Before I retired I knew I was going to quilt. I bought a lot of fabric to have in a stash, but had not done research and bought many beautiful pieces that are blends. Now I hate to just throw these out or not use them but everything I read says only cotton will do. So with all the wonderful quilters on here.....thought I might get an opinion on using the blends.

Our grandparents use anything they had. You can use any fabric you want. It's just that some fabrics may a bit harder to work with as they may stretch, etc..

You could use the blends for projects other than quilts: aprons, small gifty items, etc. Just a thought...

The only problem I have had is they don't shrink and the cottons do a little.

As long as you prewash everything, it will be OK. Cottons will tend to fade more than polyesters.

Or you could use all the blends in one quilt and not use any cottons. That way they would all behave the same. Just thinking out loud ;)

Prewash and use them together, or separately :D:D:D

Never toss nice fabric! Either use it in a quilt and thumb your nose at the quilt police or find another project you like. Even practice blocks that can become pillows or placemats is better than tossing.

I would use them :)

Use them. However, respect the nature of each of the fabric. Blends will react differently than cottons. Blends often shrink when hot iron used. Just be careful in putting them together.