World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of September 2, 2002:
Our question this week comes Barbara from CA
What is the difference between buying fabric at stores like Wal-mart,
Joanne's or a quilting store? Is there a difference? Do the fabrics hold up
differently? Does the color fade faster?
hszawerda@snet.net :
it does make adifference you may see the same design oof a fabric, but the price may vary 3-4 dollars more. The reason is that Joanne's or Walmart will purchase this design or pattern to be printed on a muslin or like fabric of different thread amounts or of less quality. you really are not getting a bargin, you usually get what you pay for.
Kathy T :
I think the answer regarding the griege goods is right on target. I buy the best fabric I can since my time is valuable and I don't want to waste it on making an inferior quilt. Years ago, a place called the Rag Shop opened near us and I took advantage of their opening specials. I didn't know anything about griege goods then. I was excited to see they carried some of the same fabrics as my local quilt shop. I spent about $100 on fabric thinking I got a great buy. Unfortunately, I did not use it right away and a few months later when I washed it to use I was very upset. The fabric might have looked the same on the bolt, but when washed, some of it faded but the worst problem was the feel of it. It felt like cheap paper or something and it never got used for quilts. Over the years, it got sent to my kids classes for projects the teachers wanted fabric for and other uses where quality did not count. When I buy from Joanne's I go for their designer line or their better fabrics. I try to avoid their $2.99 line of "quilting" fabric unless I'm using it for something like magic pillows for kids which I know will get so much abuse I would hate to waste good fabric on them. Actually, many of those I made using not only the $2.99 line of fabrics but even the cheaper batting which I don't use for anything but magic pillows have held up remarkably well. I love batiks, but I've discovered that Joanne's line of batiks seem to bleed and bleed and bleed. I believe in supporting quilt shops. I know there's nobody at our local quilt shop who quilts. We need our quilt shops to keep the quilting tradition going and so there are places to go for not just good fabric, but good advice on quilting.
Jan Estes :
I believe the quality is improving at Wal-Mart and especially at Jo-Anns, although you may find some increase in price now. But I notice repeated patterns and know those are probably fairly reasonable to use. I also check to see if I can their lights through the fabric by holding up the bolt and pulling the fabric in front of me with the ceiling lights coming through. If I can see lights too well, I know it's too thin to use and will wear out easily. I have had both good and bad fabric from quilt stores but less chance of bad fabric there, if you can afford it. Quilts I have made from Wal-Mart and Jo-Anns are still holding out well with regular washing. They are approximately 5-6 years old.
Diana Herron :
yes i think it does
Louise :
For the most part, I agree with Pat. You can tell a lot by how the fabric feels to your hand. If it is loosely woven and has a harsh feel, you probably don't want to use it. After all, you're putting many many hours and so much work into a quilt, so you want to use fabric that "deserves" all your talent! Terrific fabric feels rich to the touch and is evenly woven. For an heirloom quilt, that's what you want. I've gotten some good fabric from Walmart and Joanne, and some from quilt shops that was extremely crooked and not so good. You can tell by the way it looks and feels.
Pat :
Fabric manufacturers start with different qualities of greige goods. (That's the cloth they print the fabrics on.) The first printing is on lesser quality greige goods. This is the printing to make sure all of the colors are lining up properly and to make sure that there aren't any mistakes in color. If you look on the selvedge of some fabrics and see the line of colored dots they are sometime misaligned - that's what the company is looking for. Anyway that first printing goes to places like Walmart. The next printing is on better quality greige goods and goes to places like Rag Shop, Joannes, House of Fabrics and such. The final printing is on the best quality greige goods and goes to the quilt shops. So for the extra money we are getting the best quality fabric with the best quality printings. Occasionaly good or best quality fabrics will show up at Walmart or The Rag Shop you just have to look for it. You can usually tell by feeling the fabric. High quality fabrics have a wonderful hand, nice and soft and smooth. For more info check out Harriet Hargraves book, "From Fabric to Fiber". Hope this helps!
princess :
I have found that the fabric from wal-mart fades and wears faster whether it is for quilting or garments. Joanne's is not as bad. But for color fast and being on grain quilt shop fabric stand up to the test.
World Wide Quilting Page * Question of the Week