Come Stitch With Me

Thread has an expiration date.

If you have some of grandma’s cotton thread on wooden spools, or some old Coats & Clark polyester thread with a 10￠ price sticker, keep it in a Mason jar for decoration. Don’t sew with it. It’ll be a frustrating experience for you.

Thread choice depends on the type of sewing that you intend to do. For best results, always match your sewing machine needle to your thread and type of fabric. Consult your sewing machine manual for recommended needle size/type and thread combinations.

FWIW: Here’s what I use for various sewing applications:

Garment Sewing: Mettler Metrosene or Coats & Clark Dual Duty

Machine Embroidery: I do not own an embroidery machine. Ask your sewing machine dealer for advice regarding the best threads for your project. Know that you’ll need a top thread in the color of your choice and a specialty bobbin thread in white or black.

I had an interesting conversation with customer today at Sadie’s sewing machine shop. The customer was adamant that she had to use 100% cotton thread on an embroidery project that was made from cotton. I informed her most embroidery threads were 100% polyester. Wish you could have seen the “mind blown” look on her face. Actually, you can use either cotton, polyester or rayonthread when doing machine embroidery. It really depends on the look you’re going for. Sulky has a good article explaining this here.

What about quilting?

Piecing: My personal preference is to use a 50 wt cotton thread. Popular 50 wt cotton thread brands that I use: Aurifil, Mettler, Gutterman, Madiera, Cotton + Steel (made by Sulky). If you are at Hobby Lobby and run across Sewology cotton quilting thread on the beige spool similar to Aurifil – grab it while you can! I stocked up when my local Hobby Lobby stores discontinued this thread.

Machine quilting: My longarm quilter uses polyester thread for machine quilting. So do I. My current favorite thread combo is AeroQuilt by Madiera (40 wt) for the top and Sew Fine by Superior Threads (50 wt) in the bobbin. Honestly, I’ll use whatever I have on hand that’s the best color match for the project. I’ll use Sew Fine top & bottom if I want my quilting to blend in more. I’ve also used Isacord, but it tends to be a bit shiny for my taste. I have yet to try Glide or Wonderfil for machine quilting. For kitchen textiles that could be used in the microwave, I make sure I use a 100% cotton thread – usually the same thread I used for piecing.

This past week was spent at Quilt Camp hosted by the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum in Carrollton, Georgia. Eight young ladies and eight adult volunteers spent the week together working to create a completely finished small quilt and other projects like tissue holders, doll pillows and potholders.

This year, I volunteered for the morning session and had camper join me for the daily round-trip commute from Smyrna to Carrollton. This camper happens to be a current sewing student of mine and she really wanted to attend Quilt Camp. Transportation was the only reason she could not attend. I volunteered to bring her with me. It worked out well for everyone. Per SQTM policy, my rider/current student was assigned to an adult mentor other than me. She had the opportunity to learn from another amazing quilter and I was nearby with my usual sewing supplies just in case. I was also able to work with the delightful Miss S. who likes bright colors and was determined to do as much as she could by herself. I merely brought in tools to help set her up for success. 🙂

Some people think I’m crazy for driving 100 miles round trip 5 days in a row to volunteer. I disagree.
It’s one week per year.
It’s something I LOVE to do.
It’s my money and time. I’ll spend it however I want to.

‘Nuff said!

Yesterday, I had an enlightening conversation with a gentleman who came to pick up his granddaughter from Quilt Camp. When he learned I retired last year, he specifically asked how the my first year of retirement had impacted my quilting. I told him that I have truly enjoyed having the luxury of time to develop my skills and explore my interests. I’ve taken a number of different classes (in person and online). I shared about the Baravelle spiral class I took last week at Mountain QuiltFest. It was a class I took out of curiosity and to challenge myself. I did enjoy the class, but realized I have absolutely no desire to make an entire quilt using this technique. And that’s okay. He smiled knowingly and remarked, “That’s the beauty of retirement. Time to explore things that interest you and do the things YOU enjoy. Remember – always be true to yourself.”

Very wise words.