I recently purchased some discontinued thread, second hand from a nice lady and I need help figuring out exactly what weight it is, so I know how to use it appropriately. It's Madeira thread and it says "Madeira Tanne No. 30 5000 m Nm 50/2" and inside the spool is a color lot #. So....do I have 30 wt. thread or 50 wt. thread? I typically use 50/2 weight thread for piecing so I've compared my Mettler 50/2 to this thread and this Tanne thread maybe seems a little heavier. But, it could be an optical illusion. Anyone use this thread in the past and can maybe fill me in on what weight it really is? I think I'll use it just for quilting the tops and not piecing, but haven't found much on the net. Thanks.

My guess is that the No. 30 refers to the color. 50/2 typically means 50-wt thread, 2 strands. The Mettler thread I use for piecing is 50/3. I actually don't like it anymore because it is too linty; I'd like to switch to Masterpiece, but I have to use up my Mettler stash first.

No, 30 isn't the color. The color number is located inside the spool. I do think it's 30 wt. but I want a guru to tell me for sure. I got 5 spools of it all different color and they say the same thing, except for different color stickers on the inside of the spool.

I did a little looking around on the Madeira website and I couldn't find a No. 30 cotton thread but did find a No. 30 rayon thread.

This was the best website I could find explaining why a thread could be No. 30 and 50/2:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/thread_sizes/

I don't understand it all, but it does seem that the No. 30 is a thread weight.

I think it is 30

I think it's just the safest bet for me not to use it for piecing. I've been told by so many people that Mettler is the best thread on the market. But, I agree with Prism that I'm seeing a lot of lint lately. I'm very fond of the Aurifil I've started using. I think this 30 Tanne thread will be great for over all quilting.

Thanks for your opinions.