Our church group has found that the double knit quilts are actually very popular with the homeless! They don't absorb water like the cotton fabrics, and they clean up easily. We don't make quilts with a mix of fabric types though - too easily messed up during washing. There are cotton quilts and double knit quilts. The cotton ones get a poly batting (because that is what the woman who runs it likes and you do not argue!) while the double knits sometimes get a poly batt and sometimes don't. Alll get tied instead of quilted.
I actually quit the group a while back because of a variation of "ugly" quilts. There was too much of an attitude of "if the poor/homeless/needy can't complain because it is free" to justify absolutely hideous quilts. The group gave our high school graduating seniors (5 or 6 of them) quilts made of random fabric types (cotton, polyester knits, and unknown) in 4" square, super cheap fleece back that was already pilling when they got it, with the edges serged instead of bound. The problem was also that the year before the seniors had received decent quilts - with coordinating colors and nicely bound.
Pam