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Your quilt shop is only as good as the suppliers you source from. Your vision of hand-dyed, artisanal batik is niche and compelling, but you’ve only found suppliers that stock fabrics that were trending five years ago. Or they have what you need, but their minimum order quantities (MOQs) and lead times don’t work for your small independent store.
To create the quilt shop every quilter and sewist wants to visit, you need to find the right wholesale fabric suppliers. In this blog, you’ll learn what to look for when evaluating suppliers and discover the top picks in the industry.
Tips for Finding Top Wholesale Fabric Suppliers
Supplier relationships can be hard to manage. Some push aggressive terms, while others go silent when you need them. You don’t have to accept whatever a supplier offers just because they’re established or convenient. Building strength into your sourcing means working with multiple suppliers instead of one.
Most small businesses benefit from two to three primary suppliers per product category. This gives you backups if one hits inventory issues or changes its terms, and it gives you negotiating power.
When evaluating any supplier, look for these criteria:
- Minimum order quantities (MOQs) that match your cash flow: Small MOQs let you test new designers without tying up thousands of dollars in inventory. Large MOQs force bigger upfront commitments. Know your limit before you approach a supplier.
- Lead times that align with your season: Domestic suppliers typically ship within one to three weeks. Overseas suppliers can take four to eight weeks. If you’re chasing seasonal demand, long lead times can kill your window.
- Quilting specialization, not generic fabric: Quilting-focused suppliers understand your customers’ preferences and the industry’s trend cycles. General distributors offer breadth but miss the nuances quilters actually want.
- Clear resale license and tax ID requirements: These vary by state and supplier. Verify them upfront so you’re not blocked from ordering midseason.
- Transparent domestic vs. overseas stocking: U.S.-based suppliers mean faster, predictable delivery. Overseas suppliers mean unique designs but longer waits and less flexibility if demand shifts.
Once you choose suppliers, call quarterly to review sales. Share what moved and what didn’t. Most suppliers help you forecast better when they understand your patterns. Flag problems early instead of watching small issues compound into deal-breakers.
7 Best Wholesale Fabric Suppliers for Quilt Shops
Here are the seven suppliers quilt shop owners are sourcing from right now.
1. Moda Fabrics + Supplies
Best for: Designers and trend-forward shops
Moda Fabrics + Supplies collaborates with both independent and in-house designers to release coordinated collections throughout the year. Established in 1975, they have deep roots in the quilting market and understand seasonal demand and collection timing.
Moda doesn’t sell directly to consumers, which means their wholesale relationships stay clean and your margins stay protected. They offer over 160 pages of fabric online, with most collections available domestically. MOQs are reasonable for independent shops, and lead times run two to three weeks.
What to consider: Moda may not be the best fit if you’re looking for exotic batiks or hand-dyed fabrics. Their strength is coordinated, designed collections. Their catalog also moves fast — popular prints sell out, so ordering late means missing the window.
Managing Moda in your POS system: Because of their extensive catalog, Moda organizes products by collection rather than individual SKUs. With a point of sale (POS) system like Like Sew, you can import Moda’s full collection at once, then manage inventory by designer line or season. When a customer asks for “that blue collection from spring,” your staff can pull it instantly instead of hunting through dozens of SKUs.
2. Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Best for: Shops that want quality basics and designer variety
Robert Kaufman Fabrics has been a wholesale fabric manufacturer since 1942 and is one of the most recognized names in quilting. They produce a wide range of cotton prints, solids, and specialty fabrics with both classic and contemporary designs. Their Kona Cotton Solids are an industry standard, and they regularly collaborate with top designers.
Robert Kaufman is U.S.-based with consistent availability. MOQs are accessible, and their reputation for quality means customers recognize and trust the brand. They offer everything from basics to designer collections, so you can build depth in your inventory.
What to consider: Robert Kaufman may not be ideal if you want hand-crafted or artisanal fabrics. Their strength is reliable, beautifully designed mass-produced fabric at scale.
Related Read: How To Source Fabric for Your Store: 3 Options
3. Checker Distributors
Best for: One-stop shops that want variety
Checker Distributors has been family-owned since 1948 and stocks over 125,000 products. They carry fabric, notions, patterns, tools, and craft supplies, so you can source multiple categories from a single vendor. That simplifies your supplier relationships and reduces shipping costs.
They stock popular brands like Robert Kaufman, Hoffman California Fabrics, Marcus Fabrics, Riley Blake Designs, and Timeless Treasures. MOQs are moderate, and they ship from the U.S., so lead times average one to two weeks. Checker works with stores of all sizes.
What to consider: Checker may not work well for your store if you want deep specialization in quilting-specific fabrics or designer collections. They’re a generalist, which means breadth over depth. Also, their catalog is massive — navigating 125,000 SKUs requires discipline to avoid impulse ordering.
Integrating Checker into Like Sew: Because Checker carries so many product categories, Like Sew’s vendor integrations help you organize their offerings by product type rather than getting lost in the full catalog. You can import notions separately from fabric, manage inventory by category, and keep your stock levels clean across multiple product lines from one supplier.
4. Brewer
Best for: Premium fabric shops with design-conscious customers
Brewer has operated since 1914 and specializes in high-end fabric and sewing supplies. They stock premium brands like Kaffe Fassett Studio, Tula Pink, and Christa Quilts. Their fabric appeals to customers who value artistry and are willing to pay for quality.
Brewer is U.S.-based with reasonable lead times and straightforward pricing on their website. They understand that independent retailers need to plan margins early, so pricing is transparent upfront. They also offer sewing machines and patterns, giving you options to expand product lines.
What to consider: Brewer may not be the right fit for your store if you’re chasing budget-conscious customers or selling high-volume basics. Their fabric costs more, which means lower turnover rates if your customer base isn’t aligned with premium positioning.
5. QT Fabrics
Best for: Shops that want consistent, trend-aware designs
QT Fabrics dates back to 1807, making them one of the oldest fabric suppliers in the industry. They focus primarily on fabric design with in-house designers and licensed properties. Their team actively tracks trends, so collections feel current and relevant.
QT has global distribution, which means you can order from anywhere. They’re quilting-focused, so they understand your customer base better than generalists. MOQs are accessible, and domestic shipping is available.
What to consider: QT may not be the best choice if you want ultra-specialized or hand-crafted fabrics. They’re mass-produced, design-driven fabric — beautiful but not artisanal.
6. Island Batik
Best for: Shops that differentiate through unique, cultural aesthetics
Island Batik manufactures and imports cotton and rayon batik from Indonesia, offering over 1,500 fabric designs. Their hand-printed aesthetic sets them apart from mass-produced collections. Customers who want something visually distinctive gravitate toward batik.
Island Batik brings cultural storytelling to your inventory, which appeals to customers seeking meaning in their purchases. Their designs don’t overlap with competitors’ stock, giving you differentiation.
What to consider: Island Batik may not suit your store if your customer base wants classic, coordinated collections. Batik skews artistic and requires customers willing to pay premium prices for hand-printed work. Also, lead times are longer (three to four weeks) because fabrics are imported.
7. Benartex
Best for: Independent retailers that compete against big chains
Benartex has been in business since 1980 and explicitly supports independent retailers by refusing to sell to big chain stores. This policy protects your competitive positioning — your customers won’t see the same Benartex fabrics at national retailers.
They specialize in 100% cotton and partner with top designers like Jackie Robinson and Nancy Halvorsen. Quality is consistent, pricing is fair, and they’re responsive to independent shop owners. They understand that small businesses need partners who won’t undercut them.
What to consider: Benartex may not be ideal if you want the broadest possible selection or specialty fabrics like blends or silks. They’re laser-focused on cotton and supporting independent retailers, which means they intentionally limit their reach.
Honorable Mention: Quilting Supply Wholesalers
While fabric is core to your store, quilters also need thread, needles, batting, notions, and tools. Here are two strong wholesalers that serve independent retailers:
EE Schenck Company: This business is a family-owned distributor offering notions, thread, batting, patterns, books, and tools. They carry trusted brands like OLFA, Clover, Prym/Dritz, and Omnigrid. They primarily focus on serving independent retailers and manufacturers.
New England Quilt Supply: This company has been established as a wholesale warehouse since 1977, carrying fabrics, notions, and books. They work exclusively with businesses (not consumers), so they understand the needs of independent quilt shops.
Using Like Sew with multiple suppliers: When you’re working with multiple fabric suppliers, Like Sew’s vendor integrations become your organizational backbone. You can track which suppliers deliver on time, which offer better margins, and which align with your customers’ preferences. That data guides future sourcing decisions and helps you strengthen relationships with suppliers that actually perform.
Related Read: How To Manage Serialized Inventory in Your Fabric Store: 6 Pro Tips
Manage Wholesale Fabric Suppliers With Like Sew
Once you’ve selected suppliers, the operational challenge shifts to tracking inventory, managing orders, and staying organized across multiple vendors. Like Sew simplifies this by integrating directly with most major fabric wholesalers’ catalogs.
Instead of manually entering SKUs, you import vendor catalogs directly into Like Sew’s system. When Moda releases a new collection, you add it in bulk. When Checker restocks a bestseller, you update quantities without reentering data. Like Sew’s fabric-specific inventory features let you organize by designer, collection, yardage, or color — so you can manage across multiple vendors without losing track.
Build a customized POS with Like Sew to get the vendor integrations you need most.
