Disappointed in Walmart fabric

Yes I should have known better, but I bought some of the 2.97 white fabric yesterday, as all the quilt shops were closed. I cut strips this morning and noticed it was very thin, but began combining two sets of strips, thank goodness I have no ability to postpone gratification, and ironed one set and notice the white was crooked, okay, maybe my cutting wasn't good, so I took the next strip set and cut into sections first and then ironed. everyone of the white sections shrunk and bowed, right before my eyes. Must have had a lot of polyester in it. thank goodness I have now found some of my white fabric from the fabric store, and can recut the strips.

Walmart use to have nice fabric but do not anymore. I found a great quilt shop near my home it is a little pricey but it really nice fabric.

Grace

Most Walmarts have discontinued carrying fabric. I know several of the ones around here have, and the one that does still carry fabric looks like it just has remnants from the other stores.

we have a new super wal mart that is less than a year old here and it does sell fabric...i haven't purchased it there but i have friends that have and they were dissatisfied also.

Many of the WalMart stores that discontinued selling fabric are putting the fabric department back in. :)

I buy fabric at Wal Mart all the time. Our WM has varying qualities of fabric. I would have thought you would have noticed the thinness of the fabric before you bought it. I just recently bought 84 yds of $6-7 (regularly priced) that was $1 per yard. (they were moving to new super center) They are all good quality quilt fabrics. It is true you get what you pay for, however if you expect premium fabric, you are not going to get it at $3 per yd. Not defending WM or their fabrics, just defending those who may not be able to afford fabric that costs $10-$12 per yard. Sorry ahead of time if I offend anyone, but occasionally get tired of "quilt snobs". Just saying.

I agree Marilyn. There are many people who cannot afford to buy expensive quilting materials, but who still love to quilt. The WM where I live does not have any fabric and the one quilting store down there is ass high in their prices. If you expect to "perfect" material for quilts from a discount store, you are crazy. Also, where do you live that nothing was open on Saturday. I live in a town with a population of 3000 +/- and places are open in our town. Geez, there are more important things in this world (live starving children and abused children and animals) to worry about. Maybe you should take some of that money you spend on "quality" fabric and feed a starving child. Just Saying.

If I'm not wanting to make the drive, or need something quick, WM is my only choice. They just doubled the department size to TWO aisles of fabric and the quality varies from one bolt to the next. I really have to check and look and look again and depending on what I'm doing........Otherwise, I can pay about the same as WM by finding the sales online.

Now if I just had a crystal ball and knew what I could use next week / month, because I've found some really good sales this weekend!

I have had same problem with JoAnn Fabrics, you have to check the fabric carefully. I gotten some good pieces from Walmart , I think they were end of bolts.

I shop for fabric at wal mart also, so far its all good. But I have learned how to read the end of the bolts and to touchy feely, the fabric to make sure its what I want.

The reason the quilt shops were not open was that they close at noon on Saturday around here. so yes, I should have felt it better, and read the end cap, and I got what I paid for. I have bought wal mart fabric that was good, and it was my own fault that I chose the cheaper fabric. I am a social worker working with abused kids so you are preaching to the choir Rhonda.

I think the one thing that you have to do when buying fabric at WalMart or even Joann's is pay attention to what you are buying, not just the price.

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Must have had a lot of polyester in it.

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That sentence right there tells me that you grabbed a white fabric for $2.97 and didn't even bother to look at the contents listed on the bolt.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience - hope things go better for you in the future - HAPPY QUILTING!!!!

Bverste I'm also sorry you had a bad experience but happy you found a solution and can continue your quilt project. Hope the end result is exactly what you are looking for! Thanks for your work with abused kids...that is a difficult job but so very much needed! It takes a very special person to do it well and stick with it for very long.

As the grandmother of an abuse child, You can read about it in my post 'changed profile pic', I applaud you for your job. I don't think Rhonda meant anything mean, just might have hit a nerve with her. I have never shopped at Joann's but glad I found out I need to make sure what you are getting there as well.

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Originally Posted by bverste

The reason the quilt shops were not open was that they close at noon on Saturday around here. so yes, I should have felt it better, and read the end cap, and I got what I paid for. I have bought wal mart fabric that was good, and it was my own fault that I chose the cheaper fabric. I am a social worker working with abused kids so you are preaching to the choir Rhonda.

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I just realized the other nerve I might have hit, when I talked "smack" My words, no one else's, about Walmart fabric. I have bought a lot of fabric from Walmart, usually I do feel and look at it, but you are right, I was seduced by the price--especially after spending 10 + for some fabric I fell in love with, so I thought I could cut corners with cheap fabric, you get what you pay for!! I know that, but I did it anyway. went back today and when I looked at it; it was 65% polyester and 35% cotton, so my own fault, I should have reread my post because it was my own fault and i just wanted to whine a bit, get a little sympathy ect...so I bought some more fabric today, after reading every bolt of white and found a 100% cotton that I like the feel of, and seems pretty sturdy for only a dollar more. so everyone was right, I need to read the bolt--though today, in my defense, it was in small print and hard to find. Thanks everyone and if I offended anyone it was inadvertent.

A few Walmarts near me in Canada have fabric but it is all pre-cut on mini bolts, fat quarters or jelly rolls. Most are solids too. These are prepackaged by one same company/distributor for Walmart and I know the quality is nowhere near what they use to carry.

Walmart got so much flack from customers when they discontinued their fabric department that they had to re-think it all and are beefing up the departments in most of their stores. My Walmart went from nothing to WOW!

My Walmart kept the fabric department and has upgraded it recently, including the quality of a lot of the quilting fabric.

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Originally Posted by K. McEuen

I think the one thing that you have to do when buying fabric at WalMart or even Joann's is pay attention to what you are buying, not just the price.

That sentence right there tells me that you grabbed a white fabric for $2.97 and didn't even bother to look at the contents listed on the bolt.

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I had to nod my head about the $2.97. I was in a hurry and trying to be careful to NOT get the poly blend, and at the last minute, I grabbed some red that was on the thin side but picked up another bolt beside it that felt thicker. OOPS. WELL, I was in a hurry and usually I'll do the fold test or try to pluck some threads loose to check, but I was in a hurry and when I got home and started to press it out.........wham, the iron stuck right to it and I knew I had grabbed the poly blend....ARGH! And just to prove it to myself, I tried a piece of cotton and the heat setting was just fine on the cotton.

Another thing are the yellow price stickers......complain to who ever will listen if they continue to cover the content labels. I was told they were supposed to quit covering up the content labels.

The Walmart in Milton (Ontario, Canada) doesn't carry fabric any more AND our Fabricland store (I think it is similar to Joanne's) closed down about 1-2 years ago. I have to drive out of my town to get fabric - it's lousy!!

I've been really wondering about this. When I buy bed sheets, I always look for 400 count or higher. Is this information included on a bolt (thread count)? I just bought a remnant bolt from WalMart, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. 2 and 7/8 yards for 3.87? May not be 400 count, but it's close!

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Originally Posted by ChristineB

The Walmart in Milton (Ontario, Canada) doesn't carry fabric any more AND our Fabricland store (I think it is similar to Joanne's) closed down about 1-2 years ago. I have to drive out of my town to get fabric - it's lousy!!

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Christine, I just moved to Prescott and the Brockville Fabricland just reopened Mother's Day weekend in the same location they were in before they closed about 5 yrs ago.

How far do you have to drive to get to a quilt shop? Where I use to live I had to drive at least 45 mins to an hour to get to my closest shops, and then I would go into Ottawa as well (over an hour).

What's nice about being in Milton where you are is you're fairly close to Len's Mills either in Guelph, Cambridge or Kitchener/Waterloo. One day when I was in that area, I went to 2 of the stores and came out with over $600 worth of fabric...oh m,y did I day that out loud??? LOL It's quilt shop fabric (Benartex, Moda, etc...) for a little less than what you pay for at the quilt stores.