Joann's is now selling 3 yard packages of the solid 100% cotton colors (so far 5 colors - black, white, tan, red, blue). Price is $12.99, which works out to about $4.25 per yard. Quality appears to be the same as what they have on their fabric wall - I purchased all the colors and immediately washed them. They appear to be OK - I'll have to work them into my current projects to have a final opinion on the overall quality.
For me at the time, it was a great convenience to have the pre-cut fabric since I was trying to complete a quilt (needed backing). It sounds like this may be a trend in the industry to boost sales in a down economy (and so they don't have to hire folks to cut the material - less labor costs for the store).