Month: February 2025

This question has been batted back and forth between quilters for ages.  How big is your stash?  Is my stash big enough?  How much fabric should be in my stash? What kinds of fabric should be in my stash?  Stash – for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term – is fabric.  Fabric which is either left over from a project or purchased with no clear quilting path for it or bought for a particular quilt pattern.  The fabric either fills a niche missing in the quilter’s needs or it’s simply liked enough for the quilter to leave the local quilt shop with a yard or two of it. 

I know quilters who have no stashes, small stashes, and floor-to-ceiling-come-to-Jesus stashes.  And honestly, before we venture into the territory of how big a stash you need, the first question which should be asked is “Do you need at stash at all?”

When You Don’t Need a Stash

The one rule I’ve had about my fabric stash is this: It needs to remain in my quilting area.  The minute it begins to spread to other areas of the house (unless I’m working on a project in another room), the stash has gotten out of hand, and it’s time to par down.  More or less, I’ve been successful.  However as my quilting areas have become larger and larger, I’ve picked up a bit more fabric than I had back in the early eighties when this magnificent journey of thread and needle began.  So while my fabric does all live in one room, the room is significantly larger than that small corner of the dining room I had back around 1985.  If you’re quilting area is small, you may not need a stash because the fabric could overwhelm the space you have to construct your quilts. 

Another reason a quilter may not need a stash is simply because they do not want one.  When I was first taught to quilt, one of the topics my first teacher talked a lot about was her stash – how much she had, why she had certain fabrics, etc.  As a result, quilters who have quilted about as long as I have tend to have extra fabric laying around their quilt area. 

However, I’ve noticed that many of today’s newbie quilters don’t want a stash.  It has nothing to do with the size of their living or quilting space.  It has to do with their philosophy towards minimalism and simplifying their lives.  They purchase the fabric they need as they need it, buying only what the pattern requires, and giving away or donating most (if anything) that’s left over. 

If your quilting space is small, you’re a minimalist, or you simply don’t want to deal with lots of fabric hanging out in your quilt room with no clear purpose in mind, really consider if you need a stash at all.   It may be more of a burden to you than a help.

I’m the Kind of Quilter Who Needs a Stash

Okay, so you’ve looked around your quilting area and have decided it can hold a bit of extra fabric, you don’t mind having that extra fabric around, and minimalism isn’t in your lifestyle vocabulary.  How large does your stash really need to be in order to be useful, but still not overwhelming? Ideally, a quilter’s stash should be large enough to comfortably complete the projects you are currently working on or planning to make, but not so large that it becomes overwhelming or takes up too much space.  The size of your stash ideally depends on your quilting style, project types, and personal preferences. 

Let’s break down those last three phrases: Quilting style, project types, and personal preferences.  If our stash size depends on these three, it’s important to know exactly what they are.

Quilting Style – Please realize we are painting with broad strokes with this one.  I know quilters can switch up styles just to have a change of pace.  They can go from making 30 years’ worth of traditional quilts and then jump track to make a few art quilts just to see if they like that genre.  However, let’s look at your overall quilting style.  Do you primarily make traditional quilts?  Are they nearly all pieced?  Are you a mainly modern quilter?  An applique aficionado?  Here’s a hint.  If you’re not sure yourself, ask your quilting friends.  Believe me, they probably have you pegged. 

Why is this important? If you’re carefully curating your stash, and let’s say you’re a modern quilter, it would make little sense to have a large portion of your stash in Reproduction Fabrics. You may occasionally make a quilt with those fabrics, but by and in large, your quilts are modern, which means you use a lot of fabrics for negative space (usually solids or small prints which read as solids), and bright hues. Purchases for your stash would reflect the modern quilt style.  And while you may very well have some 1930’s Reproduction Fabric tucked away or some traditional florals, those will not be the bulk of your fabric. 

Your stash should contain fabrics which reflect the types of quilts you make the majority of the time.  Otherwise, those other fabrics will languish in the corner of a box or shelf and never reach their potential

Project Types – We will also paint this category with broad strokes, because we all know quilters make all kinds of quilty objects.  So, again, review the types of projects you’ve made.  Are those mainly bed quilts, wall hangings, lap quilts, small quilts, or bags and pillows?  The fabric cuts in your stash should reflect the majority of your projects.  If you primarily make bed quilts, you’ll have more yardage in your stash than fat quarters.  If wall hangings or small quilts are your favorite, yard cuts, half-yard cuts, and fat quarters work well in that stash.  With bags, you may have the standard quilting supplies in your stash (fabric, batting, and backing) as well as the specialty notions bags need.  But again, we’re looking broadly at this category.  So if wall quilts make up the majority of your project type, it would not make a whole lot of sense to have lots of five-yard cuts in your stash.

Personal Preferences – This part can be a bit tricky.  Ideally a quilt – no matter how large or how small – needs lights, mediums (also known as blenders), and darks.  However, I can tell you from experience that capturing true darks can be difficult for two reasons.  First, there are fewer dark fabrics printed (most quilting fabrics are actually mediums).  Second, most quilters don’t naturally gravitate to darks.  Again, mediums tend to grab most of our attention.  So, you may find your stash contains mediums, lots of your favorite colors, and many fabrics from your favorite designers.  A quick glance at my stash will show lots of yellows, pinks, and corals (my favorite quilting colors) and Fig Tree Fabrics (my favorite designer).  But a balanced stash needs to have mediums, darks, and lights.  You may find yourself like me – if I feel I need to add to my stash, I have to critically look at what I have and purchase more of what I need (such as darks) rather than what I like (which would be Fig Tree).

However, the neat thing about curating a stash is it does reflect who you are as a quilter.  As you balance lights, mediums, and darks, you may find you have an affinity for small prints which can read as solids but are so much more interesting than solids.  Or you may discover you love batik fabrics or fabrics which can “read” as batiks.  These facts and fabrics help you develop part of your quilting style.  You may make dozens of pieced quilts, but folks can recognize them as distinctly yours partly because of your personal preferences.

Important Facts to Remember as You Build Your Stash

In 2014, the National Quilters Association surveyed hundreds of quilters about their stash.  Through their research, they discovered the average quilter’s stash was worth $6,000.  Allowing 2024’s  inflation, the fabric stored in your quilt room could be worth as much as $7,897.  Of course, this figure depends on whether you have antique fabric or super-fancy designer fabric.  Your stash could be worth more or less subject to these circumstances.  However, if your stash is worth that amount of money, you certainly want to make sure you can use it to its greatest ability.  Instead of purchasing fabric willy-nilly all the time (purchasing willy-nilly some of the time if perfectly fine), it’s good to remember these key points.

1.  Fabric Type

Consider what type of fabric you need.  If you need background fabrics, you will probably want to purchase larger cuts of this.  The same with focus fabrics.  Accent prints (such as your mediums and darks) won’t need as much yardage.  And while solid fabrics aren’t my favorite, they do make great binding.  A couple of yards of solid black (or another color) fabric is often enough to bind several quilts.  Keeping in mind you will need lights, mediums, and darks, you will have to decide what types of fabric will fill those slots.  Fabric types are blenders, neutrals, solids and solid-ish fabrics, and focus fabrics.

Blender fabric is a quilting fabric with a small, tone-on-tone print which looks like a solid color from a distance.  It’s used to pull together (blend) different elements of a quilt, such sashing, backing, and binding.  I’ve often called blenders the “little black dress” of stash.  You can use them to dress up a quilt or make the quilt very casual – it all depends on how you use them.  Most blenders are mediums:

Meaning they will appear gray in a black and white photo.  While they are crucial to a good quilt, the use of too many blenders in a quilt can make it appear “muddy,” which means if you take a black and white photo of your quilt, most of the top will appear gray, instead of having a balance between lights, mediums, and darks. 

Blender fabric is non-directional.  The pattern is small enough you can cut in any direction without changing the design.  The print is subtle – often less than an inch and draws the eye to the main section of the quilt without overwhelming the viewer.  And blenders can be extremely versatile.  They can add character and interest to quilts, especially when you need similar colors but different textures, or when you don’t have enough of a specific fabric. 

Neutrals are white, beige, tan, ivory, cream, gray, and black – which means if you use black as a neutral, you have your dark!  Lots of neutrals can also be eco-friendly, meaning they are made from renewable resources, free of harmful chemicals, and manufactured using low-carbon processes.  I call neutrals my “family therapist” quilt fabric – they are used to make all the other fabrics play nicely together.  Neutrals are not very intense or saturated.  Neutrals can be solid colors or tone-on-tone.  If you applique, you will recognize we often use these neutrals as our background fabrics. 

A couple of color issues to remember about neutrals.  If ivory, beige, tan, or cream is used as a neutral, they can “muddy down” the fabrics next to them – that is they can make bright colors and hues seem a little tamer than they really are.  They do a good job giving a quilt an “antique” appearance, though.  For scrap quilts, white is generally my neutral of choice, as it makes all the fabric play nicely together.  Blacks and grays are great neutrals, just make sure the accompanying fabric is bright enough to stand up against it – batiks work really well with the darker neutrals. 

It’s also important to consider the batting color if the neutrals take up a lot of the quilt top’s area.  If white fabric is used, pick a white batting.  An ecru batting will throw the white color a beige-ish cast, but an ecru batting works great with the ivory, tans, creams, and ecru neutrals.  If gray or black is the neutral and the quilt top is predominately gray or black, use a black batting — just avoid quilting heavily over the lighter areas of the quilt.

One last word about neutrals.  In today’s quilting world, a neutral can be almost any color.  In the past ten or so years we’ve seen pinks, reds, blues, and a host of other colors proclaimed a neutral and used as such in a quilt.  And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this.  The only color theory issue to keep in mind is this – you always need a fabric to act as a light in your quilt.  Many times quilters will use the lighter colored neutrals as their light fabric.  So if you do use a darker neutral or a color not considered a “standard” neutral as your neutral, remember to add a light to your fabric pull.

Focus fabrics are fabrics with multiple colors or a prominent pattern within a fabric line which is used to select coordinating fabrics for a quilt.  Essentially it acts as the central color palette for the project when choosing other fabrics to complement it.  Normally, it’s a busy print with various colors which help guide the selection of other fabrics to create a cohesive color scheme in a quilt.  A quilter uses the range of colors in the focus fabric as a starting point to choose the other colors of fabric which will either match or harmonize with the focus fabric. 

I have the most fun with focus fabrics.  They tend to be my “favorite child” in a quilt.  A good focus fabric can give you a color palette to concentrate on as you choose the rest of the material for your quilt.  Focus fabrics are used in the areas of your quilt where they are readily seen because they serve as the unifier of all the fabrics.  So borders, sashing, and the center of blocks are where you will normally use focus fabrics.  A couple of fun facts about focus fabrics:

• Often focus fabrics are used as the center piece of a family or line of fabrics.  Find a current focus fabric and chances are the fabric manufacturer already has a line of blenders, lights, and neutrals to match it.  If you’re lucky, they’ll also have a dark, but that’s happening less and less.  You may have to shop for a dark separately.
• I know quilters whose stashes are only focus fabrics.  These are generally quilters who want only a small stash.  They’ll purchase several focus fabrics they really like, and trust the quilting universe to supply the additional fabric when a pattern is found.
• Have a piece of focus fabric you absolutely love but not enough of it to make a quilt?  Take your focus fabric and find material which will coordinate with it, and then remove the focus fabric from the line-up.  You’ll have a great group of material to work with, that will coordinate, and will make a wonderful quilt.  Bonus: You keep the focus fabric you love.

I realize this is a lot of information, however, don’t get too antsy about it.  The longer you quilt – or if you’re involved in another visual art – the easier this becomes.  As a matter of fact, I’m firmly convinced that a lot of this information we innately know.  It’s already programmed into our brains.  It’s just now we’ve put names to the process, and it may seem overwhelming.  Don’t let it be. 

A couple of additional tidbits before we move on to the last part of a stash.  One fabric issue you may inevitably have to deal with is holiday fabric.  Christmas fabric, Halloween fabric,  Easter, St. Patrick’s Day and even Thanksgiving Day fabric abounds in our quilting world.  Will you add it to your stash?  That’s a really personal question.  If you’re a huge Christmas fan, you may find Santa or Poinsettia fabric will creep into your stash.  What do you do with it?  I keep my holiday fabric separate from the rest of my stash.  It’s just easier to manage that way.  However, on the whole I have found it more economical not to purchase a lot of “in your face” holiday fabric.  So material with Santa and Jack O’ Lanterns don’t take up a lot of space in my stash.  But red, green, and orange fabrics are there.  This way I can incorporate the “regular” fabric into my “normal” stash and use it either for holiday or non-holiday quilting. 

The second fabric issue you may have to work through is the “favorite color trap.”  It’s super easy to purchase fabrics with your favorite color on it somewhere because it makes you happy.  And there’s nothing wrong with having fabric in your favorite color – just don’t let it overwhelm your entire stash.  My favorite color is purple, but that color actually takes up only a small percentage of my stash. 

The last part of your fabric stash to consider is scraps.  What do you do with them?  Do you keep them or toss them?  Do you hang on to them or give them away?  This is an area I struggled with for years because I’m primarily an applique quilter, and with an applique quilter every tiny scrap has potential.  A small scrap could be a leaf or the center of a flower or a wing of a bird or butterfly.  Do I keep it or toss it?

Scrappage is a personal choice.  Some quilters don’t want to be bothered with the issue.  They either toss or give away all their scraps.  They may not have the room to store them, or they may not want to worry about sorting and then remembering what they have.  If you primarily make large quilts or quilts with large blocks made from large pieces of fabric, scraps may not have any place in your quilting life.  But if you do applique (either by hand or machine) or make smaller blocks, scraps may become a necessary part of your stash.  The first hurdle to face is how small can a scrap be and still be worth keeping? 

This is a question only you can answer.  For a couple of years after I began quilting, I kept every scrap.  After I had a pillowcase full of them, I realized I rarely used the small scraps.  So I dumped out everything and threw away the small scraps.  Now I keep only scraps which average 8 square inches and above.  From this size I can get several stems, flowers, flower centers or other applique needs.  I sort these according to color and keep them in bins.  When a bin gets too full, I sort through it again and take the large scraps out I can trim to 5-inch square blocks.  A few years ago, I was introduced to Pat Speth and Nickel Quilts.

All the quilts in Pat’s books are made from 5-inch square pieces of fabric, and all her quilts are scrappy.  When I have enough 5-inch squares, I make a scrap quilt which I generally donate somewhere. 

This process helps me:

• Know exactly what fabrics are in my scrap bins.
• Become more productive in my quilting
• Keep large pieces of fabric out of landfills

In closing this rather lengthy blog (seriously, my blogs keep getting longer – I hope I’m not boring you to tears) I would like for you to conceptualize a few ideas.  First, you don’t have to cultivate a stash.  There’s nothing wrong with not having a stash.  It all depends on you, your lifestyle, and your storage space.

Second, if you do decide to keep and cultivate a stash, do it wisely.  Fabric is a wonderful quilting tool and we quilters get very enthusiastic about it.  It’s really easy just to purchase fabric that grabs your attention at the moment and not contemplate where it may work (or not work) with the fabric you have already.  It’s a good idea to go through your stash about once a year to know what you have and what you may need so you can spend your money wisely.

Third, how you sort and store your stash will evolve and change over time.  Most quilters begin by sorting their fabric by color, and pull the focus fabrics to the side by themselves.  This is how I began.  After a few years, I pulled the blenders out and sorted them to according to color, set my focus fabrics aside, sorted the solids according to color, sorted my neutrals separately, and changed my scrap bins to reflect large pieces of fabric.  Now, since I applique so much, my stash sorting has changed again, and I sort according to color and texture with some of my fabric.  This works for me; it may not work for you.  It all depends on the type of quilter you are.  There are no quilt police and there’s no right or wrong way to handle your stash – just make it work for you.  However, it’s important to remember the larger the stash, the more it requires careful organization and storage. 

Until Next Week…

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

PS — If you remember my last blog of 2024, I mention Felix has been featured as Mr. December for PawPrints 2025 calendar. Gotta hand it to the cat. He is a handsome devil and very ambitious. Now he has a puzzle gig. His sweet face is now on a 300 piece puzzle. There will be no living with him. He’s already asking for double the treats and two catnip breaks a day.

I had something entirely different planned for this blog.  Entirely.  But this week…well, this week was hard for a lot of reasons I will get into later (everyone is fine and I’m still quilting, but there’s a lot going on).  Sometimes I have some topics that need to be written about, but I don’t have enough on each subject to write a 2,000 word blog.  So I throw them into one blog with lines separating my thoughts.  Due to time restraints this week, today’s blog is one of those mashups.

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There is a lot of stuff occurring in our quilting world.  And when I look over the past almost forty years I’ve quilted, a lot has happened.  We’ve lost local quilt shops.  We’ve lost quilting magazines (the real-actual-paper-pages-you-have-to-turn kind).  Quilting teachers have retired.  Thanks to a pandemic, our guilds and groups can meet on Zoom and many non-retired teachers have moved to teaching only on this platform.  Our quilting world has largely gone from brick-and-mortar shops to online stores where we can peruse the inventory in our pajamas with adult beverage in hand.  While I’m adult enough to realize that nothing ever really stays the same, I still miss what we’ve lost. 

We lost Hancock Fabrics on July 27, 2016.  That was a heavy-hitter and a fan favorite.  The most wonderful thing about Hanocks was they stayed open until 8 p.m., which meant if I needed needles, fabric, zippers, or stabilizer after work on a Friday night for a class early Saturday morning, I was covered.  Didn’t have to think about it.  Just zip in after dinner, pick up the supplies, and grab those few extra minutes of sleep on Saturday morning before class started.  The Greensboro Hancocks was always within 10 minutes of my house (they moved three times), which meant anytime I just needed to get away from everything and pet fabric, I had an out. 

Due to decreasing sales and underperforming retail locations and issues with pensions and retirement benefit costs, Hancock’s called it quits and filed for bankruptcy.  Michael’s bought the rights to the Hancock brand, fabric, and trademark.   Everything else – store fixtures, remaining inventory, etc. – was sold off.  I could go through cost analysis, overshooting profits vs. actual costs, and all that spreadsheet nonsense Geeks like me geek over, but honestly, as a consumer and quilter and frankly a huge Hancock fan, I think their demise boiled down to this:  They tried to be something they weren’t.  If you had a Hancock Fabrics in your area for a while, try to remember what it was like when it first opened.  All types of fabric, from dress goods to quilting, were sold.  Simplicity patterns, Butterick, buttons, ribbon, batting – anything you needed to make garments, quilts, or sewing related projects was sold.  Now remember what the store was like when it closed.  Furniture.  Lighting.  Jewelry making supplies, yarn…and some fabric.  However, as all the non-fabric or garment/quilt making paraphernalia occupied more and more floor space, the inventory of fabric for quilting and garment making shrunk.  To add insult to a quilter’s injury, the quality of fabric sold declined (in my opinion).  Much of it was lower-end and thin.  This was probably an effort to bolster the bottom line, but I think it simply alienated (and angered) their customer base. 

In short, I think Hancock Fabrics was trying to be something it wasn’t:  Hobby Lobby.  Hobby Lobby (love it or not), has fabric, yarn, flowers, furniture and all kinds and types of hobby and arts supplies but it doesn’t market itself as a fabric store.  You go to Hancock Fabrics and you expect fabric.*

And while the door has firmly closed on Hancock Fabric’s, we are facing yet another closure – Joann’s Fabric.

Founded in 1943, Joann operates stores in 49 of the 50 states – the only state without a Joann’s is Hawaii.  While I am not a regular Joann’s shopper, (the nearest one is across town and doesn’t cross any of my normal errand traffic) I do go there for notions, zippers, and Pellon SK135 White Sheer Knit Fusible Interfacing (my stabilizer of choice for machine applique).  I’ve always found Joann’s to be neat, the customer service fairly good, and with their 40% off coupons, a great place to shop to pick up a bolt or two of that Pellon SK135 I love so much.  It filed for bankruptcy once recently, but when it filed again this year, I opened my Joann app on my phone and purchased another bolt of the Pellon.  The writing was on the wall.  At present, there is one bid in for the company.  Gordan Brothers Retail Partners (the same company that liquidated most of the Big Lot stores) has a preemptive bid in for the company in order to prevent any low-ball offers.  I’ve heard unsubstantiated chatter about other buyers, but I can’t verify anything. Either way, in a couple of weeks, Joann’s may be no more, even though (as of this moment) they’re closing hundreds of their stores as a pro-active gesture.

Joann’s has always had craft items other than sewing/quilting related notions, so that’s not what caused their financial struggles.  Citing inventory issues and sluggish retail sales, Joann’s decided to put this second Chapter 11 filing in motion and cut their losses.  Since they technically don’t own any of their locations, and if Gordon Brothers does have the winning/lone bid, only left-over inventory, assets, and store fixtures can be sold. 

Not exactly a comforting thought to crafters.  It seems we quilters/sewists/crafters are losing our world a bit at the time.  While there are hundreds of craft suppliers and sites we can purchase quilting supplies online, most of us like to touch, feel, and see our fabric in person, not through a screen.  If you don’t think it can’t happen to you, let me give you a personal example.  I live in Jamestown, a small town wedged between High Point and Greensboro.  I’m actually closer to High Point (population approximately 117,000).  There is nowhere in High Point to purchase fabric in person now except Hobby Lobby.  The one quilt shop, Dragonfly, closed years ago.  As of November 2024, we can no longer shop in person at Keepsake Quilting.  They’ve moved to all online sales, with little chance of any additional warehouse sales.  The three quilt stores in other cities nearest to me are 12, 20, and 40 miles away respectively.

Maybe we should all whisper a prayer for Michaels.

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In the past couple of months, I’ve written several blogs which mention “fusible webbing.”  That’s a generic term for temporary fabric bonding agents such as Heat and Bond.  I fielded a few question about types and kinds and considered writing this week’s blog on fusibles, when I remembered this blog https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2022/02/09/sticky-situations/ I wrote in 2022.   It sums up fusibles nicely. 

The only additional information I’d like to offer is there now a new fusible very similar to Soft Fuse.  Soft Fuse is the fusible of choice for a lot of quilters.  However, from what I understand, the developer of Soft Fuse passed away or has become seriously ill and no longer makes it (someone please correct me if I am wrong).  While there is a lot of  Soft Fuse in inventories, Wonder Fuse is a great substitute if you can’t find Soft Fuse.

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And finally, in closing this kind of random blog, I’d like to remind you that everything is a journey.  We’re used to the saying that “Life is a journey.”  But I would like to go one step further and state everything is a journey, or at the very least, a process.  Need groceries?  Make a list, go get them, come home, put them away.  Need to clean house?  Sweep, vacuum, mop, dust, clean the bathrooms and the kitchen. 

Everything takes time.  And what I would like to do is encourage you to take time with your quilting.  This doesn’t mean you go as slow as a glacier, but it does mean you take the time to enjoy the process and learn what the quilt is trying to teach you.  Some journeys are short and simply re-enforce skills you know – such as half-square triangles.  Others are a little more detailed, like the hand-quilted, needle-turn one you’ve been working on for years.  They all have something to tell us.  Quite often it’s whispered over late-night quilting sessions, or caught in the middle of a laughter fest at a quilt meeting.  Sometimes our fingers and our minds quickly pick up on it, and at other times, it may take more than one quilt to push us ahead on our quilt journey.

Cut accurately.

Sew consistent seam allowances.

Press.

Lights, mediums, and darks.

Recently there was a survey sent out to some quilt bloggers which directly asked which quilts were “journey” quilts – which ones served the most to push us ahead in our quilting life – and which ones were “just for fun.”  Personally, I think all quilts should be made for fun  because quilting is fun.  But I also think all quilts have something to teach us – sometimes the lessons are about the craft and sometimes the lessons are about us.  And if I had to get down to the nitty gritty, I’d offer that those quilts with details are the ones which teach us the most.  The ones which make us slow down, watch our stitches, take our time, and park on some techniques are the ones which push us to be better quilters, make better quilts, and quiet us down so we can hear what the quilt is telling us. 

In our quilting journey, we’ll make both kinds of quilts – the quick, easy fun ones and those which really stretch our abilities and test our mettle.  Don’t shy away from either.  They both serve different purposes as they ease us down our own Yellow Brick Road of Quilting. 

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

*Please note that Hancock’s of Paducah is not the same as Hancock Fabrics.  Two entirely different companies.  Hancock’s of Paducah is still open and fabulous in Paducah, Kentucky.  They have a great online store and if you’re ever near their area, it would be a wonderful idea to go in and do some shopping at their brick-and-mortar storefront.  You will not be disappointed.

This week we will look at choosing the right threads for different quilting techniques. No matter if you’re piecing blocks, machine quilting, hand quilting, or appliqueing, the thread you select can impact the overall look, durability and quality of your quilt.

Piecing Thread

For piecing quilt blocks, you’ll want a thread that’s strong, thin, and doesn’t add bulk to the seams.  Cotton thread is the go-to choice for many quilters when it comes to piecing.  It’s compatible with natural fibers, has low lint, and comes in a variety of weights.  The most popular weight for piecing (and my personal favorite) is a 50 wt cotton thread.  The 50 wt offers great balance between strength and fineness. 

However, like most all issues with quilting, there are “work arounds.”  You want your piecing thread to be strong, but you also don’t want it to take up a lot of space.  And even though thread is deceptively skinny, between a strand of it and the tiny bit of bulk produced with the fabric is pressed to one side, there is some thickness produced. So what if the thread is 40 wt instead of a 50 wt?  A 40 wt thread is thicker, so it obviously takes up a bit more room than 50 wt.  This means you may need to make your seam a thread or two larger than the traditional ¼-inch. Likewise if your thread is 60 wt and is not as thick as a 50 wt, you may want to opt for a seam allowance a thread or two smaller — a scant quarter-inch . The best way to make sure you have enough room in your seam is to make a test block (or at least run a test seam) with your chosen thread.  If the quilt block is the correct unfinished size or the seam is exactly ¼-inch, you’re good to go.   Otherwise, you may need to keep playing with it until you can make sure the seam is ¼-inch.

Thread also has plies (not to be confused with staples):

Think of plies like pieces of cord wrapped around each other to give the thread strength.  Some 50 wt piecing thread have two-plies and some have three.  Neither is better than the other, whichever one you like is a personal choice.  I really like to keep my quilt’s bulk as low as possible, so I opt for a 50 wt, 2-ply thread – namely Aurifil. 

Since we’ve mentioned staples, let’s go ahead and define what that is and why it is important to your quilting experience, especially since I’ve mentioned long-staple thread is really best.  Cotton thread is manufactured from this:

The cotton boll.  Cotton bolls are fibers which have to be pulled apart, the seeds removed, and then the fibers (staples) are spun into thread.  Some cotton boll staples are short, meaning a strand of thread is comprised of lots of short fibers (much of American cotton is short staple).  With other cotton, such as Egyptian cotton, the fibers which comprise a cotton boll are long, and these are long-staple cottons.  Ideally, we chose to use the long-staple cottons for piecing as these threads are longer and less linty than short staple cotton thread.    

There are some quilters who swear by using 100 percent polyester thread instead of cotton.  While this certainly isn’t a traditional choice, polyester thread can be incredibly strong and thin, making it a good choice for precise piecing.  However, the cheap polyester thread doesn’t care for the high heat we use when pressing – so be sure to use high-quality brand of polyester thread to avoid any potential melting issues during pressing.

Machine Quilting Thread

While cotton thread seems to be the thread of choice for most quilters when they piece, machine quilting is a whole ‘nuther world.  The thread options for machine quilting are almost endless.  Piecing thread is hidden between the folds of fabric, but machine quilting thread is there, front and center, for everyone to see.  Machine quilting thread adds texture, contrast, or it can blend seamlessly into your quilt top.  The most popular options are:

Cotton Thread – Great for an all-natural quilt, and depending on the look desired, a 50 wt, 40 wt, or 30 wt can be used. 

Polyester Thread – This thread is strong and colorfast, and is ideal for quilts which will be washed frequently.

Cotton-Wrapped Polyester – Combines the best of both cotton thread and polyester thread.  Given the choice between polyester and cotton-wrapped polyester, I usually go with the cotton-wrapped.

Metallic Thread – This thread adds a touch of sparkle and glamour to a quilt.  As I stated earlier, metallic thread rules Christmas quilts. 

When machine quilting, it’s crucial to match the thread weight to the quilting design and the fabric.  For instance, if almost all of your fabric is busy – it’s florals and geometrics and ditzies, chances are even a bold quilting thread choice (such as a 30 wt) won’t show up because the fabric is so busy.  It would be perfectly fine to use a 50 wt cotton thread on a quilt such as this. 

However, if your quilt has some negative space or uses either solid-colored fabrics or small print fabrics which read as solids, a bold thread choice – such as a 30 wt thread – would be stellar because your quilting will show up in such a lovely way. 

With same line of thinking, when machine quilting, it’s also important to match the thread weight to the quilting design.  For intricate designs, a finer 50-weight or less thread works well, while a heavier 30-weight thread can make bold designs really pop.  According to a survey conducted by Quilter’s Review, 62 percent of quilters prefer using a 40-weight thread for machine quilting, striking a balance between visibility and smooth stitching.

Hand Quilting Thread

When it comes to hand quilting, you’ll want a thread which is strong, smooth, and easy to work with.  Traditional hand quilters usually opt for cotton thread specifically designed for hand quilting.  These threads are glazed or waxed to reduce tangling and make it easier to pull through multiple layers of fabric and batting.  And if you’re ever in a bind and need hand quilting thread but you’re completely out, reach for your dental floss.  Unwaxed dental floss has saved the day for more than one hand quilter.  It’s smooth, strong, and comes in a variety of colors.

Thread for Applique

Machine applique requires a thread which can blend in seamlessly with your fabric or stand out for decorative effect.  And while there are lots of different types of thread available for applique, the kind of thread you use depends on the applique technique used. 

          Hand Applique – There are many types of hand applique: back basting, freezer paper, needle turn, finished edge, and Apliquik.  However, the type of applique used doesn’t matter as much as the technique.  Hand applique requires fine silk or cotton thread at a 60 to 80 weight.  I have used 100 wt polyester for hand applique if the applique pieces are super small. Personally, I prefer cotton thread to silk.  It’s easier to manage.  Plus, silk thread can break under the weight of the quilt if the quilt gets wet.

The fine thread and tiny stitches required by hand applique make the shapes seem as if they are floating on the background fabric.  To enhance this “floating” look, don’t prewash the background fabric.  Once the quilt or block is complete, soak the block and allow it to air dry.  The background fabric will shrink just a bit, pulling the applique stitches under the applique pieces, making them seem to disappear.

          Finished Edge Machine Applique – Like hand applique, for finished edge machine applique, the thread should melt into the fabric, appearing nearly invisible.  Machine applique quilters use a blanket stitch, blind hem stitch, or fine zigzag stitch.  The stitch you prefer doesn’t matter as much as the thread chosen.  Polyester or cotton thread in a 60 wt and above works well.  I’ve also used monofilament thread in finished edge machine applique. 

          Raw Edge Machine Applique – Personally, I think this is the most versatile type of machine applique.  With this applique, the thread can be a co-star or steal the limelight – it all depends on the look you want.  For smaller pieces, you may want to use a lighter weight thread, but I don’t believe any raw edge applique thread should be less than a 40-wt because the thread must encase the raw edges of the fabric to keep it from fraying.  You can plan for the thread to match the fabric, contrast the fabric, or to bling out everything and use a metallic or embroidery thread for shine. 

If you’re using this technique for a quilt with lots of color, it’s tempting to use a monofilament thread to save yourself some time – after all that thread is see-through, so it wouldn’t matter. Well…yes, it would.  Monofilament can be as light as 100 wt – far too thin to adequately encase any raw fabric edges.  If all that different fabric makes you a bit weary just thinking about all the thread changes you’ll have to make, find a good, variegated thread 40 or 50 wt. and use it.

This is a lot of information about thread – maybe more than you ever expected.  So how, with all of this minutiae about thread, do we ever decide what thread to use? It’s not difficult.  First, decide what kind of thread strength and durability you need.  If the quilt is one which will see the inside of a washing machine quite a bit, its thread needs will be different from a quilt which will hang on a wall.  Fiber content and thread construction are important.  Quilters tend to have an affinity for all things cotton, so naturally many of us reach for cotton, quilting thread.  However polyester threads often offer superior strength and resistance to abrasions.  According to a study by Textile World, polyester threads can be up to 2.5 times stronger than cotton threads of the same weight.

Color selection and color fastness should also be considered.  Granted most thread produced today is pretty color fast, as we normally think of the term – it maintains its color when it’s washed.  However, other elements can cause fading, such as sunlight.  Color choice, well it’s seemingly limitless.  As a piecer, we can usually get by with grays, beiges, whites, and blacks.  But when it comes to quilting thread, we need to decide if we want the thread to blend into the background or stand out and make a bold statement, or show off stunning effects (and our quilting skills) with a contrasting color.

In addition to these, machine compatibility is also important.  And “thread” acceptance can vary from machine to machine.  My Janome M7 can deal with anything I thread her up with.  I may have to fiddle with the tension and needle selection, but I have yet to use a thread that the M7 just absolutely won’t work with.  My long arm?  She’s completely another story.  That cheap, dull cotton thread you use on a serger?  She loves it.  Bring a spool of Glide anywhere near her and she goes into conniptions.  Know your machine and know what works on it and what doesn’t.  Above all, use quality thread.  Cheap thread can be notoriously linty.  So can 100 percent cotton threads.  To minimize lint issues, use high quality, long staple cotton thread or those threads designed specifically for low-lint production (such as polyester). Be sure to clean your machine on a regular basis (which we will get to shortly).

Maintaining Your Thread

At some point in your quilting/sewing, you’ll sit back and survey your surroundings and realize, “Wow…I have almost as much thread as I do fabric…maybe more.”  To that thought, we contemplate what is the best way to store and keep our fabric.  However, sometimes thread gets overlooked.  But when you think about it, if the average quilter’s fabric stash is worth $6,000, thread cannot be that far behind.  If you have piecing thread, applique thread, and quilting thread, not only are you replacing thread faster than fabric, but also the dollar amount between fabric and thread is pretty much the same. Improper storage of thread can cut down on its lifespan by 30 percent.  How and where we keep our thread is important.

A few years ago, maybe back in the Nineties, there was this rumor floating about in quilting circles concerning storing your thread in the freezer.  Supposedly this cold storage added years to the thread’s lifespan and cut down on lint.  Of course this is wrong on two levels.  First, putting thread in the freezer exposed it to moisture and second, the thread took up room which could have been used for ice cream. 

That’s a funny thought, but let’s do think about thread and moisture.  When thread is exposed to moisture, it is more likely to attract dirt and lint, which means when you use the thread in your machine, it also is exposed to moisture, dirt, and lint – which is not good.  Thread should be stored:

• In a cool, dry, place away from direct sunlight – UV rays can weaken fibers over time.
• In thread organizers help keep it tangle-free.
• Away from dust and lint to prevent contamination.

Thread and Tension

Thread and the correct tension go hand-in-hand to create a wonderful sewing experience.  If one or the other gets out of whack, you have all kinds of sewing issues.  If you have problems with thread tension, stitches, or bobbin barf on the wrong side of the fabric, check the following steps.

• Re-thread the machine.  This is the first step I take when I begin having problems and most of the time this takes care of the issues.  Somewhere along the thread path, I missed something and the machine rebels.  Rethreading solves the problem.
• Always thread your sewing machine with the presser foot up to ensure proper thread seating.
• Use high-quality thread that matches needle size and fabric weight
• If you feel you do need to adjust the tension, do it gradually, making only small changes at a time and testing it out on scrap fabric.
• Remember this:  Upper thread visible on the bottom? Lower the tension.  Bobbin thread visible on the top?  Increase the tension.

If, after checking the tension, you still are experiencing thread breakage and tangling, try these steps:

• Check for rough spots on your needle, thread guide, or bobbin case that could be catching the thread.
• Ensure the thread is feeding smoothly from the spool – maybe you need to change the spools orientation from vertical to horizontal or horizontal to vertical.
• If you’re using a cone, you may need a cone stand to reduce tension on the thread.
• Check your machine for lint build-up.  Even if you use long-staple cotton thread, polyester thread, or thread advertised as low-lint, lint will happen.  Check your bobbin and bobbin case to make sure there is no lint build-up, and if there is clean your machine…which brings us to….

How to Clean Your Machine

Disclaimer:  Before beginning any cleaning process on any sewing machine, be sure to consult your manual.

It’s a given fact—if you sew, eventually – no matter how careful you are with thread and fabric selection – you will need to clean your machine because there will be lint and dirt build up.  Regular cleaning can prevent up to 80 percent of common quilting machine issues.  How often should you clean your sewing machine?  Rule of thumb is if you sew every day, clean it once a week.  If you sew less than this, you can stretch the times between cleaning out a bit more.  Before I purchased my M7, I cleaned my machine on the first day of every month, after I finished paper piecing a project (paper piecing is notoriously linty), or after I quilted a quilt.  Now, like so many of the new quilting sewing machines, my M7 has a sensor in it and if the lint build up triggers the sensor, I get a message in the dialogue box on the machine.  And I must stop and clean it, or it won’t let me sew another stitch it is a bossy thing. 

Each type of machine is a bit different and it’s important you check your machine’s manual to make sure you’re cleaning yours correctly.  Generally:

• Remove the needle plate and clean the feed dogs with a small brush.  My favorite brush to clean the dogs is a mascara brush.  I purchase a tube of cheap mascara, throw away the mascara, and thoroughly wash the wand until all the black gunk is gone.  It’s just the right size for getting between the feed dogs.  There are vacuum attachments which are made for this type of cleaning, too, but I’ve heard too many mixed reviews to recommend them.
• Clean the bobbin area thoroughly, removing lint and thread bits.  I use the mascara brush, cotton swabs, and tweezers for this part.
• Wipe down the thread path with a lint-free cloth.
• Oil your machine as recommended by the manufacturer.  Be careful not to over-oil and oil only the areas indicated by the manual.  If you have a newer machine, many of those don’t require you to oil them at all.  A sewing machine tech must open the up the machine and oil the parts you can’t reach from the outside.  Which brings me to the final point…
• Every 12 to 18 months (depending on how frequently you use your machine) take it in for a spa day.  Let a sewing machine tech clean and oil the areas you can’t (or at least aren’t supposed to) get to.  This extends the life of your machine.

Finally, because I know I’ll get an email or message asking me about this, let me list some of my favorite thread.  Disclaimer:  I am not employed by any of these companies, nor do they finance my blog, or send me freebies for mentioning them.  The following is my unbiased opinion from over 40 years of sewing and quilting.

Top-Rated Cotton Piecing Thread

1. Aurifil 50 wt Cotton Thread.  This Italian-made thread is a quilter’s dream.  It’s lint-free, colorfast, and comes in a rainbow of hues.  It is a strong thread comprised of only two plies.
2. Superior Thread Masterpiece.  While this is not my first choice for piecing, it does work well when Aurifil is not available.  Masterpiece is a thicker 50wt thread, as it’s comprised of three plies.  And I think feels a little stiffer than Aurifil.

Top-Rated Cotton Quilting Thread

1. Aurifil 50, 40, or 30 wt, depending on the statement my quilting makes.
2. Gutermann Natural Cotton Thread.  Gutermann is actually a great crossover thread.  While it may be my second choice when I am quilting by machine, it’s my first choice when quilting by hand.  It is strong and has a smooth finish.
3. DMC Cotton Machine Embroidery Thread.  Yes, this is embroidery thread.  However, it’s vibrant colors and durability work great in quilting.

Top-Rated Polyester Threads for Quilting

1.  Superior Threads So Fine 50 – 100 wt.  I love this polyester thread so much.  It’s strong and quilts wonderfully.  The thin thread is perfect for detail quilting and blends in beautifully with the fabric.  And if I’m piecing a quilt and it’s comprised of small blocks with small pieces, I will piece with So Fine 60 wt.  It takes up less room in the seams and cuts down on bulk.
2. Coats and Clark Dual Duty XP. This is not the same Coats and Clark your momma used.  This Coats and Clark is a polyester-wrapped core thread that is strong enough for heavy-duty projects, but fine enough for delicate work.
3. Sulky Polylite Thread.  Lightweight and lint-free, this thread works well in a domestic machine as well as a longarm. 

Top-Rate Specialty Thread

1. YLI Silk Thread – I don’t like to hand applique with silk threads, but I have used silk thread in finished edge machine applique.  It melts into the fabric and leaves an elegant touch. It also works well in thread painting.
2. Superior Threads Metallic.  If I am going through the trouble of adding some bling to my quilt either in the quilting stitches or thread painting, I go with Super Threads Metallic every time.  I consistently have good results and fewer problems with their brand of metallics.
3. Wonderfil Invisafil.  Wonderfil is a brand of thread still fairly new to the United States, but it’s quickly gaining a foothold. Canadian by birth, it’s still a young thread, with manufacturing beginning in 1988.  I became aware of this thread during the Pandemic when I took an on-line applique class with an Australian quilter.  Out of curiosity I ordered a couple of spools from her website and was instantly smitten.  It’s an ultra-fine 100 wt polyester thread that’s perfect for micro quilting and nearly invisible stitching.  If you don’t like working with monofilament, Invisafil may work better for you. Currently you can order Wonderfil thread (all of it, not just the Invisafil) at Red Rock Threads.  A few local quilt shops have it in stock, but most of the time you’ll have to order it. 

These are my favorite specialty threads, but if you want to know more about all kinds, weights, and effects, go to the Superior Threads website and read through their information.

Choosing the right thread for quilting and piecing is a crucial decision which can significantly impact the outcome of your project.  Remember, while cotton thread in the 40 – 50 weight range is often a safe choice for most quilting projects, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.  The best thread for your quilt will depend on various factors, including your quilting technique, the fabric used, and the desired final appearance of your quilt.  Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of threads to find what works best for you and your quilting style.  Whether you opt for the traditional route with 100 percent cotton thread or decide to add some sparkle with metallic threads, the key is to choose a high-quality product that will enhance your quilt’s beauty and ensure its longevity.  By considering the factors we’ve discussed – such as thread strength, color fastness, lint production, and tension issues – you’ll be well-equipped to create stunning, durable quilts that will be cherished for generations to come.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

While the fabric choices for a quilt are seemingly endless, likewise, the thread choices aren’t any fewer.  Nope.  From any big box/craft store to your local quilt shop, one glance at the thread selection is enough to make you take a step back and wonder if you could ever really make the right thread selection for your quilt.  There’s polyester. Polyester thread wrapped in cotton.  Cotton thread.  Metallic.  Rayon.  Monofilament.  Then there’s weights – from 30 to 100 – which one is the right one?  So many choices…

Before you pull out your hair and start running for the hills, the quick answer is this: For most quilting projects, a high-quality, 100% cotton thread between 40 and 50 weight is ideal.  However, the best thread choice can vary depending on your project and quilting technique. 

For me, a self-professed thread snob, choosing my thread is a bit more difficult than picking out my fabrics.  That may sound counter intuitive, being that the fabric is a much more “in your face” choice – it’s the first thing most people notice about your quilt.  However, if fabric is truly the backbone of a quilt, then the thread is the tendons and muscles which hold that backbone in place.  So…

Thread is not a last-minute decision.

Thread is not a “whatever is cheapest will work” choice.

Thread is not a “whatever I have on hand is fine” preference.

The choice of thread determines how well your quilt stays together, whether the quilt lives its life hanging on a wall or on the floor as a play quilt for the kiddos.  The thread controls the appearance of the quilting – whether it sinks into the fabric and batting or co-stars with the fabric and quilt design.  The thread can add special effects to your top with sparkle and shine.  Or it can be completely transparent.

It all depends on which thread you use.

What I hope to do with this blog is discuss the pros and cons of different thread types (including specialty threads), the factors to consider when selecting thread, tension issues, lint production, and color fastness.  There is a lot of ground to cover with the topic, and I may need to split this blog into two parts to keep you from becoming overwhelmed.  But first, there are some general guidelines we need to discuss. 

• There is a difference between quilting thread and piecing thread.

Piecing thread is the thread used to sew the block units into blocks and the blocks into the quilt top.  Think of this as the “general sewing thread” of the quilt world.  Typically, this is a 40 or 50 weight thread (weight will be discussed a bit later), and most of the time quilters keep piecing thread in the neutral range – beiges, grays, dark grays, blacks, white – so we don’t have to keep changing spools of thread when we move to another section of the quilt block that’s a different color.  The neutrals will fit into whatever we’re piecing.  My exception to this is if I am moving from a bright color (such as a red) to a light neutral (such as gray or white).  White thread would stand out in the seam of a red, and a red thread would show up in the seam of a light fabric.  If the quilt top was comprised of two fabrics – such as a red and white – I would change color as I moved from one block unit to the next.  Or I would sew with white thread and where it stood out against the red fabric, I would use a red Pigma pen to color the white thread.  Using neutrals as your piecing thread also allows you to buy in bulk with full assurance every inch of the thread will be used. 

Quilting thread is the thread used to hold the top, center, and back of the quilt together.  Quilting thread is stronger, more durable, and crafted to withstand the stress of multiple layers of fabric, batting, and the constant friction of the quilting process – whether it’s on your domestic sewing machine or a long arm.  While most quilters use 100% cotton thread in a 40 or 50 weight for piecing, quilting thread can run the gamut from cotton to polyester to blends to monofilament in weights ranging from 30 to 100.  It all depends on the look you want and the color(s) you desire.

There is also a big, big difference between hand quilting thread and quilting thread meant for a machine.  Hand quilting thread is generally clearly labeled “For Hand Quilting.”  It feels stiffer than machine quilting thread.  This is because hand quilting thread has been coated with either several applications of beeswax or some other glaze (spools of hand quilting thread may be labeled “Glace Thread”).  It’s not a good idea to try to use hand quilting thread in a sewing machine or long arm.  Whatever the thread is glazed with can rub off between the tension disks and make quilting a nightmare, as well as damage your machine.   

• Some thread does have a shelf life.

Let me say that today’s thread – the type you purchase at either a big box store or a local quilt shop – lasts for years and years and years.  The manufacturing techniques have changed and improved so much that the thread you buy today can be used years from now quite successfully in a quilt.  However…if any of the thread you have in your stash are on gold, Styrofoam, or wooden spools, such as these

Toss them.  Or at least don’t use them in a quilt.  The thread is quite wonderful for basting or back basting applique, but not for any long-term existence in a quilt, either as quilting or piecing thread.  The thread on these spools was made before our improved manufacturing techniques and generally can’t be trusted for durability.  They do look pretty sitting in a basket or in a jar in your studio, though.

If there is any doubt about a thread’s shelf life, spool out about 8-to-10 inches of the thread.  Hold the spool in one hand and grasp the end of the thread with the other hand and try to snap the thread into two pieces.  If this is done fairly quickly and easily, I’d think twice about putting in a quilt.  If it doesn’t, it should be okay to use. 

• There are some key characteristics of good piecing and quilting thread.

These characteristics separate the merely “good” thread from the “great” thread.  And after you’ve gotten a few quilts finished, you may decide you prefer one brand over the other because that brand embraces the following characteristics.  I am an Aurifil Thread enthusiast when it comes to piecing, but for the actual quilting process – my choices are all over the map.

A good piecing and quilting thread:

1.  Is strong – It can handle tension without breaking.
2. Has low lint production – Usually this comes from using a long-staple thread or polyester thread.  Less lint means a cleaner machine and smoother quilting.
3. Remain colorfast – Will maintain a vibrant hue wash after wash.
4. Keeps a consistent finish – Thread comes in either a glossy or matte finish.  Each of these finishes has a place in quilting, depending on the results the quilter desires.  However, the thread should not move from a glossy to matte finish on the same spool.
5. It has some elasticity – You want the thread to be able to stretch just a bit, because it can help prevent puckering.

The ideal quilting and piecing thread strikes a balance between these characteristics, providing both strength and flexibility, and beauty without compromising performance. 

An Explanation of Thread Weight

We could spend literally pages and pages of this blog discussing thread weights, the methods used to develop these weights, and which method is the most accurate.  However, unless you’re planning a future in textile production, thread inspection, or any other really super-technical textile-related field, we can skip all those details and just get down the parts which really affect us quilters – what the weight means.

Typically, somewhere on a spool of thread – the top, bottom, or printed super-tiny on the side of the spool top – you will see the weight (40 wt, 50 wt, etc).  The “wt” which follows the number indicates the thickness of the thread.  However, here’s the kicker — higher the number, the thinner the thread.  So, a 50 wt thread is actually thinner than a 40 wt thread.  Completely counterintuitive, but that’s the way thread works.  If you can remember that the number (such as 50) represents how many kilometers of thread it takes to weigh 1 kilogram, perhaps that will help it make sense or not.  Just keep in mind it takes more kilometers of a finer thread to reach that 1-kilogram mark.  Generally speaking, the thread weights and their common uses are these:

60 wt and above – delicate quilting or applique

50 wt – all-purpose quilting and piecing

40 wt – decorative quilting and topstitching

30 wt – bold quilting designs or hand piecing.

Making sure you are using the correct weight of thread for the effect you want is crucial.  If you use a 30 wt thread for piecing, it will take up too much room in the ¼-inch seam allowance, making piecing and pressing infinitely difficult.  But if you want the quilting stitches to shine, the 30 wt thread is perfect. 

Types of Threads Used in Quilting

The following are the types of threads most commonly used by quilters.  This doesn’t mean you can’t branch out and try other threads for effect.  It also doesn’t mean you have to follow this chart strictly and use only 50 wt cotton thread for piecing.  There are a few tricks you can use to make a 40 wt work for piecing.  We will cover some of the techniques you can use for thready situations like this and just remember – relax, there are no quilt police.

Cotton Thread

Cotton threads are the most commonly used piecing and quilting threads.  These natural fibers are gentle on fabric and provide a beautiful, soft finish.  Cotton threads are especially popular for traditional quilting projects and heirloom pieces.  They come in a wide range of weights, with the 50 wt being the most common for piecing and quilting.  Egyptian cotton threads are the crème de la crème of cotton quilting threads.  Their long staples (fibers) result in a smoother, stronger thread which produces less lint (staples and why they’re important are discussed a bit later in this blog).

Polyester Thread

The polyester thread we use today is a far, far cry from the types your mother and grandmother used back in the 1970’s and early-to-mid eighties.  When I began quilting in the early eighties, quilters were warned not to use polyester thread with 100% cotton fabrics – the polyester thread was so rough it would cut through the cotton fibers.  This is no longer the case.  Today’s polyester thread has excellent strength and durability, making them ideal for quilts which will see frequent use and washings.  Polyester threads are less prone to breakage and can withstand high tensions, making them a great choice for machine quilting.

According to a survey conducted by the International Quilt Museum, approximately 35% of modern quilters prefer polyester threads for their projects because polyester threads are colorfast, resistant to mildew, and maintain their strength over time.  In addition, they come in a wide variety of colors.

Cotton-Polyester Blend Thread

These threads take the best of both cotton and polyester fibers by combining the softness of cotton and the strength of polyester.  These blends are excellent for both piecing and quilting, and provide a balance of durability and a natural feel. 

Specialty Thread (Metallic, Variegated, Etc)

These are what I call my Diva Threads.  They are special.  They are show-stoppers.  And if used correctly and appropriately, add pizzazz to your quilts by making them truly one-of-a-kind.  Here’s the rundown:

Metallic threads can add a touch of glamor and effect with shimmering gold, silver or copper accents.  My personal opinion – they absolutely rule Christmas quilts.

Variegated threads change color as you quilt, creating beautiful, subtle patterns as you go.  And for raw edge applique, they can save you tons of time.  Have a mass of leaves in a lot of different shades of green?  Find a wonderful variegated green and load it in your machine.  It takes care of changing out green threads every few minutes.

Glow-in-the-dark threads are perfect for adding a fun, unexpected element to children’s quilts or Halloween projects.

Silk threads are both luxurious and strong and are ideal for applique and delicate quilting.

Monofilament thread is great to use for outlining applique shapes or stitch in the ditch before quilting and to use in both raw-edge and finished-edge applique.  Since it’s see-through, there’s no fumbling for the correct color of thread to match the fabric.  Monofilament comes in two shades – clear and smokey.  Use the clear for bright colors and the smokey for dark ones.

These Diva Threads can add a lot to a quilt, but it’s important to remember they are specialty threads.  They may require some finagling with your tension and changing your machine needle out a few times to prevent frustration and achieve the best results.  In addition, I’ve discovered the following quirks about them:

Variegated Thread – I love variegated thread for raw-edge applique.  And you would assume if you had pieced a quilt and could find a variegated thread to match it, that the thread would be perfect to quilt with.  For instance, if you made a red, white and blue quilt and had a spool of red, white, and blue thread, the quilt would look great quilted with the variegated. 

Hm.  That depends.

There are a couple of issues to think about when using variegated.  The first issue concerns quilting.  Unless you have your thread tensions perfectly perfect, 100 percent of the time, the bobbin thread will occasionally “pop” to the top between stitches.  And if the bobbin thread is a different color than the variegated or even the variegated thread itself, the “pop” of bobbin thread will glaringly show up on the front of the quilt.   I’ll be honest, the only time I’m really picky about this is if my quilt is show bound.  Those bobbin “pops” of thread in different colors other than my quilting thread would get points knocked off my score.  However, if the quilt has no shows in its future, I love variegated thread for quilting. 

The second issue with variegated thread concerns the undyed parts of the thread:

Those white spaces seem to break more frequently and a lot more easily than the dyed parts.  If I plan to quilt with variegated, I look for a brand such as King Tut (Superior Thread) which has little to no white spaces.

Glow-in-the-Dark Thread – I made two small Halloween quilts last year and thought I would quilt both with glow-in-the-dark thread.  After the first block, I threw that idea out the window.  Despite the fact I was using a name-brand thread which garnered good reviews, I had a difficult time working with it.  I ended up using a jeans needle, a 50 wt white cotton thread in the bobbin (to match the back of the quilts), playing with the tension, and actually positioning the spool of glow-in-the-dark thread several feet from my machine in a coffee cup.  That extra space allowed it to unspool a bit more freely and relax longer before it ran through my sewing machine (domestic, not long arm).  I also would keep my quilting stitches confined to lazy loops and easy meanders, or better yet, straight line stitching.  I found the thread broke with any tiny stitches taken in small places.  While I absolutely would use this thread again, I would limit its use to highlighting special parts of the quilt, or outlining words or figures.

Silk Threads – Silk thread is absolute ideal for delicate finished-edge machine applique or thread painting.  You can’t beat its sheen or the richness of color all while being a very fine thread.  There are a few words of caution I would give to anyone to make their quilting experience a good one with silk thread. First, use the recommended sewing machine needle — usually this is a 55/7.  Silk needles have an extra-light ball point and have an enlarged eye in relation to the thin, flexible shape of the needle. It is the smallest size needle available for home sewing machines and is meant to be used when sewing on thin fabrics with lightweight threads, such as 100 wt. silk threads. 

Next, be sure you’re using silk threads with lightweight fabric, such as fine cotton with a high thread count.  If you’re actually using the silk thread application as part of the quilting process, cotton fabrics and a thin bat (such as a cotton or silk batt) are your best choices. 

Finally, carefully consider the aftercare of the quilt.  While silk threads are beautiful, they are not the strongest thread and can break when the quilt gets wet.  The stress put on the fabric and thread as you’re trying to pick up a wet quilt can cause the thread to pop. 

Monofilament thread – This thread is usually pretty easy to work with.  For best results, choose a monofilament thread made from polyester, and avoid any made from nylon and use cotton thread in the bobbin.  If you have trouble with tension or the thread working its way through the machine to form stitches, put the spool in a cup or some other container and set it several feet away from the machine and then thread as normal.  The additional time this gives the thread before it runs through the machine allows it to relax a bit and become easier to work with.  While I don’t personally quilt my quilt entirely with monofilament thread, I know quilters who do if they want the quilting thread to literally fade into the background and only leave quilty texture behind (I prefer the 100 wt polyester thread for this).  Best advice I can give you – purchase a quality monofilament thread (such as YLI or Superior Threads), don’t use super-high heat near the thread, and be willing to play with your tension for a bit to get those stitches perfect.

Choosing the right thread is like picking the perfect dance partner for your fabric.  It should complement your project, enhance your design, and make the whole process more enjoyable.  With those thoughts in mind, next week, we’ll take a look at picking out the right threads for different quilting techniques.  Whether you’re piecing blocks, machine quilting, hand quilting, or doing applique work, the thread you select can impact the overall look, durability, and quality of your quilt.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix