Color of thread to use for quilting
 

Hi! I am pretty much a novice at quilting although I have made a few baby quilts. I'm going to try my hand at free motion quilting and I wondered about thread color. If the quilt has large blocks of several colors, like pink, purple, and blue, do you use a different color for each block, to match the block? Or so you use one color for all?

Thanks!

if you are planning to do an all over edge to edge type quilting i would use a neutral- like light gray if the fabrics are mostly light- a medium or dark gray if the fabrics are darker. creams work well too but grays tend to blend in & disappear. i don't know many people who change threads often when doing free motion quilting but it is your choice. often i will go with the background- when i have alot of colors in the blocks.

Also, you have to think of how much you want the quilting to show. My FMQ is still not as good as I would like so I tend to go for colors that disappear as much as possibe.

this is they way i handle it also

If the blocks are bright colors, have you considered using variegated thread incorporating as many of the colors as possible?

On similar quilts I've either gone with a neutral, or with whatever color seemed predominant (usually matched my binding). Right now I'm using bright white on a Dr Seuss quilt so it will stand out a little but not be overpowering -- that thing is already crazy enough.

If you want the quilting to be featured, use a brighter color. If it's the texture you're after then pick something neutral. And if you aren't yet confident in your FMQ then don't pre-wash anything and let the quilt shrink up a bit in the dryer. It's a fabulous equalizer. :)

This is a great idea, too!

I love variegated thread and use it all the time on my quilts if they have lots of colors in them.

I like to use variegated too and through the years have built up a good supply.

I do a lot of scrap quilts, so varigated thread is the best choice for me