Thank you guys for your awesome input and great points! I didn't mean to sound "uppity" myself! I was really just trying to understand if there was a difference and why one would specify something besides just "high quality quilting fabric". And yes, I absolutely agree that if you want to participate in a swap you need to follow the rules. I was not suggesting otherwise.
I've learned a lot - like I had no clue that the same LINE of fabric by the same manufacturer might have different thread counts based on the store it's sold in? Has this been verified or is it just hearsay? Seems crazy to me! I mean - how is one to know the difference, and who says at some point in the future the LQS's won't start buying this lower quality fabric if it looks the same?
Ok....back to drooling over all the fabric and quilt designs on these blogs I mentioned.