Hi Mary. My opinion on this subject is that almost all of the fabric is now manufactured in China (the only exception that I know is Connecting Threads where it is made in Mexico from US grown cotton). There have been several consecutive years of bad weather creating shortages of cotton to be used and so the price of cotton got higher. The companies made choices to lower thread count and are trying cheaper ways to keep their profit margins. This results, unfortunately, in lower quality fabric, even in name brand. I am so glad that I have a substantial stash of fabric that I amassed in the past 8 years or so. I love it and can't bring myself to settle for the lesser quality now. I believe, as most do, that the fabric sold today will hold up, it's just not made as good as it was 4-5 years ago. Just my opinion, for what it's worth. Sure saves me money as I'm rarely tempted to buy today.
Joyce