If you’re starting quilting as a hobby or a way to make money, you will need quilting fabric. As the name implies, quilting fabric is a fabric that is specially designed for quilting. It’s typically made from cotton but is denser and thicker than regular cotton. Brick-and-mortar retail stores have a selection of quilting fabrics, but you’re likely to find a bigger selection online. So what are the best online quilting fabric stores?
The best quilting fabric stores online include:
- Spoonflower
- Joann
- Organic Cotton Plus
- I Want Fabric
- Fat Quarter Shop
- Alewives Fabrics
- Bloomerie Fabrics
- Mood Fabrics
- Fabric Spark
- Fabric Bubb
- Girl Charlee
- Hawthorne Threads
- Kate Quilts
- Fabric Worm
- Shabby Fabrics
This is not an all-inclusive list, but rather the most well-known stores or stores with the widest selection of quilting fabric.
In this article, we’ll look at each one of these stores in more detail. I’ll give you a little bit of information about each store and what they offer as far as quilting fabric goes. Finally, I’ll give you a few pointers on how to buy quilting fabric.
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Best Quilting Fabric Stores Online
1. Spoonflower
Spoonflower offers various custom-made fabrics, wallpapers, and even some ready-made custom placemats, bedding, etc. They also sell a wide selection of quilting fabric by various independent designers, so you won’t find these patterns anywhere else. Examples include florals, checkerboard patterns, and cute animal prints such as chickens, frogs, dragonflies, cats, and more. You can also buy a sample pack with swatches of all their fabrics if you’re having trouble choosing.
2. Joann
Joann is one of the better-known fabric stores. Although you’ll find a selection of quilting fabrics in their physical store locations, you’ll find an even wider selection online. Joann is a great place to shop if you want quality quilting fabric in cute designs and patterns but want to save a little money. They run sales often and you can sometimes find fabrics for as cheap as $5.99 per yard. Choose from florals, plaids, special holiday designs, and more.
3. Organic Cotton Plus
Organic Cotton Plus is a great online store to buy quilting fabric. But they also sell other supplies you’ll need for quilting, such as thread, batting, and backing, through their website’s “Quilting Corner” page. All of the quilting fabrics are made from 100% organic cotton. The website is well-organized by fabric types such as muslin, sateen, broadcloth, etc. Then you can choose the fabric pattern or color based on the type of fabric that you choose. And if you buy more than 4 yards of fabric, the price per yard decreases according to how many yards you buy.
4. I Want Fabric
I Want Fabric is a fabric store based out of Great Britain, but they ship to the United States and many other countries around the world. Visit the Craft and Quilting tab on their website to see a selection of quilting fabrics, but they also have a small selection of fat quarter bundles and batting. You can also shop by color if there’s a specific color you’re looking for. You can also find 100% cotton fabrics at really low prices on this site.
5. Fat Quarter Shop
Fat quarters can make quilting easy, and Fat Quarter Shop is one of the best places to find them. This is one of the best stores on our list if you’re looking for a website specializing in quilting and quilting fabrics. Not only can you shop fat quarter bundles, but you can also shop fat eighth bundles, jelly roll bundles, half-yard and yard bundles, and more. You can filter by fabric designer, manufacturer, color, pattern, and more. Fat Quarter Shop offers quilting patterns as well.
6. Alewives Fabrics
Alewives Fabrics is a family-owned shop that has been in business since 1975. They are located in Maine but sell their fabrics online as well. The quilting fabric selection is mostly florals and bird motifs, but they have other pattern options as well. You can also buy fat quarter bundles and batting. They even have sample block bundles available, so all you have to do is sew them together.
7. Bloomerie Fabrics
Bloomerie Fabrics has a selection of cute fabrics that are great for kids’ quilts and general quilt-making. You can purchase fabric by the yard or shop fat quarter, fat eight, half-yard, charm packs, and jelly roll bundles. You can shop fabrics by designer, manufacturer, theme, color, and material. They also have a large sale section if you want to save money on fabrics by the yard.
8. Mood Fabrics
Mood Fabrics, headquartered in New York City, is well-known for being featured on Project Runway, but anyone can shop there. If you can’t visit the store in person, you can also shop online from their website. Although they don’t specialize in just quilting fabrics, they sell a wide selection of quilting fabrics and quilting thread in multiple colors. You can also buy quilting machine needles and other supplies needed for quilting. Although the fabrics here are a bit more expensive than in other places, you can order swatches of any fabric and rest assured that all of these fabrics are high-quality.
9. Fabric Spark
Fabric Spark is Canada’s best online fabric store, but you don’t have to live in Canada to order from their website. Choose from a wide selection of quilting fabrics in unique and diverse colors and patterns. You can also buy quilting patterns, fabric bundles, and quilting supplies such as needles. One of the best things about Fabric Spark is that you can sign up for a monthly subscription and receive a bundle of 12 fabrics per month that the owner curates so that they work together.
10. Fabric Bubb
Fabric Bubb sells quilting fabrics in modern patterns and prints. They have a wide selection of fabrics you can shop by collection, manufacturer, color, or theme. They also sell fat quarter bundles or you can shop their quilt kit bundles, which include all the fabric you need to make a specific quilt pattern, although you have to buy the pattern separately. They also have a large sale section in which you can shop by how much you’re looking to save.
11. Girl Charlee
Girl Charlee specializes in high-quality and unique knit fabrics. They don’t promise that you won’t find the fabrics they sell anywhere else, but they guarantee that you won’t find them cheaper elsewhere. Although knit fabrics aren’t typically used for quilting, advanced quilters can use them successfully using the proper tools. You’ll find a selection of cotton knit fabrics here in unique and colorful prints and patterns at an affordable price.
12. Hawthorne Supply Co.
Hawthorne Supply Co. sells fabric by the yard in addition to fabric pre-cuts such as fat quarter bundles. Many of their fabrics look vintage or retro, which is great if you want your quilt to have an old-timey look. You can shop by themes (examples include various holidays, “Cuddly Countryside”, or “Deep Forest”). You can also shop by color, designer, and more. They also have a large selection of sale fabric and sale fabric bundles.
13. Kate Quilts
Kate Quilts offers various retro and contemporary fabric designs and patterns. Shop 36 pages of unique fabrics for your next quilting project, including simple designs and designs that are quite eye-catching. You can also shop quilt kits and patterns if you need a little inspiration for your next project. Shop the sale fabrics if you’re looking to save a little money, and you can also buy gift certificates to give to others in your quilting circle.
14. Fabric Worm
Fabric Worm specializes in apparel and quilting fabric. You can shop by the yard, ½ yard, or purchase one of their bundles, including fat quarter bundles. Fabrics are affordable and many patterns come in multiple colors, so you can choose the one that works best for your project. Fabric Worm also offers a selection of organic fabrics if that’s something that is important to you. You can also purchase patterns and tools such as needles.
15. Shabby Fabrics
Our final online quilting fabric store in Shabby Fabrics. Shabby Fabrics offers a wide range of quilting fabrics and supplies from various brands. They offer pre-cut quilting fabric for beginners or those looking to take an easier route to quilt. They have one of the largest collections of any quilt shop on the list and have over 1,000 patterns available to choose from as well. You can also purchase thread from them and sign up for their loyalty program to earn 3% back on future purchases.
How to Buy Quilting Fabric
If you’re a quilting beginner, you may feel overwhelmed with the variety of fabric choices available, especially when terms such as fat quarter, jelly roll, charm square, etc., get thrown in there. But don’t worry. I’ll explain how to choose a buy quilting fabric to hopefully take some of the stress away.
Pick a Pre-Cut Fabric Stack
Pre-cut fabric stacks are a collection of bundled fabric pieces that coordinate with each other. You can buy bundles of fat quarters, jelly rolls, fat eighths, charm squares, etc. Each of these are different sizes and the different sizes are used to create various parts of the quilt pattern. Buying these pre-cut fabric bundles means you don’t have to cut individual pieces out of a yard of fabric yourself.
The chart below gives you the typical dimensions of various pre-cut fabrics so you know what sizes you’re getting when buying pre-cut fabric bundles. Note that the size refers to each fabric in the stack. Stacks will vary as to how many individual fabric pieces are in them.
| Mini Charm (square) | 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches |
| Charm (square) | 5 inches x 5 inches |
| Jelly Roll (strips) | 2.5 inches x 44 inches |
| Jolly Bar (rectangle) | 5 inches x 10 inches |
| Layer Cake (square) | 10 inches x 10 inches |
| Fat Eighth (rectangle) | 9 inches x 21 inches |
| Fat Quarter (rectangle) | 18 inches x 22 inches |
| Half Yard (rectangle) | 18 inches by 44 inches |
Shop the Same Designer/Collection
The overall pattern and look of your quilt is up to you, but most of the time, the various fabric patterns work together to form a cohesive look. Often the patterns follow a specific color scheme or include multiple different florals, plaids, etc.
If you’re having trouble finding patterns that work well together, try shopping for fabrics by the same designer or from the same collection. Fabrics by the same designer often look similar and work well together. Fabrics in the same collection are often curated to coordinate with each other. Shopping in this way takes the stress out of trying to find patterns that look cohesive.
Pay Attention to the Pattern’s Scale
Again, the overall look of your quilt is up to you. But if you’re mixing patterns, you may wish to consider the scale of the pattern. For example, florals can be large or small. Polka dots can be large or small. Cohesive looks often involve choosing patterns that are of similar size, even if the exact pattern or color is often. Or, you can mix and match small and large prints, depending on what the quilt pattern calls for.
Make Sure You Love the Fabrics
Finally, make sure that you love whatever patterns you pick out. Don’t choose a pattern you hate, even if it coordinates well with other patterns you love. Shop around different websites or stores until you find a pattern you love instead of settling for the one you don’t care for just because it goes well with the others.
How Much Fabric Should You Buy for a Quilt?
Now that you know where and how to buy fabric for a quilt, how much fabric should you buy? Well, it depends on the size of the quilt that you want to make. The chart below has common quilt sizes and their dimensions so that you know how many yards to buy. Or, if you’re buying pre-cut fabric stacks, use these measurements along with the pre-cut fabric stack measurements above. That will tell you how many fabric stacks you need to buy.
| Crib | 36 inches x 54 inches |
| Twin | 65 inches x 88 inches |
| Full | 80 inches x 88 inches |
| Queen | 86 inches x 93 inches |
| King | 104 inches x 93 inches |
If you’re buying fabric by the yard, remember that 1 yard of fabric is 36 inches long. But the width will vary between 44 and 60 inches depending on the type of fabric and where you buy it from. You also want to make sure that you buy slightly bigger fabric pieces that you need if the fabric shrinks some when you wash it (provided that it isn’t pre-shrunk). Finally, don’t forget to buy the quilt backing as well.
Conclusion
There are many places online where you can buy quilting fabrics, but these are some of the best ones for what they offer. Many of these stores can be your one-stop shop for quilting fabrics and tools. But, they each offer something unique for the buyer. If you enjoyed this article, share it with others in your quilting circle.