I see all the beautiful quilting and I wonder how you decide on the thread color for the quilting. I think I would like to try a dark solid color thread. Do you audition the thread like one would audition fabric? Thanks for helping with my little dilema.

i pull off enough to pool over several areas of the quilt and see hoe it looks on the different fabrics and choose the thread that looks best on the most fabrics

Yes ... audition!
Pull some off and let it fall on the quilt and take a look at it. Try it on the different fabrics. And decide what you like best. So often the one I think is right ... is so wrong when I do that! :)

i try to match the thread with the (main- feel) of the quilt- quite often i use a medium gray or cream--
if the quilt (reads) white- and has a white back i use white thread to quilt it-
i find i get the best results when i can use the same thread top and bottom- but sometimes that is not possible.
i either match colors= or pick a neutral that will disappear- or use a varigated that changes all over the top- which can add some great movement...
i usually choose 4 or 5 different possibilities- pull some out and lay them all across a section of the quilt and then i walk away- go back a while later and look= decide which seems to accomplish what i am hoping to accomplish.

I do exactly what Kathy does. I've found that some of the oddest colors work when I thought they never would.

It's funny, but I'll take a top and show my DH. He'll say something like, "Why don't you quilt it with ___ (color)___?" and chances are, that's not what I was thinking! He's got awesome taste in thread choice.

I'll 'puddle' the thread on top of the quilt to see how it will look.

For charity quilts I usually use solid colors.

For special quilts I might use a few different colors of thread ... esp when I want a variegated thread to highlight certain areas only.

ali

I used to try to be matchy matchy with my thread. But, you know what happened? If the thread matched one fabric, the stitching disappeared in that area! Now I try to find one that you can see equally over the whole quilt. I'm doing a quilt now that has large HST in marble-y fabric. Im using a charcoal grey on the dark triangles and tan on the light. The more contrast, the more my boo-boos show. If I'm ReALLY confident, I will go for high contrast..and then get nervous while I"m quilting!

I find that a variegated King Tut solves the dilemna.