Nylon thread for Quilting?

did not want to have any thread showing on the top of the quilt

I like to use it. I tend to use it when a color of thread will seem odd, or a misfit, or when I am doing something where I want the effect of the quilting to show, with the quilting to be less obvious.

Christ> Hey Kathy A. (and anyone else too):

I guess my answer is c). I don't like how it feels--little hard prickles in an otherwise really comfortable, all cotton except occasionally for the batting, quilt that I"ve labored over for months. Seems just plain silly to add something I don't like after all that work to make something I really like! But, I MQ, and not all that well, either (altho' I have certainly gotten better), and I've never found anything else which will look decent on a whole bunch of colors so close together. Usually I use it just in the multi-colored places and use cotton (or cotton-covered polyester--Coats and Clarks) thread to quilt the more uniformly colored areas.

Dogmom

(b) I never use it on a quilt that is going to have a hard life. So far, I haven't made any other kind. My quilts are made to be loved to pieces. Really. Plus - just a tiny suspicion here - I wouldn't be surprised if nylon wasn't capable of cutting into cotton fabric. I haven't made a billion dollar government study or anything, but you can take a nylon thread and slice an angelfood cake with it. Sort of like using dental floss. Just something I picked up in home ec back in 1917. Ummm, now, what was the question? Polly

Actually, Polly, it depends on the thread. The old nylon thread you could use for cutting cakes. But not the new, really fine stuff. It will break.

I use SewArt or Sulky (YLI is supposed to be really good too) that is very fine for some machine applique and some quilting. it is very fine and very soft. Harriet Hargrave recommends it in her books.

It can be tricky to use. My oldest machine doesn't like it. But neither of the newer machines have a problem with it. It does disappear into the background and so on. but it does work best with a smaller needle. Use of it depends on a number of different factors.

Pati, in Phx

Polly Esther wrote:

Just did the 'break' test on several threads: Coats Cotton covered 'Polly Esther' (hee hee hee) sewing thread, cotton 50/3 thread, and YLI .004 nylon.

The nylon was easier to break than the cotton. It was noticeable but not extremely easier to break than the cotton. To me it felt like the proper strength difference. They say the thread should not be stronger than the fabric.

The cott> Plus - just a tiny suspicion here - I wouldn't be surprised if nylon

I haven't used 'nylon' thread; but do you mean monofilament? If the former, I wouldn't use it as it is too unforgiving - to my hands! and presumably to fabric. Not good for cot quilts.

If you mean monofilament, I have used that and it worked just fine. Is Ok for cot quilts, too, as it breaks under pressure. I think I probably used it due to lack of confidence in choosing a quilting thread colour on a multi-colour quilt. I had not done anything with so many different colours before, and didn't know how to handle it. My attitude towards the actual quilting is changing, and I am now more confident with coloured quilting thread. In fact, when I look at the one done with monofilament , I feel a bit sorry that this quilting is not more visible!!

In article , rjwhite6 writes

I use Sulky monofilament thread for some of my machine quilting; it is polyester instead of nylon and was recommended by the sewing center where I took a MQ class; they said it would take more heat and be less likely to melt if touched by a hot iron than nylon.

I use it when I don't want my quilting to be too obvious, though I never use it for baby quilts. There is some thought that a loose end could be dangerous to a baby, so I don't take any chances. I am less likely to use it now than when I first started quilting because I am a little more confident of my skills and I am beginning to enjoy experimenting with some more decorative threads.

Julia > Hey Kathy A. (and anyone else too):

c.) I guess. I have only used it for wallhangings. I wouldn't use it in a bed, lap, or particularly a baby quilt.

I used it > Hey Kathy A. (and anyone else too):

I have used YLI nylon. It sews fine but shines on the quilt when finished. I don't like that. SewArt International nylon sews great and doesn't shine when finished. I like that much better. I have used it on a few quilts/WH's. I almost wrecked my SM because I let the thread wrap itself around the flywheel. About 1/2 of the spool was wrapped before I noticed the funny noise and stopped sewing. Very costly mistake.

Make sure you have the spool behind the machine, in a vertical position so the thread comes off the top and not the side of the spool for better tension.

That's all I know about that!

For me, it depends on the effect I want. If I want just the texture of the quilting to show, rather than each stitch, I use monofilament. It gives a more subtle appearance. If I want a more colorful effect or to have a more "dominant" effect in the quilting, I use cotton or rayon.

Yaay!, I succeeded in attracting your attention. Seriously, thank you for replying. I wanted everyone's input, but also yours because you are a professional quilter. You are correct, I mean the 'invisible' or monofilament .004 thread meant for quilting.

How do you make your thread color choices for quilt>

Actually, busy areas are the easiest. Any color that has any remote resemblance to what's in the print(s) will work and not show up all that much. Usually the problem I have is that customers *want* it to show, and there just is *no* thread that will! LOL Busy fabrics always overwhelm the thread.

I always choose thread colors by laying a single strand of thread across the fabrics, often in kind of a loopy mess to simulate quilting. A bit hard to do in a store, I know, but a single strand of thread looks very different than what's on the cone. IMHO, it's the best way to audition a thread.

I generally head for coordinating colors, not matching. The fabric colors in your quilt generally work together (that is why you chose them, isn't it?), so there's often several colors of thread that will pick up some of the general feel even if they aren't an exact match. For example, I just did a charity quilt that had pink, yellow, and a blue-pink-yellow print in the top. After auditioning several colors, I chose a fuchsia that was really just a more intense version of the pink. It shows in the plainer fabrics, and because it's in the same color family as the pinks, the fuchsia works well with everything. (But it's a scary, scary color on the cone! LOL) Yellow would have worked too, but yellow is a weak color, and would have been lost in the plain fabrics. Since the blue was only in the print fabric, and not much at that, it didn't work as well throughout the quilt.

Hope that helps -- feel free to ask more if you need to!

Hullo Ron (Were you just asking Kathy? Sorry, if so)

I have just done a quilt where I used a lot of different colours for the quilting - first time for this. I chose the colours be looking at each of the defined sections and ignored the rest. Some of the sections were done with the same colour as each other, but that was only because the choice was right for the section - not because I was trying to make them the same. Looking at the quilt overall, it is not immediately apparent that the quilting threads are different colours. So, I am thrilled that it seemed to work. At other times when I have used quite a few colours, I have used a variegated thread, to suit the quilt colours. . In article , rjwhite6 writes

I've probably seen it and didn't know it had a name. :)

If it were me, I'd always choose a thread I can see over invisible. But that's just me. *grin*

Thanks, with your re-assurance I am now brave enough to go ahead and use the pastel variegated thread instead of the invisible thread.

S>

Sacrilege? Nah. If I could find a machine that would take over all the chores from cutting to binding, I'd buy it. I would still choose the fabrics, so it would still be "my quilt," wouldn't it?