Hey sweet friends!
I’ve been quiet this week, I know. I’ve been battling un-inspiration. That may not be a word, but it’s definitely a thing. I have felt zero desire to sit at my machine and get my quilts completed. Instead I’ve been sitting in different places, like my sofa, my front porch swing and my lounge chairs out back. I’ve been dragging around an old completely handmade quilt and doing a repair job on it.
I’ve been pretty happy for the break.
I also think I’ve mastered whip stitch repairs, which is new for me. Normally I do my repair jobs on the sewing machine, but if you’ve ever touched an antique quilt that has nothing but tiny hand quilted stitches, the thought of putting it under your machine will make you shake your head and sternly tell yourself no.
It’s lovely by the way, the antique quilt. My repair stitches are more than obvious, but that’s okay. I’m finding some beauty in them anyway.
None of this is what we are talking about today by the way. Today we are talking about thread and I need your help.
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The other day on Instagram, I asked about thread. I know all of my readers are not on Instagram and I wanted to ask those of you that are only here as well.
I am doing some research on thread. For all the years I’ve been quilting, I have been using not so great thread. I won’t name the thread I’m using, but I will tell you that it is the cheapest thread I have found. There have been a few splurges, but not many.
I didn’t realize how bad my thread was until I tried some Sulky Cotton + Steel thread. In that moment, it was pretty obvious. Like, “whoa.”
In the near future, I’m going to be doing a full review of the Sulky threads I tried.
I’ve also been doing a lot of English paper piecing and if you’ve ever done that or even just hand sewn in general you will find that the thread you choose is of the utmost importance. It can make your experience hand sewing your project horrible or easy breezy. For this reason, I’ve been trying different threads for different projects.
The response I received on Instagram kept listing the same brands over and over. I’ve since ordered those brands of threads and am doing a full on thread experiment. I’ll be trying all the threads on both my machines using multiple tasks like piecing, quilting, hand sewing.
I’m going to tell you what I’ve learned about each thread, including cost and color availability, and where you can find the threads. I’m going to tell you about my own experience with them and I’m also going to include your thoughts, favorites, tips or any other information you want to give me.
Here is what I want to know:
I’d love it and be incredibly grateful if you’d leave your answers in the comments below or contact me directly with your thoughts here.
- What is your favorite brand of thread for piecing? Please include the weight you are using.
- What is your favorite brand of thread for machine quilting? For hand quilting? Please include the weights.
- How do you decide between polyester or cotton?
- Do you match your threads to your project when you are piecing? Or just when the thread color is going to show?
- What needle are you using with your favorite thread?
- Do you find that your machine dislikes certain threads no matter what needle you use? If so, what machine and what brand?
- Please let me know if you have any tips or tricks for machines that dislike certain threads that make them behave.
- If you’ve had a problem with a certain brand of thread, please tell me the name of the thread, the weight, and the machine you were using.
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Look for this article by the end of the month.
