fabric

[LindaD]

I usually buy fabric at the LQS. Some brands are lighter weight and thinner than others. I sometimes don't realize it until after i pre wash them. Does anyone have any brands that they avoid because of this?? Also when buying on the internet, any suggestions of making sure to get good quality fabric. Thanks in advance for comments.

[chickenscratch]

Moda is good, and some of the Cranston printworks lines.

[Bonnie]

The only ones that I try to avoid....not because of price, but because of experience with it...

The only fabrics that I have had bleed NO MATTER how many times you wash it and NO MATTER what soaps I have uses is Jenny Beyers...I have a red and white quilt that is over 9 years old and washed at least a dozen times and IT STILL Bleeds.

And Thimbleberries....the weave is to loose for me...I have to use a very tiny sewing stitch and I don't like that. I have had several block in exchanges and the Thimbleberries are the only ones that I have had to replace the fabrics.

[Sandra Darlington]

I just joined the Thimbleberries Club at my LQS, and in addition, have purchased many yards of Thimbleberries fabric during the last 6 months or so. I made all of my Christmas wall hangings from that fabric, and plan to make a coordinating wall hanging for those same folks for next year, and also I just finished the block for the first month of the club for a large bed quilt. The instructions that came with the kit for the Club say pre-washing is not necessary for her fabrics. The LQS teacher also said she recommends not pre-washing them. I typically do pre-wash all of my fabrics, but did not do it with these.

Now I am really worried about the dye running or having other problems. The fabrics did not feel thin to me, in fact I thought they felt pretty nice.

I wonder if the fabrics she (Lynette Jenson) has on the market now are improved from her earlier lines? Oh, boy, I sure hope so.

How do others feel about the Thimbleberries fabrics? What experiences have you all had?

[Katydids]

I used to be a member of the Thimbleberries club for the last 6 years. Did not join this year, too busy, yeah.

The fabrics from this line used to be really thin, about 2002 or 03. They have changed in the last few years and are quite nice now. I have never prewashed any of their fabrics and have washed my quilts many times with no problems.

Sandra, I hope this will ease some of your fears.

Patty

[Sandra Darlington]

Hi Patty,

Thanks so much for your reply. I am so glad to hear that I probably have nothing to worry about.

My likes and dislikes in fabric (and lots of other examples) seem to change over the years. For the last 6 months or so, I have been hooked on Thimbleberries fabrics and bought as much as I could afford. Then when my LQS started the Club, I jumped at the chance to join.

Upon hearing about the problems others have had, I was rather concerned. Since I wrote my last message, I washed and dried a redish color and a light beige color together, in a wash tub, so I could see the water color. There was no bleeding of the dyes! Yippee!!! I threw them both in the dryer and they came out great. I guess I am pretty safe with these new fabrics from Thimbleberries. I'm so glad they have been improved. Perhaps LJ got some negative feedback from her customers and was able to solve the problems. Anyway, I'm happy now.

Thanks again, Patty, for taking the time to respond.

Sandy

[lizziesgirl]

I've used Thimbleberries and Jinney Beyer for a long time and have never had problems with either one. I own a Quilt Shop and sometimes I get new fabric in and it never makes it out on the floor , not good.

The fabric I avoid is VIP and I guess it is mostly from my hand quilting experiences.

[kennan100]

I buy all my fabrics from one the about 15 LQS's in my area. I do not buy fabric for my quilts anywhere else. I'm still handquilting and I'm not putting that much work into something and have it fall apart, shredd, bleed, beard or anything else. I know that there are severl levels of fabric quality that are manufactured in the same patterns and that is what you see at Walmart. I stay away from fabrics with very heavy sizing in them, those are not good fabrics. I've never had problems with any of the fabrics I find in the QS's and I like VIP's things. JMO

[Bonnie]

Now I honestly have to say its been at least 8 or 9 years since the last time I bought any Thimbleberries, I will now go back to recheck them out. As for Jenny Beyers she has a great fabric, its a great quality...I have only found that hers is one that I must wash before using....and since I don't usually wash my personal quilt fabrics, its one that I tend to avoid.

[Sandra Darlington]

Hi Bonnie,

Let me know how you feel about the "new & improved" Thimbleberries fabrics. It would be interesting to hear another view on the subject... kind of the before and after.

I will probably get tired of the Thimbleberries look/style before I ever sew up all I have purchased in the last 6 months. LOL But, just now I really love them.

For example, I have a large box, a Rubbermaid bin, of all oriental fabrics that I just had to buy several years ago, and now they are just there decorating the closet, along with numerous other bins of fabric and yarn. Oh, yea, that's called a "stash."

Sandy

[Bonnie]

I will Sandra....I still have the first ever fabric that I bought of Thimbleberries, it was for a challenge that obviously never got done...and I will try to see if I can scan the two different fabrics so all can see the difference if there is any...Will try to get that done this week if possible.

[Guest Linda S]

I buy lots of LQS fabric, but I have to admit a partiality for Moda. I love Jinny Beyer's fabrics by RJR, also Hoffman Batiks, Blank Textiles, Timeless Treasures, Avlyn -- when colors are the sort that are likely to run (reds, yellows, oranges, purples), I wash them right off in Retayne. If you have a quilt that has colors bleeding, wash it in Synthrapol.

Linda

[sjdanley]

Lots of good comments and information. I don't have ready access to fabric at a LQS so I do buy fabric online. I generally stick with Equilter or Fabric.com and make sure that I know the manufacturer. I have always had good luck. I also buy some fabrics from Keepsake. I haven't had real good luck with Hancock of Paduca--not so much quality as poor service.

[Guest Linda S]

The thing I've found with Hancock's of Paducah is, they advertise the newest fabrics before they actually have them. You place an order, then you have to wait for the fabrics to be produced before they can ship them to you. It can be very frustrating.

Linda

[Catherine P.]

Keep in mind that the manufactures will make different grades of fabric. You might see the ?same? fabric at Ben Franklins as your LQS but the Ben Franklin fabric will be poorer quality, therefore a lower price. I see that a lot here and make my purchases with that in mind depending on the end use. And of course the cheap fabric at JoAnn?s is just that CHEAP fabric.

[Mary Beth]

This is a good subject. I have never bought fabric over the internet because I am afraid I will get poor quality fabric. I love a good bargin, but I want to make sure it is good quality. You all have given some very good information here.

[Guest Linda S]

There are lots of good shops who sell over the internet. If you want a good sampling of them and want the opportunity to win some prizes, google fabshophop and quilters' mall crawl. You will visit tons of on-line shops looking for the bunny or the block, see what on-line shops have to offer, and you might win some great prizes! I won 24 batik fat quarters a couple of years ago. What a bonus that was!

Linda

[Bonnie]

I'm not totally sure I agree with what Catherine said....when I was working with several Local Quilt Shops in Reno. There were several fabric peddlers that would come to each LQS including the Ben Franklin's Crafts. And each peddler would be working with either Checker, Brewers or the different fabric lines...Hoffman, RJR, etc, the LQS would be buying from the same people, and each were getting the same fabric quality stuff. Each store would try to only handle certain lines so the complete lines would be represented thoughout the city, and not one LQS would have to have it all...some were larger than others, but still some would handle Michael Miller, where another just Moda and so forth.

Now with saying that: Ben Franklin's filed bankrupsty many years ago, and the franchise owners were given the rights to continue to use the logo and continue under their own steam, but have absolutely nothing to do with Ben Franklin's or the merchandise that Ben Franklins use to sell. IF your local Ben's is geting bad fabric, someone needs to educate the buyer for that store....not all departments have qualified personel who are quilters let alone garment sewers. It took about 2 years of this type of harping to finally get the two Ben's in Reno and Sparks to get quality fabric. They just didn't know any better, and sometimes I wonder about the peddlers...if they really know what they are selling. Some only have a quota that they need to meet at the end of the month to keep the boss off their backs. Now the stores in Reno/Sparks are every bit as good as the LQS and they are some what friendlier.

[dancingstitcher]

Becky Goldsmith said in one of her classes on applique that fabrics will bleed in one area of the US and not in another and that is because of the mineral content in the local water supply. She recommends prewashing all fabric as soon as you get it home from the store because of the chemical sizing giving off toxins. I know I could never work in a fabric store because my eyes hurt as soon as I walk in the door. Cotton satins never look as nice after washing. I didn't have any trouble with Thimbleberries bleeding when I did a birthday block, however, I didn't care for the hand of the fabric. The Aunt Grace fabrics were thinner and I did like how they dried nearly wrinkle free in the dryer.

For fast fabric service online try www.bighornquilts.com. They ship within 24 hours of your order placement. We stopped into the store on an RV trip and it was fascinating how the store is laid out by manufacturer. The web site has nice photos of swatches and is easy to use. Price is about $1 less than other places.

Try ontheqtinc.com which stands for On The Q T Inc for online fabric purchasing. They are really fast too. Their store is in Gilbert, AZ and though it's small, they are really responsive.

Too bad Mom doesn't have an online store of her stash.

Vicki

[Judi]

Vicki - you are so funny! Your mom must have lots of fabric!!

I have ordered from Big Horn Quilts - very quick service! And yes Linda S.

is right, its fun to do the bunny hop! You can search so many quilt shops on

that site too! My daughter helped me find them all, and I think we won

a $10.00 gift certificate - but heh - it was fun! And I can always find

a way to spend money! Every now and then I go back to a few of the

shops I like and search through their sale items. I have had great success

with "www.wishuponaquilt" and also the "www.fabricshack.com" when I

oder online - I try to stick with brands I know and like. M.Miller, Andover

and such.

This site "www.quiltshops.com" is great for finding that missing fabric.....

back a couple of years ago, when I needed that "Funky Monkey" fabric -

nobody around her had it - NOBODY! I think I order all of it from the Fabric

Shack - or the other one..... reminds me....I still need to make that quilt!

But I have the fabric! - of'corse they made it again now too.....

But yes - I try to support my local shop just as much - and they order things

for me too!

[jmyhogan]

We have been buying 90% of our fabric at Fabric Depot for many years now. I have never had a poor quality from them (so far at least). they are at ....http://www.fabricdepot.com/

JUST A NOTE ! I knew a lady who had an enormous "stash". She had worked part time in a fabric store. She never washed any of the fabric until she was getting ready to use it. After she died unexpectedly her family wanted to distribute the fabric to friends. Much of it was rotted. Some of it just fell off of the bolts in chunks. I understand from a LQS that if she had washed it all when she broight it home it would have been OK. Has anyone else heard of this kind of experience. I always wash mine right away.

[quiltmonkey]

Originally posted by Bonnie

IF your local Ben's is geting bad fabric, someone needs to educate the buyer for that store....not all departments have qualified personel who are quilters let alone garment sewers. It took about 2 years of this type of harping to finally get the two Ben's in Reno and Sparks to get quality fabric.

Bonnie, we are lucky here in North Pole; our Ben Franklin store carries only quality fabrics. They have a huge assortment of the Hoffman batiks, a bunch of stuff from Moda, Timeless Treasures, etc. just to name a few. All really good stuff. Anything sold in the flats, I always check the selvage to see the designer's name.

[The Last Stitch]

My favorite fabric to work with is Marcus Borthers. Infact within a month or so I will be offering it on my website as well as block of the month kits using their fabric.

Don

[Judi]

I forgot to mention the Mills End, just recently found one of those. GREAT

prices - but yes - have to look at the selvage to find out the maker. They

have LOTS of stuff!! Mostly flat folds and maybe last years stuff..... but I

just used 6 yards of plain black fabric I picked up there for only a little of

$1.00 a yard. (what a price for a backing!!) It is a drive for me, but I think

there are about 6 or so up in the Twin Cities area. They do carry backing

too - and fleece - so much more!!

Plan on spending LOTS of time there. Last time I stopped I ran in and my

husband gave me $20.00 and only 20 min - yeicks!! Not enough time!!!:mad: