When I started, I thought that one had to match the colors "exactly"
Then I read a book by Jinny Beyer about "bridging" the colors in a print - very liberating - and the results were a lot more interesting!
I also thought that the thread I used for piecing had to "match" whatever I was sewing. About the only time I worry about this now if I am sewing light "solid" colors to light "solid" colors or very dark "solid" colors to very dark "solid" colors. Black thread for piecing whites did not work out well - that line of thread just had to show through a bit - nor did white thread for piecing blacks together - if the stitching was pulled apart, the white showed a bit.
Point matching, grain lines, etc. do matter to me - for MY projects.
Brand names don't.
"Quality" suitable for my purposes does matter to me.
So - the things that I do that might get the dreaded quilt police after me -
I use VIP fabrics (along with many other brands), Coats & Clark thread (along with several other brands), sometimes I've even used "inexpensive" polyester thread!, middle-aged sewing machines , and hardly ever use starch/sizing.
I have several 20 year old "everyday" quilts that seem to be holding up fairly well!
Last edited by bearisgray; 05-12-2015 at 08:02 AM.