Why not use cotton/poly?
 

I bought some gingham fabric at an estate sale. I assumed it to be cotton.

I planned a quilt, bought some trim fabric and washed the all the fabric. When I got it out of the dryer, I saw that most of the gingham is cotton/poly.

Now, I'm debating whether to forget this quilt, replace the gingham or use it anyway.

I know that you aren't "supposed" to use cotton/poly in a quilt. Why not?

bkay

Honestly, I think it's just fine. Lots of people have done it in the past, lots of people do it now, lots of people will do it in the future.

It can wear differently than 100% cotton, so over the years it may become increasingly obvious which squares had the poly blend (they're generally more durable and stays brighter colored), but that's really all I think anybody should need to worry about for a quilt. If you keep the entire quilt consistently a poly blend that solves that issue.

I actually prefer poly blend for pet quilts. It's just that much more durable.

I use gingham when making baby quilts along with quilting cotton & have for over 20 years. It wears very well, actually better than quilting cotton.
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Use what you have and enjoy it. Plan it for a quilt that will be used and loved and washed a lot.

I put gingham in quilts I made for my kids 35 years ago. It's fine, quilts are still used on their kids beds.
Off topic-Gail, was your quilt a gingham goose pattern? It looks like one I have from way back- I had a humpty dumpty, a rocking horse, mother goose(?) and a bear. I made tons of quilts from them back in the day.

Great answer Sewnoma! ♥
Bkay, it is YOUR fabric and YOUR quilt .... do and use whatever you want/like. :sew:
Anyone that tells you otherwise, is a fabric snob.
Quilting started out as a make-do ......there were no must-haves or should-haves! Those that follow every man-made rule in quilting stresses themselves about every little detail........and that is just plain wrong!!!:thumbdown: Quilting should be something you WANT to do.............not something you are afraid of doing!
So - all this means is that you don't need nobody's yay or nay ----- enjoy your fabric and your quilting!♥♥♥:thumbup:

Just be careful when using your iron, you won't want to use a cotton setting on it.

Agreed, It is very easy to damage it with a hot iron. Personally, I can't stand working with poly blend fabrics. Have no issues with poly batting just can't stand working with poly blend fabrics. In my experience they don't hold a crease well when pressing and they don't behave like cotton which I prefer. Not a fabric snob, just don't like to work with it. Quilting is a past time I enjoy so why make it less enjoyable by working with materials that don't behave the way I want them to.

But that is me. You may find you don't have a problem with working with them.

I agree. I have used poly/cotton on many of my projects and they work great.

I've used cotton/poly blends many, many times and so has my Mother and she has been gone over 20 yrs. and her quilts are all fine. When making a quilt or quilting, there is no right or wrong way to do it. We all have our ways to do things. The only wrong way to do it is ," Not doing it at all".

I agree. Cotton/poly is nice looking and to work with. The only thing I found was that spray basting did not work with it - would not "stick" at all.

I don't like using it because it is hard to get a good crease, and patchwork is all about sharp tight ironing.

It would be fine with say, 12" blocks utility quilt, great in fact.

edited to add: I also don't like the smell it gives off when pressed

I wouldn't have asked. A cotton poly blend is great for borders.

That's one of my problems. I bought cotton to use with it. I also had forgotten that you can't crease it. In addition, I don't think I'll be able to find the solid colors I need in cotton/poly. Maybe I'll save this fabric for a picnic quilt.

I just checked. Joann's has cotton gingham listed online (I'm not too fond of Joann's low-end fabric, usually). I saw a good selection of gingham at Hobby Lobby the other day. So, there may be some 100% cotton gingham out there.

Thanks for all you tips.

bkay

There's a quilt on my parent's bed that was made in the 70s and it's cotton and a whole lot of poly fabric with poly puffy batting and it's wearing pretty well. The colors aren't even faded ;)

bkay, one of JoAnns solid broadcloth lines of fabric is a poly cotton blend, I think it's the Symphony broadcloth. I've used it, and while it's not top of the line fabric it worked fine in the quilt I made.

Cari

I don't either, it stinks! This is the only reason I don't use it in my quilts any more, I can't stand the smell when it's ironed.

Cari

Never mind the guilt-tripping quilt police, do what you want. It's YOUR dang quilt!

I was wrong about getting cotton gingham easily. Yes, you can get it online, but you have to buy a minimum of a yard of each. (I was planning for a multi-colored quilt.) The gingham that Hobby Lobby has is cotton/poly.

So, I guess I'm in for a trip to JoAnns tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to match the gingham I have with a solid poly/cotton (Thanks, Cari) or get a 100% cotton gingham that's of acceptable quality in quantities that work for this quilt.

Hopefully, one solution or the other will work.

bkay

My inspiration for the quilt:

The quilt on my machine right now has cotton/poly sashing because color is important to me and it matched the panel well. It is working up just fine. I think the person who pressed the first blocks used some steam and they look good.
In the quilt you have pictured, I would prefer the solids in cotton.

My first quilt before I found this board was a mix of anything and everything. I bought what I wanted and just small pieces I did stars then I learned they were hard to do. (it is my avitar)Umm really The only points I lost were when I pillow cased it. I did not have a clue there were quilt police or a right or wrong way of doing things I just did it! that quilt is just fine. I just smile if I see someone say oh no just cotton thread or just quilting cotton fabric. Umm I use what I have. seems to be working!! go for what you want to do it will be just fine

Why not? There are many quilts on beds all over the country with blends, all polyester, all wool, all corderoy, and combinations of all. If you like the fabric use it.
My only ( rule I follow) is to make sure any fabrics I use will launder ok together. A cotton/ poly blend will launder just fine. No reason to not use it.

Back in the day, when we wore permanent pressed slacks with creased fronts, we would spray the poly fabric with vinegar to press it. That would make it hold a crease. Not the best smell, but no worse than the smell of the fabric.
I have inadvertently used cotton blend fabric in quilts, and I am still at large. No quilt police, no fines.

I never have a problem getting creases in poly/cotton, I use it for making my dresses. I am planning to make a quilt w/the scraps but I will probably only use p/c, because as others have said you do have to be careful of the iron temp, cotton needs a lot more heat than p/c.

I'm a bit of a 100% cotton snob. Just from personal experience, I don't mix cotton and poly. My wedding quilts from 1984 have seams that the poly thread cut through. If you've ever hemmed a pair of polyester dress pants with cotton thread, you'll have to re-do it in about 4 months, because the poly wears away the cotton. After about 5 years of wear, my husbands poly/cotton under shirts will just have a mesh of poly, because the cotton gets rubbed away. I did use a poly/cotton for one of my son's baby quilts, and it really wore out unevenly. The poly/cotton was very thread-bare after about 3 years.

So, if you're making a quilt that will last a couple years, or go on a wall, then it won't matter. If you want the quilt to be an heirloom, only use 100% cotton fabric and thread.

If you like it, you can certainly use it. I personally hate the stuff. It feels icky. After a while some of it pills... little teeny tiny nylon-like pills. While quilting, it seems to shift around on the batting rather than "grab" the batting, so you have to deal with wrinkles trying to form. And then there's the iron... polyester melts so you can't iron it hot and get your piecing crisp and flat like you can with cotton.

I do like the look of gingham and don't understand WHY they can't seem to make it out of 100% cotton.

Love your quilt. I is just to cute.

How refreshing to see that there are quite a few others who use --and like!--poly/cotton blends. I like the sheen and the durability of them. They are more color-fast and easy care, too. Perhaps the thing to watch for is how much poly is in the piece so it isn't "slick". Those seem to pill worse. If you utilize shirts in scrappy, almost all of those are blends and they don't pill. To the one who commented on the Gingham Goose patterns--love those! I have a collection of my own plus my mother's that she used to make quilts for my children when they were little. Darling designs! My son had the one that is a train and it is well worn. He loved it to pieces--literally!

Good advice! Enjoy the process and don't stress over it.

I have used blends for as long as I have quilted. I have many that I purchased with my Mother when they were still the in thing and have found that they wash better than cotton and don't shrink. I also use cotton, but if someone doesn't like my quilts I really don't care as they are what I wanted to do. If someone else wants something different let them go for it.Creation is what you want and like.

Regardless of the quilt police, poly/cotton is less likely to fade over time, as cotton will and does. It is a great fabric for kids quilts, much less destructible. You might want to use poly thread, also.

I've used it if I needed that color and that's what I had on hand. The smell is not pleasant, but the main reason that I tend to not choose a poly cotton is that it doesn't move/stretch so it's hard to slightly stretch your pieces a bit if you need to make something fit. And I find that the pieces shift around when you're sewing, they don't "stick" together like cotton.

There is nothing 'wrong' with using cotton/poly. Or using denim, linen, satin, wool, fur, lace, anything you want in a quilt. It is your quilt and you can use whatever you want. If you are making an heirloom quilt or a quilt for a competition, then there are rules to follow. I believe that one of the reasons people used to say that the only true quilts were made from all cotton was that the antique quilts were usually made from all cotton - but, they didn't have cotton/poly fabrics! If using mixed fabrics, I would suggest washing everything first because they may have various shrink properties and be aware that your quilting may need to handle assorted thicknesses, but, whatever you want to do - GO FOR IT!

I use poly cotton because I recycle, but I try to use all cottons with all cottons and blends with blends. It's a personal preference. My grandmother's quilts have pieces of all kinds of fabrics in them and her quilts have survived from the 1920's. I think cottons are better for hand quilting because they are easier to needle, but if you are using a machine, that matters much less.

I don't particularly care to use poly blends in a quilt top, but have used them for backing with good results. It really is a matter of personal taste and/or economics whether you use a poly/cotton or not.

You can use what ever you want in a quilt. If it ravels, pinking shears, or larger seams. Some times we use light weight silks with interfacing ironed onto the back. Our group works with women who are learning to sew, have no money for material, so we use anything we can get. The quilts turn out beautiful.

I went to JoAnns today. Their selection of cotton gingham was limited and the fabric was "see through". So, I checked their cotton/poly broadcloth and it was acceptable. It was also on sale. So I bought the broadcloth to go with the cotton/poly gingham I have. The lady also told me that the store on the north side of town has a wider selection of colors. I will pick up a few more colors of gingham at Hobby Lobby and go to that JoAnn's store for matching solids.

Win-Win. Thanks so much for talking me through this. I'm happy with the choice.

bkay

Broadcloth has a poly component to it also and I have used that in the past when I could find the perfect color in it but not in cotton. There is nothing wrong with mixing fiber content as long as the weight is similar and you are aware of the pressing temperature.

Do you have a Ben Franklin Crafts near you? There is one just a few minutes from where I live and they sell fabric. I have bought 100% gingham cotton in all the primary colors and varying sizes of gingham. I think it is about $7 or $8 a yard and our store always has the fabric on sale for 25% off.