Quilting with monofilament thread
 

Have any of you ever quilted with the top thread being monofilament thread? I'm thinking ahead to quilting my bargello and since there are 24 different colors, I thought this might be the way to go. I still have quite a while to go before quilting. I just started sewing the strips together yesterday, but my mind jumped ahead to the finishing, so I decided to ask y'all. Thanks

I have. I had my Hoop Sisters feathered star done with a wide stipple using monofilament thread. The quilt has lots of different threads and material in it and you really don't notice the quilting which would take away from the quilt.[ATTACH=CONFIG]471721[/ATTACH]

Beautiful quilt.

I've done it for a signature quilt where I didn't want the quilting to interfere with reading the signatures - it was a double sided quilt, so I ended up using monofiliment on both sides. Not my favorite thread combination, but I made it work.

Cheers, K

I quilt quite a bit with monofilament thread, especially when it comes to bargello. A few things I have found help. Use a poly instead of nylon... poly takes heat much better. Create a test sandwich.. to get your tension correct... its takes a bit of playing with the top tension. I use more of the smoke color than clear... less shine and is more invisible on dark colors. I have the best success using a smaller needle size.
On some bargello quilts, I will use a variegated thread, if I can find one with the colors of the quilt...it helps the bargello colors travel through the quilt.

I almost always (unless the quilt is for a baby or someone in a nursing home) use monofilament thread as my top thread. I do this because I am still not the best at free motion quilting. I use Aurifil thread. It is so great to use that I did not realize, until recently, that it is nylon. I have never had the thread break while sewing. I have never had to adjust the tension. Maybe my Bernina does that for me. At any rate, I am very happy with the Aurifil monofilament thread. I haven't melted it with my iron either. When I am better at FMQ, I'll probably quit using it.

Thanks for the encouraging info everyone. I've been afraid to try, but I'm going to give myself a chance to learn.

I was really worried about using monofiliment - so did a lot of research on it. Here is my blog post for what I learned from the process: http://quiltingcorgis.blogspot.com/2...-fear-but.html

Cheers, K

I have also. I use what Harriett Hargrave sells on her web-site.

I have but I stopped using it even tho it was a better quality than a fishing line. I stitch my bargello with the best color match I can find so that it will last a very long time. I always follow the pattern which I feel enhances the piecing which should be the star of the show.