Iceblossom

There are a number of ways fabric can be woven and treated. Even as 100% cotton there are processes and essentially additives, consider it 100+%. Threads can be round or flatter. There is a difference in the raw plants of Egyptian style cotton and American style (has to do with fiber lengths). They can vary in weight one direction or the other. The way color layers are added and what the colors are made with -- are they dyed or some sort of spray or overlay process? Etc.

BTW, I've found some of these things give unusual results with burn testing. Fabrics I know for certain (like it's printed on the selvedge) may not burn "correctly" with a chintz finish in particular, other times it is something that washes out so I go ahead and prewash and get a more definitive cotton result.

I'm really feeling the loss of so many LQS, for me the hand of the fabric is very important. You can't always tell by feel though, some fabrics are so treated with stabilizers or whatever that they change dramatically when washed. Rarely they seem to improve, mostly it's not so good news. I also smell the fabric, I'm sensitive to chemical odors, most quilting suitable fabric is neutral to me but sometimes there is something I react to.

Kelsie

I would vote also for polished cotton. It was popular in the 60's and 70's. It could be the type of weave used or it could be polished or it could have a glaze/lacquer finish applied to the top side. There definitely was a difference between the front and the back. Washing did not change it and it kept it's shape - it did not wilt in the summer heat.

quilterpurpledog

Your situation really sounds like chintz or polished cotton. Generally fabrics labeled "chintz" were a heavier weight and used primarily in decorator applications. My small business used lots of it for draperies, slip covers and sometimes bed comforters. The polished cotton was generally dress weight and used for that purpose. I loved sewing on it and wearing clothing that was made from it. And, yes, because it was a chemical treatment applied to the surface fabric it gave the characteristic of not fraying.