I use Gutterman or Prescia. I did sit in a restoration of old quilts and they say to use silk to repair old quilts but did not recommend for our today quilts due to the strength issues. I just took an appliq class and the teacher recomm.silk thread due to it being so easy and thin to manage...I stuck w/my regulars:)(Just in case-for it made sense to me-no offense to those that prefer it) I love to match them too. Really makes hiding all so great! Skeat