For years I had been told that I should not piece quilts using polyester thread....but why?
I may really rock the boat, but here goes. I'm the kind of person who needs an answer to my whys? I don't like to do things without knowing why I am doing it and what the logic is behind why I am doing it this way.
As far back as I can remember, I was told that you match your fibers to the fibers of your project. It meant if you made 100% cotton quilt, you used 100% cotton thread. This was not enough for me, again I wanted to know why?
I like to break things down in to parts. Was it that quilters didn't like the polyester? Was it that quilters loved the cotton so much? Upon doing a bit of research, investigation, and asking around, this is what I concluded and what I answer customers who ask me that exact question!!
Traditionally, quilters preferred to use cotton for a variety of reasons:
- Polyester back then was often poor quality, and would become stiff and had a tendency to yellow (when using white).
- Irons and dryers ran hot and would melt or damage the thread.
- Polyester thread had vary little give and would cut into the cotton between stitches.
Actually, cotton shrank ALOT and essentially when the cotton shrank it would be cut by the rigid unmoving polyester (very unkind of the polyester). Instead of moving with the cotton it would wear down the fabric between the stitches and essentially cut it.
but...... many things have changed since the good old days. First, the quality and flexibility of polyester thread has definitely changed. It won't yellow, get brittle and has a higher melting point, which means you don't have to worry that dryers and irons will melt the thread.
Second, cotton fabrics will shrink much less then they did a hundred years ago, which means that even if you don't pre-wash, you don't have to worry that the polyester thread will cut thru the cotton fabric and ruin your quilt.
Honest all those facts are great....but the real reason I prefer polyester over cotton thread is that polyester is shinny, looks pretty, creates less dust in my machine, is stronger and can put up with my very powerful sewing machine and my WASHING MACHINE!!!
I may not pre-wash my fabrics, but I am definitely hoping my quilts will be loved, dragged around the house, and washed, a lot ! Cotton thread, think hand quilting, doesn't hold up well to repeated heavy duty machine washings and hot heat drying !
One phrase you will hear me say often is "if it works for you, do that !"
Helping you make memories, one stitch at a time!
