That is very tricky I have discovered. Brand name alone is not enough to find the best quality as I have heard from the people on this board that the same manufacturers make various quality of the same fabrics. So you and I could have the same fabric from the same manufacturer and they are diffrent qualtity. Brand name is a good place to start though. Some of the bigger stores have nicer fabrics but generally not. The specialty quilting stores will. You must get a feel for the better qualities. I am still learning that.