I know this will go against the grain of what most people think. I use bedsheets from thrift stores for my fabric. And i find that the very softest fabrics are actually bedsheets that arent 100%cotton, but the ones that have that softer feel from a poly blend, and polyblens are not as heavy as cotton either. And i like poly batting because it's so soft and lightweight. The quilt i'm just finishing now i'm finding a little stiff, it's a variation on a log cabin, which has tons of seams, and it seems the more seams, the stiffer the quilt is what i'm finding.