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Ask any quilter what they spend most of their money on and chance are the answer is fabric.  Fabric prices have been steadily going up over the last few months.  While quilters in the US tend to pay much less per yard for fabric than those across the ocean, prices can still sometimes affect how much we as quilters are willing to spend. 

Quilt shops are stuck in the middle in this situation trying to balance the cost of the wholesale product while at the same time not outpricing their customers.  It all has to do with the shortage of raw cotton available on the market. Cotton, like tobacco, oil, or butter is traded as a commodity on the stockmarket.  The mass floodings in Pakistan earlier this year distroyed most of the cotton that would have been harvested.  Due to this India decided to focus on keeping production of cotton for its own population, while China has been buying and paying for cotton at any price.  All of these factors means that there is less cotton to go around;  hence the higher prices.  To learn more about this click here.

We at TQS want to know how is this going to affect you as a quilter?  We want you to share your ideas on what higher prices for fabric will mean for you.  Will you begin diving deeper into your stash?  Will you re-use fabrics just as the quilter's of long ago did?  Tell us your ideas.