Aurifil Lino

When I heard that Aurifil was working on a linen thread I was excited. I like natural fibers, they’re kinda cool.  Donna from Follow that Thread sent me a spool to check out and I liked it. You can read more about it here. Alex Veronelli sent out a general call for people to test this thread and sent me some to try.
In my original test I used a 90/14 top stitch needle and had some thread shred so for this decided to size up at least one size to a 100/16. From the previous stitch out I already knew the Lino tends to be slubby which can present a bit of a problem. The slub gets caught in the eye of the needle causing the thread shred and the popped stitches.  For this test I’m stitching on decorator weight linen on top, Echino cotton on the back and silk batting.
When it was stitching for the most part it was stitching well. Note: the I have Superior Magnifico in the bobbin – a 40 wt. Whenever I have a fibery thread (like wool or sometimes even cotton) a polyester in the bobbin solves a lot of problems because of it’s smooth. I also reduced the tension to 1.5 to 1.25. Seeing the back I could have raised the tension a little bit however the thread was already shredding so raising it was not a good option.

As evidenced by the pokies on the back here.

I know that there are threads on the market that work best in the bobbin (i.e. Ricky Tims Razzle Dazzle) while the Lino is not quite as thick as the Razzle Dazzle it made sense with the slubs to go ahead and try it out in the bobbin. The regular bobbin for the B 780 would be on the tight side so I grabbed the red bobbin for heavier thread/bobbin work. Wound a bobbin, popped the bobbin into the machine and started stitching. Voila Success!!!

I did need to adjust the tension a little bit up to 2.0. It’s stitching beautifully.For the project I’m working on and how I’m quilting it does not matter one bit that I’m quilting upside down. For projects in the future if I need to mark the quilt I’d follow the whole Ricky Tims mark it by stitching it with water soluble thread first to create the designs I need. Then doing the bobbin work following the lines I’ve already stitched out.

I’d use Aurifil Lino again in a heart beat I’d use either Aurifil’s new Polyester Thread or their Invisible thread on the top (back of the quilt) and the Lino in the bobbin. I know, I know most of us do not have the BERNINA Red Bobbin or even the BERNINA Black Latch Bobbin (both of which have room to allow heavier weight threads to go through easily) I will be able to finish this project. Easily.

And no, I’m not going to tell you more about that project. Reasons dear friends Reasons.  I’ll tell you all about it when I can.

happy quilting!

Teri