Originally Posted by Greenheron
The Egyptian cotton is a long staple cotton. It is used to make a very smooth and long-wearing fabric with a high thread count and would be lovely for quilts. Quilt shop cotton might appear coarse next to it, you will want to compare, rather like a fine sheet vs. muslin.
It is 100% cotton--the difference is in the length of the fibers from the boll.
The longer staples allows the thread to be spun thinner.
http://www.canegy.com/id70.html