antylu

I am posting star block just paper pieced for practice for quilt I will be doing. These are the colors for those stars. I did turn my stitch length down to 1.4 (tried 1.2 and it seemed awfully awfully close and still seemed to show) so of course my problem is the white stitching showing on the blue material; the only thing I can think of would be to change thread half way down the seam and that doesn't seem practical. I also thought of trying a blue permanent pen to color what shows? Am completely new to paper piecing and not an experienced quilter; I do want the blue stars on white (off white) actually it also has a star pattern but hard to see. So help if you have suggestions please. Thanks so much.[ATTACH=CONFIG]468535[/ATTACH]

dakotamaid

Try a gray, lite to medium

Jan in VA

I feel you are over-thinking this. It really is okay; I promise people will be seeing the overall look of your quilt, not individual stitches of the piecing. (And if a quilt police shows up, remind them you have no prior 'history' and can walk away from them this time )

Try a gray thread, as DakotaMaid suggested, if you want to, but I've been quilting for over 30 years and have used an ecru thread for about 80% of all my piecing for all that time. I also use a looser stitch length that you have here.

Jan in VA

quiltingcandy

After it is washed they won't see the stitches.

ube quilting

This can happen and yes using a medium gray thread blends in with most fabrics. The other little trick is to invest in an assortment of colored "Pigma Pens". They are use for printing on fabric and are archival quality inks. Professional quilters use this little trick. They have fine points and just a touch to the offending thread showing will hide it perfectly. Please do not think of using "Sharpies", they will bleed into the fabric and are not as permanent as the "Pigma Pens". Your piecing is very nice and this is just something that happens when you are using widely contrasting fabrics.

Looking forward to seeing your finished stars.
peace

cindynvb

Is the tension of your machine set correctly? I don't think you should be able to see the stitches if it's right. But I wouldn't be using white thread on dark fabric anyway. Try the grey thread.

antylu

Okay I didn't have grey thread on hand but curious I tried a dull lilac and it sure did help; I was using ecru or natural not white; I also am going to try my other machine and check tension as I agree the stitching shouldn't be showing; that is mostly in the area where lots come together and am sure it is getting stress. You are all so helpful, thanks so much!

joyce888

I agree with the others about using a grey thread. I have found that I can piece almost any color using lite to dark greys and browns/creams. Also when you wash the quilt the fabric will shrink and the thread will become less noticeable.

Prism99

You can color the threads with a permanent pen later on if changing the thread color doesn't solve the problem.

pocoellie

I agree with Jan on this, after it's done, no one is going to notice the thread, although you certainly could change to a gray thread as suggested, I usually use either white or ecru thread on all my quilts, and no one has said, oh, you used white thread on this purple/blue/whatever. For paper piecing, I usually have my stitch set at 1.3, but if 1.4 works for you, then that's all that matters.