Category Archives: fabric

A New Perspective on the Cost of Quilting

Quilting is still cheaper than many things…

The average cost per yard of good quality quilting cotton is $10-12 per yard, which makes quilting a hobby that can get expensive quickly. Although there are many blogs and other crafty sites that offer suggestions on how to acquire fabric more cost effectively (I’m sorry… I’m just not ready to cut up old, thrifted sheets just yet), there is another way to look at the cost of quilting. Quilting may be expensive, but at the end of the day it’s a form of entertainment. What is the cost of quilting relative to other forms of entertainment? Let’s have a look:

  • Movies – According to www.the-numbers.com, a website that tracks data about the movie industry, the average movie ticket costs $9.16 or $18.32 for you and a date. You could stay home, watch something for free on TV and buy 1.5 yards of fabric for that price.
  • Dining – According to the good people at restaurant.org, the average cost per person for a casual dining experience is $12-20 per person. Would you rather have that instantly forgettable dried up Tequila Sunrise Grilled Chicken or another yard and a half of fabric?
  • Concerts – The average price of a ticket to the 100 most popular tours in North America is $91.86. You could instead save what’s left of your hearing, not be stuck in traffic for over 2 and a half hours after the show and still buy over 7.5 yards of fabric for that price.
  • Vacation – According to American Express, the average vacation expense per person in the United States is $1,145, or $4,580 for a family of four. You could have bought over 95 yards of fabric for the cost of your ticket price alone. Even the most voracious quilter would have a hard time going through that much fabric in three years!
  • Car Ride – According to the knowledgeable folks at AAA, the national average price for a gallon of gas is over $3.18. To fill up most tanks, you are looking at over $50. Rather than taking a car ride to literally anywhere, the obvious alternative is to stay home and quilt!

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Why Do Quilters Have so Much Fabric?

It’s a wise investment

Quilters have a lot of fabric. That is a natural consequence of the hobby, but why? There are many
cheeky comments online about “hoarding disorders”, but that is not the real reason. The real reasons
we have so much fabric are varied. Let’s consider a few:
• It was on sale – This rationale is the subject of many memes, but with good quality quilting
fabric costing upwards of $10-12 per yard, it is sufficient justification. Maybe you don’t need
that fabric today, but it will come in handy later so let’s take advantage of the cost savings now!
• It is for my 401F, “fabric retirement account” – Many quilters actively build their stashes while
they are gainfully employed knowing that in their retirement years, fabric is going to be even
more expensive than it is today. As long as you keep it out of the sunlight and away from
dampness, quilting fabric can never “go bad”, so stashing up now just makes good sense.
• Inspiration everywhere – I am sure I speak for many quilters out there not just myself when I
say, its hard to walk into a fabric store for a specific thing and not walk out with additional,
unplanned acquisitions. Seeing new colors and designs always sends my imagination spinning
with what I “could” make with those fabrics. I buy some, hoping I will be able to find time to
actually make that newly envisioned project… someday.
• It was just pretty – I have purchased fabric many times just because it was pretty, with little or
no idea about what it would be used for. For quilters, many times quilting is more akin to
collecting rather than sewing, and that is just as valid as any other “collecting” hobby. We take
the fabric out from time to time, we admire it, we think about what we might make with it.
Maybe we use it, maybe we put it back in the stash. Either way, it just makes us happy to own a
little bit of it.
• Stash-building – Folks who quilt a lot know what they are always in need of. For me, it is green. I
can’t get enough of it and I can never have too many shades of green. Having a variety of fabrics
on hand to choose from helps new quilting projects come to life without a mad dash to the
fabric store.
Whatever your reason, go buy some fabric today. I can guarantee you’ll be glad you did!

What to Do When You Run Out of Fabric


The “go to” defense of quilters accused of buying too much fabric is quite often “I have to buy it now because later it will all be gone!” This is a very valid claim. The way the quilting industry works is, most fabric lines are printed once or twice and then they are “retired”, never to be printed again. What if this was your favorite fabric? What if you run out in the middle of an important project? What are you to do? Here are some practical suggestions:

  • Find It at Another Shop – Obviously, you already checked the Local Quilt Shop where you made the original purchase. Now it’s time to look elsewhere, including online. You will need to know the designer and the name of the fabric line. You will find that information printed on the selvage. Many of the smaller shops, especially the online shops on eBay and ETSY, do not sell out as quickly as the larger brick-and-mortar stores. They are more likely to have inventory left long after the big shops have sold out. I was delighted to find fabric to make curtains from the same line as a baby quilt I made for my son this way.
  • Reverse Google Image Search – Believe it or not, I have successfully used a reverse Google image search to find fabric but I only learned about this capability recently. Go to the main Google search page and in the upper right corner there is a link called “Image”. Click there, upload an image of your fabric and see what Google can find. This works best for very distinct prints, but it does work. I once found some extra green and red candy-stripe fabric that I “needed” to finish a Christmas project.
  • Facebook – There are many Facebook Groups for Quilting and Sewing. Join some and upload an image of your needed fabric. You’ll be surprised at how many people not only know the name of the fabric line and designer, but also have some to spare. Quilters are inherently very generous people, they will share. I once found the very same vintage fabric from Denmark that my grandmother used to make a knitting needle case over 40 years ago!
  • Make Do – Well, you tried all of the above and are still out of luck. You are going to have to make do without it. Either find something “close enough” to finish your project, or deliberately mix it up and thereby “hide” your fabric shortage with some fabric that is completely different. Sometimes the most beautiful quilts are the improvised ones. Remember, that is how quilting got started – by cutting up old garments, flour sacks and other random bits and scraps.

Running out of fabric isn’t the end of the world. But, remembering those times that you did will be good justification for buying “just a little extra” next time!

Worldwide Quilting Day

It’s a wise investment

This Saturday is Worldwide Quilting Day for 2021! According to the good folks at Fab Shop Network, the trade association for independent retailers in the fabric and quilting industry:

“Worldwide Quilting Day is the time each year that we celebrate quilting around the world and explore the ways that it binds us together. This event, held each year on the third Saturday in March, was created to connect quilters and the shops that support them.”

Originally called “National Quilting Day”, this holiday for the quilting community was first established back in 1991 at the 22nd annual show of the National Quilting Association. It was held in Lincoln, Nebraska and it was proposed that a national day dedicated to quilting be established. Since then, this crafty holiday has been expanded worldwide and is celebrated by special quilt shop events, quilting shows, classes, museum exhibitions, and of course, lots and lots of quilting.

Check out #WWQuiltingDay on social media for events both online and near you!