MaryKatherine

As I've committed to hand quilting my Jane Stickle quilt I thought I should practice. So.... I have this Challenge piece to practice on. My question is how to decide what colour Thread. Does it matter? Can I use more than one? or is there a universal standard. I know the Jane quilt is primarily beige but this is grey/black.

tessagin

Depends on whether you want it to show or blend with the fabric.

sewellie

Oh, boy would I love to have that pattern!!! I especially like the way you used the green tree. I was surprised that you didn't put that on the 25th block. Just saying.
Beautiful job.

helou

I don't think it matters what color thread you use... I sometimes use more than one color thread. of course I am far from being an expert!

tessagin

Beautiful. When I first posted comment, I did not see the photo. Maybe a variegated grey/black thread?

Tartan

I would go with a medium gray and quilt around the tree shapes first. Unless the fabric is too thick there in which case I would quilt just inside the branches with a universal colour grey thread. It will show up more on some tree then others but who wants to buy 25 different thread colours?

feline fanatic

Fabulous challenge quilt and a good candidate to practice your hand quilting as you will quickly learn how to navigate the bulk of multiple seam allowances with this, especially on your one focus block with the green tree. As far as color, as Tessagin posted, it all depends on if you want the quilting stitches to stand out or not. It doesn't matter really, all boils down to what YOU want and like. But the "mood" of this particular quilt seems to call for a blender so I think I would go with a taupe/gray thread. On some blocks it will stand out and on others it will blend right in. As I was always one to not like tying off and doing a lot of starts and stops when I hand quilted I always opted for the same color thread throughout. One usually tends to get a rhythm or flow with hand quilting and having to stop and tie off to switch thread colors interrupts the flow and rhythm of the rocking motion. Just my .02

ManiacQuilter2

I agree with tessagin. Just depends on how you want this quilt to look. Good luck.

nativetexan

and yes, you can use more than one color. I'd keep to the fabric colors but different shades of grey or what ever you choose should look great. You always do beautiful work!!

Bree123

I agree with those who suggested maybe just matching each section you're quilting. Unlike machine quilting, you only grab 12-18" of thread at a time for hand quilting anyways so it's easy to change thread color. The only thing you'll want to consider is what it will look like on the back since it's the same thread front and back.

Personally, I think it also might be fun to do a couple of trees in a green thread (same tone as the evergreen). Or you could do the whole thing quilted in a red or black. So many beautiful choices that will really highlight your beautiful piecing. I can't wait to see the results!