MarionsQuilts

Hello again my fellow quilters!

I just did all the tracing for this pattern - it's 36x36.

What would look better

1 - black thread
2 - grey thread
3 - different colours

I'm getting the hang of this FMQ on stencils and the only way to get better is to practice!

I'm going to start on it tomorrow night, so cast your votes!

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nativetexan

I think gray thread. black might be good too if you just want the impression of designs. should be very nice!!

suern3

I guess it depends on your goal or end result. If you want something very subtle, you could use the black. Having quilted a mainly black quilt with black thread, I can tell you that if is hard to keep track of your stitching because it is hard to see. If this is a practice piece and you want to improve your stitching, I would not use black, although I liked the effect on the quilt I did. Same thing with gray thread, subtle but not fun. Different colors would be much more interesting and fun to work with. Help you see what is going on with your FMQ. So, I would say #3 for this project.

P-BurgKay

[h=3]If it were mine, I would use a variegated rainbow thread. Just MHO[/h]

mmac71

I vote for variegated gray.

QuiltE

Totally Agree, in every way!!!!

Different colours may be a challenge to decide where to start/end with each.
Plus demands more thread changes!

Depending on your lighting (and eyesight), working with black on black can be a real challenge.
Might I say, a real brute?

One thing to keep in mind ... stencils were made more so for the hand quilter.
While they can be used for FMQing, there are some limitations/complications that they can present.

Love that design ... oh so intricate!

feline fanatic

Black thread on black is very difficult to see. It will, however, hide mistakes and wobbles. I love lots of different colors on black. A dark purple would be subtle and still show enough that you won't feel like you are quilting blind (which tends to happen when using black thread on black) and still camouflage mistakes well, as would any dark color like a navy. Gray would work nicely but I would stay away from any variegated because the stencils you have chosen will require a fair amount of backtracking and variegated threads look best when there is no backtracking.

Other colors that look really nice on black are just about any shade of red, from fire engine primary red to deep burgundy. Teals and turquoise also look very pretty on black. And if you want to get really adventurous you could use different colors for the different motifs.

When I did my Agave Garden Agave Garden, the big reveal I used a lot of different colors on black but viewing this quilt may give you a good idea of how much contrast you want in the thread against the black fabric. This quilt has black, dark purple, light purple, a deep red, orange, yellow, a grayish blue and a variegated rainbow all on solid black.

DACO48

Variegated Red.

Sheryllyn

Gray would like nice but so would a bright variegated color.

Tartan

Black thread on black fabric will give you eye strain. I think I would go with a medium grey. Enough contrast to see but not so different that mistakes will be obvious.