Wow, I was impressed........
 

well, I had not been to the Walmart that has a Fabric Dept. (not the one closest to me - 7 miles-this one is about 25 miles away) for about a month, but a needed a notion and did not want to "travel" to the JoAnn-about 25 miles only in a different direction-more traffic, so there I was. Well, I was pleasantly surprised....not only had the dept. expanded with more bolts, and better, I might add, but more notions, and pre-cut jelly rolls, charms, and also 1/2yd and 1 yd, along with fat quarters, priced a lot more reasonably than LQS....plus they had some of their "old" bolts at clearance...actually two whole shelf units full.....and I had fun shopping.....and as I was having the fabric pieces cut I mentioned to the "associate" to let whomever is in charge know how great I thought the improvement was and "thanks".....she said altho the fabric was priced a little higher than previously it seemed to be getting good results. Sometimes I wonder about these surges in prices on various commodities.....gas, with its "shortages, causing this see-saw pricing, cotton shortage now causing the same for us.......my wallet has a shortage lately, so I will definitely continue to seek out the best possible price for what I need/want and shop there, just as if I want to go out to "eat", sometimes, McD is all I can swing........just had to say...thanks to Walmart for giving us another alternative for shopping........all my quilt projects are not intended to be Heirloom, just my personal therapy and if they don't last forever, I don't care......

I'm glad to see better quality fabrics than before.

With so many of my QB friends raving about WM's fabric, I decided to cruise through the fabric section yesterday when I was doing my shopping. I found a darling daisy print 60" wide for $2.00/yard. I bought 4 yards (should have bought the whole thing!! LOL) It has borders on it that I don't know how I will use, but for $2/yd, I could throw it away. I won't. Also bought some FQ for $.97. LQS has them for $3.50!!!

While I'm way out of range from any kind of Walmart over here....do not think you can't make something heirloom out of walmart fabric...make it love it and pass it on down the family chain! in 20 years people will not be looking and picking out the fabric you bought from walmart and comparing it to a LQS! Fabulous deals are wonderful no matter where you find them!! happy quilting!

We have two WMs within driving distance (different directions) and the fabric selection is SO much better at one, than the other. I've seen some of the exact same fabrics, at Hobby Lobby, for more $. When I see sales bins, I search out the VIP by Cranston/Cranston Village bolts; most of them are very nice fabrics!

Not everyone can afford LQS prices, a simple fact of economics. I say use/buy what you can afford and enjoy yourself. Many times QB members purchase fabric from yard sales/thrift stores and are quite pleased with their hauls. So, have fun and be sure to share your results with us.

I'm certainly not a fabric snob, and it's hard to beat WalMart prices for new fabric! I never assume fabric is "better" because it costs more or is only sold at the LQS. I buy what looks and feels good, and is affordable. I am grateful for WalMart.

the fabric is for quilts if there is a flaw, slub, misprint...you can 'fussy' cut around it.....so quilters can use fabrics that clothing sewers would have a nightmare about.

I hit that clearance section last week. Got a lot of fabric. Was pleased to see some fabric that I had bought previously and know how it washed up so I bought that (7 yards of that LOL) I'm thinking aprons for christmas this year. I am pretty picky about fabric but I think Auntie D. summed it up with her statement that Not everyone can afford LQS prices.

Thank you Walmart for bringing the fabric back!

I agree with Geri B. Walmart has a great fabric dept. in my area now. Helpers are great and very friendly and I found everything I needed (and then some!). Prices are reasonable and I found better fabrics than at the old Walmart. This is a new Walmart and notions are much cheaper in price!! Yay, yay!!

Was in the year old WM here in Iowa City the other day & was surprised that the fabric department has increased it's product line, using the same space more efficiently. The selection was nice, but I did not check the quality etc.

My thoughts are the same, a lot of people make bad statements about wall mart but they provide where others don't. so they aren't union is the driving force behind the bad statements..sorry just had to say that. There are alot of people that can't shop at the high end stores I'm one of them so I know how it feels when some one makes the bad statements. everyone to their own...

I think Wal-Mart gets a bad rap generally. For one thing, they listen to their customers. When they began taking fabric out of all their stores, the response was apparently instant and loud. So they are putting fabric depts back into most stores, especially super Wal-Marts. Also, Wal-Mart will take ANYTHING back, if it was purchased at a Wal-Mart. I don't get that kind of customer service anywhere else, certainly not at Target. My son worked in the automotive department of a Wal-Mart for many years, before going back to school to finish his degree, and his salary and benefits equalled those at other like corporations, plus he got profit sharing and stock options at no cost to him ( this is no longer true, I think, due to the current economy). For the record, I have no financial interest in Wal-Mart; just my opinion.

I've bought some good fabric at Wal-Mart and it's always cheaper than at Jo-Ann's. They sell FQ for .97, as noted here, while Jo-Ann's sell theirs (same fabric choices) for $1.99.

My .02....and that's about what it's worth. ;-)

I don't think about whether Walmart or any other store is 'unionized' when I shop. I shop where I shop because:

1) they have products I want at a price I can pay.
2) Convenience
3) Selection
4) the staff is courteous

I frequently shop Walmart and have always found the fabric dept staff to be helpful and friendly. And they do cut fabric well in the stores I shop in.

I have heard about wal-mart's "bad" fabric for ever it seems. Just wanted to let everyone know, that I am using 2 quilts daily that are over 30 years old made from their fabrics.

My own experience in my very small town, is that Walmart is carrying more and more fabrics, and in some cases changing from what I used to find there. They no longer sell interfacing by the yard nor muslin and i could not find any plain white to use for my nightgowns for the dolls I make and give away to kids with devestating medical problems. I saw lots of pretty fabric, but still have plenty of that. It was the doll bodys and the nightgowns I was running short on..anyway....nothing I could use. The nearest fabric store is 2 hours away for more fabric, so that isn't an option. On-line the places carrying fabric to sell and their P&H charge is extreme. OKAY...I'm rambling.

I have a sister in law that lives 17 driving hours away. They come up here in the RV each summer. (She will be here early June) She lives in a large town. I explained to her my biggest need was for muslin or something similar, for more doll bodys, and asked if she could find some there and let me send her the money to buy it. She could bring it up with her. She went out the next day to JoAnne's fabric & craft store. There was some muslin there. The lady had her go up front and get a 40% off discount coupon they leave out for customers. It saved her $14 off the price. She got just over 12 yards of extra length (did she say 90 or 60 inches wide....I forget, but anyway, she called me first with my approval, bought it for $58.10 . I considered that a great buy and I can dye some of it for different skin tones if I wish. I will get several doll bodys from it. Anyway, she had been telling the clerk why she needed all this and about the dolls, and the clerk just did everything she could to help. After measuring it all out, she put it all back on the cardboard bolt, she got some 'plastic wrap' and encased it all so it would remain dust free between there and our home. So she saved $14 by having my SIL get the coupon, then going to all that extra trouble and 'doing it with a smile.' It really warmed my heart to hear it all. I wanted to share, and hope my reply hear made sense. Three cheers for what the Wal-Marts are doing in the fabric world and more cheers yet for this clerk in JoAnne's (in Yuba City, CA) that went above and beyond her job description to help out my SIL, myself and the future dolls that will be born because of it all. Thanks for reading my little story.

I wish they'd get it back at our walmart!

My WM finally got their fabric dept back and it is coming along quite nicely...more new fabric almost daily. Best of all there are two...yes, two...ladies working in the dept. and they are great! Actually know a thing or two about fabric! I found some super nice striped fabic in two colorways that is lovely...great "hand", current colors. Bought a yard of each. The lady cutting for me said raved about it...said she didn't realize they had it. She'd been too busy stocking to check out what they were getting in! It isn't far to the nearest JoAnn's but traffic is usually awful, plus their I wasn't impressed with their quilting fabric at the prices they charge. WM will definitely see a lot of me now!

I`m told our WM still hasn`t gotten any thing in yet , don`t know, don`t go there any more. I will hear from other Quilters when or if it comes to our WM in Green Bay. We were promised they would carry it and we never saw it.

I usually buy my fabrics for quilts at my LQS, partly because they carry beautiful, high quality fabrics, and partly because I want to help keep them in business. They also offer sewing classes and have knowledgeable ladies that can answer my questions (I'm kind of a newbie quilter and need a lot of hand holding). They sell sewing machines and have a repair technician on staff, so I appreciate that too.

Am not very impressed with quilt fabric selection at JoAnn's but did purchase some rather cute fabric to make pillow cases for the 1,000,000 pillow case challenge at Hobby Lobby. Didn't know until last week they even carried fabrics. I will be checking out the local Walmart soon to see what they have.

Until a year ago, Walmart was my ONLY option, besides online of course. I live in the boonies (2-3 hours from Joanns, LQS or anything like that) and was I a happy quilter when we got a quilt store!! My happiness was short lived, alas, as I can't afford to shop there much. Especially as my local WM is very "quilter friendly". The main lady there has been there for years, she's 72, and is amazing.She made all her children's clothes growing up, and she's probably made hundreds of quilts. She knows me well by now, LOL! The LQS is nice, too, but I don't have the relationship with them that I do with her. I wish I could shop there more, I like to support small local business's anyway. They do have layaway for big items, though, so when I can get an embroidery machine, I'm buying from her!

Now, there's something funny my Walmart does. They put their scraps, end cuts, etc in a basket for half price. they are usually a half yard to 3 yards. Well, with that half price you can take it to whoever is working in fabric and they will cut THAT price in half again! So, you get $4 a yard stuff for $1!!! They've done it for years and that's probably the majority of my stash. There's 2 more Walmarts in the next towns over, and one does it also but the other doesn't, so maybe it's a regional thing? They are all SuperWalmart's, so it's not that.

Either way, I LOVE it!!! Get lots of stash for very cheap!!

I recently posted about a quilt that I made totally from WM fabrics. I washed the quilt before gifting it - usually I iron them to make them look new again after washing. But... I pulled this one out of the dryer, took it to the ironing board, had iron in hand and .... nothing to iron... that quilt looked just as new and fresh as when it went in the dryer. Love it!

LOVE my LQS and plan to spend there when I can and when the occasion warrants it, but ... this is a fantastic option for "utility" quilts.