Thread inspires me. 
I love thread. I love the color, texture and possibility thread offers as part of the quilting process. I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of Superior Threads. King Tut and Masterpiece have been main stays in my thread stash for a loonnnng time.
Masterpiece is incredible for piecing as it sinks in, not taking up any space in the seam allowance. Love this thread.
Bottom Line & So Fine have been added to the list as I’ve experimented and developed an understanding of thread, needles, how to adjust tension on the machine and tried a variety of quilt batting.
I’ve been using Sulky Blendables for a while now and have really grown to appreciate the variety of color and the heavier weight can be quite delightful in the overall look of the quilting. Anne & I used Sulky as part of the Hoffman Challenge Quilt we made together.
We used all solid colors for the quilting and chose a maroon/purple in the swirling feather area that reads as brown on the green background. This was a fun quilt to make.
I’ve wanted to do some work with silk thread over the last few years. Gutterman makes some silk that is a delight to quilt with. Remembering to purchase 75/11 needles for use with the silk took a couple of days.
Kate & I decided on YLI silk for her Silk Pickle (NY Beauty). It turned out quite well.
When Linda M Poole posts the color fixes to her blog my mind immediately wanders to what thread to use…cotton, poly, silk…wool Aurifil makes a wool thread that I’m ready to try! *just need the correct size needles for this*
King Tut has a great series of thread that are tone-on-tone and quite subtle. When visiting a quilt shop in ME a few weeks ago I picked up more of this thread to add to my stash. The subtlety of color adds richness and depth to a piece without adding a lot of extra color to a piece. With the “Twilight in the Bronx” series this is essential.
Knowing a bit about tension, remember to loosen, can make trying new thread a whole lot easier.
When you find a combination of thread, needle & tension that works well, write it down.
Remember that batting can play a role in how thread is behaving.
Happy Quilting!
Teri
Teri, I love King Tut on the longarm, it’s such a great thread. When I visited the APQS booth at the Houston show in Nov. I chatted with Karen McTavish and she likes Bottom Line so I’ve bought some of that. I love your thread post, lots of good info.
Yes, you can’t be afraid to play with your tension if you are going to be using all kinds of threads. I also like the Rainbow threads from Superior to machine quilt.
I love the Superior Rainbow threads, but unfortunately I have not found the right combination on my 830 to make it work as smooth as it did on my old Viking Lilly. I love Masterpiece to piece with and am just starting to play with Sew Fine for dense quilting where you don’t want it to jump off of the quilt. I like the Sulky blendables as well, but the key is finding the right colors in the right weight. Oh well, another reason to visit more quilt shops!
Hi Teri
Thanks for visiting my blog. Your blog is LOVELY. I’m going to get a blogroll up soon and would like to add you. Is that OK ?