I will never buy cheap fabric again!
 

I'm making quilts for my daughter using (in part) a fat quarter bundle that my eldest begged me to buy at Wal-Mart because of its fairy-princess design. It's is so frustrating! It slides, it bunches, it's so thinly woven as to be practically see-through, I can't tell the right side from the wrong side, and it wrinkles just sitting on a flat surface. It's making this quilt far less fun to make.

I know I sound like a total snob, but I'm sticking with the good stuff from now on. Even if I need to buy on sale and maybe can't have the exact designs I love all the time, it's worth it to have a less-frustrating sewing experience.

Spray starching the fabric may help.

yes spray starch or use some light weight fusible to make it more sturdy to sew with. good luck!

I feel your pain - sometimes we love (or in this case, your daughter loved) a fabric that is difficult to work with. I had one that just ravelled something awful and I had to fray-check all of the seams in each block. But it was really a nice color:)

Starch would be very helpful in this situation. I would also steam iron the FQs to see if that will tighten up the weave.

I found the same problems with the fat quarters my daughter picked out from JoAnn Fabrics. The fabric was very thin, frayed easily, and incredibly poor quality. I determined then that I would stick with Moda for pre-cuts. JoAnn's regular bolted fabric is a much better quality.

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I need to get some starch...

Once bitten, twice shy! Interfacing is my answer but then you are doubling the price.

I'd make it thicker and more stable with fusible light wt interfacing.

Spray starching may help in cutting and sewing, but when you then wash it to use it's still the thin ucky material.