I have been sewing clothes as long as KalamaQuilts has been making quilts. I have never heard of this issue in quilting, but when I learned to sew we were taught to match the thread to the fabric (cotton with cotton, poly with poly). This was back when poly thread was very difficult to break in your hands, and I have heard that it isn't as much the case now.
The reason for not using poly thread with cotton material had to do with when a seam ripped. Say you made a pair of pants with cotton fabric and sewed it with poly thread. If (heaven forbid) the back seam was stressed and ripped, the poly thread would make it likely the cotton fabric would tear next to the seam before the thread in the seam would break, making it almost impossble to mend. Cotton thread in the same situation would increase the odds that the thread in the seam would break before the fabric tore, allowing one to mend the seam and wear the pants another day. Unfortunately, I can tell you this was absolutely true from personal experience!
Sometimes now I will use poly thread with cotton fabric, but only when the garment is meant to fit loosely and I know the seams will not be stressed.