People have told me that when you wash the quilt, the holes will close up. Personally for stitching the blocks together, I use a #11, for FMQ I use a #12, but most people use a #14, the long armers usually use at least a #16 and bigger, or at least that's what I've been told. I also don't like the holes that I can see through and haven't had any problems FMQ with the #12, so I'll just stick with that one.