I wanted to show you some fabric I ordered from Thousands of Bolts. I have bought yardage from them three or four times now and I love the choices they offer and their great prices! Look at the gorgeous blues I found! I'm planning to use these with the Feathered Star blocks I've made. I just fell in love with the pink floral and that will go in my stash to admire for awhile.I have a couple of dilemmas when it comes to buying fabric. One, I have a hard time buying fabric for myself. What I mean is that I can go to a fabric store with a friend and we start thinking about combinations etc. and I can tell the friend quite easily "You should buy that one." "That fabric doesn't go with the others." "Definitely go for this fabric, the others don't compare." You would think that since I can be so decisive about other people's quilting endeavors, that I wouldn't have any problems making decisions for myself, but actually I'm quite wishy-washy when it comes to my own quilts.
This problem is multiplied when I start using the Internet to look for fabric. So many choices and dang-it-all, you can't just lay your block down on the website fabric and see how it looks together so the choosing process takes longer and I probably spend a good couple of hours on the computer over three or four days trying to make a decision. This time I think I chose pretty well, but I guess we won't know until I've made the quilt.
The other dilemma is the price. The price is wonderful. $3.90 to $4.35 a yard for the fabrics I chose. Amazing! In Japan the average price for a meter of fabric (about the same as a yard) is $10.00 to $12.00. Occasionally you can find something on sale for $8.00 but nothing too heart-stopping. SO... To find these gorgeous fabrics at these wonderful prices is a God-send! You'd think I'd be in seventh-heaven! I ordered 6 yards of fabric for a total of $24.45 (Japanese quilting friends, can you believe the prices!) BUT... shipping cost me $29.50!
Now, this is no fault of the fabric company. They have to send it all across the USA and then the Pacific. The U.S. postal service no longer ships international packages surface mail and have raised their rates recently so it really can't be helped. I need fabric. Fabric in Japan is expensive. In my area the shops are small and don't have much stock. This wonderful world of ours offers Internet shopping and airplanes that deliver packages within a matter of days. What possible reason do I have to complain? But still... I wish I lived near Thousands of Bolts and other wonderful, inexpensive fabric stores and could pat myself on the back for all the money I save.
And no, just buying a lot of fabric when I'm in the States doesn't really alleviate the problem. Remember, I bought so much this summer that it wouldn't fit in my suitcases and I paid a fortune to mail it back to Japan. The other way I could have done it was to add another suitcase and pay the airline penalty for extra baggage! Anyway I look at it, to get it across the deep blue sea I have dole out some cash.
Regardless of my pocketbook, looking at the beautiful fabric convinces me it was well worth it and I'll probably be back at the website again soon!
12 comments:
Living close to a fabric store with marvelous prices is a mixed blessing -- the danger, of course, is buying too much fabric simply because the price is so good! I live within an hour or so of the legendary Sauder's in Lancaster County and the first few times I went, I got into that dangerous mindset of "Oh, I'll never have this opportunity again and the price is so good so I should buy as much as I can." And then come home heavily laden and six months later say to self, "What was I thinking?"
I'm one of the few quilters that really doesn't have much of a stash. I have fabric that I've acquired for specific projects. And I have a huge Rubbemaid tub of scraps, random FQs, and left-overs. But I don't have shelves of fabrics organized by color. And it is better for me this way.
Lots of people love that website for their prices. I believe they can do this because the fabrics are ones that have been around for awhile, but who cares! The fabrics are beautiful and the price is certainly right. I think you chose very nicely - it's going to be a beautiful quilt.
You chose lovely colours Tanya. I also spend hours on-line looking at all those wonderful fabrics. I paid last Saturday for one foot (30cm) of fabric $4.50 here in Kaohsiung. In a store where there was not much in stock. Buying over seas and taking it with you in a suitcase is not always an option. Air travel between Europe and Asia allowes only one suit case of 20 kg. If you also have to stock up on clothes or other things then there is not much room left.
The fabric is really nice. I guess I just don't know how lucky I am to have the oppertunity to purchase fabric at such reasonable prices and yet I complain. I look forward to seeing your feathered star blocks made out of these beautiful fabrics.
Lovely fabrics. Thanks for reminding me how lucky I am to be able to find fabrics I love relatively inexpensively! And even if I do order from the internet shipping isn't too bad.
As for trips to the states -- um, you could just bring fewer clothes with you :0) (ok, I'm bad, really, really bad)
Atet is onto something. Don't even pack any clothes in the suitcase and then first thing go to the fabric stores. You could buy lots of yardage and just wrap it all around yourself for "clothes" while you are here. heh heh heh.
oh, that shipping hurts. more than the fabric even. Even considering that your fabric ended up costing more than twice as much as you paid for it, it's still less than buying it locally.
you need more confidence in yourself. you are a fabulous quilter - believe it.
Shipping costs are never fun, but I figure if I end up with what I truly want in fabric, at no more than the cost of shopping local which doesn't have my heart's desire, nothing is lost....
I don't buy online because I am too cheap to pay for shipping. Our LQS is fairly expensive, but after shipping, for the small quantities I buy there, it is worth it. Wow, it is amazing that even after shipping, it is cheaper for you to buy things online. You probably get a different selection as well.
You know you could have paid less in shipping if you just sent the gorgeous fabric to my house. :)
I've just spent some time catching up on your last several posts - what a treat! I, too, shop online for fabric and dislike the shipping charges, but the entire browsing-considering-choosing process is all such fun and I do love receiving/opening the packages...
Your fabric choices are lovely. It does seem hard to have to pay more for shipping, than for the fabric!
I received an order from Thousands of Bolts today too. Love their prices! Sorry you have to pay so much for shipping. Wish we could help you out somehow.
hi, tanya!!! In Italy price of fabric is close to 25 dollars, what do you think of that !!! Lovely fabric, good choices, the feather star will be beautiful. God has given you many talents.
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