You really should push the search button under the message board title above and put in "redwork." There are oodles of links, patterns and opinions. As for thread, at first I used DMC. I really didn't like separating the strands, etc. Then a quilt teacher told me about Premium Sulky 12 weight. I love it. It comes in a really dark color, doesn't have the be separated and looks good. It's not 29 cents a skein, or whatever dmc is up to now, but you can sometimes find it on sale and a spool goes a long way!