I do see a noticable difference in what is sold at JoAnns and the Local Quilt shop, in both the fabric and the quality ( clarity/presion/definition) of the prints. I can tell you that there is far less cotton in most Jo'Anns fabrics , as I have put one yard of each on a scale. In addition many of the top manufactures use more colors to get the great definition and suble shading .... look at the color registrations on the fabric ... I have seen some at the quilt shops that have over 15( I have a few with 24 or more) , rarely are there more than 6-8 on a Jo'anns, these may not all be true color change, but shade changes , thus giving more depth to a print. A red flower can have 5 shades to give it more depth. Some of the less expensive fabrics the print will appear "flat" next to a higher quality print. Often I cannot mix the two as the print of the JoAnns fabric really looks cheap next to a higher quality print.
AS for walmart ... mine stopped selling any fabric a few years ago.
Last edited by Lori S; 12-08-2011 at 01:35 PM.