Years ago I bought a lovely all over cat fabric from a local quilt shop and had seen it at others. Happened ot go to Japan and went into a fabric store and they had the same fabric but brighter colors (same as original I bought here) and felt so much nicer. I bought some of that and brought it home with me and used it in children's quilts. The owners were Japanese and spoke very little English but they told a person with me that they were able to use chemicals that we don't use in the US. It was the nicest piece of cotton fabric I ever purchased.