Cybrarian

Based on the prices our Sister & Brother Quilters are paying in countries other than the U.S., we very fortunate Americans need to "zip the lip" and not complain for a second what we pay for fabric, precuts, notions, tools, machines or the gas or shipping it takes to get it home! For all of you who have tolerated our complaints, thank you- you are very gracious. I realize many of us live on very tight budgets whatever our home country, I appreciate the many creative ideas to repurpose and reuse I've read in many different threads in order to keep everyone who has the desire to keep quilting!

Daleen

In central Ohio the prices for fat quarters are running $2.75 and up. Yardage in quilt shops runs about $10 to $12. I watch for marked down fabrics.

cathyre

At our big "quilt show" last year for the good quality fabrics you paid between $5/7 for a fat quarter , fabric by the metre was $16 to 20 per metre ,there was cheaper fabric's but I don't put all that work in to something for it to fall apart after a couple of washers .

Vicki1212

In South Africa, I buy fabrics from either a LQS, which is far more expensive at an average of R150.00 ($11.00) per meter or from a franchise fabric retailer called Waste Center. They sell quilting quality cottons at R79.99 ($6.50) per meter. Waste Center doesn't have the same variety as the LQS so I buy most of my fabrics from them and then 'top up' with fabrics from the LQS.

sophiebernina

I live in the UK and recently I have been ordering fabric and notions from Craftsy. Craftsy add the UK tax onto the bill at checkout so there are no customs surprises (I am happy to pay customs I just don't like having to guess what it will cost and paying the expensive 'handling' fees on top). I find that I save approximately 1/3rd on the price of my order (including postage and tax) compared to what I would pay if I bought the same fabric and notions in the UK.

Bree123

Ok, then ... working with that system, I would typically pay US$12-14.50/meter for fabric here including tax and adjusting by nearly 10% to account for the extra 3" of fabric in a meter vs. a yard.

As for our math skills ... that just really depends on the person, but it's no different than calculating a tip for a waiter at the restaurant. It's part of the reason STEM is pushed so heavily in the new national standards for education. I remember one time I went to a Dollar Store (small mom & pop store where everything is priced in $1 increments) and the computer for the register was down. The salesclerk initially refused to sell me the item because he didn't know how to calculate 6.75% sales tax long-hand. I was finally able to convince him to use his cell phone to calculate the total so I could make my purchase and return to work.

The tricky part for me is shopping at Super Wal-Mart because most food is taxed at a much lower rate than other items. They have two lines on the receipt for tax -- one for the rate for food items & a second for the rate for non-food items. Throws me off every time. Besides that, the sales tax within Chicago proper is different than the rate in the surrounding suburbs and if you drive another 20 minutes north or west, the next county over has an even lower rate on non-food items. The reason is because Chicago & Cook County offer a lot of free services that the surrounding towns/counties do not (e.g., free health clinics & nearly free public hospital). There are almost no other cities in the US that are willing to offer free public healthcare in exchange for higher taxes, so it gets paid for via the local portion of the sales tax (State base rate is 6.25%, but counties/cities can add on up to another 3.5% to fund their programs).

But I have to have my beautiful fabrics so usually I just estimate 10% on top of the price on the bolt & if it's a bit less at a particular store, I'm pleasantly surprised.

DOTTYMO

i agree with Caroline the above prices are extreme with fat quarters going from $4 to $6.

I use a shop near me called Abakhan. They sell fabric in rough lengths. They will cut to a size as long as they have 40" left to sell. Some of the fabric is cheap but you can get a good quality one mixed in. They also sell other notions for quilting. Buy by weight although they do cut lengths from bolts which are slightly dearer but still not as expensive as a quilt shop.

squires1042

Ours are $3.50 try to keep fabric prices Down but shipping is the biggest obstacle. We get charged a much higher rate even though we are still part of the US, the companies that will only ship UPS of FedEx don't get mg business.

costumegirl

Average is $4.25-$4.50 for a fat quarter at the LQS here in Ontario, Canada and then add on to that the provincial tax of 13%. Fabric sells by the meter and ranges from $16 - $25 per meter plus tax.

CarolinePaj

Hi Bree,

I agree about the notions.... we pay top dollar for everything in the UK.... Wadding is approximately £12.50 per metre....(about $20.00) so we get so jealous over here when we here that with coupons and discounts you can pick a whole roll up for $70.00 .

As for other notions.... It would be great to pick up items with a discount of 50%!

Maybe I need to come visit you all!!!!!

Hugs

Caroline