Originally Posted by
Zyngawf
Why do so many of you like it? My most recent quilt seems to have several broken threads in the free motion quilting. I used something definitely meant for this. I have used polyester thread to quilt before and not had this much of a problem.
Cotton thread is traditional because when vintage quilts were created, cotton was all that was available. I personally prefer polyester thread for machine quilting because it is stronger and creates less lint for my machine.
There are multiple reasons why cotton thread might break after FMQing. One is the type and brand of thread. Some brands are better than others. Also, cotton thread can be stronger or weaker depending on the type of cotton in the thread (shorter or longer strands), how it is wound, weight, and ply (number of strands). Distance between quilting lines is another variable. Longer distances mean that more stress is put on individual threads when someone sits on a quilt, for example, or when the quilt is handled while heavy with water after washing. (Water adds a *lot* of weight to a quilt, which is one reason why you really do not want to hang a wet quilt on a clothesline.) Stitch length can also affect how much stress a thread can take, with long stitches breaking sooner than short stitches.