I can offer a little insight to the question of less expensive fabrics like Debbie Mum's at Joann's. All manufactures will have overruns and unsold products that need to be cleared with marked regularity. Think of yearly car models, same happens in fabric. There are brokers who purchase these overruns, clearances at a discounted price and then sell likewise. From my experience as an owner of a small craft/fabric shop within a small town hardware/softlines store I could sell same quality fabric much more reasonably if I purchased bundles from brokers rather than per sample/bolt from the travelling fabric salesman.

Price is the last thing that you should use as criteria for fabric purchases. There are internet company's that will never carry the newest offerings but have the quilt manufactures overruns. These sites never have a complete line or the current/newest lines but you can make a quilt at a fraction of the price. Our Canadian prices are definitely higher than the American prices, from 50 to 100% more. Hence we cross border shop quite a bit liking to do so when the dollar is near par.

I just finished all of my 640 HSTs and put them in stacks of 20 for easy counting. Then came the surprise! Some stacks were higher then others. All were 100% cotton, and all were from quilt stores. I have never looked at the manufacturer; just buy what I like, and is the color what I am looking for. So, I learned not all cottons are the same. But, what I don't know is: which are the better fabrics? The sturdier (thicker) or the finer (thinner)? My batik stacks were the shortest. So, they are the thinnest. But, definitely not the cheapest! I once bought a lot of fabric that Katie Pasquini Masopust designed. I cannot remember the manufacturer, but it was terrible! It was shades from light to dark across the fabric. The saturation of color was only on the surface, not through to the backside. I was doing a raw edge applique, and it had a tendency to fray. The off white backing color showing up on the front. But, I learned! When doing raw edge, sick with something like batik.

But, while we are on the subject, why are Joanne's fabrics now around $10 a yard? I don't mean the ones in the quilting department that are loosely woven and stiff as a board (and don't pass the hand test), but things like Debbie Mum and all of the Christmas fabrics? Are some of them actually now the same quality as the quilt store? Or, is it beacuse we all have a 40% off coupon most of the time, or it is on a 50% off sale, and the THAT price is the real price.

Also, way back in 1997 I made a quilt with all House of Fabric's fabric (didn't even know what a quilt store was) and it is STILL winning ribbons when placed into shows and fairs! Go figure!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Margo, we surely do all definitely need to count our blessings! I live in England where prices are about halfway between what you pay in US and Jill pays in Australia. Although we will have to pay more for our fabric, the main shortage of cotton responsible for these price rises, is due to floods in places like Pakistan, Indonesia and Queensland Australia where crops have been wiped out. For most of us fabric is a hobby/obsession/luxury. For many of these growers this is their whole livelihood wiped out at a stroke! It kind of helps get things into perspective doesn't it?

Counting blessings here! And from the looks of things, cotton prices are going to be going up a LOT here in the US.

I have to laugh with the prices you are talking about in Australia we pay on average AUS $22.00 and can go to up to $27.00 with the general exchange rate its double the price over here, just thought you may find of interest.

I just make sure that its 100% cotton and buy what I love. Unfortunately it usually turns out to be the 8 to 10 dollar a yard.

I have a daughter (grown and married), that has an issue with the cost of making a quilt. So for her I will pick lesser fabric and piece together batting pieces. But it will be made with love and she knows it.
Diane/Wyoming

I was once told that textile companies have a first and second run of fabrics and I think that may pertain to dye lots and direction of prints as well as pattern repeats. We have to all remember that most cotton is now woven and produced off shore and that companies will use more than one source I think. I recall Hoffman having certain prints in a series manufactured in Brazil and coordinating fabrics elsewhere (this was over 20 years ago!)
As for favorites, I have always liked Alexander Henry fabrics especially because of their more exclusive prints. I also like the co that produces the Kaffe Fasset fabrics...forgot the name..is it Westminster Fabrics??
cheers from slightly warmer Nova Scotia
Jeanine

Liberty fabrics were originally intended to be used in garment making, especially light-weight blouses. They are perfect for that.

Besides Moda, I have always liked fabrics from 'In the Beginning'. For example, if you like William Morris, check out their Adelaide Collection. And then there are Oakshott fabrics (a UK company) and Westfalen Stoffe (German). Both are well worth trying, because they are a little different from your 'run of the mill' quilting cotton.

But overall I must admit I only notice the manufacturer of a fabric after I have bought it. I always go by what it looks like and what it feels like.

Harriet Hargrave has a book out called "From Fiber to Fabric" that seems to cover everything, from the cotton fiber to the dyes. I love it, I even paid full price for it. You may find out more than you want to know!

Lady Rags, I love your "CAN YOU SEE YOUR HAND TEST WHEN YOU HOLD IT UP IN LIGHT"

I'm finding that I like the thinner weight batik fabrics.

Good point, Anna! Yes, the P&B fabrics are not as hefty as a lot of fabrics, but I love the soft feel and drape of them. They aren't as thin as the Liberty of London fabrics though. I wouldn't use those in a quilt. I am pleased with the way the Beloved Beauties worked up, but it may be a personal preference.
Some fabrics are thin but seem to be more loosely woven and coarse. I found the Beloved Beauties line to be very fine threads, closely woven. It's a choice.

Margo wrote:

Gee Margo,

A P&B fabric was what sent me on the quest to get some answers and advise. One of the fabrics i recently bought was P&B and it was thinner than the other fabrics. I needed the color, badly, so I went ahead and bought it anyways. It was from a reputable quilt shop, I went back recently and looked at the other P&Bs and they were sturdier. I was thinking maybe one of the bolts of first strikes got into her order because I could really feel a difference when I compared the fabrics. It also flunked my CAN YOU SEE YOUR HAND TEST WHEN YOU HOLD IT UP IN LIGHT. When I washed the fabrics the difference became more obvious. When I was starching and ironing the fabric I noticed the difference. I have not purchased enough P&B to see if it holds true with the entire line. I am thinking I might need to iron light weight pellon to the fabric to give it some heft to match the other fabrics in the quilt. I am thinking this fabric was a fluke so I am going to with-hold judgment. It is just with the economy I think it is important to buy quality fabrics.... It is false economy to buy cheap; THAT SAID just because something is expensive does not mean it is good. I think this is a buyer beware situation.

Up shot, I am going to put light weight pellon behind this fabric to bring it up to the heft of the other fabrics. I have used this trick before...... Way back in the 1970s when I made a quilt for my niece. I put pellon like material behind some cheap fabric my niece had wanted in her quilt and made the quilt anyways. WHEN you look at the quilt almost 40 years latter, those blocks are holding up much better than other fabrics in the quilt. ( I think their are dye issues.)






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I am wondering if it would be appropriate to post a great sale that I may find online - I mean after I've bought everything I want (LOL). Some shops just clear things out periodically, and, unfortunately, some do go out of business. I'm liking batiks at $7.15 lately. Is this kosher?

At the absolute beginning of my quilting career (i.e. had never done one before), the fabulous owner of a now-defunct and much missed LQS in Milwaukee spent time showing me examples of fabrics from different manufacturers. Gee, I had thought cotton was cotton, but nooooo. She told me that after awhile I would probably be able to tell the manufacturer just from feeling the cloth, as they were really very different. The only manufacturer I can reliably pick out just by feel is Moda. The "hand" of their quilting fabric is unique.
I know that when I go into a quilt shop that I trust, all the fabrics will have been selected with care. I may have my favorites but that's more likely to be because the colors and styles of the fabric suit my kind of quilting. Some fabric companies have distinct personalities (e.g. Alexander Henry). Others offer a broad range of fabric in many different styles to appeal to the diversity of today's quilters. I do not buy just because of the mfr's name. There are many fine companies out there who understand what quilters want and need from their fabrics and are eager to supply that.
There may be a place for truly inexpensive fabrics but a quilt that you put hours into making isn't one of them