here is what happened in the industry...Long before the prices of cotton went up the quality was already going down.
THere is a HUGE market for less expensive, cheaper made fabrics for those on less income, kids learning, GS, 4-H, crafting etc...quilting quality as we came to know is really the least sought after griege goods..believe it or not...
when walmart quit having fabric, that left a huge void in the market place for stores that carried that fabric..at the same time, hobby lobby cut back on fabrics, hancocks was closing stores, joanns was carrying more goods other than fabric, SO..what did that mean to the industry?
It meant that the makers of the fabric still have to try to please everyone AND make money...do to that, all the lower quality fabrics that used to fill walmart, hobby lobby, Hancocks, and Joanns, now had to be placed in other venues...some quilt shops are now carrying those lower quality fabrics..you might see them as flat folds, pre-cuts, or if you know the makers by name you will recognize what companies are lower quality. You see them online a lot because you can not feel them, you do not know their quality. Connecting threads is really thin fabrics...used to be much better...
I got some batiks from Timeless treasures...might just as well be chiffon...sheer as it is...
Either way...the fabric industry has to fill ALL the needs, and quite frankly, quilting is only a small piece of that pie! As long as the prices of cotton stay high the griege goods that fabric is printed on(no longer woven), will continue to decline so that the makers can see a profit!