Glide Thread by Fil-Tec, on my Long Arm
 

I have had my long arm for about a year now. I have tested different threads and combinations of threads. And while all the major brands are very nice, I am now in total love with Glide thread by fil-tec. I will say I am not saying the other threads are bad in any way. All are very good quality. I just found the quality vs. price was the best with glide originally.

With long arms, tension is the albatross we all have to carry with us. I started out and have created a habit of testing my tension with every bobbin change, irrespective of the thread used. I often use different color threads in the top and bottom. Sometimes even different brands. And have always had to monkey with the tensions.

I am working on a quilt for my Quilt for Quilters swap partner. I am using 4 different thread colors in the top, (cream, tan, dark tan, garnet red) and another color in the bobbin (warm grey) I have just tested the tension on the bobbin case as I replace new bobbins (habit I developed)
I always study the back when I roll it, to see if there are any issues. And I just had to take a photo of the back. I was actually stunned at what it looks like, I thought for sure I would have little red pokies from the red top thread. The other colors are close in shade so didnt expect to see them. Here is a photo of the back, this is a place where 4 different colors meet.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]473290[/ATTACH]

I am now a lover of the Glide thread. I definitely recommend this to all quilters, but will also say, I think it is a definite must for new long armers, It takes the worst tension issues out of the way. Best thread with best price!


Ok for those that want to know:
Leaves are the Garnet Red,
Radiating lines are the light tan
Swirls are the Dark tan
Feather ends in upper right corner of photo is the cream

Can you tell? :)

I've only used glide on a domestic but it quilts beautifully!

Some of the top quilters in the world use it, no surprise to me. It is a great thread.

I use it on my Gammill all the time and I love it, too. I have had a few tension issues prior to using Glide...and virtually none, since. I use mine with the Fil-Tec pre-wound bobbins as well.

I love Glide for my midarm. It never gives me a problem, and I like the little bit of sparkle it adds to my quilts.

where do you buy it? i just got a Babylock crown jewel and i am still learing waht works well.

http://www.bobbincentral.com/quilting.html <--- there ya go.

Btw, their cotton is a 50 weight, very nice thread ;)

I love Glide. Don't want to use any of my cotton threads anymore. :oP Ann

I am a huge fan of Glide on my longarm and domestic. Yes, the tension is nice.

I have had issues getting the thread to wind on my standalone bobbin winder, but I think the same problems would occur with any trilobal poly. The thread is springy, so if I slow the winder down at all while it's winding a bobbin, the thread springs out of the winder or the tension gets screwed up. My solution is that I use cotton in the bobbin. It's a bit of a bummer, because you can put so much more Glide on a bobbin than you can cotton of similar weight. The thread compresses or something. I know I can get the magna-Glide bobbins, but I guess I'm too cheap ;-). And besides, I have a lot of cotton to use up.

I also don't enjoy ripping out trilobal polyester, or sewing ends in. It tends to fray and split. Again, I don't think this is a problem that is unique to Glide. Also, the Glide has so little breakage that I don't have as many ends to sew in, just the ones from running out of bobbin thread.

But minor bad things (along with good) aside.

The Glide thread is beautiful, shiny, lays nicely and works like a dream. It comes in a phenomenal number of colors. It is extremely reasonably priced compared with some other companies' threads.

The thread cards are made of real thread and are relatively extremely cheap compared to other companies' thread cards. I advise calling and ordering one since the cards are far more true to color than the web site pictures.

People recommend using Military Gold to emulate gold metallic thread. I like Cleopatra instead for this as well as some other colors that I would list upon request. I'd have to dig out my thread.

I went back to cotton after using Glide for awhile and my heart sank at how dull the quilting stitches looked in comparison. Using Glide is addictive.

Glide is made in the USA.

If you "Like" Fil-Tec's Facebook page, you'll hear about the occasional sales they have.

I find it hard to say enough good about Glide thread. I think every quilter should get a chance to use it at some point.

Oh, I forgot. The customer service with this company is AMAZING. Give it a try.

No affil. Just an extremely satisfied customer.

I found that if I place a Superior thread stand behind the thread stand of my bobbin winder and feed the thread through that before it feeds to the bobbin winder, I can wind Glide on my bobbins. And my bobbin winder isn't very good. I placed a piece of velcro on the old-fashioned foot control to stop it from winding overly fast, and I use my hand instead of my foot on that controller, so my speed varies a lot.

I'd be very interested in the colors you have found best. Will have to order some Cleopatra next time to try out!

I bought a bunch of Glide thread at the Houston show last year. I love it! Love the sheen and my Voyager took to it like peanut butter to jelly. Although I don't like the larger needle I have to use with it. Those larger needles don't like even slightly bulky seam lines, LOL!