A good place to find good quilt fabric for $5.96 a yard is Connecting Threads.com. They have lots of kits for everything from table runners to full size quilts, and the fabric price is always $5.96 yd. I bought several kits in Dec. when they had 40% off sale...the fabric is very good quality. The price was so low during the sale, I was able to buy backs from the same fabric collection as the kit at $3.58 yd...can't beat that!
I suggest you practice on JoAnns fabrics for a few quilts before you spend money in a quilt shop.
Sue