Where do you draw the line between "usable" and "unusable" fabric?
 

Or "good" quality and "poor" quality fabric?

My most basic criteria:

Will it survive washing that is done with moderate care?

Is it about the same weight as most of the other fabrics in the top or back? I have sort of a bias against mixing weights such as heavy denim with gauze - the reason being that I don't think they will wear out at approximately the same time.

Can I clearly read newsprint between the threads?

There is a difference between "thin" fabric such as a high quality batiste that is used in christening gowns and "thin" fabric such as bandage gauze.

It depends on piece by piece. I've bought name brand fabrics from the LQS that after washing were unacceptable. Recently I'm working with some fat quarter scraps from Walmart and Joann, and I was surprised to find how much I liked working with the Waverly fabrics at Walmart.

I look for a good feel, that depends on the person. I look for a good tight weave, except that I also work with homespun fabrics and would consider many of them unsuitable if they were a dyed print instead of a woven. I look for good printing, those registration dots on the selvedge should be perfect. I also smell my fabric, some have dyes or processes that emit odors that bother me, so it might otherwise be usable to someone else but not to me.

I try to keep the fabrics I'm using to a similar weight, often hard to do with my scrap style of quilting. But batiks in general have a terrific tight weave and I enjoy working with them, but I would consider them too lightweight in many cases.

Old saying: you can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. Some fabric is just not worth my time to use and so I get it out of my stash.

Interesting thoughts . . . I rarely find fabric that I can't use somewhere on something but it's getting time to downsize and pass along some things (and a great deal of fabric).

I went to support a local quilt shop that has hundreds of bolts for the latest BH Mystery. I bought several neutrals and came home and washed them as I do all my fabric. That fabric was awful. It raveled terribly. Most of the fabrics did. I would never buy from that manufacture again. I was also disappointed that this shop even carried such fabric. The prices were not any better than others either.
Kirsten

I have learned to stay away from fabric produced in China no matter the brand name. For free or yard sale cuts, I can usually tell by feel if it will be worth having.

Feel and weave are my determining factors. If it doesn't feel right, I don't use it.

I just got a fabric that is horrid. Every time the needle hits it, it pulls a thread and has "runs"..(just long lines of missing fabric)...I tried different needles and determined the fabric is just garbage.It is wave texture by Bernatex. I don't know if I got a bad piece, or if that is their standard of quality now, but I'm done with it. I hope this is not how Bernatex fabrics are made now.

older fabrics, say pre-1950 I've learned if it rips too easily it is probably rotting, and I wouldn't use any blacks and for the same reasons 1920's and back probably wouldn't use any of the deep colors as the dyes are rotting the fabrics before my eyes I expect.

I might use thinly woven fabric or older well used clothing in a wall piece that won't get washed and worn
but never in a quilt made to be used. Common sense is key to all of it.

Bear, what are you quilting? Please show us your quilts.

Feel and weave for me as well. If it’s thin as in I can see my flesh color through it, I toss it. If it’s thin-scratchy, i’ll donate it to a thrift store. If I would’t want it against my skin on my sickest or saddest day, I won’t use it. It’s not just about usability in terms of durability, but of beauty and comfort.