What's up with Fabric Prices??

Have you gotten "sticker shock" buying fabric lately? The prices on cotton fabric have been rising steadily for the last year or two. Just four years ago, my average price per yard was in the $8 range, and now it is in the $10 range--Ouch! So what's up, and will prices keep going up?

Cotton--isn't it pretty?!

Let's start with WHY prices are going up. It's largely due to the weakening dollar and that old "supply and demand" rule. Premium goods are printed in Korea and Japan where the dollar is weak. Of course we have yet to see what the tsunami will do to affect prices on goods coming out of Japan. We are also in the midst of a two-year, world-wide cotton shortage. Crops have been hit with a string of bad harvests; India and China, the two largest suppliers, have either stopped or are restricting their exportation because of increasing consumption by their own people. Starting to get an idea of what's going on here??

Yummy!

 The quilting industry is actually quite small comparatively, and it takes specialized print mills to produce the yummy designs that we crave. At one time there were about 25 mills that could produce our prized quilting fabrics, but now there are only 10! Customs costs have increased because when the fabric arrives here, customs is based on the higher price of goods--a double whammy.  Shipping costs continue to rise as gas prices rise. Anything made with cotton is being affected, and retailers such as Levi's hint at price increases as they struggle with the same issues. It all sounds pretty ominous, doesn't it?!

Well, I think it's about time to hear some good news, don't you? Thankfully, there IS some good news. First off, this is not the first time there has been a sharp rise in cotton prices. Interestingly, cotton increased from $0.10/lb to $1.89/lb during the American Civil War in the 1860s. Since America was the largest producer of cotton at the time, about 2.5 million bales of cotton were burned to create the shortage in a failed attempt to draw Europe to it's defense. Prices returned to "normal" after 15 months or so.

Yummy, too!

Secondly, when we consider inflation in our data, we find that prices for cotton during the last decade were historically low. Data suggests that quilt fabric prices have gone up about 44% in 20 years. Sounds high, huh? But wait a minute--how about that loaf of bread you bought at the grocery store. Did you realize that's gone up 284% in the same amount of time? And the ground beef you're having for dinner this week--that's gone up 270%. Bought a new car recently? Cars have gone up an average of 65%. Hmmm, I'll take that 44%!

So what does this all mean? There really is a valid reason for the prices to go up. When you bundle the worldwide shortage, the increasing costs of doing business, and inflation, it only makes sense that prices have to go up. Will they come back down? Maybe, but probably not to the $8 a yard range; however, to keep things in perspective, a quilt that uses 10 yards of fabric to complete at $8 a yard would cost $80; at current average prices of $10 per yard, it would cost $100. That's only $20 more. Here's hoping the higher cost of goods will not prevent us from seeing the larger picture and doing what we love!

Have any thoughts on the subject? I'd love to hear them!

Resources for this post are:

1. "Cotton Prices: Historical Data and Shopowner Perspectives" from FabShopNews Magazine, February 2011
2.  "Wondering what's up with cotton prices?" by Jim Salinas from American Quilt Retailer, January 2011
3.  "What's Up with Cotton?" industry leaders' statements compiled by Susan Fuquay for American Quilt Retailer, March 1, 2011
4.  "Flashback to 1870 as Cotton Hits Peak" by Adam Cancryn and Carolyn Cui from the Wall Street Journal Online, October 16, 2010

Favorite Patterns Sale

Looking for some inspiration? Take advantage of our sale on patterns this week!

 

We have marked down some of our best sellers by 15%, and I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will spark your creativity. Sale ends Wednesday night, and is only good for items in stock. See all sale items HERE!  We're also taking pre-orders on Studio Kat's newest pattern, Quattro, which is due in stores in April. Have YOU used any of these patterns? Leave a comment on what you liked / didn't like below.

   

Mission Accomplished: Total Surprise!

SeaVenture Hotel, Pismo Beach, CA

Our Room--Rose petals on floor!

YUM! We devoured 2 before I could take a pic!

Breakfast delivered to our room in lovely basket

Ever tried to keep a secret from your significant other--especially when 3 kids are in on it? Well, our 15 year anniversary is this week, but we were booked up for the next few weekends with "stuff", so hubby had resigned himself to just eating out on our anniversary as there was no way to fit in a get-away. That's when I decided I would see if I could surprise him!

The only thing I could "wiggle" out of was my piano-playing with the worship team for church this Sunday, so I got an excused absence from the leader. That was the start. For the hotel, I decided to go with one of our favorites, the SeaVenture in Pismo Beach, CA.

Since I was feeling especially giddy about how surprised my husband would be, I also booked the Anniversary Package which included rose petals, a long stem rose, balloons, a bottle of wine, and breakfast in bed. Now it was time to keep it under wraps!

View from our balcony

Finally the big day came, and none of the kids (or myself!) had "spilled the beans" and told him. But now it was time to tell him, and I still hadn't decided how. My middle daughter and I had whispered conversations all morning trying to figure it out. She suggested I just pack stuff, stick it in the trunk when he wasn't looking, then somehow get him to go with me. That's exactly what ended up happening, although I was scared he would look in the bathroom and see the toothbrushes, etc, missing and figure something was up.

Surfer with Pismo Beach Pier in background

We decided to get some fresh air by going to get some coffee, and I had to convince him to take my car since that's where the suitcase was! After coffee, we headed back to the car, where I programed the hotel's address into our GPS. He was busy talking and didn't even notice! As we're leaving the parking lot, he said, "Do you want to go anywhere else?" and right then, the GPS spoke up and said, "Take second left." I said, "Follow the GPS!"

Sand dollar on beach

He was totally clueless as to where we were going, and even when we arrived, he thought I had only made dinner reservations. It was great to see his face when I told him I had booked a room. One of those "priceless" moments in life. :-)

Pismo Beach

So, hope you enjoy the pictures of our hotel and of Pismo Beach. Do you have any Surprises you'd like to share?

Contest Update & Restocks

Woohoo! We've had two winners so far in our New Blog Contest! They are Sweetlilcraft Collections and nedyess. They have both received a $10 Gift Card to FabricLovers.com. We still have a week to pick some more winners, so make sure you're a Follower of this Blog and spread the word! (see contest rules here)

We have just restocked these ever-popular prints from Michael Miller called China Doll and Chinese Kids. Both are also available as fat quarters. Way too cute!

China Dolls

Chinese Kids

Have you used these prints in something? Leave a comment below. We'd love to get a picture from you and share it with everyone.

New Alexander Fabric!

We have a lot of fans of Alexander Henry's fabrics, and we just love them, too! In fact, it's hard to keep them in stock sometimes. They have just released some new Mexican and Japanese prints that are so beautiful and full of color, I just had to share them--enjoy!

El Burrito

 Rosita

Cancun

Guadalajara

And for the Japanese prints, check out these lovely designs:

 Bonsai Bridge

Harajuku Lady 

Harajuku Lady

Harajuku Peony

Of course, one can't look at these lovely Japanese prints without thinking of the tragedy going on in Japan right now. You should know that one of the things FabricLovers was founded on was giving back, and we have already sent money to The Salvation Army to help with the needs in Japan; however, now through the end of March, we will donate an extra 5% of sales (over and above our normal giving) of any of the fabrics under our "Oriental" category to help the Japanese relief efforts.

Our Blog Contest still continues! We've had our first winner of a $10 Gift Card to FabricLovers.com--would you like to be next? Make sure you have signed up as a Follower of our Blog; and if you'd like an extra chance to win, tell your quilting/sewing friends about our Blog, then be sure to leave a comment saying you've done so. That will get you an extra entry! See the previous Blog post for all of the details.

New Blog Contest

Ok, so after 4 years of "should I, shoudn't I" I have finally taken the leap and started a FabricLovers blog! It's pretty exciting, and now I wish I hadn't waited so long to get started--but as they say, better late than never, so let's hope that holds true. :-)  Now the biggest challenge is letting people know about the blog, so I've designed a cool (at least I think it's cool!) contest to get the word out. I'm going to give away a $10 gift certificate to FabricLovers.com every time we hit 10 new followers on the blog. How it will work is as we reach 10, 20, 30, etc., number of followers, I will randomly select one of those followers to win a gift certificate. So the earlier you join as a follower, the more chances you will have to win as your name will stay active for the drawing until you win or the contest ends! We'll run this contest through March, so here's hoping we add lots of followers and have lots of winners. And be sure to pass the word along to your quilting friends since the more who follow, the more chances to win. It's definitely one of those win/win situations everyone enjoys.

In fact, let's up the stakes a little bit, ok? If you forward the contest info to a friend (or two, or three!), leave a comment below, and I'll add in another chance for you to win. Sound good?

*************NEWSFLASH*************
We have our second winner picked by Random.org--congratulations go to nedyess! I've sent you an email, nedyess, with your Gift Card code. If you did not receive it, let me know.

We have our first winner picked by Random.org--it's Sweetlilcraft Collections! Congratulations! Sweetlilcraft Collections, I've sent you an email with your Gift Card code. If you did not receive it, let me know.

AccuQuilt Barn Quilt Contest Just Announced!

Did you know the Barn Quilt Movement is a new one, having been initiated in October 2001? And did you realize it started when Donna Sue Groves of Adams County, Ohio, had the desire to paint a quilt block on the ugly barn on her property to make it more appealing? AccuQuilt joined in the movement, and has just announced their 2nd Annual Barn Quilt Contest! It kicks off this Monday, March 14, and runs through Sunday, April 10th. Last year they received over 400 entries in the few weeks the contest was open, and I'm sure there will be even more this year. What are the perks for entering? Well, how about:

• 1st Place: $1,000 AccuQuilt Shopping Spree along with a trip for two 

       to AccuQuilt for the design unveiling
• 2nd Place: $250 AccuQuilt Gift Certificate
• 3rd Place: $100 AccuQuilt Gift Certificate

Sounds fun, huh?? To learn more about the contest or more about barn quilts, head on over to their site at: accuquilt.com/barnquilt 

So how about you--are you up the challenge? Be sure to post if you will be taking part so we can root for you! And to check out our AccuQuilt products, click here.