Of course the quality and amount of thread on the spool has diminished. That has happened on all the products we use for quilting. Have you compared the quality of yarns lately? Manufacturers have developed all sorts of deceptive tricks to keep the buyer from instantly recognizing the hidden ways they have developed to hide the blatant cost increase in the name of profits. Newer sewers will not catch on to this but we older gals have not been fooled.