Different multicolored thread for King size quilt?
 

Saturday I tagged along with a friend to a quilt shop looking for enough multicolored thread to quilt my king sized UFO trip around the world quilt. I asked how much thread she thought I'd need and she estimated about 2000 yds both top and bobbin. First of all, does this sound about right for a DSM?

They didn't have enough of any one thread to come close, but when I got home, I started pulling out all the multi colored threads that I thought would work mostly in shades of blue, pink and purple (all of which are matches to the quilt front and back). I've got 2 300 yd cones, 1 500 yd spool that looks partially used, 1 875 yd spool that looks mostly there, 3 different color 225 yd small spools. The back is a paisley print and the front had a good deal of solid colors. Can I get away with using this variety of colors? I was thinking about using the biggest spool for the center and then the next biggest more towards the edges to make it look less odd if the colors don't match so well.

And then there's also the quilting on my DSM. I've never tried cutting the batting in thirds, but can't really imagine shoving a king sized quilt thru the harp...any other suggestions?

As long as you like the colors, I don't see why it wouldn't work--it's your quilt! How large is the harp? I shoved a king sized quilt through my machine, it's about 9 inches. I just did SITD though and it was a pain. Not something I would want to do all the time!

Heather, the biggest harp I have is my 15-91 and it's only about 6 1/2 "! I know it's probably biting off more then I can/should chew, but I really don't know any long armers locally and am worried about mailing a package esp this time of year. I'm leaning towards SITD myself. When I did ours I just tied it and it's lasted 7 or 8 years, but this is a long overdue gift.

I would say especially since you're using varigated thread it should work fine.

I was feeling a little over run by all the spools of thread in my sewing room. So, I recently quilted 2 quilts (a king and a queen) with the goal of using up as many of those spools as possible. I made sure to use colors that complimented the fabrics and tried to use similar colors/tones top and bottom at any given time. I ended up using up 25 spools. The quilts look great and the thread stash is a little better.

Are you sure you don't want to send it out for quilting? I just googled "Atlanta GA longarm quilters" and got quite a few hits, so there are some around. Personally, I cringe at the thought of quilting a king on a 15-91. Maybe that's just me. You can check with your guild and local quilt shops for referrals and recommendations, some might even have samples hanging that you can look at.

Oh I just can not imagine quilting a King on a domestic machine. I have heard it can be done... but I am of the opinion that having my quilt done by a pro is the best gift I can give myself. I just dread quilting a large quilt on my domestic machine.
Just a note I have mailed quilts out alot .. and I did have some apprehension at first ... but now .. I have no concerns.. just get the tracking . But I am sure your local shop can refer you to some longarmers... but there are some very talented members on this board.

Check Superior Threads' web site....there is a chart that tells you how many yards of thread are needed for different quilt sizes and densitiy of quilting. Very helpful. Check the field for Threads or Education...dig around.

i *AM* TRULY INTIMIDATED BY TRYING TO dsm THIS ufo (WHICH IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS IT'S A ufo:)) sorry about the caps lock, I'm not shouting. But money is an issue and I'm scare to death a LA will take one look at the back and begin nitpicking about how not trimmed etc it is, tho I tried my best. I guess I will give some of them a call after the holiday and see about what it would cost. It's at least 3 X-mas's overdue, so what's one more? I sure wish I'd seen that comment amount about not letting the giftee pick the quilt pattern before I let him choose it!