New quilter here, and this is probably a question I should have asked a few $$$ worth of thread ago.

When piecing - by hand or machine - what color(s) do you prefer?

One could quickly break their bank account trying to color match each and every piece of fabric, and then it occurred to me that for the most part I won't see the seams involved in the piecing (exception is for the rag quilts that I've been making).

So - do you have a go-to color when piecing? I finally thought to ask at a LQS and her recommendation was gray or cream depending on the warmth of the fabric - as too white a white can show through the lighter fabrics and too dark/black could show through the dark fabrics.

Cheers, K

That is exactly what I was told too. Creams and Grays are the best to use. I have been using creams and beiges.

I use Bottom Line for most sewing : machine, hand and hand applique. pale green and pale blue (as I have alot of it) for everything, very thin, doesn't ever show
http://www.superiorthreads.com

When I want all cotton I use Aurifil - I have alot of it so can pick a colour. If I didn't, I'd stay with beige/cream or light gray for light and any dark colour for darker needs.

I rarely match thread to fabric. I use neutral color top and bottom for lights. Gray for darks. I buy the big cones or the biggest spools of it. If I have a bobbin with a an odd color I'll use it up on anything. If your machine makes a perfect seam the thread color won't make that much a difference on prints.

I use cream and grey (neutrals) for all of my piecing. The quilting I either use a variegated in a matching color line.

I've used white, ecru, cream, light sage green, and black for piecing so far. A few quilts have several colors of thread since they were BOMs pieced over the course of a year. It doesn't really matter as long as it doesn't show thru.

I like variegateds for quilting though.

When you use varigated for quilting, do you use it in the bobbin too? I haven't tried varigated yet.

Good question - inquiring minds want to know... When I was at Randy's this past weekend I found a variegated spool that looks perfect to use with the Moda Nature's Notebook palette of fabrics that I have waiting to be put into use - so I bought 2 spools and tucked them in the storage box with the fabric (otherwise, if my scrapbook track record is predicitve of anything - I wouldn't find them again until AFTER I finish quilting the project).

Cheers, K

So far I always have. My backings are almost always a print that the variegated tends to blend into.

I have used variegated for quilting, and liked the overall effect. But usually I use either cream for light fabrics, or dark gray for dark fabrics, or a contrasting color if I want to highlight the quilting.

For piecing I do use cream, tan, dark or light gray. And I buy the large cones of those colors.