# The Rising Price of Quilt Fabric



## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

The Joann flyer came today. The price range of calicoes tops out at 9.99. Batiks at 13.99. I haven't shopped at the quilt shops lately, but their prices were 10 and up some time ago.

We'll have to make the most of our stash and take advantage of coupon discounts for sure.


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## MacaReenie (Mar 1, 2008)

Amen to that, Garnet!! I swear..makes me appreciate sewing from old clothes, etc even more!!!


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

My net worth just went up significantly - I have lots and lots of fabric!


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

Quilt shop fabric around here is $9-12 and up - I was just at a shop a couple days ago and most was $9.20 per yard. When we sent to Shipshewana at the end of June, most fabric in Lolly's was running $9.80 and up. I paid $12.99 for some beautiful batik at Joanne a few months ago, but it was at the high end. Joanne has indeed gone up, but I also note that they carry many better quality fabrics then they used to (not all).


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## Waiting Falcon (Nov 25, 2010)

Shop at denverfabric.com or fabric.com Shipping is low on denver and free from Fabric if you order $35 or more


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Can you ladies use material from old clothes and scraps like the ladies of yesteryear did? Quilts were always made from scraps.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Fabrics have been high at Joann's for quite some time. I haven't shopped there in ages.

I'm fortunate to have a lot of fabric on hand, more than I could ever possibly use, but I still can't help buying some when I come across a good price. That's why I try to stay away from my little local shop. Their prices are between $3 and $5, mostly.


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## claytonpiano (Feb 3, 2005)

Visited a "discount fabric" shop in Black Mountain, NC yesterday. Their prices had been $7.95 a yard for years. Yesterday, they were 9.99 for most fabrics. They had some on sale for 6.95. I left without anything. So sad!!!


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

For the JoAnn's I signed up on their web for the discount coupons. about 40% was the last one. Print it from your email, has your name on it, and that would cut the cost decently.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

The price of raw cotton has absolutely skyrocketed. 
Consequently, the price of cotton fabric has too.


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

mekasmom said:


> Can you ladies use material from old clothes and scraps like the ladies of yesteryear did? Quilts were always made from scraps.


I haven't found it that practical to try to make quilts out of old clothes, because a lot of the fabrics used in clothing today are blends of cotton with some type of other fabric and tend to be really stretchy. Most people that I know of make quilts with 100% cotton, because it holds its shape so that your pattern pieces are not distorted. I tried getting some bulk clothes at a thrift store to see if I could get enough to do something with, and the amount of useable material wasn't worth what I paid for it. If you are making a quilt that you plan to sell, you pretty much have to use new fabric. I think it used to be more practical because women made all of the clothes for the family and there was more leftover material. If I'm not mistaken, I remember reading in a quilting history book that most quilts were made from these sewing scraps rather than old clothes, because they wore the clothes until they were threadbare.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

If you do shop Joann, by all means get their flyer for the coupons. Watch for special sales and occasional coupon for % off of total purchase. Anything already on sale is excluded from the regular 40% coupon- and maybe 50% - so you have to watch and scheme to be able to use a mailer coupon on what you want.


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## luv2farm (Feb 15, 2008)

Lythrum said:


> I haven't found it that practical to try to make quilts out of old clothes, because a lot of the fabrics used in clothing today are blends of cotton with some type of other fabric and tend to be really stretchy........... ............. If you are making a quilt that you plan to sell, you pretty much have to use new fabric. I think it used to be more practical because women made all of the clothes for the family and there was more leftover material.............


I can see both sides of this....:shrug:

As for making and selling quilts.....I can see that most fabric would need to be new. 

But, for the general "homesteader" just wanting to make a few quilts a year for personal use, or to give as gifts......I think one could find LOTS of usable fabric. I haven't spend over $25 on new fabric in YEARS..... Only a piece or 2 for something really special!! I repurpose clothe from clothes, sheets, anything. Our local "community service agency" that gives clothing to the needy, often has soooo much excess that they sale clothes for $1 a (trash) bag!! :nanner: I get LOTS of cloth that way. Even if I dont have a specific use for it, I take it home, wash it, cut it into usable peices, SAVE the buttons and zippers, and then I have clothe when needed. This has saved me HUNDREDS of dollars. But, I only sew for my family and for personal use. Some of you ladies are very gifted, and sew for profit. So, I see your point!


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Lythrum, I'm with you. Gosh, I haven't seen a 100% cotton any thing in years that you could make a quilt from. Everything from sheets to underware is either a blend or synthetic, or has such a low thread count that it's too thin for quilts you want to actually use as quilts. 

I'm by no means a quilt fabric snob, but with all the work that goes into a quilt, I'd prefer to make it with cotton fabric. I just haven't found any blend that works well, doesn't distort, and holds up after all that work.

Several years ago, I did find a good quality 50/50 cotton-poly at Walmart, of all places (they only had it in solids but it was only $2.99 yd.), but it had a nice tight thread count, didn't distort, and worked up well; however, they could no longer get it to sell at a competitive price and stopped carrying it. It was great for solid color fill-ins and sashing. I still just about want to cry every time I think about it since it just disappeared and I had not stocked up.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

I have been very happy with Connecting Threads. Prints are $5.96 a yd.; solids $4.96 and Batiks $6.96 a yd. They're thread is awesome too!
http://www.connectingthreads.com/Quilting.cfm


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Second that on connecting threads. I love it. Been buying all my fabric there. Black batik for sashing on son's quilt. Solid tangerine for the back of a nap quilt. Prices and service can't be beat. Ditto on the thread,too. Love the cones.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

There are quite a few 100% cotton garments that can be picked up at thrift shops. I look at the larger sizes when looking for fabric. A shirt is $2.50 whether its a small or xxx large. If the shirt is in good enough condition that you can read the fabric content on the label then the fabric is probably good. You just have to be willing to do scrappy quilts if you're re-using fabric.

I stocked up on quilting fabric when Hancocks closed and Walmart remodeled. Now the only fabric stores are a couple of very expensive quilt shops, Walmart whose fabric isn't as low priced as its quality and Hobby Lobby. I use HL's 40% off coupon when the fabric isn't on sale. Its usually on sale 1/3 off.

It was in the news a year ago about a shortage of cotton and prices going to double. I'm wondering if things have improved in this crazy weather year.


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## CarrieAnne (Sep 4, 2009)

I love Connecting Threads too!


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## travisball7 (Sep 1, 2011)

It is very expensive, but there is nothing more comfortable and warm on your mattress then a hand made quilt.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

I am a salvager for my different projects. I like to find fabrics at the thrift stores or you can buy the panels that are the percentage cotton you need from items already made and salvage it for quilt squares. Recently I had bought several pure linen table clothes for the fabric alone for .50 to 1.50 for banquet sizes. I have seen some of the walmart sewing centers close out their fabrics selling them from as little as .35 a salvage piece to .50 a yard on up. I found a beautiful 100% cotton fabric for 1.50 a yard and bought what they had left.


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