Get what you can when you can - Fabric

I always say, don't be a fabric snob! Don't tell others they are making a mistake using fabric that is NOT Quilt Shop Quality. That burns my ass when I read that or hear that. Unless you know the person and their financial situation, we have no right to tell someone what to use in a quilt.

I find it to be a situation where one gets what they can afford, and for a beginner who may hate the outcome of their first project a less expensive more affordable fabric is best to start with.

Going into a Joann store you are going to find every level of fabric quality, and if $14.99 is cheap to you then buy all means go get the 25 a yard stuff; you can afford it! But for many they are not able to do this.

Telling someone the fabric or the project looks cheap or ugly due to fabric cost, is just like telling them they have an ugly kid! Seriously, it hurts to the core.

What one can afford another can not.

I do not have an idea of quality of Walmart fabric as we do not have one who offers fabric close to me. I do not know the quality of Hobby Lobby as there is not one close by to me, and the only fabric I have bought from Hobby Lobby is Upholstery which was good quality the chair I recovered it with is holding up great!

I find it funny to say it is cheap looking fabric, it does not hold up well etc. Since all fabric today is manufactured in the same manner, it is PRINTED not woven designs in cotton today. Upholstery is woven, hand made is woven, the colors are the threads they are woven through to make the design. Cottons are printed with a giant printer that saturates the grieg (gray base of cotton) and are digitally printed. Turn your fabric over and look and see if the colors are on both sides or not! It wont be, and if it is it is a heavier feel to it, due to the amount of ink used to print it.

I have quilts my grandmother made many many years ago, which still have wonderful color and hold their shape. They were made from old clothing, not some fancy assed designer name brand either, cotton clothing that was no longer of use to someone. Sandwiched with an old army blanket and backed with feed sacks pieced together. Bound with the same old clothing. And they look better than any of the newer ones today.

Price tag does not qualify quality for sure - giving a whole new meaning to materialistic!

Quilting is an expensive hobby for sure. You may as well take One Hundred dollar bills and cut them up and tape them back together [try spending that is an LQS] - you are gonna get some funny looks and a big fat NO! It is the same with using expensive high dollar fancy names in fabric for me. Yes I sell Quilt shop quality name brands in my online store - www.haverislanddesign.com (shameless plug) there. And I do it on a budget so many have access to fabrics that are today's style, color, pattern etc., but I never price it as a retail store would. Why would I - I don't think it is necessary, and I am not going to be a millionaire from it either, but it is a passion for me. I love fabric for sure. I even design it!

Making someone feel their work is inferior due to use of lesser cost fabric is just wrong, and can lead to someone no longer learning this wonderful art I have such a passion for. I know for fact beginners are not dreaming of blue ribbons and accolades on their work. They are making something for someone they love or themselves of others in need, and when we do charity work like that we need to keep cost down, so a lesser cost is better in the long run, and results in more being given to those who need them.

I often see some say I just give those away - The misfits that did not turn out they way they wanted or has a mis-pointed point. Seriously get over yourself on that one peeps! You gave it to charity because it did not fit your standards! Wow you are generous! Yep I have not quit my bitchin on that one yet! Probably won't either. Saying that makes one appear pompous and self indulgent for sure. A quilt is an item that is made to give someone warmth, love, and have an item of their own often in times of great need. It does not matter to them it is not perfect or up to your par. When I give it, I know it has mistakes and it is not perfect - never will be either. But I know I put time and love into it and hope it gives comfort since that was the meaning of it to begin with.

Sew on a bright note. If you are a beginner and you use a lesser cost fabric, or you find a damn good deal on fabric that speaks to you - BULLY FOR YOU! It is going to be great. And if it is not perfect who cares, you did it you made a quilt, you finished and you love it and so will someone else! That is what matters.

Fabrics today are not going to last forever, they are not made to, its called economic market value refill - in other words items today are made as throw aways - look at cell phones, get one - pay a shite ton for it, and a new one is out before you get out of the store! Do they last? Nope or you would not be buying a new one. It is the same with fabric, they are made over seas now a lot, my new line at Haver Island Design is not however, it is manufactured here in the US, and is made with renewable content, not over produced, over worked cotton that is sourced from god only knows where, and then chemically treated to accept dyes and starched and sizing and have all those highlights and rich colors (which by the way is killing ocean life).

I'm not some hippy dippy tree hugger either. But I like things made here, as I know it is not gonna give me some exotic disease, and I am not paying hella taxes to get it! I know the source of the fabric, mainly North Carolina and Texas!

Fabric to me is fabric! Do I sell Joann Fabric? Nope why would I, they are a multi billion dollar company which by the way is still in business because people buy their FABRIC! OH MY GAWD! Light bulb, if it is was inferior would it still be selling off the shelf? I think not. So I sell it no, you can order it online or go to the actual store to get it along with many other items. There prices are lower because of they a have full generation of revenue to keep going. As many LQS are independent and have low volume revenues they jack up prices and hope it sells, but if it does not it goes to the sale bin! Hmmm, imagine that it cost less now! SPOT LIGHT not a light bulb on that one. If they can afford to put it on sale, they could afford to sell it less in the first place! It did not sell so it must be inferior fabric right! WRONG! it was not a hot item, that someone made a quilt with and posted on social media and everyone went gaga for it! That is all.

My thing is this If you want to stay in business with your high dollar items good for you, but get rid of the judgmental looks, get rid of the vicious blue hairs who will give you the "look" when your tattoo accidentally peeks out from under your shirt, or your piercings set off the metal detector! I don't give a damn what you look like, your money is green and is spendable! Plain and simple market need is met! The more I sell the more I can offer!

Therefor I stay in business - yep on line. I love to hear when someone tells me they could not get fabric unless it was online because of a situation where they can not get to a store, and some like me HATE being in stores with all the vicious little munchkins running around and snotting on everything! (Not all of you have those) but some do, and a time out in the corner by the thread just don't cut it! Sew!

I will quit my bitchin and start stitchin today, but damn folks - take this with you...

YOU do not have the right to criticize someone for the "quality" of fabric. It is not your place to tell someone they used inferior quality, or it is ugly or it is not perfect. Seriously do you think you have that right? Do you really think you made a difference in the world today by being a snob I could use so many more colorful words here, but I will not!

AND on a last note, if you think those who look different are not quilt making worthy - go check out Bad Ass Quilters on Facebook! Just sayin, looks can be deceiving and the devil is in the handy work here folks!

Get those quilts done they are waiting to love with all their perfect imperfections!