Metallic thread
 

Has anyone hand quilted with metallic thread? Did you use a special needle? I have the proper sewing machine needle to machine quilt with metallic thread, but part of the quilt is going to require hand quilting.

Go to Superior Thread's website & read about metallic thread & needles for ideas.

I have used it, but not for the whole quilt. It isn't strong enough to withstand a lot of wear. I used King Star thread and did not have any problems with it. Go slow and use a metallic needle.

I did go to Superior Thread's website first. Unless I missed it, they don't seem to address hand sewing needles for metallic thread. Pennyhal, is there a metallic needle for hand sewing?

I am thinking you can go with some other option other than Metallic. Metallic thread is weak, like Pennyhal mentioned. It is also a pretty fine thread that may not give you the same "bling" when quilting by hand. Machine quilting forms a solid line of stitching and in cases when metallic is used, it is usually fairly densely quilted.

Many other threads give the appearance of metallic that are more suitable to hand quilting. Glide polyester, especially in some of the shades of gold is very shiny and metallic looking.

Wonderfil makes two products that are much heavier and more well suited to hand quilting and will really show. One is called Dazzle and it is an 8wt Rayon/metallic combo and the other is called Sizzle, also an 8 wt but all metallic. These might be better options for you than your standard metallic meant for machine use. Because they are so heavy they will hold up better to wear and tear. Although Rayons are notorious for fading and not holding color well. I have used Dazzle for some sashiko work and it looks fabulous but I have not subjected the project to any wear and tear. Edited to add for either of these thread you would need to do a "big stitch" quilting technique. For more traditional handquilting I think I would go with a pretty shiny poly instead.

Thanks, Feline Fanatic. Good thoughts. I'll check out the other threads. Some of it will be machine quilted straight lines, mostly in the border. And I was thinking of hand quilting part of the design because it's kind of a sparkler looking design and I'd have to back track over the design several times if I machine quilted it, but that might not be a bad thing.

No, not a bad thing at all. In fact you may want to consider "reverse" quilting for your fancy motif. Punch down the entire background around it with a very dense thread painting type fill. This same effect can be done with a very tight back fill too like pebbles or tiny stipple. I am currently working on a project that has a lot of metallic. Here is a picture. I do quilt on a LA but if your are doing it a domestic it is fairly easy to do the quick jerky back and forth motion to "color in" the background. You just have to go slow as the metallic is prone to breaking if you try to do it to fast.
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I have used Madeira and Superior metallic thread in various quilts and they are still holding up. With machines, the rule is use a needle with a larger eye that is also big enough to make a hole that the thread will slide through easily. For the part you are going to do it by hand, I would use an embroidery needle since they have a large eye (the thread is less likely to shred if the eye is large -- if the thread has drag as you pull it through the eye, the eye is too small). The next step is to experiment with the needles to see which one gives you a hole that works for the thread -- again you don't want to have the hole so small that it stresses the thread and causes it to shred. Hope this helps. I have done a small bit of embroidery with metallic (my hands can't hold a needle easily), and different brands require a different size of eye (some metallics are flat - think Sulky -, some are twisted and some are braided (these last ones are very heavy and in a machine are either couched or used in the bobbin), so you have to try the thread with different needles.