Idle Di

I have a lovely panel for a child and I want to quilt it. I have picked a plain backing for it, and they go together lovely. My query is on the panel there are shapes of animals etc that I want to quilt (highlight) should I pick the colour cotton that the shape is but does not match the backing, or do I pick the colour cotton that goes with the backing. Or do I quilt with only panel and batting and then put backing on later. So confused.

Idle Di

ckcowl

I always quilt panel quilts with batting and backing. I often choose thread color to coordinate with the background and go around features of the panel sometimes I change thread to match pictures and highlight features ( like leaf veins, animal features, pumpkin lines etc. I use what ever works best for the backing in the bobbin.

Cari-in-Oly

You can use a different color in the bobbin. Match the bobbin to the backing.

Cari

quiltsRfun

I'd match the front if the quilt.

RedGarnet222

I tend to match the main color of the quilt top to the backing fabric. That way it doesn't show if somehow the tension is slightly off and the bobbin thread comes to the top. You will see that on the top side even though it is only a tiny bit. So I match the top and bobbin threads and backing to the main background color.

Tartan

​If you are confident in your quilting skills, then match the thread to the top. If are not so confident, match the bobbin thread to the backing.

Idle Di

Thank you, I was so unsure, as the backing is one colour, but animals all different colours,

Idle Di

Prism99

If you use a fine thread, such as Bottom Line from Superior, and choose a neutral color (gray, or Bob recommends silver as blending with all colors), it will work both top and bottom.

The issue with using two different colors top and bottom is that on many machines you will get dots of each color on the opposite side of the quilt. Often the dots will disappear when you wash, but not always.

sushi

I must add that it depends on the effect you want. If you want the animals to be clearly evident on the back, then make sure your bobbin thread contrasts with the backing. In fact, you could change the bobbin thread for each colored animal. That way you'd have full-color outline quilting on the back. Of course, you may not want that.

Another way to go would be to use variegated/multi-color thread on both top and bobbin. Again, it all depends on the effect you want to achieve. (In general, though, I agree with all the advice the others have given you.)

paoberle

I think many of us tend to forget, or it never occurs to us, that the bobbin thread and the top thread do not have to be the same color when we are machine quilting.