Hello everyone! Was wondering if anyone knows places in the New England area where one can buy inexpensive quilt fabric (seconds, fabric by the pound, etc). I'm a regular at Mardens (they love to see me coming) and was looking for other similar places. Thanks in advance! Patti in Topsham Maine
Everyone's mileage may vary on this. I've found that WalMart now carries some decent quality 100% cottons, ranging in price (depending on if you buy them from the sale table or the main wall) from $2 (sale table) to around $4-$5 on the main wall. I know a lot of WalMarts have lost their fabric/craft departments though, and that's probably not what you're looking for. I live in a small town, where there aren't any fabric stores at all (WalMart is 25 miles away...the Amish quilt store is 15 miles away). Any actual quilt stores (besides the Amish one, which isn't the same as an LQS) are at least 2 hours from me.
Fabric Depot was always a good place to hit when I lived in Portland (Oregon, not Maine). I know nothing about anything in New England other than I want to visit Nashua, NH someday.
Hugs, Tigg (probably not at all helpful)
Right now, Martin's, in Bedford, NH, has 30% to 50% off the entire store. They have a good selection, too. Otherwise, I don't know of any other place with less expensive fabric, other than Joanne's.
Bedford is in Southern NH between Manchester and Nashua. If you want directions, e-mail me at this address.
Denise
Hey Tigg, why do you want to visit Nashua, NH?? It's my hometown, just
3 or 4 miles from where I am now in Merrimack, NH. It's a great town, voted best place to live in the US, more than once. If you ever get over here, please let me know. Although there are no quilt stores in Nashua, there are quite a few in the surounding towns. I'd be more than happy to show you around.Denise
Depends on your idea of what 'inexpensive' is. Earlier this year I ventured into Thousands of Bolts & Only One Nut. I found a glorious gorgeous PURPLE there - Raindrops by P & B that you can pay $8 or so per yard elsewhere. Thousands had it for $ 3.95. I have no clue how they have such prices and remain suspicious. So far, I've been very pleased. Since I try to make about a hundred crib quilts a year for the shelters, I try to get the best possible - fabric and price. Polly
My son lives in Nashua! Pretty area- I visited in the autumn and the trees were turning colors and I *love* the old houses and barns and the historical buildings. But the roads are crazy and confusing and the people drive very fast. I couldn't live there... and the cost of living is prohibitive as well.
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
I have ordered fabric online from a quilt shop in Nashua... maybe they are internet sales only?
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
Bless you, Polly, for your kind and very, very generous heart. I did the math and I *think* that's about a finished quilt every 3.5 days??? (Then there's also the dresses and sleepers and booties you make- my word!!!) You are truly an amazing little lady! Of course, you have Yogi to assist and that gives you an advantage..... I think? LOL
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3131.bay.webtv.net...
Thank you, dear friend, but amazing is not the word. Just very grateful for our blessings. And yes, there's Yogi to assist. He yawns and blinks and stretches when it's time for our nap - or gently paws at my foot control foot when it's time to get up and go for a 'pull'. I was wondering at the thread of 'dog walking'. Would you Dare take your big sweet furry darlings all for a walk? Since you've had parts replaced, oh my, I do hope not. Polly
Funny story... before I adopted Teddy I had to go thru a big investigation and a long phone interview and fill out pages long forms and all kinds of stuff before they decided I was suitable to adopt from them. They phoned my vet- and then turned me down for adopting Teddy because my other three dogs' shots were not current! (They were only six weeks past due- not a terrible sin.) I thought the former husband had taken them for their annual shots, but it turned out to be a mis-communication. So- like right that minute- I loaded the current three dogs into my truck and off we went to the vet's office for shots. All three. At once.
I received many compliments from the vets and their employees and the other 'customers' as my dogs sat waiting patiently and quietly for about 40 min. for us to be worked in. Then we walked down the hall in a mob to the scales for weighing one at a time (each stepped up in their turn and sat nicely and waited while the scales did their thing) and then to the exam room- and still acted mannerly while being 'stabbed'. One vet watched us walk back down the hall to the cashier and said "I'd like to see you do that on roller skates!" They sat next to me while the bill was totaled up and I wrote out the check. The HairyButts were little (they range from 65 to 90 lbs.- Teddy is 100 lbs.) angels and I handled all three just fine.
The vet's office called the Humane Society and bragged on the three dogs and their manners/training and their cleanliness and grooming and my handling of them and verified they now had their shots. I was finally approved for Teddy's adoption- HairyButt #4. But, ya know what? NONE of my sassy, silly, beloved mutts walks worth a hoot on a leash! It was a miracle that they behaved- all in unison, no less- for ONCE in their pampered, indulged lives... and the ONE time it really, really mattered!
There *is* hope! But I will not tempt fate and ever try that again.....
Leslie & The Naughty Furbabies in MO.
I believe, Leslie, that each of us has Guardian Angels. You're really pushing yours, you know that? Polly
"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." Funny story... before I adopted Teddy I had to go thru a big investigation
ge
Just had to jump in here after Leslie's tale (or is that tail?). I had to take the 2 furkids to the vet just a week or so ago. We have a colony of feral cats on the property that we're trying to trap and give to animal control. One of the young ones wandered into the yard late one night while the dogs were out for their late night potty trip. Not a good combo. Kitty initially survived the encounter but not long term. Since it was feral it was recommended that pooches come in for new rabies shots even though theirs were current. My 'old man' is a 100 lb., 11 yr. old very gimpy choc. lab. The 'beasty girl' is a 80 lb. 4 yr. old choc. lab. By admission we've not worked overly much w/the girl. And she is ONLY 4 yr. old lab. That should explain alot. Our vet has walk in hrs. Both dogs in the truck. Both get very excited to go anywhere. NOT well behaved that day at all. They are just too happy. Sign in went reasonably well - thankfully no weigh in that day. The resounding comment through the entire process
- 'you certainly have your hands full, don't you'. I hate having to go to the vet by myself. The old one is just so nervous the entire time and the young one just wants to greet/play with everyone - regardless of species.
It seems that most of their fabrics are "out of season". The others may be over productions. The one time I found something I really needed there (not merely wanted), it was to fill in for a kit I'd bought over a year earlier and had been shorted the fabric. The store where I bought it had long been out of it.
Linda PATCHogue, NY
Just things I've read make it sound like a nice place to visit.
I'm actually working on a story where the main couple lives in Nashua. Good to know I have some details right (like the people drive really fast), with the only things I know having been a bit of research done on the internet. :D And before anyone asks, I write for fun and no one ever reads anything (at least not much of anything, there have been a few stories I've written for creative writing classes that some of my quilting friends have read (well, they had to because I stuck them in one of them. ;) ). Maybe someday I'll write a novel.
Hugs, Tigg
Ooh! Can I come too? The only shops in that area that I know are the ones that were on the Spring "North of Boston Shop Around" and they weren't terribly close to Nashua. All of them were very nice and one or two are certainly among my favorites but I would like to know about more :-) My DH and I frequently shop in the Nashua/Hudson area for almost everything. He is never averse to visiting quilt shops either.
Rita L. P.S. I th>
HELLO neighbor! I live over in Brunswick! It's great to know there's another RCTQ'r nearby. Mardens (Lewiston) is probably the best/cheapest place..... sometimes Grand City down here in Brunswick has some good stuff that's on clearance... ME-Judy
Yes, Nashua and the surrounding areas are very pretty. But I don't understand what's crazy and confusing about our roads. The people driving too fast were probably from Massachusetts. ; o) I very much agree that the cost of living is high, we pay $6,000 a year for house taxes.
I've never lived more than 6 miles away from the hospital I was born in (Nashua) and neither has my husband, so I guess I don't have anything to compare with.
---------------------------------------------- My son lives in Nashua! Pretty area- I visited in the autumn and the trees were turning colors and I *love* the old houses and barns and the historical buildings. But the roads are crazy and confusing and the people drive very fast. I couldn't live there... and the cost of living is prohibitive as well. Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
Denise
Yup, internet only. There is a Joanne's, that's it. No quilt shops in the second largest city in NH, doesn't make sense. There are quite a few in the surrounding areas though, one just down the street from me in Merrimack. And within an hour and a half I can be at Keepsake Quilts up North.
-------------------------------------------- I have ordered fabric online from a quilt shop in Nashua... maybe they are internet sales only? Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
Denise
NH Quilt Emporium, which I could walk to if I was ambitious , isn't in Nashua, it's in Merrimack, right on the border with Nashua. One of the "online" only shops now located in Nashua is "The Little Quilt Store". Maybe that's the one Leslie shopped at.
-------------------------------------------
Denise
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.