What thread............

You ask after I just got back from a 3 day seminar on Thread? I have been using Aurifil or Presencia thread. Very nice long staple cotton thread. That is for most of my piecing and hand work. I have been hand quilting with other thread, that is cheap and works okay, and I have it. I have learned that all thread is not created equally. (Of course you can often tell that when using good vs not so good thread, by the amount of lint buildup, color transfer, thread shredding and so on.) I am doing some hand work (binding) on a quilt and am using Masterpiece from Superior....in black!!! It is wonderful!!!

I do use some polyester thread, and some cotton thread, but I hate the "blended" or "wrapped" threads..... they just never have worked well for me.

Pati, > What thread do you use in your machines to piece quilts? What thread so

Cotton fabric - cotton thread.

I machine piece with Mettler - silk finish and Aurifil (nice because it is thin and the seams press nice and flat). Almost always a light cream color. Sometimes gray.

I don't hand piece other than English Paper piecing and then, again, it's Mettler! ~~~~~~~ Laurie G. in CA

For machine piecing I use regular ol' Coats and Clarks, and have never had a problem with it.

-Irene

To handquilt, I *love* Mettler's quilting thread. It's 33/Cotton, 87/ poly waxed. I've used a lot of different threads and this one, for me, beats hands-down Coats and Clarks quilting thread. It just never tangles, and is very strong. Very much worth the price difference, IMO. For machine quilting, King Tut. So far we like it. I'm not sure about other machines, but we've learned that on the Handiquilter, if you use the same thread consistently, there are far less tension problems.

Sherry

Aurifil is my very favorite piecing thread, though it is pricey. I also like "Essential Thread" from connectingthreads.com -- not quite as nice as Aurifil, but a lot less expensive. And I've used a lot of Coats & Clark Star brand cotton thread. I've also used these same threads for machine quilting. For hand quilting, my favorite is Guttermann hand quilting thread.

Julia in MN

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Marie Dodge wrote:

Nor did I until I took the plunge and tried Aurifil, it made a good seam better! There is less lint, seams press flatter, I'm a total convert and am only using up my coats and clark for things like thread basting.

Cheers Anne

It may feel pricy paying 10 dollars rather than 5 for a similar size coats and clark, but having bought the spool I'm currently using in September, I'm convinced that it goes so much further that it's actually cheaper. You really notice how much longer it takes a bobbin to run out.

Cheers Anne

And here comes the Black Belt tightwad. It is usually possible online to find Aurifil at a bargain price if you are willing to accept weird colors. Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't. We've been piecing with an Aurifil that is so yellow it would make sunshine cringe. Aurifil is good stuff. Polly

Do you wax your "hand" quilting thread? My friend Rose swore by running it over an old candle. I've been using poly thread hoping it outlasts pure cotton thread.

Great replies from everyone. :-) I've always stuck to either white or off-white color thread. I suppose in piecing it wouldn't matter as much... like navy blue and a black fabric etc.

I use long staple cotton on large spools. My machine really objects to any cheap thread. If you hold a piece of cheap thread up to the light, you can often see little blobs of fiber along it. This will not produce good results.

I don't use cotton-covered polyester either. It goobers my machine (Bernina

I don't do hand quilting so can't comment on that.

Here is a website of thread that I really like:

Lenore

For piecing, wind your bobbins with white, grey, wheat, and black thread. Use a top thread that best matches the color of most of your pieces. For the bobbin, choose the one that best matches the value of your pieces. You're good to go with a minimum of thread and bobbin changes.

--Lia

Maybe it was a beeswax candle? I've used beeswax, but not regular paraffin. Also thread conditioner. Then I got to be a real thread snob and would only use Mettlers, which was already waxed. To tell you the truth, at the risk of sounding weird, I didn't like waxing my own thread. It causes the thread to make a funny sound when you pull it through that would just give me chills.

Sherry

I just watched a segment on Ricky and Alex's online quilt show and they actually have a guy called the thread man who said that there's no reason to avoid polyester thread. He didn't talk about blends, but his reasoning ought to apply. Generations back taught their daughters to quilt with cotton thread because that's all they had. It became a 'rule', in a way, that's not applicable today. Polyester thread is not as strong as cotton thread, but with repeated washings, a quilt isn't going to last forever. Some people think that polyester thread will 'cut' through the fibers of a cotton quilt with time, as the fibers weaken, but the fact is that cotton thread, being the stronger thread, is likelier to cut a quilt than poly. I prefer machine piecing with poly thread because there's a lot less lint. ANY thread that you hold up to the light and see fuzz on is not a good choice for hand quilting because it isn't glazed or finished to withstand repeated pulling through your quilt. Sometimes the thread isn't labeled hand quilting thread, but when you hold it up to the light there's no fuzz - which means that it HAS been glazed or waxed and is ok to hand quilt with.

Musicmaker

The hand quilting thread that I use is already coated. that is why it is for hand quilting only... if you put it on the machine it can gum up the tension and all sorts of things. Using wax, usually beeswax, on thread used to be a staple for hand work. However, when you use wax, it doesn't penetrate the thread unless you heat it into the thread, it just stays on the outside and comes off with the first couple of stitches. Waxing/glazing thread helps to strengthen it, and makes it look very smooth. Frequently this disguises thread made with short staple fibers. Poly thread can be stronger or weaker than cotton.... depends on the thread. Poly doesn't deteriorate the same way that cotton does, but it is fine to use. Some people don't like to use poly for various reasons, some of which are untrue but ....... Our "grandmothers" back many generations made wonderful quilts with what they had on hand. They were not perfect by today's standards, but they are still wonderful. If it works for you, do it.

Pati, >

The "Thread guy" is probably Bob from Superior threads. I know he and Heather, his wife, have been on the Quilt Show several times. He ran the 3 day seminar up in Utah. And says the same thing I do about polyester thread. With thread you often get what you pay for.

Pati, > I just watched a segment on Ricky and Alex's online quilt show and

Never heard that one, before, Lia. It's a great thought. I usually use two colours (of Aurifil) just because I thought it would be less noticeable. However, having a 'rule' suits me fine!!! I do use a tan colour as well as the cream - for the yellow and red side of the colour wheel. Light and dark grey for the other. Thanks for the distinction made here. So, top = colour; bobbin = value. . In message , Julia Altshuler writes

You have to remember this very important point:

Piecing and quilting are not the same thing. :-)

When piecing your tops, the thread should be the same fiber content as your fabric - cotton/cotton, poly/poly, etc. A strong thread on a weaker fabric will cause damage at the seam in the long run.....

Once the top is securely PIECED, you can QUILT it with whatever thread you want to use. You are only holding the layers together. It can be polyester, cotton, thick, thin, metallic or invisible poly (do not use invisible nylon - yuck!).

Bob and Heather do know what they are talking about. But unless you specifically heard them say you can safely use polyester thread for PIECING cotton fabrics, I would bet they were talking about the QUILTING.

Off the soapbox now..... :-) and I may be totally up the creek but that is my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!!

Nope.... piecing cotton with poly is fine. Really it is. And, yes, Bob does say that. Many people use Bottom Line to piece with, and it is poly. However, remember that poly has a melt point....and piecing with poly can be a problem if you press long, hard and HOT. My first quilts were pieced with poly serger thread. They are still around somewhere...they were gifts to family members. I've seen a couple of them well worn and used.

Nylon thread has an even lower melt point than poly. However, (even though Bob and Heather don't like nylon invisible ) there is one brand that I do like to use on some things.... SewArt brand. It is a matte finish and is really pretty invisible. Poly invisible thread still has a shine to it that can be distracting. However.....(drum roll, please) Superior just got in some test spools of a matte finish poly invisible.... and we each got one this past week. So I will try it and see how I like it, and how my machine likes it.

Pati, > You have to remember this very important point: