Polyester on a Longarm
 

Has anyone here quilted a quilt made with polyester knits on a long arm? I had someone call me today and asked if I would quilt this for her and I offered to try it as no one else around here would even consider quilting anything with polyester in it on a long arm. I have done many denim quilts in my machine with adjustments and said I would try it and seem how things worked. What is the reasoning why no one would want to quilt these??

If made from knits, maybe because of the stretch and thick seams? Just guessing.

I just did an old top I made "way back when" on my LA; it's really thick polyester with lots of seams; I used warm and natural batting (mainly 'cause I didn't have any poly batting) and my regular Aurifil thread, stitches about 10-12/inch and it turned out fine. No problems with stretching but I would watch for it...good luck!

i tried one with thick seams and thick polyester with a lot of stretch. It didn't look good to me and I quit after the first row and gave it back to the friend. Too much trouble and not a good end result. Pass on it if you can.

as i said, only a guess ;-)

I would think one of the biggest problems would be getting ball point needles for the longarm. A ball point needle would really help skipped stitch issues. You'd also have to be really careful to avoid stretching issues.

I have never quilted double knit, but I do quilt 2 layers of fleece. Watch for over tightening as you dont' want to stretch the fabric. If there is less stretch, put that length wise. Let us know how it goes. I would be interested

My friend and I quilted some double knit quilts for our sons to take camping on her long arm Gammill without a stitch regulator. We just used a simple meander and they worked out just fine. The tops were just large squares of the knit and we used Polydown batting and flannel or corduroy on the back. Heavy, warm and serviceable.

I quilt with a Gammill longarm and have quilted several double knit quilt tops with no problems. I do not use a ballpoint needle when quilting these. (however, when I made clothing out of double knits I always used the ballpoint needles) I do like to use poly batting as it will help make the quilt a little less heavy after quilting. Also I would recommend quilting from the front of the machine so you can see where the seams are and maybe be able to bypass the heavy seams.
Here is a picture of a Lonestar doubleknit that I quilted.