Tippy

I think it's a matter of preference, etc. But to be perfectly honest, I only use 100% cotton.. the reason for this is that in the early 70's my grandmother made me a wonderful Drunkards path in a beautiful blue and white.. all poly-cotton.. I cherish that quilt as my gramma is long since gone. Well, after about 20 years (I know, sounds like a long time) that fabric started to shatter.. and now most of the quilt is in tatters. I think it depends on how long you want it to last. Maybe it's improved in the meantime. I also have a couple of quilts she made and one my Great Grandmother helped make and they are awesome. No problem there at all... just my 2 cents worth.

patricej

i always laugh when i hear people refer to cotton as "traditional". the only reason cotton is "traditional" is that polyesters and blends didn't exist 100 years ago. trust me ... if our pioneer predecessors had the option of using poly at an exponentially lower cost, that's what they would have used. :lol:

as some have already mentioned, polys can be slippery and some will fray easily. (look at the cut end of the bolt. you'll be able to tell easily enough how much it frays. feel it, rub the two layers together, and you'll know how slippery it would be to work with.) i've also found that machine needles go dull faster.

i'm no fibre scientist so i can only share my own experience. the drawbacks usually apply to pure polyesters (and other man-made fibres). poly blends often look, feel, and "work" like all-cotton. they're more durable than cotton, more stain resistant, and (depending upon where you buy them) often less expensive than cotton. it's best to use poly or poly blend threads with them. (and guess what! those threads are also less expensive than all-cotton. :wink: )

as you can tell, i'm voting with the others. use what works best for you and your budget. :mrgreen:

key4unc

Just be sure to set your iron properly. I used a poly/cotton blend and forgot to turn my iron down. Poly will melt if the iron's too hot.