LucyInTheSky

I buy $8/yard fabric. It works better for me.

I did a quilt project with students where I told them to go to Joanns and get a few fat quarters (just making blocks). I brought in my scraps to supplement. The students (most with no quilting/fabric experience... ever) commented that mine was easier to work with and felt "different". For me, the Wal-mart one feels lighter, not as solid, and when I poke a needle through it, the hole stays. I like my more expensive fabric

LucyInTheSky

Oh, and my first instructor said that if you can't afford $8/yard, wait for quilt shops to have sales (fabric.com - love them) and get good fabric cheaper, rather than cheap fabric

Evelynquilts

I also look for on-line sales...fabric.com has brand names on sale...they also offer free shipping on orders over $35.00...Connecting threads also has sales and often coupons so you save on shipping...Joann has some nice fabric sometimes that is $9.99 yard, but if you get their mailers you can use a 40 or 50% coupon...shop around ....however if you are starting out I see where you don`t want to spend alot of money and watch what you buy...

Jingle

I have bought good quality fabrics at Wal Mart for $2.96 and a little more. I never bought $2.00 a yard fabric. Joanns sells some of the exact same fabrics as what I have bought at Wal Mart, Joanns just charges more for it. Connecting Threads has excellent fabric for $5.96 a yard. I have bought some of it and find it to be excellent quality.

Blue Bell

I usually wait for a sale at my LQS. There is a big difference in the quality of fabric at the LQS and Walmart.
You probably have heard this saying: Less is More. You are better off having quality rather than quantity.

Olivia's Grammy

I feel the same way. There are so many things for a new quilter to buy. Sometimes the cost of the fabric can be scary knowing you are going to cut it up. I have bought expensive fabric that ravels bad, cheap fabric that holds up very well. You do get what you pay for, but low cost is not always cheaply made, even at Joanns. The quilt I just finished had LQS fabric that was very thin and raveled. The second fabric came from Joanns. It was great, had more body and didn't ravel.

Honey

That is how I feel.

CajunQuilter2

I used to be right there with ya but once you get a taste of the local quilt shops quilting fabric you are not gonna want Wal-Mart and Jo-Anns so much anymore. But I always hit the sale bin at my local quilt shops and you can find great bargains and pay wal-mart/joann prices sometimes. But when I was just starting out which was not that long ago I did not feel as bad if I messed up on the inexpensive fabric and once I got a little more confident and more into the hobby of quilting I really like quilt shop quality. But buy what you can afford, I can not always afford the better stuff but I save for my special projects.

CajunQuilter2

And Connecting Threads has good sales, some are on sale now for $2.95 a yard.

Prism99

You may find that most of the $2/yd fabric is not as tightly woven as more expensive fabrics. This can show up when you cut strips, as less tightly woven fabric will fray a lot more along the edges.

I usually buy more expensive fabrics and see no threads hanging out of the edges when I rotary cut them. Currently I am working on a retro-style quilt and the thirties prints I wanted were on less expensive fabric. These strips have threads that stick out along the cut edges; if I pull on them, the thread comes completely out of the fabric and leaves a slightly frayed edge. I will be using off-white for the sashing on these blocks, so I need to be careful to purchase a better quality white. A looser-weave white would allow the threads from the colored fabrics to shadow through; a more expensive, tightly woven white, should solve this problem.