I'm going to be hand-quilting the Cicily Mary Barker (or is it Mary Cicely Barker) garden fairy quilt I posted here:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-132259-1.htm

And specifically, in the "windows" I want to outline the fairies. As you can see from the detail image below, they are already outlined in a dark brown/black. I do not want to distract from the drawing, but I do want to help the fairies "jump out" by outlining them.

Suggestions for thread color? And has anyone hand quilted with "invisible" thread?

Thanks.

I don't hand sew but your panel sure is cute. I would think black thread though. That would outline it a bit more to jump out. You'll get some good ideas from others though. :thumbup:

i do not hand quilt so my opinion may not help but i would try to match the outline color and maybe go 1 shade lighter

I'm not sure simply outline quilting the fairys will make them pop or jump out any. I am a big fan of outline quilting fabric elements but sometimes the effect does not emphasize the design as much as I had hoped. Here is a link to a picture of handquilting around a cat motif in the fabric that I did.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-22344-1.htm

I outlined in a contrasting thread that was 35wt, a fairly heavy weight hand quilting thread. Had I chose a thread the same color and a lighter weight my efforts probably would show even less. This was done on Hobb's heirloom 80/20 batting.

If you really want those fairy's to pop, I recommend using a puffier poly batting like Hobbs poly down or quilters dream in a select loft. The puffiness will help to emphasize the fairys once you quilt around them. As far as thread, if you don't want it to show at all, use a 50 wt or lighter thread. You could even use silk thread and your stitches will more then likely almost disappear in the print but leave the texture you are looking for. With silk you could go with a dark brown.

Feline that is soooo cute. I think the thread choice you used is very nice. Love it. :thumbup:

FelineFanatic,

Thanks for the very specific advice! I LOVE this board for that!

I know nada about thread weights (well, muy poquito). Is 50wt lighter than 35wt? Your message implies it, but that doesn't quite make sense to me.

I love the suggestion of silk thread. Do you recommend a particular brand or vendor?

I knew nothing about thread weights until joining this board as well! Yes you are right the higher the number the finer the thread and that is confusing. So silk threads are 90 or 100 wt! Most thread marketed for hand quilting is around 40 wt. and most thread we use for peicing is around 50 wt.

I like YLI silk thread. Superior also has a silk thread but I have never use it. Silk is a bit spendy at around $6 for a spool but I am thinking to just outline your fairys one spool should do you. If you plan on doing any hand applique in the future silk thread is a good investment. Connecting threads has a wonderful little starter pack of silk thread for $20 that has 5 spools and the darkest color in the assortment should work for you, http://www.connectingthreads.com/Too...5__D20310.HTML

But your LQS should have silk so you can just buy the one spool. I hate to buy only one spool on line because of the shipping charges.

oh goodie, another excuse to visit connectingthreads.... BIG GRIN :-D