When I first started quilting I used any fabric I liked indiscriminately because I just didn't know any better.

Today I am much more savvy as to the feel and weight, quality of the print.

Then, after I wash the fabric I can really see how it will handle.

Working with quality fabric is a sweet dream come true for quilters but there was a time I couldn't afford the "Best" so I learned how to handle lighter weight cottons, homespuns, plaids, shirtings and such. They are not lesser quality per say, but have a different hand and need a softer touch when working with them.

You should write Benartex and send a sample.

Excessive bleeding is a turn-off for me. I weigh the cost of water and sometimes Retayne and occasionally decide to discard the fabric instead of trying to stop the bleed.

Here's a horror story about old, poor quality fabric. A friend asked me to make a quilt from a kit she had had for some time. When I took the fabric out of the packaging I discovered that the instructions read "1980." It was so old the instructions did not refer to rotary cutting but drawing your cutting lines on your fabric. The pieces looked as if they were made of muslin, they were so thin. The largest piece was black and had been folded. When I opened it up the sharp edges on the folds all split and the fabric just disintegrated. I ended up with black dust all over my clothes, had to replace my ironing board cover, and had to mop my floor twice to get all the black off of the floor. Moral of the story - if you have any doubts about the quality, don't use it. Your time is too valuable to waste on poor quality.

"When in doubt,
throw it out."

If I get a bleeder - which I want to know about before I start cutting -

1) I will try to return it if I still have the sales slip - sometimes my fabric sets for years before I get around to doing anything with it -

2) if no sales slip (dated fairly recently!) , I discard it - much as it causes me pain to do so. But it would cause more pain to me if I used it.

I had some black cotton fabric disintegrate in the washer, too. I had bought two bolts of different shades of navy blue and one bolt of black - same manufacturer - at the same time. I just washed some more of the blue last fall - it's fine.

I also had black dust "everywhere" from it. It made quite a mess in the washer, too.