back of my mind. I am generally drawn to those colors that I like so have a good selection of mix and match in my stash.

I know what you mean about if you die. Our American Sewing Guild chapter is getting boxes of fabric all the time from widowers cleaning out their wives sewing rooms. Great for our charity work.

katier825

IF you get the major brands at a good discount, they are just as nice as the quilt shop quality. But some of the cheaper ones at Joann's I recently bought were terrible to work with. Some that I bought 1/2 off the reg. $3.99 price were stiff as a board even after washing. Some were so loose it was like sewing gauze. Some wrinkle so much I wonder if they will ever smooth out. Joann's does have some nice fabrics, but of course those are the more expensive ones. Personally, I'd rather spend $9/yd at the quilt shop than $8 (sale price) for Joann's good stuff. It's not that much difference and I like the quality that much better.

There are several places online that you can purchase the major brands for about $4-6/yd. I've even bought batiks for less than $4 - brand names and the quality is just as nice.

mommaB

1. I can rarely afford to get a whole line, even if I really like it (never have as a matter of fact!!). I might get a charm pack. Or 2 :lol: :lol:

2. I am so so slow at choosing what I want in a quilt, I like to have stash at home to mix and match, leave laying out for a day to look at every time I pass, adjust, look again...truely, choosing fabric is painful for me..the only good pain around :lol: :lol: Therefore, I have only once in my life bought all the fabric for a quilt in one fell swoop! And I can't say I'm totally happy with the outcome, but still working on it!!

3. I love a good bargain, so I stash build one great piece at a time, usually 2-3 yard, from on sale, clearance shelves--online or reality!!

4. I do use cheap stuff for some projects, especially ones I know will be abused (beach quilt--I'm not sending $9/yd fabric to lay in the sun, damp on the sand, then thrown in the trunk and forgotten!!..Mom, what are these black spots on my quilt???)). Obligatory baby quilts that I know won't be taken care of or cherished, some stuff for myself that I know will get hard use and will get ruined no matter what (sometimes even your rags need to be pretty!!)

5. Current quests for the stash include backings, panels, and blenders. Lights are in particular short supply at my place!!

6. Price is not the end all...but I may just buy a yard of something that I must have, and surround it with other yardage I already have.

I guess it all depends on whether I'm on a "I must sew, no matter what it is" kick( you know the mind numbing chain pieced anything so you can forget what's bugging you mind set!!), or an "I must create something nice here"

I love fabric and long story short..I have a combination of everything!!

bearisgray

I've decided different lines of fabric have different "feels."

Some seem to be "thicker" or "coarser" and the number of threads per inch seems to be less.

Others seem to be "thinner," and there seem to be more threads per inch.

I do try to keep the same kind of feel in the whole top. But that may just be a personal quirk of mine.

I have found fabric at WalMart that is decent - I saw some at a quilt shop for $9.00/yard (that was several years ago) that I wouldn't take home because it was flimsy - maybe a step up from gauze (well, I am exagerating a bit here) - I definitely remember it because it was in a color that I had been looking for all over the place.

So, for me, the price or the brand or store/shop is NOT the determining factor if a fabric is "good."

Nancy in Louisiana

I'm a bargain hunter, too. Our LQS's are 9.95/yd and up -- so I've stayed away. By offering lower prices, you entice more customers into your shop to take advantage of the "bargains" and perhaps complement the grouping with some of the regular priced fabric. I'll go back to a shop if I know they sometimes have bargains. If they run just straight line prices, I usually stay away. As for "new" lines -- today's new lines are tomorrow's old ones. My quilts may be new, but the fabric in them sure isn't.

I would think the challenge is to entice people into your shop first. You will naturally get more repeat customers if you offer a variety of prices. And what you don't get in profit from the older lines, I'm sure you will make up in notions, patterns, etc. that are purchased for use with the less expensive fabric. When a customer perceives a bargain, excitement sets in and the plastic card comes out. It's all about the thrill of the hunt.

butterflywing

joann's is an exception, IMHO. the fabric they sell online is made by name companies, but to their own specs. so it's not the same quality. i would never buy their fabrics online. once stung, etc. however some, SOME, of the fabric in their stores is okay. their higher priced kona is real kona as we all know it. on the other hand, their timeless treasure is no treasure. overall, their quality is going downhill in all their fabrics. i think manufacturers are supplying goods to joann's at a certain price point in exchange for the guarantee of big sales. but to meet the agreed-upon price, the fabric suffers.

the best place to get good quality designer fabric in a full line with no limit on yardage remains a good LQS that will order more for you. they will stand behind their product to keep their customer base.

if you don't care about full lines or limited yardage or waiting for back orders or hit-or-miss opportunities, than you can also look online. most of the legit sites also stand behind what they sell, but you have to pay for return shipping (there are some exceptions) and you can't simply change your mind. i have ordered online fabric on sale and then in the same week seen it on clearance on another site. win some, lose some. still a great buy. kaffe fassett.

so if you're a touchy-feely person, unfamiliar with a particular manufacturer's quality who needs hand-on service, an LQS ids definitely the way for you to go.

DeBee

Red Garnet try www.quiltshops.com I use them often to find fabric from a certain collections have even been able to find fabrics that a couple of years back. Also a good way to shop prices.

I buy both ways, just depends on who I'm sewing for.

mountain deb

A salesman told me years ago that when this big dept. store ordered fabric, they would order, ie: 500,000 ydss of one fabric but will only pay this amount. The manufacturer would then have to find ways to cut back on quality to meet that criteria, thus less acceptable goods to the public. We as consumers are showing our dislike of this practice by not buying it, but the less educated among us still will buy and learn.

The shop owner buys fabric wholesale and then adds a percentage for markup to cover her costs, ie; rent, bills, pay, and hopefully profit. We would like to see the sales, but would also like to see the store stay in business. Just think about the flip side of buying fabric every now and again.

Favorite Fabrics

Here's something I've been thinking about for a long while. Many of us have been watching as our local Wal-Marts have been closing their fabric departments. In my area, I've watched the price that they charge for their "regular" fabrics (Springs, VIP, Fabric Traditions) went from $3.96 / yard to $4.40 / yard over the last two years.

I have no idea what Wal-Mart pays for their fabrics, but let's suppose they do what's traditional in retail, which is to double their costs. So... perhaps they paid $2 / yard to get the fabric, and then marked it up to $3.96. They make about $2 / yard (less expenses). Apparently that wasn't working for them, because they started closing the fabric departments around this same period of time.

Now... suppose they were still able to get the fabric for $2 cost, and now in an effort to see if they could make the department profitable, raised the selling price to $4.40 / yard. Now they're making $2.40 / yard... yet and it still must not have been enough... if they were actually making money, they wouldn't be closing the fabric departments, would they?

It just makes me wonder. If Wal-Mart, with all the advantages of size and buying power, can't make a go of it on $2 - $2.40 / yard mark-up, what does that mean in terms of smaller shops, like a LQS?

Just something to mull over...