Thread Selection

[Carmen S.]

Is Coats and Clark thread a good thread to piece with? What is an good economical thread to use with 100% cotton piecing?

[Carmen S.]

I like Coats & Clark threads, and it works perfectly well for all sorts of sewing work. A lot of the members really like the Superior threads and it has to be admitted that their website is a wonder of useful information, about threads & needles, what to use with which and when. I would recommend a look over there (I think there is a link on the Daily Blog page)

[Renata L.]

Coats and Clark is probably my least favorite thread for piecing because it gives up too much lint into my sewing machine. I subscribe to purchasing the best thread I can afford. Having said that, I have tried different brands (Coats and Clark, Gutterman, Mettler, Superior Masterpiece, and Aurifil) and found that my favorite thread to work with is Aurifil 50 weight. I mostly use two colors for piecing--2370, a light neutral and 2630, a dark grey. These two colors go well with everything I piece, the thread is lightweight so the thread disappears in the seam and does not feel bulky in the seam allowance. Because it is a 50 weight thread I get more mileage out of it too. So even though it is more expensive than a Coats and Clark thread by the spool, it is more cost efficient and there is less for my maintenance person to go digging into to keep my machine in good working condition. Hope this helps but I think you should try a few different threads to see which is your favorite.

[Lotti D.]

I've been using mainly mettler for years, living in Switzerland that's what's most available. Since finding TQS I've learned about lighter weight threads and have been buying wherever I go and trying out various things... My favorite at the moment is superior, bottom line for piecing and the rainbow's and perfect quilting for quilting. I'm also quite happy Weith the YLI 100% long staple cotton... What I use mainly depends on the project in question. I'm still waiting for my first order of superior metallics - not that they were long in shipping, but to save on postage and customs fees, I have them sent to our office in the states and whenever someone travels from Miami to our office in switzerland, they carry a little something with them for me... Next week is going to be prezzie week for me... As I'll have three nice people traveling my way early november, I'm trying to figure out what I 'need' for my birthday.
The key is that you really should try whatever nice threads you get your hands on and find out what works best for you and your machine :wink:

[Pamela O.]

Thread is totally ones preference.
Suzanne Marshall uses Coates and Clark for her appliqué. That's what was available when she started and it works for her.
I was introduced to Superior by Libby Lehman in 1999 or 2000 shortly before Bottom Line came out.
I bought and used Aurifil Mako 50 in neutral shades of gray because I hate to change colors frequently. I came to quilting from a sewing background and was used to matching thread to the fabric.
I love all threads Superior and use it for quilting. Sometimes I use MasterPiece for piecing. I like the Aurifil sized spools. Superior, I tend to buy cones because of the value.
Lint in the bobbin case is a BIG factor with thread selection.
I am old enough to remember 10 spools for a dollar. It was fuzzy and produced mountains of lint.
You get what you pay for.

[Nancy R.]

I do most of my piecing with Connecting Threads Essential thread. It is economical in the big cones, is a 50 wt cotton and has worked well for me. I agree that thread is a personal choice that you and your machine have to make together.

Nancy

[Nancy R.]

I use Coats and Clarck machine quilting & crafts 50 wt., Gutterman 50 wt., and Auriful 50 wt. I use them for hand and machine piecing. My favorite is Aurifil, although since I have several spools of all three of them I'll continue using them until theiy're gone. There's slightly more lint from Coats & Clarck and Guttermann but not too bad. I mostly use medium grey, khaki and black for piecing. For machine and hand appliqué I love DMC machine ambroidery cotton 50 wt., their color range (132) is great and one can match pretty much any fabric color/shade, the only drawback is the spool size, 547yd.

[Nancy R.]

I do most of my piecing with Connecting Threads Essential thread. It is economical in the big cones, is a 50 wt cotton and has worked well for me. I agree that thread is a personal choice that you and your machine have to make together.

Nancy

That's good to know Nancy. I have 3-4 of them but haven't tried them yet. I got them together with one of their fabric lines for the Dear Jane quilt that I'll be making some day ops: :roll: One more of those "haven't got around it yet" projects :wink:

[Judy B.]

When I purchased my Pfaff years ago, I took a class on using the embroidery attachment. When the class instructor
found one of the students using Coats and Clark, he took the spool and threw it across the room :shock: :shock: His
explanation was that the lint would ruin our machines. I generally use Superior or Mettler and have been happy
with those brands.