As all my quilts are gifts to others I have to save somewhere so I try to find the best deals on fabrics, threads, etc. I use Connecting Threads Essential pretty much all the time. I have their polyester threads too. Their Essential cotton is very linty but since I clean out my bobbin quite often anyway its not a problem for me. I have had a spool or two that were not so great recently since they changed their spool shape but for the most part I will continue to use their threads. I like the fact they have a nice collection of colors to choose from..A con to that is they continue to discontinue some colors only to come back with the exact same color using a different name. The only way to know they're the same is the number system they use. I've caught a couple of their colors, different names, same numbering system so I know to put them together on the thread rack. I made up an Excel thread chart to keep track of how many of each color I have and referencing the matching color/numbers so when I go to order I can just check my chart and see what I need to order. Same with their fabric collections, made a chart so I know how many yards I have of each color in that particular collection.