When hand quilting do you use single or double thread?

Also what makes a quilt an I spy quilt?
What makes a quilt a mystery quilt?
And what makes a quilt a tube quilt?

Sorry if these things have been explained before.

Nancy

An eye spy quilt (or "I spy") uses many different novelty fabrics, so that a child can play "I spy" with it.

I quilt with a single thread, as do all hand quilters I know of. I like to wax my thread with bee's wax, for ease of pulling.

I spy usually suggest a quilt made with many interesting novelty fabrics, fussy cut so that they are featured. The idea is that a child can spend hours searching for items or characters on the quilt.

Mystery quilts are often a group or class project where the makers do not know the final pattern or appearance of the quilt, but follow along each step at a time. Hence the mystery.

Tube quilting is not my topic and I'll leave it to others.

RST

Thank you for answering so quick.

I've seen all these different types of quilts on here and I always wondered what they were.

Also I've hand quilted 3 quilts so far and used double thread. After reading the hand quilting threads I kinda got the notion I was doing it wrong. Bet I will use a lot less thread from now on.

Nancy

click on search at the top of the page and type in tube quilt. you should get lots. and it may have a tutorial too.

Would it be okay if I tacked a similar question on to this thread? When hand quilting - do you use a particular type of thread or does that matter?

There is a great tube tutoral from Missouri Quilt Company on line.

Regular thread is fine. To prevent tangling, quilters traditionally run the thread over a piece of beeswax first; however, that's not a necessity. You can also buy spools of hand quilting thread which are stiffened to prevent tangling; they should not be used in sewing machines because they can gum up the tension.

When hand quilting, a single thread is best. The beginning knot is buried in the layers, and the ending knot is also buried in the layers. There are probably YouTube videos that show how to do that.

Alexis -- I only use "hand quilting thread" for hand quilting. It's thicker and stronger than machine thread, and it feeds through the multiple layers nicely. Of course you can use regular thread, but the danger is that it will fray and break more readily. You can minimize that danger by using short lengths, but then you have more knots (stop and start).

RST

Guterman makes a nice hand quilting thread. That's what I use.

I always use hand quilting thread, a single one. YLI works wonderful for me, but I also use King Tut and Gütermann from time to time.

How exactly is beeswax used? I've heard it many times, but am totally confused about it.

When I hand quilt I will use a single thread. When I sew my binding I will use a double thread just as I would with sewing on a button or the hem of pants and I try to make my stitches close enought so that a childs finger nail can not get caught.

Beeswax is often sold in a little rectangle (maybe 1"x2") encased in plastic, with slots for you to run thread against it. You just pull your thread across a slot to coat it with beeswax.

The bees wax I use comes in a plastic container with slots. I thread my needle then run the thread on the needle through those slots so the thread is coated with the wax. I do it several times before putting my knot in the thread and starting to stitch.
Here is a link to a photo of the beeswax container
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/p...PRODID=prd2989