Bree123

So true ... and it applies to quilts as well. So many cheapy quilts that one can buy at Wal-Mart that quiltmaking has been largely relegated to a hobby rather than something one can do for a living. Still, there are discerning customers out there willing to pay for quality quilts, just as there are those of us who see the benefit of organic cotton. It's not for everybody, but there are people who either (1) care about what how their purchases impact the environment, and/or (2) have allergies/sensitivities to some of the chemicals routinely used in the harvesting, dying/printing, finishing, or packaging of soft goods like fabrics or the quilts made from them.

JudyKay,
To quickly answer your original question: if it's quality fabric like Cloud 9 or Birch Organic, the organic cotton fabrics hold up quite well.

On a more detailed note, interestingly, the more I've researched organic cotton, the more I've found that it's really the dying process that tends to be the most harmful to the environment (by far) rather than the processing of the pre-dyed/printed fabric. And there are different standards of labeling that allow for a fabric to be labeled "organic", some of which do not consider the impact on the environment of dying processes that use enormous amounts of water that is then contaminated with chemicals and discharged into the local water supply.

The gold standard for measuring the impact of such chemicals is Oeko-Tex. Unfortunately, right now there are 0 companies in the US producing Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class I woven cotton fabrics (deemed to meet their human & ecological requirements for children under the age of 3). Robert Kaufman Kona white & dyed fabrics are certified as Class II, but they are not made with organic cotton.

I have yet to find an organic cotton fabric that also has received Class II certification from Oeko-Tex. So, short of using undyed cotton, it is always a trade-off. Organic cotton is most frequently printed -- which generally has a very low impact on the environment as little to no water is used. When it is dyed, there tend to be one of two routes suppliers go. First, some will use 100% "natural" dyes. These dyes rarely hold up to frequent washes, sunlight or time; they rarely start out very saturated & what color they do have will fade rather quickly. Second, some will use "low-impact" fiber reactive dyes. These are synthetic (i.e., not organic) dyes that use significantly less water than more traditional dyes & hold up quite well to multiple washings. In an ideal world, they would be dyed in small batches to further limit the impact on the environment, but the downside of that is that it drives up the cost of producing the fabric.

The final thing I would point out about organic fabric is that you will definitely want to get a good amount of starch/sizing as, in my experience, it typically is not as crisp off the bolt due to using fewer finishing chemicals. Personally, I wash everything that comes into my house & then starch the living daylights out of it. But if you prefer not to pre-wash, you may find yourself using more starch than usual to get the fabric ready to cut & piece. Also, I find that organic cotton seems to shrink a bit more so I buy a couple inches extra just to be safe (versus when I buy cotton fabric that isn't certified organic).

I think it's so wonderful that your niece is thinking about the impact of her choices. I hope her quilt surpasses her expectations & reminds her always that the biggest way high-quality quilts impact the environment is when they are cherished & used for a very long time, rather than mass produced & tossed aside like so much of what we buy in this country.