I would say it depends a lot on what your budget and machine like. I've tried many different brands most work well. I loved the color selection from Connecting Threads. But my machines did not like the lint even though my budget liked the price. After trial and error I decided the Presencia 60/3 fits well with both my budget and my machines. I usually stick with that for piecing. And when I don't use silk, it and metler 60/3 both work pretty well for hand applique.