All this confusion about fabric quality.
All manufacturers produce many bolts of fabric during their design process. They are testing the colors and prints to get everything just right. These goods are called griege goods. Once the manufacturer is satisfied with the print and colors he then produces his 1st quality goods.
The greige goods have a lower thread count (just like bed sheets) and the dyes are not as stable. The "cotton" they use during this testing process is made of short cotton fibers instead of the long staple fibers used in their final production of 1st quality goods.These inferior goods are then sold to discount stores...WalMart, Hancock's, etc.
Your local quilt store buys 1st quality fabric (atleast I have never heard of one buying greige goods). The same holds true for many online sources, such as EQuilter, Keepsake Quilting, Hancocks-Paducah.
I too was confused when I started sewing again after being away from it for years. I like a bargain like everyone else but have found that "you get what you pay for" is true after all.
I made some cute embroidered neck scarves for my daughter's dog Snickers. Wanting to be economical I bought fabric at WalMart. I prewashed it (as I do everthing) and couldn't believe what came out of the dryer. Once the sizing was removed I was left with thin (see-through) misshappen fabric that stretched every which way. Never agin!!!
On another thread, group members were commiserating about how non-quilters expect to buy a hand-crafted quilt for the price of a bed-in-a-bag from WalMart. We shouldn't be guilty of the same thing by expecting quality quilting cotton at bargain prices.