Pieces2

Quality fabric is so important when making quilts, I can believe anyone would purchase this poor quality fabric.
It would seem these stores would loose business by NOT selling this fabric. And either sell better quality or discontinue altogether. LQS fabric maybe higher priced, but can be purchased on sale.
We spend too much time making a quilt to buy poor quality fabric and have it fall apart when washed.
You can look at 2 quilts and tell immediately the quality of the fabric used.

jaciqltznok

yes you would think...HOWEVER, look who is sewing these days....most of the NEW comers to sewing are the tweens to early 30's and those groups never had a sewing class in their lives! They do not know crepe from cotton....they buy with their eyes, and by NAMES...like Amy Butler, etc. The makers of fabric know this! They specifically target those age groups. You know the NEW mom's making GOOD toys, clothes, etc for the precious babies. Quality of fabric is NOT part of the plan, just being hip and stylish is all they really care about. Same with the newer quilters. Just slap some fabric together, call it a "quilt" and move on to the nursing pillow! Without anyone teaching them to understand fabric quality, how to look for flaws, how to know if it was printed on grain, etc, the fabric makers are sitting back and laughing! They are now selling lower quality goods, often not even worthy of being called a 2nd, and WE keep buying it! The LQS owners are NOT to blame. Boycott or protest with the makers! THough their hands are tied with China now hoarding 90% of the world's cotton inventory!

hoppa

Thanks Julie for that link as just signed up on that mailing list

pastorpatti04

I was at a WM yesterday where they never lost their fabric section, they had fabrics marked down to $1.00-$2.50/yd. They were very nice quality, I bought 40 yards for $69.00.

bunbytes

[QUOTE=Divokittysmom;5054859 I am working on a quilt from Darcy Ashtons, 'Bunnies & More' book. I am a certified bunny lover!![/QUOTE]

I, too am working on the same quilt. It is for ME! My bunnies are hand appliqued and then buttonhole stitched. These bunnies are not going to run away! I have to agree about fabric at the major fabric stores. You have to be so careful. I must say I purchased some cottons at Hancock's recently and quite a few fabrics were wonderful quality. Maybe they have gotten the message.

caspharm

The cost of cotton is going up again. However, even before that, the chain stores tend to buy the 2nd run of fabrics, not the same as what is sold to the LQS.

I have noticed that JoAnns carries a lot of Chinese made fabrics in their "regular" fabrics vs what they call their premium quality fabrics, which come from India or Korea. There is quality difference in the dyeing process.

mjhaess

I was in Wall-Mart last week..I could not believe the price of some of their fabrics. $8.97 and $9.97 a yard. When I expressed my shock to the lady working in that department, she told me "Wait, you have not seen anything yet". She says each shipment that comes in is getting higher because of the cost of fuel for transportation. I am sure this accounts for a lot of the reason but, I am not convinced it is the whole reason. They have a lot of fabric under five dollars a yard but alot is now well over five dollars a yard....

Gail B

As I am from Alberta, Canada I find the prices of fabric in the US fantastic. We are only in Arizona for 5 1/2 months per year & I am in heaven shopping the fabric stores. I find the quality very good for the most part but I do shop LQS. Where I live good quality quilting fabric is $18 - $24/meter which is only about 3" longer than a yard. Love shopping down here.

antylu

Along with many of you I am finding poor quality cottons in many stores, that said however sometimes there are some really nice ones too. Even some LQS have some pieces not so good. My biggest problem is pattern or color matching; it seems everytime I need certain color schemes I get suckered into buying an inferior quality just to match color!! I should know better but I often cave.

I think the answer will be to shop sales where good quality cotton is to be had and just be on the lookout all the time. Do you think feedback to shops and have them pass on to mfgs will be of any help?

Happy Quilting!

gypsylady5

Thats one of the best ways to build your stash. It is so hard now to find good quality cottons at a fair price. Guess that is the price we have to pay for progress and shipping all our shops and factories overseas. No pride in making the product any longer. Just pieces of crap that won't work for us quilters.