There has been a continuing debate among quilters about using polyester batting and thread. The argument has been that polyester will wear away at cotton fibers and therefore the quilt will not last as long. I wasn’t sure where I stood on this question until today. I was asked to evaluate a ca 1970 quilt and suggest how to preserve it. It was pretty typical of that era in that it was filled with poly batt. It was quite worn. About 50% of the hand quilting was worn away and there were numerous splits and tears in the fabrics. What I noticed was that the wear pattern on the fabrics was similar to the splitting that one sees in the silk crazy quilts of the late 1800’s. This is not the same wear pattern that I have observed in very worn quilts of the 1930’s. My conclusion is that the polyester batt has worn away most of the quilting stitches and thinned out the cotton fabric. I am convinced that a cotton batt is better for the long term survival of the quilt.
