I've heard many great reviews about Glide in the long arm. I use Glide for fmq on my sewing machine. There are many types of threads available, it's a trial and error experience to find the brand and types you are pleased with. I have dozens of different brands and each one has pros and cons.

Connecting Threads' Essential Pro works great in my 15" Bailey. The price is great also.

Thread, like fabric is a very personal choice. What one person raves about another can't stand. You will have to choose what YOU and YOUR MACHINE likes.

That said, I have an innova and she is a trooper when it comes to thread. I have used everything from some crap my MIL brought me that was found in a garage sale to Superior threads. My go to thread of choice is Glide from fil-tec (bobbin central) along with their preloaded magnaglide bobbins. Glide, which is polyester, does have a very high sheen and some people don't like it. I have also been more than pleased with Isacord embroidery thread, every superior product I have tried and YLI threads. I do not like Connecting threads, neither their essential for LA or their cotton thread but I will use it if the color is right and it suits the purpose but once my stock of it is gone I will not reorder. I am very fortunate that my Innova will run on any thread I throw at her (some tension adjustments are necessary) but when it comes right down to what effects I like the look of best, I go with Glide and magnaglide bobbins.

My Tin Lizzie 18LS with Quilt Magician loves Signature cotton 40 wieght. I have some Glide, but haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for all of the ideas!

I looked at the Connecting Threads site. Is Essential and Essential Pro thread the same thing? I only found the 1200 and 5000 yd spools of Essential and wasn't sure if I was missing something, or if the larger cone spools are considered to be the "Pro" ones. I feel like I've been fluent in German all my life and now have to learn Chinese!

Is the smaller 1200 yd spool enough thread to quilt an average sized quilt, or must I have the larger cone spools?

Do they have any variegated color threads or all solid colors? I always love the way a multi-color thread looks on a quilt.

How do I know what size/type of needle to use? Are all longarm machine needles good on every machine? Not quite sure where is the best place to buy my machine needles either. Picked up a packet at JoAnn's when they had their quilting notions on sale for half price, but I'm not sure if they are correct for my machine.

Is $17.49/spool of 2000 yard cones of Superior King Tut quilting thread a good price? I had purchased 6 spools, but my jaw hit the floor when I saw how small the spools were.

My machine is a Queen Quilter 18 which is apparently a sister to the Tin Lizzie. I think?

Heading up to Wal-mart today to buy the cheapest flat sheets I can find and draw some 18" grids on the one sheet to do some final practice following drawn lines, free-motion and any other method I can think of. Now that I'm pretty sure I've got the tension finally set on my machine, it's time to see if I can actually make a decent quilting stitch. I just completed piecing a huge t-shirt quilt that a friend is paying me to make. Need to be sure that I can adequately use my LA before I load her quilt and mess it up.

I am soooooooooo glad that I finally found this forum. The advice and help I've found on here has been priceless!

Go to the thrift store for used sheets, no need to buy new ones. And if they have flannel sheets use those for the batting, or a blanket. I was at our thrift store a few days ago for these. I found 6 sheets and 4 blankets for $12. Great for practicing on the long arm! (If you live near Raleigh NC don't read this.) I have a Tin Lizzie Ansley 26 and I've been using all brands of thread. I bought some Signature this week and will try it for the first time this weekend.

I have used Signature thread with great success and I order it from Heartbeat Quilting. It comes on 3000 yd cones and they have a good variety of solids as well as variegated threads. Their prices are very good too. Good luck and have fun with your new machine. As others have said, try different threads and you'll find what you and your machine like best.

Only spent $9 at Wal-mart to buy two flat twin sheets for my practice. Hadn't thought of looking for a flannel sheet to use as the batting. Guess I'll have to go back to the store on another day. I figured that $4.50 for a sheet measuring 66" X 90" wasn't too bad. WAAAAAY cheaper than buying remnants at the fabric store.

I am a new owner of a long arm machine and have used Glide thread with the matching magnetic bobbins with great success. The magnetic bobbins seem to keep the tension better:) They are a bit more expensive but well worth their weight in gold.

I took several LA classes at a machine quilting show yesterday and Thursday. One of the instructors suggested Omni thread as good for beginners on any machine. I tried Glide in another class but it kept breaking. I think the machine's tension was off but I didn't have time (or know what I was doing enough) to fix it during the class.