Where Have All The New Fabrics Gone?

Your quilt shop owner may only receive 60-70% of the new fabric ordered. Here's why.

As a quilt shop owner, you love going to Market to see the latest fabrics, meet the designers, and select for your shop. You are so excited! Imagine your disappointment when you haven't received the new fabrics for six to seven months or even a year. Such sadness.

The scenario is true. Quilt shop owners are now having to wait months for fabric, much to the chagrin of their regular customers. "Why?", they ask.

Of course, customers know the effect that Covid has had on their city, town, or state. But they probably don't think about the situation overseas. In Korea and Japan, where much of the fabric is produced, the warehouses are closed. Many places have been hit hard by Covid and the workers simply can't work. With each wave of the virus, sometimes they work for a while, and then the next wave comes and shuts them down again.

On top of this, more tropical cyclones are produced in the Pacific area, just like the increase of hurricanes in the US. This makes it even more difficult for the fabric producers and shippers to get the goods to the US.

Most fabric suppliers will allow a shop 30 days to pay the invoice after receiving an order. Think about what happens to a shop that has been saving up to pay for the order and never receives it? That is money that is not working for the shop.

Shop owners tell me they are lucky to receive 60-70% of the new fabrics that they received in the past. They display the new fabrics they do receive up front in their shops. Some show sample strips from a collection, some label the bolts with the dates received.

Some feature their fabrics by signs and location.

Please be patient with your shop owner when new fabrics don't arrive on time. Believe me, the shop owner is more disappointed and more stressed than you are! How about trying a quilt with some of the new fabrics that they do have?