Polyester and Cotton help please!
 

Hi,
I'm Kim. I got commissioned to make a quilt. The woman ordered all of the fabric and had it shipped to me. Everything is cotton except for the large pictures that we had ordered from Amazon. The listing said they were 100 percent cotton, but when I received them they are a silky polyester. (ick) I'm not sure how to precede with the quilt. How do you work with very polyester fabric and beautiful cotton fabric together. The polyester is so flimsy and slippery. Any advice? Also what kind of thread would you use to piece and to quilt.

Perhaps fuse the poly fabric to cotton to stabilize it. Then use poly thread to piece it all and quilt it. Don't know if it would work but it's worth a try. Only other option is to return the poly to Amazon and ask the woman to buy something else.

It's always something! I think I would tell the woman about your concerns and that you are willing to try to complete the quilt (but only if you are). I would definitely prewash all 100% cotton fabrics and shrink them as much as possible before cutting anything. I would also use interfacing on the polyester fabric to stiffen it up a little. I probably would still use 100% cotton thread for piecing & quilting. I have mixed different fabrics in scrappy quilts and haven't had any problems, but I prewash everything and I think that is why mixing fabrics works fine for me. Good Luck!

The first thing I would do is contact the person who commissioned the quilt. It's her quilt after all. She should be the one to make the decision whether to continue on with the fabric you have or substitute something else. Since the Amazon listing claimed the panels were 100% cotton and it was shipped directly to you, she is probably unaware of the fact that they aren't as advertised and that it might make a difference in the finished quilts appearance and/or feel.


If she wants you to proceed as planned, I'd snip a corner of the questionable fabric and do a burn test just be be absolutely certain that it is indeed polyester before you start figuring out how to work with it.

If you have to deal with poly, you should ask more for the quilt as it will take extra work to make the poly play nice.

I'd be tempted to tell her you'd not work with it. For starters, it's not YOUR mistake. Find something to substitute.

Unfortunately it is the main focal point of the quilt, they are big pictures of orcas and she had to spend 120 dollars just on those.

I would not do this unless she is aware of all the problems that have been mentioned.

I have mixed mediums with no problem just like making a tee shirt quilt, make sure you use a light/ or shirt weight stabilizer on the poly and then treat it like any other fabric. The stabilizer will reduce fraying. and slipping. Also on the poly I would pink the edges when cutting to also help reduce fraying. If you are worried about seams coming apart between the poly and cotton seams, do double stitching on those seams.

Wash all the cotton before starting. I would wash the poly too, just because I do that. The poly will not shrink like the cotton.

I would also use cotton thread or a blend, whatever I have on hand.
good luck and please show us your progress as you proceed. Very interested to see it.
peace