December 17 - 18, 2006 - QuiltHistory

Fabric Identification, Quilt History Resources

These restored messages come from the Quilt History List, an online forum where quilt historians, collectors, researchers, appraisers, and enthusiasts discussed antique quilts and related textiles. The archive dates from 1996 through approximately 2016 and is being restored gradually. Sign up in the form at the bottom of the page if you want to know when a new page is added. Original spelling, opinions, formatting, and inactive links may remain unchanged.

Primary topics of this QHL Digest:

The Walmart Fabric Closing — Members argue over whether Walmart’s cheap fabric was good quilting fabric and whether quilting is a poor person’s hobby.
The Quilt Shop View — Shop owners Deb, Kris Driessen and others describe prices and stock, and Pilar Donoso and Margareta Faust add views from Chile and Europe.
Charity Quilts and Fabric Co-ops — Gloria Hanrahan questions charity quilts made from flimsy fabric, and Candace Perry and Karen Evans float a fabric exchange and co-op.
Marie Webster Kit or Design? — Carroll asks about an eBay quilt sold as a Marie Webster design, Xenia Cord gives a short biography, and Rosie Werner identifies it as a Home Needlecraft Creations kit.
The Georgia Quilt Book — Gail Ingram asks whether Georgia Quilts is in local bookstores, and members say where to order it.
Requests and Announcements — Newbie Richardson asks for advice off list, Andi looks for book reviewers for Pieces of Time, and kldev asks for quilt stops on a Florida drive.

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 07:06:48 -0500 | From: Xenia Cord (xenia)

According to the list of Webster patterns and kits in page 125 of Marie Webster’s Garden of Quilts, Tiger Lily is not one of her designs. Needlecraft did indeed publish Webster patterns in kit form, without attribution. Brackman does not illustrate this Tiger Lily in her Encyclopedia of Applique, unfortunately. It would be interesting to know more about the seller’s source, pattern No. C2078, published in a brochure from Needlecraft Co., Augusta, ME.

Needlecraft Co. was Needlecraft/Home Arts magazine. They also sold other kits, usually identified by the letter N followed by a version of the kit number assigned by the manufacturer (but not always). I have seen kits with a Needlecraft number on the wrapper and an entirely different number on the selvages inside. it’s this sort of thing that makes identifying kits so difficult, especially when *all* the numbers disappear when the kit is made up!

Xenia

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 05:34:38 -0800 (PST) | From: Pat Cummings (pat)

I do not remember ever having seen the Lily quilt that is shown in this auction.

I have asked the seller to remove the link to my website article because it infers that she got the information from me, and she did not.

People have a way of twisting words, particularly when they have their own agendas. Perhaps this is just another example of that.

Patricia Cummings http://www.quiltersmuse.com

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 10:04:11 -0500 | From: Velia Lauerman (velialive)

HOW MUCH FABRIC DO WE NEED ? Consider the pioneers who used scraps and scraps to make their wonderful pieces. Maybe some thing is telling us about greed and over abundance of fabrics (The one with most fabric WINS ) Maybe we have to slow down and smell the formaldehyde. There will always be places to buy as long as there are people to buy it. Wal-Mart can offer other bargains so we can go to Hobby Lobby. Recycling is what our mothers taught us. We have to slow down somewhat and make do with what we have already. For 30 years of buying discounted or otherwise it balances out to spending on what you want. If we like it we buy it. I don’t know anyone who really skips either way. For what it’s worth, this is USA and we have lots of sources to choose from. We are specialized. Velia

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 08:15:32 -0800 | From: Carroll (rl.carroll)

Thanks Xenia, I occasionally see quilts with comments like “looks like a Marie Webster pattern” or “Marie Webster?” on quilts that the seller is not sure about. But this Needlecraft connection including the number had me thinking I had missed something. Perhaps someone will be familiar with the Needlecraft pattern No. C2078.

Pat, I did go to your site and search for the information, LOL.

Laurette

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:52:36 -0500 | From: Newbie Richardson (pastcrafts)

Dear List, I am reaching out because of the depth of experience on this list to see if anyone can give me advice. Please reply off list to my own email:pastcrafts

I have a very dear friend who I grew up with, we were pregnant together, our girls went to the same high school, etc,etc. As we both started coping with serious elder care issues and got back on the career track, we have not seen much of each other – but when we do, we pick up right where we left off. I just learned that her daughter, 23, had a huge cancerous tumor taken out of her uterous – by huge I mean the size of a small watermelon. The cancer had spread so they performed a radical hysterectomy on her 6 weeks ago. This young woman is now undergoing massive amounts of both radiation and chemo.

Here is my question what can I do to be helpful? They have no worries financially – beyond no worries, actually – so food and house keeping are not needed. One thing I did think of was to provide transportation for her mother ( grandmother), who no longer drives, to and from their home/hospital, as she lives near to me – but they live way the other side of DC. I also thought that perhaps books on tape might be good for Margaret, as I seem to remember a friend telling me that after the chemo, she was too nausous to even read. Picking up books/tapes and returning them to the library is one thing that might be really helpful. Again, I seem to remember reading that it is the small things that tend to loom large in a family crisis.

Anyone have any thoughts to help us out?

thanks in advance A not so jolly Newbie Richardson The Costume and Textile Specialists

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:24:08 -0500 | From: Candace Perry (candace)

I’m not mad about period 1st person demonstrations in traditional museum settings as I think it can be weird. I think it belongs in living history museums and festivals, or perhaps for a special event; or in fact, an individual who is NOT doing the period thing in costume demonstrating how certain tools may been used, might work for me. I had a group of second graders here on Friday who could not tell me what a “miller” did (we were discussing the tale of Rumpelstiltskin in conjunction with an exhibit). Definitely there is a need to enlighten visitors about obsolete tools and trades. I’d either use a study/education collection of period objects for this kind of demonstration, or repros. I think demonstrators have to be very engaging. Not everyone who is an expert is engaging. It’s a bit like theatre, to me…just something to keep in mind. Best, Candace Perry

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:27:29 EST | From: Elpaninaro

In a message dated 12/16/2006 8:19:14 PM Central Standard Time, Karen Evans writes:

> Quilt shops need to start stocking less expensive fabric. I’m not saying > “cheap,” not by any stretch,

Just to expand on this if I may, are there any quilt shop owners here who could address the volume purchase and overhead issues?

Let me use Alexander Henry as an example if I may for this since my quest for some of their western fabrics has had me searching and researching the market for this material far and wide.

Quilt shop- $8-10 a yard for the latest and greatest.

Jo-Ann’s or Hancock- usually about $7 a yard, and I have observed that it is usually material that has sold sluggishly- many of the Asian prints, black dappled hide, the Hondo pattern on light blue ground etc.

eBay- varies, but there are a lot of sellers who do 1-2 yard pieces of the latest releases for $5.50-6 per yard.

Granted these are all expensive options, but I bring this up because I think it suggests the fact that a lack of volume buying (as Jo-Ann’s might do- and then only of the Henry fabrics that are not hot sellers) and the enormous overhead costs to run a store (which do not exist for any eBay sellers who only sell online and do not also have a storefront) make it impossible- or at least very difficult- for a bricks and mortar quilt shop to be a price-leader.

In the example above, the quilt shop is pricing its fabrics about 30%-40% over the Jo-Ann price and 60-70% over the best eBay price.

Assuming those are reasonable percentages across the board to account for the fact quilt shops do not have the customers or cash flow to buy in bulk- and to also account for the cost of running a shop, then here is what happens to prices on cheap fabric in the quilt shop,

Jo-Ann price for a basic calico, midrange- $3.99 to $5.99 per yard ($1.99-2.99 for lower end, and $6.99-7.99 for their best)

Quilt shop price add 35% (midrange of my 30%-40% estimate) and suddenly the price is between $5.50 and $8.00 per yard.

Not sure about elsewhere, but around here the good quilt shops tend to sell their really awesome quality calicos for $6.50-$9.00 per yard.

So if the quilt shop starts stocking mid-range calicos, then they really cannot sell them for much less than they would their best fabrics. Either that, or they have to cut their profit margins to reduce the price to where they would not be able to remain in business.

Or at least that is my theory- open for opinions and comments.

The argument against my line of thinking might be that makers of less expensive fabrics would be more willing to sell to quilt shops now that WalMart won’t be there to buy their wares in bulk- but the costs of selling and shipping those fabrics to all those quilt stores versus one delivery to WalMart would surely raise their wholesale cost to the quilt stores. And that would make cheaper fabrics even less reasonably priced in a quilt shop as compared to a Hobby Lobby or WalMart operation.

Tom.

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:54:17 -0500 | From: joan kiplinger (jkip)

It must be noted that Joann sells second-line fabrics; that is the name brand they might sell, say Mary Englebreit for instance, is a lesser quality cotton and dye. That is why they can undercut quilt stores in many cases. Also the chain is carrying less name brands and special ordering more fabric with the Joann name. It is important if you are buying a brand name at Joann to ask if it’s first or second line. The sales persons at our Joann’s are very honest with their answers.

Elpaninaro wrote: \<>Jo-Ann’s or Hancock- usually about $7 a yard, and I have observed that it is usually material that has sold sluggishly- many of the Asian prints, black dappled hide, the Hondo pattern on light blue ground etc.

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:01:26 -0600 | From: Kim Baird (kbaird)

Quilt shop owners buy the best quality fabrics they can find. They have no control over the prices they are charged for those fabrics.

Places like Jo-Ann and WalMart buy any quality they can get, as long as it’s cheaply priced.

If you take a careful look at two prints, one bought at a local shop, one at a mega-chain, you can see the difference in quality. Some fabric companies print the same designs on a lower quality greige goods for chain stores, just so they can sell to those stores. That design at an independent shop is on higher quality fabric.

Or, some companies sell seconds to chain stores at discount prices.

There is some truth to the old adage, “You get what you pay for.”

Ebay sellers may be able to sell for less because they have a lower overhead. On the other hand, you can’t touch the fabric, or even see its tru colors, on line.

Kim

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:06:37 -0500 | From: Karen Evans

Oh, granted. But if one is poor, one buys whatever one can, or one does without. The stuff at Wal-Mart is pretty flimsy, but there are a lot of people who don’t really have a choice.

Karen

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:01:54 -0500 | From: Sharon in NC (patchworksecrets2)

Newbie I know you said no food worries… But I remember when a friend had health issues and several of us got together and would deliver cooked meals a few days a week to her, her DH (who worked full time) and the two kids(5 and 7) .. They weren’t anything fancy and sometimes it was just a frozen lasagna for her DH to heat in the oven with the bread and salad fixin’s…. Later she told us we never knew how much that helped and meant that for a few days a week she didn’t have to worry about them eating a healthy meal instead of fast food or junk..She couldn’t eat with them but they at least were fed… We included paper plates and disposable silver ware too so her DH didn’t even have to worry about cleaning up… You might could even have a meal delivered from a favorite restaurant.. Just let them know in advance which day of the week you want to “bring over food”..I am thinking of the parents who need a little extra help with the strain of having an ill child no matter how old she is….They need to keep their strength up also.. I can also think of dry cleaning pickup, wash cars ( call and have a detailer that does home visits take care of it), yard work (even now there are still leaves and basic care that needs to be done in many places), Offer to put out their garbage cans and pick them back up once a week or hire a neighbor kid for them to do it… I have heard the small hot packs are great to have during chemo because your extremities have a tendency to get cold…You can get those nice little hand and feet warmers and make some special socks they can just slide into.. As for books on tape you might want to consider a small MP3 player with music and books both.. You could load her favorite music on it and several books from CD’s at a time and it would be easier for her to carry with much less hassle..I am doing this for myself for a bus trip we are taking in the spring…..You can find them cheap ($30 or less) during some of these big Christmas sales… I noticed Borders books has new sellers already loaded on players for you to purchase now. ( $20-35 with a coupon)..equipped with batteries and headphones. Of course they are not reloadable…

Sharon in NC http://community.webshots.com/user/sharonsews

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:03:37 -0500 | From: Sharon in NC (patchworksecrets2)

Thanks for everyone’s replies on and off list.. unfortunately they were too late for the meeting but I will add them to my notes ( if I ever manage to find them when I unpack again) and use them at the end of the year recap I do…

Sharon in NC

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:08:47 -0500 | From: Sharon in NC (patchworksecrets2)

I found an interesting article in our new electric co-op magazine here as I was cleaning out this week.. “”We Care” quilts preserve black gospel music traditions” It is an interview with Eunice Mildred Haywood a local NC African American quilter.. I have it scanned if anyone would like a copy to add to their files..Since it was in a fairly limited subscription magazine I thought there might be some interest in it here. It is just one page but a large file so it is readable…

Sharon in NC

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:47:46 EST | From: Mitzioakes

Have been reading a lot of your emails regarding the price of fabrics – most (all) of the fabric stores in my area have an area with discounted fabrics (1st class fabrics that have been discontinued or not popular or must remnants). I find wonderful buys in these areas, I too cannot afford the best of the best all of the time (specially on backs of quilts, etc……. Check out your quilt stores (even a lot of inline sources have sale fabrics that are first rate. Mitzi from Vermont

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:53:06 -0500 | From: Xenia Cord (xenia)

Here is some brief information about Marie Webster, lest we get too far afield from the facts. Marie Webster was born in 1859, made her first quilt (a crazy quilt) in 1880, but it was not until about 1905 that she began making the kinds of applique quilts that brought her fame. Around 1910 she was urged by family and friends to submit her quilt based on a naturalistic Rose of Sharon to Ladies Home Journal. The magazine was soliciting ideas for new features from its readership, and when the quilt caught the attention of editor Edward Bok, he invited her to submit other quilts for a full-color, full page display. That quilt and Iris, Snowflake, and Windblown Tulips appeared on January 1, 1911, and started a revolution in quiltmaking.

In the next 10 years she met the demand for her quilts by marketing tissue patterns with blueprint placement sheets, designed and made at least a dozen new quilts and researched and wrote “Quilts, Their Story and How to Make Them” (1915), which was the only book of quilt history until Ruth Finley wrote “Old Patchwork Quilts” in 1929.

In 1921, to meet the increasing demand for her designs, Marie and 2 others began Practical Patchwork Co., and marketed fabric kits, basted tops, and fully finished quilts in her designs, as well as the popular paper patterns. She did not retire until 1940, after which she moved to New Jersey and lived out the rest of her life in the home of her son. She died in 1956. You can do the math; Webster was well into middle age before she launched her quilt successes, and she continued her business well past current retirement age.

Copyright laws being what they were, her designs appeared in a number of places, with and without her involvement. She sold kits to Mary McIlwain’s quilt shop in Walworth, WI, and to Eleanor Beard Studios in Hardinsburg, KY. Her kits were available through Needlecraft/Home Arts magazine of Augusta, ME, so she must have had an agreement with their jobbers, although her name did not appear on the kit ads. She did, however, have at least one article published in that magazine.

In 1928, Mountain Mist produced a batting wrapper with blocks and border designs similar/identical to 3 Webster designs: Iris, Sunflower, and Windblown Tulip. By 1929, having become aware of the duplication, MM redesigned the 2 patterns to look less like Webster’s designs, but today people often confuse the two sources. Whether Webster initiated a discussion with MM concerning the similarity of their designs to hers I could not discover.

Read more: biographical sketches by granddaughter Rosalind Webster Perry appear in her “A Joy Forever: Marie Webster’s Quilt Patterns” (1992), co-authored by Marty Frolli, and in “The Quilter’s Hall of Fame,” a loose-leaf compilation of biographies of honorees of the Quilter’s Hall of Fame, housed in Webster’s restored family home in Marion, IN.

Also see Merikay Waldvogel’s article on “The Origin of Mountain Mist Patterns,” in Uncoverings 1995, volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group (ed. Virginia Gunn), 95-138.

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:55:07 -0500 | From: Newbie Richardson (pastcrafts)

Dear list, On the episodes of Project Runway I have watched, I realized that many of the assignments the contestants were/are given are much like the assignments I was given as I worked on both my BFA and MFA in theatrical costume design: design a Moliere play with only a bolt of muslin, a bolt of cheesecloth, and $50 ( I used the money for Rit Dye and ribbon) – so the producers have reached into the correct bag of tricks for the assignements. I imagine that these are the same kinds of assignments that the kids in Fashion Design and Merchandising are assigned as well. However, there is one big difference between 35 years ago ( YIKES!) and to day ( according to my friends in the Costume Society who teach design at the college level) -35 years ago, the students knew how to sew! All the design departments have had to add a crash course in garment construction to the first year curriculum in the past 8 years. I have one friend who teaches at Houston Community College, who is the sewing “Dragon Lady” – and all the kids curse her – until they move on to a four year school and realize how well prepared they are! Then they win awards, get jobs and send her flowers!

On the advice I asked for: So many thank yous – and no one gave duplicate advice – I LOVE this list!

Newbie Richardson

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:08:42 EST | From: Feedsackfanatic

By the way, Walmart is closing down their fabric departments in their stores this coming year.

Paula

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 20:20:36 -0600 | From: Rosie Werner (rwerner)

The quilt listed on ebay as a Marie Webster design is a kit from Home Needlecraft Creations and is called Regal Lily #7235. I don’t know where the number C2078 came from. Home Needlecraft Creations kits were frequently sold in Needlecraft (or Home Arts Needlecraft) magazines, though I haven’t seen this one there. Their numbering system usually included the magazine date and C2078 doesn’t fit that. Rosie Werner

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:52:39 -0900 | From: Gloria hanrahan (gloria)

Karen said, “Oh, granted. But if one is poor, one buys whatever one can, or one does > without. The stuff at Wal-Mart is pretty flimsy, but there are a lot of > people who don’t really have a choice.”

I guess I’m not seeing that quilting is a poor person’s hobby. And that’s what it is. You can buy a good wool blanket on eBay for less than $10.00 if staying warm is an issue. Even less at thrift shops.

My mom was a Depression era kid. She will make quilts out of Wal-Mart stuff and I really can’t let the family use them since they quickly show wear. She laments that she can’t afford anything better. I would gladly have one quilt out of good fabric, than a dozen made from the poor quality fabric.

For those communities which don’t have any other game in town, Wal-Mart does customize merchandise to fit local needs. I think it would be better for those communities to still receive fabric, rather than less than quality goods be everywhere. Then, those consumers could request better quality.

Gloria

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 00:19:26 -0800 | From: Alan

> Karen said, “Oh, granted. But if one is poor, one buys whatever one can, > or one does without. The stuff at Wal-Mart is > pretty flimsy, but > there are a lot of people who don’t really have a choice.”

May I step in here? Please understand I’m approaching this as a poor person. My illness in 2005 has left me disabled and I’m living on Social Security. My annual income is $12,000. (I used to earn $35,000). $1000 per month for rent, phone, storage, and whatever else I need to have. It doesn’t leave much room for the extras. What I find incredible is that $20 seems like such a huge amount to me. Someone had my bank card number this past week and used $60 – a fortune in my world. So, like anyone else, I have to hunt out fabric, notions, and art supplies that aren’t going to break the bank. I’m quite generous with myself, spending $50-$100 per month. My quilting is my life right now. $8-9 is a lot of money to have to spend per yard for fabric. You figure you need at least 7 yards of fabric per front and back. $8 x 7 is $56. $56 x 2 is $112. Add Hobbs 80/20 at Michaes at $15. Thread, probably three spools at $3-5. Say $4 x 3. So, $112 + 15 + $12 is $139 total. An awful damn lot of money for a quilt. Yeah I realize that good fabric is better. But when your income falls below the poverty line, you have to make do. I purchase fabrics from WalMart, Jo-Ann’s, and some from quilt shops (treat). I buy my Schmetz needles at WalMart ($2.50). I also scavenge fabric from old clothing. I even use old, tired quilt blocks in my bed quilts. Anyhow, I make a lot of art quilts and I’m never concerned about them lasting forever. The challenge to make something unique precludes the need for 100% cotton fabric, except when I’m painting the fabric. And one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of the women quilting are older and are married to men who make a very good living. I’m jealous \<grin>.

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:04:17 -0300 | From: Pilar Donoso

Dear List:

As a owner of a Quilt Shop in Chile, where we need to pay a LOT for shipping and taxes, I would like to add that not only there is different quality of fabrics, but different quality of service, and this is provide by a Quilting Store, not a chain store. We help people with ideas, we calculate amount of fabrics, we give encouragement and help to people, and that also have a cost. My two cents

Pilar Donoso I. Santiago, CHILE www.thequiltshop.cl

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:21:06 +0100 | From: Margareta.Faust

Good morning from Europe, Where imported quilt fabric costs almost twice as much as in the States! On the other hand, you don’t have to but a minimun half-yard in our quilt shops.

I agree with Velia. I was surprised to see the amounts of fabric people buy in the States, it’s so different from European habits. Maybe we should blame it on the rotary cutter, which makes you work mainly with straight large pieces – I think – I don’t make quilts that way. I think you can use the fabric you have in a more economic way, working with templates, piecing pieces – yes, just like in the old quilts, what we find so charming there, the ‘making do’ aspect!

Greetings, Margareta

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 07:04:44 -0500 | From: Karen Evans

I completely understand, and I agree. However, for people who must shop at Wal-Mart because of prices, a quilt shop is simply not the answer, and I very much doubt that shop owners in areas where Wal-Mart ceases to sell fabric will gain much in the way of sales. Alan is absolutely right; when it comes to paying one’s rent or spending $10 a yard for good fabric, paying the rent wins every time.

Karen

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:22:12 -0600 | From: SoldierGrrrl (soldier.grrrl)

On 12/18/06, Gloria hanrahan wrote:

As a less experienced quilter, I’m not sure that I understand what you’re saying, and what I’m getting out of this post/statement, I find sad and disturbing.

My quilt guild makes quilts for charity, for the local children’s hospital, and as a college student, spending seven to ten dollars a yard for fabric for a quilt to be donated is just a bit hard on my budget, especially if I want to make quilts for myself and my family. I also find it a bit daunting to try a new pattern on that luscious (expensive!!!) quilt store fabric, when I know that a mistake can cost me a pretty penny.

When I was living below the poverty line, I took my scraps of old sheets, shirts and other assorted garbage fabric to the local quilt store, and the ladies there encouraged me, telling me that I could still have a “rich person’s” hobby, and that they were happy to see a younger woman quilting. One of the things that always saddens me is listening to people talk about what they’d love to do, if they could just *afford* it, and that doesn’t just apply to quilting.

Just because someone is poor, they still should be encouraged, rather than simply sighed about and it iimplied that they don’t deserve to have hobbies or make beautiful things.

If I have offended you with my words, please forgive me.

Jennifer

— Blonde. It’s not just a hair color; it’s a way of life.

http://soldiergrrrl.livejournal.com/

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:47:28 -0600 | From: barbara (estephens)

I must applaud Tom in his response to the closing of Walmart’s fabric departments.

I feel that some people will stop quilting if they can’t find inexpensive fabrics. Then there are those people who know the difference and prefer constructing their quilts with the best fabric they can afford to purchase. There are also quilters who will or have switched from the lessor quality fabrics to the higher quality fabrics, making less quilts but rising their quality.

I am a quilt shop owner in a small town (less than 10,000 people) in the Midwest . This town supports a Walmart fabric department. There is also a Joane’s and Hobby Lobby within 30 miles. I stock top quality quilt fabric which cost me more per yard wholesale than what a customer pays retail at Walmart. However, my customers have found that “Walmart’s” less expensive fabric does not have the “feel” that my fabrics have. They have also found that “Walmart’s” less expensive fabric does not quilt up as nicely as the quality fabric. The quilt shop has continued to grow in sales and customers every year, even with the competion of Walmart, Joane’s and Hobby Lobby.

My concern is that quilts to charities may become limited if there is not inexpensive fabric to make them from.

Barbara

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:02:35 -0500 | From: deb

I started my quilt shop almost 12 years ago. My fabric ranges from $4.50 a yard in the sale room – stocked with a couple hundred bolts at least – to Minkee at $15. Average price for fabric is now about $8.25. Our minimum cut is 1/8th yard, except for the sale fabrics which are 1 yard minimum.

I agree with Pilar that part of what you are paying for in a quilt shop is the service. You are also paying for the ambiance & the selection.

Not every store – be it WalMart or your local quilt shop – can stock everything that would be needed to satisfy everyone. That’s why there are so many stores out there.

Rural areas will have a harder time when WalMart discontinues their fabric bolts. But it is the law of supply & demand – you can bet if the fabric department was creating the amount of money WalMart needed it to, they wouldn’t be discontinuing it. They run on such a small profit margin (made up by the vast amounts of $$$ they take in), that departments that can’t keep up have to be eliminated. WalMart can’t afford to pay for the amount of staff needed in a service industry – which the fabric stores are – & keep their small profit margin. Labor is too expensive, even at WalMart salaries.

I think quilt shops are being painted with too broad of a brush here. There are many, many quilt shops who realize that quilters come in at all spending levels & stock their stores accordingly. Most quilt shop owners are small business owners working very hard to satisfy all their customers AND make a living themselves. Believe me when I say, most shop owners are not raking in big bucks & driving Mercedes.

Fabric is expensive. Gorgeous fabric is expensive, it’s printed overseas & that just adds to the cost. Most fabric printed in the US no longer can compete with fabrics printed in Japan & Korea. Our fabric industry didn’t/wouldn’t put the money into updating mills that had been around since the 1800s – it was cheaper to send it overseas, so they did. Labor is cheaper there too.

Give the local quilt shop another chance. They just might have a sale department or run sales where you can get good quality fabric at the price you need to.

Debbie Quilting Possibilities Forked River, NJ

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 06:51:35 -0800 (PST) | From: Ark Quilts (quiltarkmv)

Just a few comments re: Pepper’s Request for Input. I was thrilled to death when they opened a WalMart that is 12 minutes from my house and where I could stop there on my way home from work. If I need a spool of thread, I have to drive a minimum of 25-30 miles one way to get it at a Joann Fabrics. In order to get to a real quilt shop, I have to drive 150, 190, or 200 miles round trip. The only quilt shop in this county has been gradually going out of business. Their inventory is dated and you have to be careful that what you buy isn’t faded. They usually buy some of the new lines each year, but not very much. The last time they ran a sale ad in the local paper I was the only one who showed up for the sale!! But if you are intent on finishing all of the UFO’s snarked away in storage like I am, it helps to find the “older” stuff because it matches better than some of the newer lines / colors.

The county I live in has fewer people per square mile than any other county in the state of Ohio. They also have the largest amount of land devoted to agriculture and there is NO farm supply store located in the county!! My husband and I get roaringly sarcastic and humorous about that particular condition because we have to make a minimum 50 mile round trip to get supplies for our goats / sheep or every time we go somewhere, we take a long shopping list that requires us to stop & shop at several different places along the way.

Due to the higher cost of quilting fabric, I buy less yardage and more fat quarter packs. When I want to finish a project, I go back and get the yardage for borders, settings, etc. But generally, I buy less fabric and only buy yardage in order to complete a project. Since fabric stores are so far away, I probably buy more small fabric packs through mail order places like Connecting Threads, Keepsake Quilting, Clotilde’s, Hancock Fabrics, etc.

Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks– Connie Ark NW Ohio

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:11:09 -0600 | From: Gail Ingram (gingram)

Maybe it’s just that I haven’t had my second cup of coffee or that I had a late night, but I found myself re-reading some of the recent postings regarding fabric choices, being more than mildly surprised at how unaware we often are of the real world that makes possible the Wal-Marts, at how fragmented and isolated by economics we must have become.

In an era when one cannot open her mouth without offending some special “class,” we say, ‘oh sure, if one is poor, she buys whatever she can….’—just toss it off like that, casually and without a lot of awareness of the context and without apparent feeling. That rather shocks my ancient sensibilities.

I personally detest abstractions that permit us to ignore the individuality and complexity of the person, object, or experience–To dismiss the complexity of the world in which we live. And I personally see in all the blather of PC many who are simply seeking to salve some vague guilt they do not feel but think they should feel. So my thoughts tend not to drift in such a direction anyway.

I detest going to Wal-Mart. I detest the array of useless plastic that fills aisles there. I hate the poor service I find at Wal-Mart. And though I know the phenomenon is ancient, I hate the way the mega-store tends to drive the small business person out of business and erode a community.

But I know Wal-Mart exists in a market economy and thus serves some purpose that many find useful. It is the example par excellence of American free enterprise and of Americans’ taste for excess. We are a throwaway society, a fragmented society where people can live in their MacMansions and ignore the riff-raff outside the manned gates. And the riff-raff outside the gates, who visually have a harder time ignoring these space-taking structures, rarely encounter those mega-home owners. So everyone classifies and deracinates and thus feels fine, hating or loving abstractly.

In this season when the Western World is called to remember the intersection of the Divine and mundane in the universe, the lights that would not go out and the lights that entered a darkened world, I think Alan’s and Velia’s postings should force each of us to get off her cloud or out of her ivory tower or up from her basement studio and take a long, hard look at the world around us. Maybe this would be a good time for each of us to give a quilt shop gift certificate to someone who cannot easily afford quilt-shop prices.

Don’t know anybody like that?

Go to Wal-Mart and look at that person who is fingering fabric. Get out into the community and get to know somebody who operates on a different budget and different ideas.

Alan, I am so grateful you took the time to write! You too, Velia.

Gail Ingram

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:53:24 -0500 | From: Candace Perry (candace)

Though I am NOT a quilter (you would not want anything I sewed) I have a suggestion…I don’t know if it’s workable… What about some sort of online fabric co-op, where people can trade quilting fabric? There may have to be a shipping cost involved but I was thinking a give one get one kind of thing…and of course some ambitious soul would have to run it. It might be a way to get good “vetted” fabric in the hands of those who can’t get to better stores, and perhaps can make do with some leftovers… I dunno…remember, I don’t quilt. Candace Perry (and Gail that was a marvelous post)

—–Original Message—– From: Gail Ingram Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 9:11 AM To: Quilt History List Subject: [qhl] Oh, yes, well the poor…..

Don’t know anybody like that?

Go to Wal-Mart and look at that person who is fingering fabric. Get out into the community and get to know somebody who operates on a different budget and different ideas.

Alan, I am so grateful you took the time to write! You too, Velia.

Gail Ingram

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:51:17 -0800 (PST) | From: Kris Driessen (krisdriessen)

As most of you know, in addition to the Quiltbus, I own a quilt shop too. As fascinated as I am by this topic, I wonder if it is really history related?

Actually, I think it is. Our ancestors did not have the choice of quilt shop vs Walmart, but they did have the choice of good quality fabric (i.e. clothing fabric) vs cheap fabric. We will probably never know how many cheap quilts were made – my assumption is that they would have been made quickly for warmth and used up along the way. I don’t imagine many cheap quilts survived, although the ones that did will tell us a lot about the life and times of the people who made them.

I have the sense that the antique quilts we study were the ones made of good quality fabric by people who were artists. Now, I am sure they didn’t call themselves artists, but you can’t look at the dynamic interplay of colors and quilting on some antique quilts and not realize the maker had talent. These survived to become heirlooms because of their beauty and the fact the maker cared enough to use quality. Note I am not saying expensive. There is no doubt in my mind that some quilts are made from fabrics left over from garment making.

Today we live in a slightly different world. If a quilter wants warmth, they buy a blanket. If they want decoration, an imported quilt is cheaper (in both senses of the word) than a handmade one. We aren’t likely to use up fabric left over from garment making in a quilt, so why do we sew?

In my opinion – and only my opinion – everyone that sews today is expressing their creativity. For that reason, I am sad to see Walmarts close their fabric department. There *are* people who choose lesser quality fabric for any number of reasons, only one of them being price. You can get good quality fabric at Walmarts if you know what you are doing.

And that’s the key. If sewing and quilting are actually increasing in popularity, why is Walmart closing their fabric area? Think it through – fabric is a department where you must always have a knowledgeable clerk. In an area where you are already selling merchandise at a near-cost level, how do you save money?

This is the reason quilt shops don’t carry inexpensive fabric (a generalization if there ever was one!) I only have so much time in a day. If I want to make money, do I want to invest that time processing a sale of quality fabric that will make someone happy or inexpensive fabric that will require lots of remedial work and maybe even a refund when people become unhappy with their project? As anyone who has ever worked in retail knows, it is never the customers fault.

As I reread this note, I see my train of thought has completely derailed. I really did intend to keep this note history related, so I will leave you at this station.

Kris

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 8:39:47 -0800 | From: Karen Evans

Good idea, and I’ve seen swaps like this on LiveJournal and other social networking sites. However, Internet access in the rural areas served by many Wal-Marts is sporadic and often expensive, plus a lot of people don’t have PCs. Maybe setting up a network aimed at churches with sewers’/quilters’/knitters’ guilds might be a better idea?

Karen Evans

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:51:30 -0600 | From: Andi (andi0613)

I’m in the process of finalizing the articles line up for the next issue of Pieces of Time: A Quilt and Textile History Magazine. A review of Barbara Brackman’s “Facts and Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery”” would be most welcome. In fact, any quilt or textile history book review, American, European, Asian – from anywhere, any time period – is welcome. We only publish twice a year, so including more than one review per issue is our goal.

The deadline I’m working on is February 1, 2007. I know many of us have not yet received BB’s latest tome, but I pre-ordered from Amazon, had it in hand last week and hope others have read it by now. I’m happy, as always, to write up whatever the magazine needs, but it seems to me the world is a richer place if we have many voices speaking about quilt history, so if you’re interested, please email me offline at andi0613 I’ll send you writer’s and photographer’s guidelines in an attachment.

It is my personal goal to offer PoT as a publishing outlet for those of us who are not regularly published or are not trying to make a living writing (as we only pay in two free copies of the issue in which your article appears). If you’re a bookworm but not a writer or just passionate about a particular volume (Gail’s review of Laurel Horton’s book on Mary Black comes to mind), please consider this an open invitation to share your interests and opinions with a wider world. Also, if you have an opinion to express, we run an occasional column, “Threads,” for editorials and letters. Bring ’em on!

Andi in Keota, Iowa

for Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group, also working on a national review of regional quilt study groups and interested in hearing from you if you haven’t been in touch with me already. If you have, I’ll be getting back to you soon.

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:21:51 -0800 (PST) | From: Judy Schwender (sister3603)

Hello all, I have read all the replies to date concerning the possible impact of WalMart closing its fabric departments. There is a lot to think about. I may repeat some concepts others have mentioned, but in a different light. Here are my thoughts.

More often than not, the thread count is low and yarn size is small in fabrics from WalMart.(WM) Also, compare the “same” print from a quilt shop and WalMart. Along the selvege are colored circles with numbers in them: this is the number of screens used in printing the fabric (most fabrics today are printed with screens.) The “same” print from WM will have fewer screens than the quilt shop version. The WM print will lack the subtlety and depth of the quilt shop version. So, all around you have an inferior piece of goods. The lower thread count and smaller yarn size will not wear as well as the quilt shop version. My feeling is that if I spend 200++ hours making a quilt, I’d like it to last longer than 5-10 years.

A lot of printed goods are printed overseas. Most of the greige good come from China and elsewhere overseas. Take a look on the bolt end of the fabrics you buy: you will most often find that the fabric comes from Asia. Why? Cloth weaving and finishing can be cheap but usually at the expense of the environment and workers. The US has laws (and wages) whose end result is that the fabric comes from Asia. (Particularly, cotton agriculture is not typically environmentally friendly.)

(For an interesting piece on thread go to http://www.ylicorp.com/pdf/tot-brochure.pdf)

I do understand that charity quilts may take a hit due to price. In that case, it’s time to begin utilizing used clothing for quilt fabric. Since it has been worn and washed so much it is probably already at the strength of the WM inexpensive fabrics, and so should last about as long. Also, I guarantee that most quilters could likely pull 5-10 yards of “never gonna use this” fabrics from their stash; most of us have bought stuff we swore we’d use and now can’t stand. Dig in your stash and donate to whatever group in your area makes charity quilts.

Someone mentioned the service provided by quilt shops, particularly figuring yardage. THAT is where a quilt shop beats a chain, and easily. THAT is where the quilt shop will survive. As a former wholesale fabric sales rep who sold to independent fabric shops, I tell you that those who polished up their class schedule and service when a WM came into their town survived and have done well.

“Quilt shops need to start stocking less expensive fabric. I’m not saying “cheap,” not by any stretch, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I *cannot* afford $8-10 fabric for quilts.”

The two previous paragraphs are part of why I predict that the overall price of cotton print goods for sale in the US will go up before WM closes its cut fabric operations. This is due to one result that no one has touched on. When goods are produced in bulk, their price goes down. When the volume of production decreases, the price goes up. WM, Ben Franklin, JoAnnes, and all the chains create enough bulk demand for printed cotton goods that, in effect, they subsidize the industry. The overall price for printed cotton goods will go up before WM actually closes its fabric departments because the textile industry revolves around future orders. And you can bet that the mills know NOW that WM won’t be buying more.

Quilt shops are a hobbyist supplier. As such, they tap into discretionary income. I predict quilt shops will survive, but only if they are well-run businesses in the first place, and provide the service that the hobbyist demands. Quilt shops that are a hobby for the owner who keeps her receipts and invoices in a paper grocery sack all year until April 14 (been there, saw that when I was a sales rep) won’t survive. (I have also worked in a quilt shop, and taught piecing classes.)

During the Great Depression, great quilts were made, often by “poor” quiltmakers. We found fabrics then. We’ll find fabrics again.

Nothing stays the same. Will this change be good for quilting? Time will tell. Mark the year in your calendar- quilt historians will talk about this in 50 years!

Judy Schwender

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:58:15 -0600 | From: Gail Ingram (gingram)

Are there any Georgians on this list who can tell us if the GA Quilts book is in local bookstores now and if so, how one might secure a copy?

Or can anyone else help with this question.

Certainly would make a great Christmas gift, if it’s available. Amazon lists it as 2007 arrival.

Thanks in advance, Gail

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:04:49 -0800 | From: Karen Evans

One big problem with “we found fabrics before, we’ll find fabrics again”:

Depression-era quilters had a ready source of cotton goods in the cloth used to package flour, sugar, and animal feed. These goods are now packaged in plastic or paper. Also, cheap clothing was made of cotton 60 years ago. Now it’s more often made of blends, synthetics, and t-shirt knits. Most of these fabrics aren’t really useable for quilting, whether they’re worn or not.

Karen Evans

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:29:05 -0800 (PST) | From: Judy Schwender (sister3603)

Hi all- Good points.

Once when I worked at Montana PBS, the assisant programming director always wore wonderful printed cotton short-sleeved shirts. Whenever I saw him I would finger the hem of the sleeve and say, “When you are done with this shirt, I want it.” One day he came into work with 6 shirts on coat hangers for me. As he was not a tiny thing, there is nearly a yard in the back of each shirt.

And I know that everyone can’t do this. Obviously you can’t get fabric in this manner for today’s quilt ‘recipes’ as found in magazines and books. Makes me understand more clearly why scrap quilts such as Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Fans, and Double Wedding Ring were so popular during the depression, and pre-rotary cutter.

How will this play out, do you think?

Judy Schwender

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:36:54 -0500 | From: kldev

Dear Friends,

I will be traveling from NJ to southwest Florida along Rt. 95 in January with my husband. If anyone knows of any quilt shops, exhibits or antique shops that are worth stopping for a visit, I would greatly appreciate the info!!!

Happy Holidays to all! Karen

Karen Dever S

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:40:27 -0900 | From: Gloria hanrahan (gloria)

Barbara said, “My concern is that quilts to charities may become limited if there is not inexpensive fabric to make them from.”

My concern is charity quilts made from these inexpensive fabrics. We have frequent discussion of charity work within my monthly quilting group. Two of us feel strongly that quilts made from poor quality goods are ready for the trash in a year, while a warm blanket will hold up much better. I think it depends upon what the goal of the charity quilt is–to keep someone warm or to make the person feel special? The two of us would rather do face to face volunteer work and buy a warm blanket. My mother makes quilts for my cousin’s mission in Mexico and I have to wonder how long any of them last. I’ve tried to get her to use at least a poly blend, but she won’t.

The two of us will participate in a group quilt which is being auctioned, but the charity group rarely makes what we have invested in supplies, let alone effort. Since the purpose was to raise funds for the charity, I think we all would have been better making a donation to the charity.

I started quilting as a way to keep busy while unemployed 20 years ago. My first thought, even then, was that this was no inexpensive hobby! I know many, many quilters (and they do charity quilts) who have entire rooms in their homes filled with fabrics. They have a huge investment in their stash, so while we may have poor quilters, I believe we have many more who spend heavily on this hobby. Rich or poor, I still feel that this is a hobby.

People can continue to create beautiful items. They always have.

Gloria

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:47:00 +0000 | From: jocelynm

>Are there any Georgians on this list who can tell us if the GA Quilts book >is in local bookstores now and if so, how one might secure a copy? > Gail, Well, you had me going with that subject line. I read it as ‘GA’ as in the Southern Baptist Church’s Girls Auxilary! I don’t know if it’s still around- I haven’t been SB since the 1960s. 🙂 But my older sister made a lovely GA tablecloth, in the GA colors of yellow and purple. I remember inheriting a huge selection of shades of purple she’d used in embroidering amap of the world in the middle. 🙂 Is there any evidence of quilts made to honor organizations and societiesother than Easter Star?

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:14:19 EST | From: Feedsackfanatic

Gail,

Anita Weinraub is in my guild, and if she’s there tomorrow, I’ll ask her about the book. If she isn’t there, I’ll send her an email and report back to the forum. I just checked www.bestbookbuys.com, and it says it’s not yet published. Overstock.com has it listed for $22.91.

Paula in GA

December 17 – 18, 2006

June 29 – July 2, 2004

September 8 – 11, 2003

April 21 – 26, 2004

February 3 – 6, 1999

April 5 – 17, 2001

June 11 – 15, 2000

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