redneckwoman

I was told to use the same thread in top and bobbin or it will get your machine out of time. My brother will not sew if it's not the same. Also poly thread will cut your 100 percent cotton fabric it is like a razor blade. Your quilt will not last

Weezy Rider

Can't say about quilts - but I've used quilting cotton for colorblocked shirts and sewn with poly thread. Shirts are still going strong after many washings and wearings. More washing than a quilt gets.

Bobbielinks

A few weeks ago, one of my quilt customers asked me about cotton verses poly thread, as she had been told not to use poly thread for quilting. Of all the cones of thread that I keep in stock, I have only one 100% cotton cone. I pulled out that cotton cone and asked her to try to break a length off of it. She took the cone and easily snapped a length off it. I then handed her a cotton wrapped poly cone and she could not snap it off. I found out early on that 100% cotton used to machine quilt broke very easily; even more easily if stitched on the bias. For piecing (I only piece my quilts) I use whatever thread I have on hand, but for quilting I use Signatures cotton wrapped poly or poly wrapped poly and figure it will hold the piecing together for years to come. I do use mostly 100% cotton fabric for my quilts and after 14years they are still holding up nicely. My mother used to send her tops out to a longarmer about 25 years ago who used poly thread on her cotton tops and all her quilts are also in great shape.

Lady Diana

Please see the superior threads video, or order the free dvd...at least it was free a few weeks ago.....It is not a good idea to use serger thread for regular sewing or piecing. Serger thread, first of all is more linty....can cause more lint build up in your machine....but it is not strong for anything that will be worn or used as a quilt for warmth.... the reason it is not strong is because in serging it needs to be thinner to lessen the bulk on serged seams. It is thin, also because there is a straight stitch, then an overcast to lock the seam. If the stitched thread is broken the overcast will hold the seam together somewhat.....serger thread is a single ply thread that is not strong. Do a test of pulling apart with the serger thread versus cotton or poly....If serger thread was OK for regular piecing, they would not make multiple ply threads. Serger thread is for the serger. It is not strong. If your quilts are not made to last a long time....I suppose you could use it....however, do you really want your beautiful work to fall apart after a lot of washing.....

Friday1961

I use Coats & Clark poly/cotton thread and it has never melted and because I'm using cotton fabric, my iron is set on cotton or "hot". Think about it: could thread manufacturers get by with producing a thread that melts when a hot iron hits it?

I've never used "invisible quilting thread" so can't comment on whether it melts or not.

Onebyone

The $1 spools of poly thread is scrapping the bottom of thread barrel. All poly thread is not the same. There is spun poly, filament poly, tribal poly, the twist of the thread and the finishing all plays a big role in the quality of the thread.

Pennyhal

Thanks for the information. I did not know that!

AZ Jane

I am 63 yrs old, and have sewn pretty much everything at one time or another. I cannot imagine an iron hot enough to melt thread, poly or not.

captlynhall

I have been told and read in several quilting books that poly, being stronger that cotton, will cut through the cotton fabric after time. So I use cotton for cotton. I wanted some variegated thread one time, and found some beautiful colors at my local quilt fabric shop. I never thought to ask if it was cotton, just assumed it was. When I got it home, I quickly realized the feel was completely different. It felt slick. Checking more closely, found that it was polyester. I still have it but never used it.

For hand quilting, I prefer YLI coated hand quilting cotton.

Prism99

The information about polyester being stronger than cotton and therefore cutting through cotton fabric is no longer true. When poly thread was first introduced in the marketplace, it was stronger than cotton thread. Nowadays, however, most of it has similar tensile strength to cotton thread.

You can test thread yourself by snapping it between two hands to see how it breaks. When I tried this, I was very surprised to find that the poly thread actually broke easier than the cotton thread.

I do like the stronger tensile properties of some polyester threads for use in my midarm frame setup; it greatly reduces problems with shredding and thread breakage due to high speed sewing. This is why I prefer Glide thread to King Tut when frame quilting. Plus polyester thread creates much less lint than most cotton threads in my machine.