jeanneb52

I grab whatever is handy..no waste in this house.

maviskw

I think monofilament in the top would work well. (As suggested my Marge D. post #67) I would probably choose navy for the back.

I have a post on this thread, #35, but I just wanted say I never let bobbins run out through the needle. I never let spools run out through the needle, either. If a spool is beginning to show through the thread, I put it onto a bobbin to use it up. If a bobbin thread runs out, it just stops sewing, but if a spool thread runs out while sewing, you have a real mess.
Another "bad" thing I do, is to make my tension a little less than perfect. (Shhhhhh, don't tell anybody.) That way it is much easier to rip if necessary. One thread will pull out easier across a long piece of seam. And if you have two colors of thread in that seam, it will be easier to see which you want to be pulling on. Just trying to make life easier! LOL

Quilts rock

thanks so much for the advice, will have to get some monofilament thread- it's the kind that looks like fishing line?

gmaybee

I buy gray thread for piecing. Sometimes if the quilt is a white back ground I'll use white or black if background is black. I only buy colors if they are on the top. I do the same for my serger.

jeaninmaine

I have a ton of cones of thread that I bought at a yard sale, I still only use the Aurifil gray and sometimes the tan for piecing. I've never noticed the tread from the right side. When I first started piecing all I used was black or white because that was what I was taught to use (back in the 60's).

Wanabee Quiltin

I was told to use gray, beige or any neutral thread. Then I met a fellow quilter whose husband had picked up a medium purpish color at an auction: about 100 large spools of thread and she said it worked great with everything. So then I decided to just use whatever color I wanted. I just did a batik quilt which was mainly darker colors and used brown. It worked great.

rosiewell

I only use coordinating colors for hand applique obviously! Machine work, quilting included is off white thread all the way!

MimiBug123

As long as it not something that will show through (like black thread on white fabric) I don't care. I like getting rid of the little snippets of leftovers.

petpainter

Okay, now I've been reading all these responses about using Mom's old wooden spools and serger thread, and Aurifil...
I am a new quilter but have been a garment maker for years. I have TONS of thread from that, plus I bought a "sewing room" from an estate sale and she had a lot of serger thread(to add to mine, too) and some large cotton spools of neutrals, and old poly thread. I started using the gray cotton thread to piece with after going to classes and reading the blog here daily, but can I really use all the other threads for piecing? I machine embroider, too, so I have hundreds of spools in all. It seems silly to buy aurifil although I'm sure it's lovely to sew with and hides well, I just want to make sure what I use will be strong enough, but not too thick it will show!!! I just bought a box of 50 bobbins... I needed this thread a week ago!

wordpaintervs

I mostly just make the dolls for sick kids (give away) and mainly use just white. No one has complained. ggl