Yards and Yards and Yards

This may be one of the most boring yet exciting blog post I will ever write. One picture and just a bunch of information!!! (Also if there are a ton of typos for give me its 2am my brain has left the building) There are a few questions I get asked all the time and one is

“where do you buy your fabric?”

I wish there was a quick and easy answer to that. I Buy Fabric Everywhere. I buy local, I buy online, I buy from big stores, and little stores. I buy cheap fabric, and I buy quality fabric. I buy modern, I buy floral, I buy holiday, I buy large patterns, I buy small patterns and vintage fabric. AND I hardly ever buy less than a yard. (That sounds like a DR. Seuss book)

Before we get into the where let’s talk about fabric quality real quick, there IS a difference. When I first started sewing I didn’t know this, I didn’t understand that different projects require different or higher quality fabrics. Keep that in mind when shopping for you fabric. Capes for your kids, lower quality of fabric will work ($2-$5 a yard)…Quilts you’ll want a higher quality that wont warp when working with it ($7-$13 a yard). It takes a little time and knowledge to feel or see that difference beyond looking at the price, if in doubt ask a sales person about thread and fabric content.

I’m not saying you can’t make a quilt out of less expensive fabric, after all sometimes our pocket books call for a little more budgeting for our quilts. If this is the case for you I recommend washing your fabrics, this will make the fabric shrink in the wash and not under your iron while pressing seams…yes this has happened to me lol. When I first started quilting I remember sewing two triangles together using cheaper fabric, go to press the seams open with my nice HOT iron and my then square turned into some kind of weird diamond square…oops…and yes again I kept doing it until I learned/had the money to buy better fabric.

If you are looking to save money on your quilts while using higher quality fabrics try using a flat sheet as backing or a duvet cut open to create two backings. But remember if you wash some fabrics you must wash all fabrics. Consistency is key.

So here’s my list and the why.

Local:

1. Jo-Anns… I put this shop first not because it is my first choice but because most cities I have found have at least 1 near them. From Jo-Anns I typically only ever buy fabric for projects my kids want (capes, costumes, felt for play), decorations (bunting) and my Pellon needs. I don’t tend to love to quality of their fabrics for my quilts.

2. Living in CA most of my life, I have a few good shops I would go to and can’t wait to visit again. If you happen to be in Southern CA near DisneyLand I love M&L Fabric on Ball Road, they have a smaller sister store in Fountain Valley called Jenny’s off Magnolia Blvd. The City of Orange has a cute little quilt shop the Quilting Bee on Katella Ave. In Long Beach where I bought my Bernina SewVac on Clark Street. In DownTown LA the famous Michael LeVine in the garment district. And Little North in Santa Cruz Hearts Fabric has so many fun modern fabrics. (Im sure I could come up with more, but those are my tops)

3. Living in Utah now, I haven’t found a favorite local quilt shop yet mostly becasue of Covid and not wanting to take my children, hahaha. But I will say in all the times I came to visit my mother I never found one I googled and didn’t like. There are so many here in Utah it blows my mind! I will suggest calling before driving cross town to visit one. Most are very small business operated and sadly at times go out of business.

4. Whenever I travel I buy fabric from a local shop, just google “Quilt Shop” or “Fabric Shop” I have a travel quilt that is going on almost 10yrs. I love exploring new shops, expanding my collection, and supporting small businesses.

Online

1. If buying in bulk, anything over 2yards or Kona Cotton I tend to shop at Fabrics.com, the give discounts for larger quantities of a single cut and they give free shipping for orders over $49 and a flat rate of $4.99 under.

2. Etsy.Com… etsy is a great place to find fabrics sold out elsewhere (local or fabric.com) you wont get as good a price most times but it is also a great place to support small businesses. A few I’ve purchased from recently:

   1. Monograms For Makers

   2. The Quilter Kitchen

   3. The Cotton Bolt

3. IG, kinda sounds like a weird place to buy fabric but if you look up the hashtag #fabricdestash or #destashfabric you can find all sorts of fabric lovers selling off parts of their collections. A few times I have found out of print fabric I was in need of.

I hope this list helps you build the best most embarrassing wonderful fabric collection ever!!! If you have a fabric shop in your neighborhood that you just love and spend way to much money at, share share share in the comments so we can all go broke together!!!