Funny story. I once made a picnic quilt out of regular cotton and old jeans on the front and a cheap Harbor Freight tarp on the back. The only 'quilting' I did was a big "x" on the back, and I stitched all around it about an inch away from all the edges.
It was too heavy to put into my large washer, so it just got hosed off and hung on the line to dry.
It eventually became a barn quilt for bottle fed barn babies, and the tarp side lasted much longer than the cotton on the 'front' side.
I think the weave of that tarp helped hold it together. Not sure what ever became of it...