Saturday, August 7, 2010

Fabric Finds...

I always stop at the Jasper quilt shop on my way to Edmonton. It works out beautifully...my husband takes the kids to the playground and I spend too much money on fabric. The shop has a great mix of fabrics including lots of 30's reproductions, wilderness fabrics (they are in Jasper National Park after all) and every time I go there is a bigger and better selection of beautiful contemporary fabric.

This is what I came home with:
  • 1 FQ of Heather Ross Mermaids
  • 4 FQs of Light Blue American Jane Pez (I cleaned the store right out!)
  • 1 metre of Tula Pink Flutterby Ladybugs
  • Unfortunately, I left all of the Nicey Jane and Hope Valley in the shop. (Believe me, it took terrible constraint)
I'm sure that for most of you, seeing this kind of fabric in a real, live, quilt shop is pretty common place. But I live pretty much smack-dab-in-the-middle of British Columbia, Canada and I am surrounded by Thimbleberries, batiks and dusty rose. I never get to actually see the fabric that I buy until my order arrives at my mailbox. So I feel like a kid in a candy store when the opportunity actually presents itself.

But the thing that gets me most is the darn prices of fabric in Canada. I bought the above lovelies because I know they are almost impossible to find on-line and I LOVE them, but they were all at least $18/metre. $18 per metre...isn't that disgusting?!? No wonder I buy my fabric online. I don't know how people afford to quilt/sew in Canada.

Okay, end of rant. Sorry. Especially to those of you in the US. Please enjoy your low fabric prices. Now I'm off to sew...I think my little darlings are finally asleep (is it really 9pm already?) and my husband is off watching UFC. I must get caught up on my all of my bee commitments.

Have a great weekend! Happy Sewing.

10 comments:

QuiltNut Creations said...

oh Barb, I totally get what you are saying. The prices of our fabric up here is horrific but the quilt stores get nailed so badly on import/custom fees, they have to charge that much to recoup their costs.

I am sooooooooo jealous of the selections in the US. I'm working on clearing out my stash this year; next year, I am going crazy shopping on line ;)

Deb Robertson Writes said...

Oh I hear you, here in NZ we are paying $25-$30 for American Quilting Cottons! It's shameful :( I agree, thank goodness for the internet.

Lens said...

I understand you perfectly. Here in Barcelona, American quilting fabrics are 25-30$ as Deb had said, so I use to buy all my fabrics on line.

Elena
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenarod/

Jackie's Stitches said...

WOW! That is so expensive. Were those hard to find fabrics priced differently?

I'm glad you found them though!

Needled Mom said...

Wow...those are horrendous prices. I wonder why they are so high.

Patchwork notes said...

One of the best surprises when I moved from Canada to the US was the price of fabric, yarn and books. It's pretty much the only thing I don't miss about Canada.

Trisha said...

So happy for you that you found those great fabrics (and maybe a little bit jealous). I am going on a cruise to Alaska and one of the stops is in Victoria B.C. I was scoping out were the quilt shops are and checking out their websites and I saw those prices and I about died! I can't imagine paying that. I think $10 a yard is too much. I don't blame you for shopping online!! You can get such good deals!

Jacqui said...

Well I don't know if it'll make you feel any better but here in NZ we pay upwards of $35 a metre for that kind of fabric (so a little more than a yard but still) which is about $26 Canadian. I feel guilty buying in from overseas but honestly, the price difference is so great why wouldn't you?

On the other hand you got to be in Jasper and Edmonton :)

Kelly O. said...

i'm so blessed that my mom lives in the US. i have everything shipped to her to save on shipping--yes i'm that cheap!

Sandy said...

ah ha! omg, i'm loving your blog b/c I so know what you're talking about! why is it cheaper to pay american prices and order on line and pay shipping than but it here even IF you can find it...ugh...so frustrating. (-: