I buy mine from Designsbysick.com. They have a sale...50 spools and they send you an assortment of colors. Their thread is just fine and you don't break the bank buying them

When I buy emb thread I always try to get two or three in the same color scheme because just about all designs end up using shades a little different for shading effects. The size of the spool depends on the cost, the amount I'll use or its popularity and the size of my wallet on that day. I try to keep some in all color schemes so that I dont' have to worry about having the right colors for a design. My software allows me to use the thread manger to enter in all of my thread and then I tell it to pick the closest colors from what I own to match what is called for in the orginal design. I really love doing this when I use varigated thread (which I love) because it will show me how it'll look stitched out. This is important depending on the design. At a retreat this weekend there was a pine tree in the design and the person used varigated thread on the tree. It would of been cool if the stitches went side to side but it went from top of tree to bottom and that didn't look to good. Good luck with your new adventure. I love doing it and I'm doing another retreat the end of the month for a quilt called Oh la la, its so pretty.

I love that from Metroemb.com. It is affordable and it works well.

If you are unsure about a certain thread company, order one spool of black thread. That is usually the most difficult color to stitch because it is over dyed. When a company has "oops" dye colors, they will take the extras and dye them black. Those are your tests. I like Marathon and Floriani the best, but I have no problem sewing with any style or brand of thread. I have a Brother Quattro and I swear I could sew with bailing twine, it handles everything without ever changing any tension.

When I first bought my embroidery machine 9 months ago I was overwhelmed by the colors and types of threads. I first looked at the designs that came with a machine and the required colors. Figured I would go by the book so to speak before being creative and changing colors. I ended up purchasing 5 small spols of Sulky embroidery thread using coupons from Joanne's. Each time I went to the store I would pick up one or two different color spools depending on the design I wanted to stitch out.
My machine is finicky and only likes Sulky. I have tried other brands but it's not worth the frustration.
by now I have a slimline case and a half of various shades of different color threads that meet my needs. If you try different thread brands my recommendation is to buy only one spool as your machine may not like it. You can always you the thread for regular sewing. Good luck

I prefer Robison Anton thread, I am using polyester more than rayon because of its durability. I bought 27 spools of polyester from discountembroiderysupply.com for $100, free shipping. It's about $3.65 a spool for 1100 yards, which is considerably cheaper than Sulky from Joann's at 4.99 for 250 yards. You really need to look at the size of the spools in relation to the amount of thread you're getting. Even when Sulky is on sale at Joann's, which isn't that often, it's still usually at least $3 for 250 yards. It's good thread, but it's not worth the cost, IMO.

dunster]I don't do much machine embroidery - just occasional labels for my quilts - but I do use this thread for longarming - http://www.metroemb.com/store/. They have lots of colors, the pricing is great, and there are even packages of the mini-spools

Did I interpret this correcting? You use the threads that are recommended for embroidery machines to QUILT the final project.

I started with a couple of color sets from Amazon and I've added to them with Gutterman, Sulky, Robison Anton or whatever from JoAnn. I like the 1000m spools for colors, but have ordered 5000m spools of white ThreaDelight as white was the first thing I ran out of. Rayon thread seems to sew the nicest in my Brother machine, but it is also more subject to fading than Polyester thread. I try to use Poly thread for anything that is going to be used a lot and washed frequently.

I try to make sure that I have the rainbow covered twice. By that I mean two shades of each. Also some neutrals like tan and brown, and the old standys black and white. I get the smaller ones, as they seem to have plenty for me.