.I live in the NYC area. We are now paying from $9.50-$13.00 per yard for pure 100% cotton quilting fabric. We can't even get $4.00 fabric in Lancaster, Pa anymore. Everyone in my quild tries to take one or two bus trips a year to Lancaster to buy fabric........but there are no more great bargins there, all the good fabric is at least $8.00 (and up) a yard.
You will notice the fabric at Walmart is quite inferior. The weave is very course.......it is nothing like what you get in a quilt store.
I use to carve wooden birds and thought I'd sell them at craft fairs after I retired. The price i could get for them didn't even pay for the special blocks of wood I needed to carve them.