Longarmming and thread
 

Hey all! I'm fairly new to long armming. I'm in the "must acquire thread - all of it - and ... oh that's lovely - I want 2 of those and 2 of those..." phase.

In the interests of getting thread I'll use and not have sitting around forever:

What colors are best to have in quantity?
What colors would you not expect to use but do? (Like that split pea soup color that I never expected to use...)
How much of a given thread would you have around?

My intention is to quilt largely for myself - quilts and quilted projects - and charity quilts but the deal with DH when I got her was that Lucey must also pay for herself - so we'll be quilting somewhat for others too. Which is sort of where my problem lies. If it was just quilting for me, I know I'd need primarily greys, blues and some soft browns/neutrals.

Invariably, a charity quilt comes in and I go Oh! That would be great with XX color.... and I don't have it.

Neutrals. I love Glide. They offer a couple of starter packs.

When I first started I ordered this one and have used everything in it:
http://www.bobbincentral.com/quiltin...al-colors.html

Edited to add, I go through a lot of white and I feel Glide Khaki seems to go with a lot. It is a light gold color. I also like threads so I have quite a bit right now. I find I don't use variegated near as much as I thought I would. Nor do I use cotton as much as I thought I would (too much lint whereas with poly I get no lint.)

I have a friend who quilts about 30 quilts a month for charity. She uses blue almost exclusively, she says it blends with almost every quilt. However, most of the quilts she gets are scrappy. I agree with stocking up on neutrals.

Once you get the tension set perfectly in your longarm, I'd recommend either you stick with that brand/kind/weight of thread, or write down the tension settings that work with that thread. If you go from using Glide to King Tut, you will most likely discover you'll have to adjust the tension.

same here,all Glide and I bought way too many colors that I never use.neutrals,white,gray and black are my most used colors

I use all threads, from metallic to 100% cotton to trilobal polyester to serger thread, whatever happens to help me achieve the results I need. Yes, you do have to adjust tension for each, but I would never limit myself for that reason. I would just learn to adjust my tension and keep a test sample close at hand for making adjustments! (You can free motion with a test sample by driving the fabric sandwich under the quilter, just as you would on a domestic sewing machine.) Also, it helps to have more than one bobbin case....one for light weight threads, one for heavy weight threads, all pre-set for your needs. Mark them with fingernail polish.

It is also CRITICAL that you use needles that matches your thread. Don't take this lightly or else you'll have "tension" problems....which are actually thread breakage at the needle because the needle eye isn't large enough to feed the thread consistently with high speed use. I've heard people say, "why should I change my needle for this thread?" which is a little like, "why should I change my clothes for swimming?". Because it's how you use thread, it's part of using the right tool for the job of quilting. You wouldn't use a doll needle for hand quilting, you wouldn't use a small hole needle for longarm quilting with cotton thread, etc.

My favorite thread sources (no affil with any of them, just a happy customer):

Glide/Fil-Tec: From now until Sunday, they're having a 10% off sale on Glide, plus free shipping on any order that includes Glide. You have to meet a $35 minimum, but the free shipping is a huge discount, given that you can get yourself a sample of the thread via meeting the minimum and you don't have to pay their customary $10 for shipping that $35 minimum. Their web site color representations aren't the best at all, so if you place an order, order a color card too. The color cards are made of real thread.

Here's their Facebook article on this sale: https://www.facebook.com/bobbincentr...type=1&theater

For quilting use, I've ordered mostly their "gold's" and "silvers". Bone, Cool Grey3, linen, Warm Grey4 Pearl, Mocha, Vegas Gold, Cleopatra, Khaki were all on my order yesterday, plus a few reds, greens and yellows for specialty use. I ordered 1000 yard cones of each. For some quilts this may not be enough thread, but oh my gosh, it means that I have to change colors in the middle of the quilt and add more interest! What an opportunity for creativity.

Anyway, next up. I love Signature thread. A great source for it is Heartbeat Quilting in Spokane. http://www.heartbeatquilting.com/. I'm not sure that they have all of the line, but they have most of it. Their price is absolutely the best I've seen on Signature thread, but if you use them, call and get the true shipping price, because their web site under-represents this. Their customer service is very good.

I've also ordered Signature thread from Wawak.com, another org with great customer service. They have a limited selection of Signature, but will meet Heartbeat's price on it. And their shipping is lower, and free if you can find $100 worth of sewing accessories to buy. I see that they now carry a ton of Sulky rayon. I have not heard good things about using rayon in quilts, but I hear horror stories about many threads, so maybe it works fine.

I have never tried "Superior" thread. To my way of thinking, it is overpriced. It seems pretty similar to the other threads, but with boutique packaging. If Bob wants to change my mind, he can PM me privately and send me a sample :D. Trust me, once it's in a quilt nobody will be able to tell which cotton or poly thread you used, and sometimes won't even be able to tell if you used cotton or poly.

I've also used 20 year old Mettler 40/3 100% cotton. It's beautiful and didn't break even with the "curse" of old thread. And Sulky metallic is fine, although make sure you have a nice big, sharp needle. I've used Coat's and Star thread and had breakage problems, but this was before I understood the importance of the right needles for the job, so they may work well too.

Lots of people talk about "linty" threads, but I've found that the best way to avoid lint is to avoid BATTING! No matter what thread you use, you're going to get significant lint from batting. I was using ecru thread the other day and my lint was brilliant PURPLE. That was obviously from the fabric, not the thread. So don't worry about "lint," worry about getting thread you can afford and enjoy using. And learn to clean your bobbin area.

Variegated threads can be tough, because invariably, the bottom thread won't match the top from stitch to stitch so you'll get "polka dotted" stitches. I would probably limit them to fill areas, and then match the bottom thread with the area I'm filling....unless you want the "polka dotted" stitches as an artistic element of your quilt, in which case it's AWESOME.

Anyway, generally for colors, I'd think of projects you have in mind and match those. Otherwise, start with some nice neutrals, or golds and silver mimics like I mentioned. The gold will blend well with ecru backgrounds, the silvers with white. Colors, you'll want to be slightly darker than the color you're quilting, unless you want the stitch to stand out.

That's my brain on paper. PM me if you have questions about what I've said.

I mostly use white, off white and beige.

I am a new to longarming also so I interested in the responses. I ordered black, red, off white and green as I LOVE making Christmas quilts. My plan is only to buy what i need as i need it. Notice i said it was a plan I'll let you know how that goes for me LOL

Just like fabric - you can never have too much thread!

So Fine thread from Superior. They are coming out with matching So Fine prewound bobbins in a couple of months. Of course Glide. Didn't care for Signature.

if new to longarming I have heard suggested you use the same thread for like 6 months then start trying new ones.
I use the aurifil 50 cotton thread it works great for me I have also used glide and like that also you can see the quilting better with the aurifil.

Thanks so much ladies!! It sounds like I was on the right track already. Now I just have to decide how much thread I want to keep around. I have roughly 17 drawers I can still fill with the stuff, but I keep trying to remind myself that they don't all need to be full. :)

feline fanatic - :thumbup: Neutrals are what I've been doing for the most part. I have the samples that came with the machine - mostly Superior Threads and a spool of Glide. I also have picked up a half dozen "far out colored" 1000m spools of Glide from the shop I adopted Lucey from. Other than that, I have a bunch of Aurifil poly and cotton from one of Tristan's clearance sales. I naturally gravitate to the neutrals and the blues, but with Tristan's sale, I also got one of their 6 packs of the heavy metal or whatever it was.

I bet the Glide Khaki is similar then to the Split Pea. When I took Jamie Wallen's classes he said that the SP was a great color and went with way more than you'd ever think it does. He said it resembled baby puke. LOL! I have a color card coming on Tuesday, and I can't believe I'm going to say this - I'm looking forward to it.

I will order one of those samplers. I had been eyeing that very one earlier anyway. It occurs to me that I don't have any black or pure white to quilt with. Everything has a cast to it. I have light grey and cream magnaGlide bobbins, and tan if I force myself to use the regular glide bobbins I have. One thing I have been noticing is that almost any color I choose turns out way lighter on the quilt than I'd planned, so I will order some somewhat darker shades as well.

I haven't been having too much trouble at all with cotton or poly, with the sole exception of some Gutterman poly I was trying to use up when I was getting to know Luce. That was terrible! She had freckles everywhere! No cotton I've used since has been as bad. That said, I don't mind cleaning the tension disks (weird?), I'm used to it with the vintage machines.

Peckish - Thanks! I had noticed I was using a lot of blue as well. On DH's quilt, and a lot of the charity quilts. In fact, thread I'd purchased with a blue quilt in mind turned out to not be available when it came time to quilt it. Playing with the vintage machines, I don't seem to have a lot of trouble with tension, but I definitely hear what you're saying. I have run everything in the machine so far and not had any trouble. A little tweak here and there and that's all. Gutermann not withstanding of course.

TeresaA - Thank you so much for such a thorough answer! I haven't tried any metallics in her yet, but other than that, I've been an experimenting mad person. I've been using the Superior threads suggestions for the needle sizes and so far most of the threads I use fall into the 3.5 - 4.0 range, and I have very few breaks - mostly when I'm indecisive with the stitch regulator on, and I sort of deserve that. :) I completely agree with you about using the right tool for the job. Needles are so cheap, it's not worth compromising quality or sanity over one. Seriously, I paid $0.42 a needle the last time I bought needles. What's my time sanity and output worth? More than that, I hope. :)

I don't know if Bobbin Central's deal is for non-US people, even the 10% off thing. I tried using the code earlier and it said it wasn't valid, but that was before I put in my address. I had a bunch of those colors in my cart! :) Thanks for the list, it really gives me a good idea of what to work from, especially once the card arrives on Tuesday.

As for the signature thread, I will see if I can get my hands on a few sample spools and try it out. I haven't found a "favorite" yet, but I also haven't found much that I simply won't use again either. We do go to Spokane from time to time, so maybe I can drop into Heartbeat quilting if we go again soon.I have the Superior Threads samplers here, and I haven't gotten around to using it yet, other than a little of the So Fine. I liked it, it dealt with thread build up fairly well, but I ended up ripping it all out because I decided I didn't like the color on that particular quilt, so I haven't seen it off the frame or after a wash yet.

Thanks for the advice on the variegated threads! I have 2 or 3 spools of it here and keep eyeballing it wanting to use it for something, but haven't come up with a project yet either. I won't make a point of ordering any of it then.

janetter - I was trying to do the same as you and only buy as I needed it, but in Canada, there's no such thing as free shipping, and most of the thread choices are about 2 weeks away - Glide not included - but if I buy it locally, I'm paying more than $4 a spool for 1000m. So in my case at least, it makes a lot of sense to have some commonly used stuff on hand.

Silver Needle - I keep wanting to order some of Superior's Sampler sets and some of their other threads, but their shipping to Canada is so prohibitive! 2 Long Arm samplers will cost me more than $40 for shipping alone. I keep balking at it for that reason. I may have to bite the bullet though and get some of the So Fine and the matching bobbins when they come out. I get their newsletter and the deal of the day. Those are like a little eye candy to start the day. ;)

What was it you didn't like about the signature?

newbee3 - I had heard the same thing. That's what my dealer recommended, and I would have stuck with that if I didn't service the vintage machines too. I may have sabotaged myself, who knows, but I was the one who set up my cousin's tensions on her Pfaff 18.8 when she was having trouble with it and complaining that it would take hours to get right. ;) I was really surprised to read that you can quilt with the Aurifil cotton! I've heard several people say that it's a problem thread on the long arm. I'd avoided trying it until now. Maybe once I get this labyrinth off the frame I'll try some out. Thanks!

Essential Pro from Connecting Threads works well too.

http://www.cindysthreadworks.com/ NAYY,

I have taken a workshop from Cindy and she is a BC rep for Superior Threads. She is very knowledgeable around thread.

Give her a call.

Thanks Tothill! I will try to get in touch with her. It does look like her prices would be comparable to the superior website once you include shipping.