Thanks so much ladies!! It sounds like I was on the right track already. Now I just have to decide how much thread I want to keep around. I have roughly 17 drawers I can still fill with the stuff, but I keep trying to remind myself that they don't all need to be full.
feline fanatic -
Neutrals are what I've been doing for the most part. I have the samples that came with the machine - mostly Superior Threads and a spool of Glide. I also have picked up a half dozen "far out colored" 1000m spools of Glide from the shop I adopted Lucey from. Other than that, I have a bunch of Aurifil poly and cotton from one of Tristan's clearance sales. I naturally gravitate to the neutrals and the blues, but with Tristan's sale, I also got one of their 6 packs of the heavy metal or whatever it was.
I bet the Glide Khaki is similar then to the Split Pea. When I took Jamie Wallen's classes he said that the SP was a great color and went with way more than you'd ever think it does. He said it resembled baby puke. LOL! I have a color card coming on Tuesday, and I can't believe I'm going to say this - I'm looking forward to it.
I will order one of those samplers. I had been eyeing that very one earlier anyway. It occurs to me that I don't have any black or pure white to quilt with. Everything has a cast to it. I have light grey and cream magnaGlide bobbins, and tan if I force myself to use the regular glide bobbins I have. One thing I have been noticing is that almost any color I choose turns out way lighter on the quilt than I'd planned, so I will order some somewhat darker shades as well.
I haven't been having too much trouble at all with cotton or poly, with the sole exception of some Gutterman poly I was trying to use up when I was getting to know Luce. That was terrible! She had freckles everywhere! No cotton I've used since has been as bad. That said, I don't mind cleaning the tension disks (weird?), I'm used to it with the vintage machines.
Peckish - Thanks! I had noticed I was using a lot of blue as well. On DH's quilt, and a lot of the charity quilts. In fact, thread I'd purchased with a blue quilt in mind turned out to not be available when it came time to quilt it. Playing with the vintage machines, I don't seem to have a lot of trouble with tension, but I definitely hear what you're saying. I have run everything in the machine so far and not had any trouble. A little tweak here and there and that's all. Gutermann not withstanding of course.
TeresaA - Thank you so much for such a thorough answer! I haven't tried any metallics in her yet, but other than that, I've been an experimenting mad person. I've been using the Superior threads suggestions for the needle sizes and so far most of the threads I use fall into the 3.5 - 4.0 range, and I have very few breaks - mostly when I'm indecisive with the stitch regulator on, and I sort of deserve that.
I completely agree with you about using the right tool for the job. Needles are so cheap, it's not worth compromising quality or sanity over one. Seriously, I paid $0.42 a needle the last time I bought needles. What's my time sanity and output worth? More than that, I hope.
I don't know if Bobbin Central's deal is for non-US people, even the 10% off thing. I tried using the code earlier and it said it wasn't valid, but that was before I put in my address. I had a bunch of those colors in my cart!
Thanks for the list, it really gives me a good idea of what to work from, especially once the card arrives on Tuesday.
As for the signature thread, I will see if I can get my hands on a few sample spools and try it out. I haven't found a "favorite" yet, but I also haven't found much that I simply won't use again either. We do go to Spokane from time to time, so maybe I can drop into Heartbeat quilting if we go again soon.I have the Superior Threads samplers here, and I haven't gotten around to using it yet, other than a little of the So Fine. I liked it, it dealt with thread build up fairly well, but I ended up ripping it all out because I decided I didn't like the color on that particular quilt, so I haven't seen it off the frame or after a wash yet.
Thanks for the advice on the variegated threads! I have 2 or 3 spools of it here and keep eyeballing it wanting to use it for something, but haven't come up with a project yet either. I won't make a point of ordering any of it then.
janetter - I was trying to do the same as you and only buy as I needed it, but in Canada, there's no such thing as free shipping, and most of the thread choices are about 2 weeks away - Glide not included - but if I buy it locally, I'm paying more than $4 a spool for 1000m. So in my case at least, it makes a lot of sense to have some commonly used stuff on hand.
Silver Needle - I keep wanting to order some of Superior's Sampler sets and some of their other threads, but their shipping to Canada is so prohibitive! 2 Long Arm samplers will cost me more than $40 for shipping alone. I keep balking at it for that reason. I may have to bite the bullet though and get some of the So Fine and the matching bobbins when they come out. I get their newsletter and the deal of the day. Those are like a little eye candy to start the day.
What was it you didn't like about the signature?
newbee3 - I had heard the same thing. That's what my dealer recommended, and I would have stuck with that if I didn't service the vintage machines too. I may have sabotaged myself, who knows, but I was the one who set up my cousin's tensions on her Pfaff 18.8 when she was having trouble with it and complaining that it would take hours to get right.
I was really surprised to read that you can quilt with the Aurifil cotton! I've heard several people say that it's a problem thread on the long arm. I'd avoided trying it until now. Maybe once I get this labyrinth off the frame I'll try some out. Thanks!