Polyester fabric
 

I have been gifted some large pieces of polyester fabrics. Could I make 'picnic table' quilts, 'in the car' quilts, kid's 'play on the floor' quilts......or am I wasting my time? I know all of you will steer me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.

Sure. You can make a quilt out of anything. There are art quilters who make quilts out of Tyvek (the stuff they wrap houses with to make them waterproof), so polyester seems perfectly reasonable. You'll want to be very careful when ironing to have it on a low setting so you don't scorch your fabric & I'd recommend making a small practice sandwich before quilting because the different fiber content might look a little different when you quilt it.

I'd also strongly suggest using poly thread to quilt it if you want it to be durable. Otherwise, over time, the poly fibers will cut into the cotton thread & weaken it until it eventually snaps. Won't happen right away, but will happen eventually.

I'm not so sure about "in the car quilts". If you mean something to cover the seats so they don't get all those crumbs everywhere, that'd be fine. If you're thinking about using them to cover the children with in the car, it depends on their ages. If they're in a booster, poly is definitely okay. If they're in a car seat, they might get a bit too warm & would have difficulty getting the quilt off of them. If they're babies, I would not ever suggest poly fabrics on top because the baby can overheat. Using them on the floor/ground should be fine at any age.

You can make anything you want out of polyester fabric. Just be careful with pressing your iron setting.

I have dogs, so I made a polyester pad (you can't really call it a quilt, although it is quilted, so maybe you can!) for the back seat. It catches shedding hair and stuff they pick up on their paws. They seem to like the bedding material it provides. I shake it out regularly and throw it in the wash once in a while. It's eight years old and still looks new.

I think you've got the right idea, using the poly where durability is an advantage. Cotton is more comfortable against the skin, but padded poly is more comfortable than the floor!

Polyester fabric will last longer and hold the colors much better than cotton. I have a ton of it and hope to be able to use most up, after I finish with the cotton. Wishful thinking because I have way too much fabric.

A young friend of mine has a quilt made of polyester by her grandma from back in the time polyester was so popular. She has a young family and keeps the quilt in the trunk of her car for use at kids games or picnics. She just loves it and gets quite a kick out the fact that her siblings did not want it at the time things were divided up and now are a little envious of that very useful quilt of grandma's. So, my point is go for it and make a useful quilt that will last!

I have a polyester quilt my Mom made me when polyester was the "in" thing. My 52 year old son grew up using this quilt for everything from being his play mat as a baby to dragging it along to concerts, motorcycle races and fishing trips. It's been used, abused and washed, washed and washed some more. He's still using it today and it's amazing how it's held up.

Do you use bigger seam allowance? I tried using some polyester and ended up having to serge all the seams to stop it coming apart. I am still a bit of a newbie (only three quilts so far, but all finished!) so maybe I was doing it wrong?

My first quilt had some polyester fabric in it. It sure holds it's color a lot better than the cotton fabric.