my quilting teacher said she always uses cotton thread for piecing and then polyester for the actual quilting. Is there a reason for this? I used cotton (the same thread I pieced with) for my quilting and had no problems with the thread at all. On my 2nd quilt I free motioned I used poly and it kept breaking or the tension was off on the bottom and made it look like a binding stitch. Anyone know if it's ok to quilt with cotton? It worked better for me.

I use silk covered cotton for it all..just like it..may have to change if the prices keep going up..lol..!!

Many people prefer cotton thread like King Tut. I cannot afford it, so I use what I have.

Go with what works. Try changing needle to a larger eye if the thread keeps breaking.

what ever you want to use and works for you is fine.
some people swear they would never consider anything except cotton thread in their quilts-
i find this very sad-
there are so many wonderful threads out there to try!
some with beautiful sheens, some with wonderful verigation,
some that disappear- some that show up---

why limit your self to one type? you miss out on so much
just like those who have always used ONE BATTING- and will not consider anything else....there are so many wonderful batts from all kinds of fibers that work so much better for different uses.
be adventurous! don't let yourself be limited by other peoples (tunnel vision)

Good advice. Not all poly thread is the same. There's er... 'cheap' (prone to break) and not so cheap. I'm talking about quality, not price... lol. Are you using the same thread in both the bobbin and the top? Sometimes that makes a difference. Like when FMQ with clear (monofiliment type) thread on the top...

In FMQ, in my experience anyways.... a lot depends on my needle, my machine, my thread, the thickness of the quilt sandwich, my mood, how many coffee's I've had.... etc. lol Most times, I have to adjust the tensions anyway. But then I'm using manual machines. Every now and then I use my newer Janome machine to FMQ a wall hanging, it has adjustable/auto tension... so it seems to be closer to the right tension from the get go. I just do a few tweaks to it. However, the Janome doesn't have as pretty a stitch as my old 301 or 15-91, so...

Use the thread that you have or can afford that makes your machine happy. Some machines are very particular and just won't stitch or behave well if they don't get what they like. My machine doesn't seem to like monofiliment thread so I just don't use it. Sometimes changing your needle or using a different kind (topstitching for example) will make a huge difference. Spend a bit of time, make some samples and try out some variations to see what works.

You can quilt with whatever you like... cotton, silk, poly, metallic, there are no rules! Just have fun!

Use whatever works for you! Nowadays you can't tel if it is poly or cotton. I use King Tut for quilting and masterpiece for piecing. Both are wonderful!

It all depends on the look you want, each type of thread gives a different look to the quilting. That said, I always use cotton for all things quilt related; fabric, batting, thread. History has shown that cotton holds up longer than any other material used in quilts. I usually only make pass down heirloom type quilts though. If I were just making utility quilts or wall hangings and so forth, I would probably experiment more with various threads, fabrics etc.