My experience has been that with all the study and wonderful advice from quilter friends, it takes time to learn the different levels of quality among fabrics. I am a three-year quilter and am so much more confident about my assessment of quality, but only through time and hands-on experience. For an applique project such as yours, I would use only fine quality fabric, and for the small projects you may do along to learn technique and develop your skills, the lesser quality could suffice.