This is the perennial question I receive: Where do you find your fabrics for fabric collage? Or as a recent student asked, “Where do you find your funky fabrics?” The definition of “funky fabrics” for fabric enthusiasts will definitely vary from one person to another. On a hunch I googled, “funky fabrics for fabric collage art,” and based on the images, there does seem to be a general consent for colorful, bright, and bold prints. Yes, I do tend to gravitate to those sort of fabrics.
The funky fish, above—subject of my Fantastical Fish eWorkshop—is collaged with what I specifically picked out as bright and bold patterned fabrics by designers such as—Jane Sassaman and Kaffe Fasset, and styles that range from African Dutch-Wax batiks, Australian Aboriginal prints, printed batiks, and novelty prints. Fabrics from these designers and countries are shown in the photo gallery below and can be found in many of the sources I have listed in this post.
Click on any smaller photos in this post to see images larger and to scroll through the photo galleries.
I hear from students and followers express that their local fabric store just doesn’t carry these sorts of bright and highly patterned fabrics. No worries ’cause I’ve got some ideas for funky fabric collage finds, below.
So where do I find my fabrics?
Since I travel several times a year, I try to visit the fabric stores at the locales I’m teaching in—either my host or one of my students will have a favorite local fabric store for a field trip. There’s a reason I try to pack my suitcases lightly—so there’s room for fabric on the return trip!
However, since it’s a lucky few who get to traipse around the country on fabric hunts, here’s some arm-chair touring to relax with and dream of for your next fabric collage project.
Just so you know, the following recommendations are just places I’ve been to or heard about. I get no financial gain from listing them in this post—just spreading the love of fabric. There’s loads more places out there, so please leave ideas for others to visit either in-person or online in comments below!
Dye Candy Fabrics—Downsville, Wisconsin
One of my favorite fabric sites is dyecandyfabrics.com, owned by Chris Daly. I’ve purchased much fabric from her for my own use and enjoyment, and also to create the fabric packs I put together for my 5-day online classes (photos below). Chris has even created a Dye Candy Susan Carlson’s Favorites category of those selections and other fabrics that I’m attracted to.
The home of Dye Candy is at Woodland Ridge Retreat, where I recently taught in May of yhis year. The photos below show the store inventory in the halls of the retreat center, which I talk about in a post about that class.
Portsmouth Fabric Company—Portsmouth, New Hampshire
I had the distinct pleasure to have been the manager of Portsmouth Fabric Company back in the early 1990’s when quilting fabrics began to be added to its bridal and fine clothing fabrics. The historic downtown store is now filled to bursting with fabrics such as, “contemporary quilting cottons, bali batik cottons and rayons, silk dupioni, silk noil, silk organza, silk charmeuse, flannels, batiste, cotton solids, laminates, linens, velvets, wool and more!”—which can also be found online.
If you find yourself in the vicinity of Portsmouth, NH, Tom and I highly recommend it as a town to stop at and wander around. We lived there for seven years and have great memories of that time—and Portsmouth Fabric Company is where I fell in love with the colors and designs in fabrics that were beginning to appear in the quilting world.
Quilt Gallery—Kalispell, Montana
The Quilt Gallery is very close to Glacier National Park, so you can enjoy color and beauty in both the outdoors and the indoors when you enter the large and open space of this fabric store. Luckily for armchair travelers, they also have a great online selection of fabrics.
As coincidence would have it, I just used two of those fabrics in the past few weeks in my Bella Luna moon portrait! Can you find them in photo, below? (Hints in photo caption.)
eQuilter.com
Another online option is eQuilter.com owned by Luana Rubin. I’ve met Luana a few times—she has a quiet intensity about her—soft spoken with deep meaning in her artwork. Her online store seems to be her alter-ego with the feeling of a delightful funky fabric carnival that you could wander around in for hours.
A couple collections I found in a short stroll through eQuilter.com—I’ll definitely be back to this site again.
Quilters Cotton PRINTS & Yarn-Dyes—novelty prints and fabric panels, with prints the sort of which can turn an elephant’s tusk into a goat’s horns (such as in Grace Crocker’s goat collage, see below).
Rubin Design Studio—prints designed exclusively for eQuilter. I did a quick search for background ideas for my current project of a moon portrait and came up with the panel, Moonlit Forest.
Spoonflower
In our June Live Online Class, Grace Crocker had a specific idea for the background of her goats-on-a-roof collage and found what she was looking for from the large selection of artist-designed Spoonflower fabrics.
Quilt Africa Fabrics
Quilt Africa owner and organizer, Miriam Galadima Benson, began Quilt Africa in an effort to spread the understanding, appreciation, and use of these traditional prints into the quilting world. Miriam invited me to join the list of 2022 presenters to give a fabric collage lecture and demonstration using the very large scale and vibrantly contrasting designs found in African fabrics. The collaged fish below, using Quilt Africa Fabrics, was my demo subject.
Quite a few of my blog readers have had very nice things to say about ordering from Quilt Africa Fabrics.
Mood Fabrics Online
I’ve hesitated to check out Mood Fabric’s site for fear of never emerging. However my student Mary McKay, did, and discovered a great resource for (among other materials) the types of sheer fabrics I talk about and demonstrate with for final touches on a fabric collage. I found and linked to a few categories, but there is much more to discover.
Outlet Stores
You can happen upon what may become some of your most treasured fabrics in an outlet store. I’m a sucker for the discarded, unwanted, and unloved fabrics that get ignored , then marked down to a couple bucks a yard. Beauty, it has been said, is the eye of the beholder. Which means that that very “interestingly ugly” fabric that no one else has seen a possibility in, could make for the “perfect” fabric in just the right spot, somewhere down the fabric collage road.
S.R. Harris Fabric—Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
S.R. Harris Fabric is on my list of locations to visit over the open weekend between next year’s 2-week class at Woodland Ridge Retreat in April 2026.
FabMo—Sunnyvale, California
My friend and student, Barb Grant, recently visited FabMo and told me it was a, “a real collage feast to be sampled!”
Marden’s Surplus and Salvage—14 locations in Maine
A special place in my heart is reserved for Marden’s Surplus and Salvage (Motto: I should have bought it, when I saw it, at Marden’s) here in Maine. Marden’s is a discount store that carries everything from building supplies to picnic tables to, yes, bolts of discounted fabric. Last year my Bar Harbor students and I went on a field trip to the store in nearby Ellsworth, Maine (others are scattered throughout the state), where we buried the person at the cutting table in an avalanche of fabric. Myself and one other student closed out the store that night.
To add to these options, I suggest visiting thrift stores such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, or any other local second-hand stores near you. Troll the clothing or tablecloth or curtain aisles for items constructed of funky fabrics. Remember not to limit yourself to cottons—almost all fabrics are fair game—such as the embroidered sheer body suit, photo above.
I hope this gets you further along or maybe even started in your quest for fabric collage fabric sources. Now, you can help others in their search. In the comments below, share your favorite fabric vendor, with a URL if it is online, or a city or town where someone could find it. If I get enough suggestions I’ll write another post to share all your ideas!
Great information! I remember Glacier well. Also, in Portland, OR. the “Mill Ends Fabrics” has a pretty good assortment as well. There are two stores, the one in Milwaukee, OR is more “quilty”.
Thanks for the additions, Judy!
Loads of good information, as always. For those of us who no longer travel, happy to find these online stores.
Thanks, Grace! Travel or not, these are some far-flung fabric stores, so online is helpful for everyone!
I second Judy’s recommendation of Mill Ends in Portland, OR. Tons of quilting fabric, but also a wide range of dressmaker fabrics. In the Boston area I recommend Fabric Corner in Arlington. They also have an online site.
Good ideas for opposite sides of the country, Thanks Jackie!
I live halfway between Ellsworth and Bar Harbor so Mardens is always my first choice. If you are not too committed to a particular fabric they will probably have much you can use. I usually have my focus fabric in hand and find supporting fabrics and blenders at Mardens. I must admit it was annoying when they went to 1/2 yd minimum.
Hi to another Mainer! A good point to take along your focus fabric and be willing to adapt with what you’re looking for. When you keep an open mind, you never know where the fabric muse may lead you! 😉