Quiltah Mama

If you want. I just recently purchased some Clothworks On lake time line fabric at a LQS. I swear it is thinner and less sturdy/quality then other fabric I have bought. The majority of us have a stash, and we tend to have fabric that could be 10 years old. I pulled out some and compared it to the recently purchased Clothworks fabric and it was definitely thinner, I could feel such a huge difference. It makes me so frustrated that the prices are only going up, but the quality of the fabric is not following suit.
In your experiences, does it tend to be certain designers, certain manufacturers, brands? This is the first time I have experienced this on quilt shop fabric. I know Walmart, Joanne's fabrics do vary, and I have to pay attention to the quality if I see a desirable print in one of these stores, but I have always felt quilt shop fabric to be better quality. Ugh....🤨

Onebyone

I have noticed my older fabric is much better quality then the new even from the same brand. The oldest cotton fabric I have is from the 50's maybe even the 40's and it very noticeable how much better it is. I have some I bought in the 90's and it is better than today's fabric. Now most is for pattern and bright colors not so much the quality.

Lena1952

I am not familiar with that brand of fabric. I do not see or feel a difference of the fabrics in the quilt shop where I work. I recently worked with some “good” quality fabrics from 20 years ago and it was awful. It almost had an “ick” factor to it. It was very thin and had a lot of sizing added to compensate. Since it was for a wall hanging and will not be washed often, it will be fine. But I’m not at all sure I would use it on something that would be washed semi often. The dyes used with today’s fabrics are much better than in years past.

bearisgray

I have bought very little fabric in the past 15-20 years, (compared to my binging years) - but I am not impressed with some of the yardage from "good" brands -

I did buy some unimpressive fabric way back when - from LQS - before I realized that just because it was in an LQS it was not necessarily wonderful. By the same token, if I found it at WalMart (years ago) it was not necessarily awful.

Most of us learn as we go. If we are lucky, our mistakes end up being minor inconveniences.

joe'smom

I have found massive differences in fabric across various reputable brands over the 12 or so years I have been quilting. Some are thinner/silkier, others are thicker and not very smooth. I assume the various manufacturers, maybe even designers, have their own specifications. There has to be a reason for the differences, and the decisions have to be made somewhere.

I agree with Lena1952, I have some of what I identify as older fabric (based on the style of the selvage), and that often seems extremely thin, so I don't necessarily think standards are dropping. An ice cream manufacturer will make the carton smaller so they don't have to raise the price, but I think they will be less likely to lower the quality of the product, because then people will buy a different brand.

loisf

I think some fabrics are just woven with finer threads and are inherently thinner, but not necessarily inferior. I hope so, anyway, because the fabric I just used on my daughter's quilt was finer and thinner. What is really making me angry these days is that fabric is narrower, selvage to selvage. Some of my recent purchases have only 40" of useable fabric. This causes a difference in the amount required for some patterns. Also, I seem to make a lot of quilts that are in the upper 70's in length. Previously with 42" fabric, I could use two widths for backing, but not with 40" fabric. Not enough margin for the longarm.