What Color Thread?

[LoriG]

I am just about finished piecing a quilt that has twelve 12 1/2" blocks separated by sashing. Each block is a sawtooth star. The center is a fussy cut piece of fabric from the "Queen of the Ranch" fabric line. The starpoints are in a coordinating fabric and the backround fabric is a tone on tone neutral. The sashing is a barn red and the border is brown with a barn red flower. I would like to quilt my quilt with loops and possibly stars, keeping with the western theme. My dilema is that I do not know what color thread to use. Do I match the red sashing or use a neutral thread that will match the backround in each block? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lori in Southern California

[MastiffMomQlt]

Things I always ask myself when deciding on thread to use for quilting is how do I want it to look? Do I want it to pop or blend? Do I want it the quilt patterns to be something you really need to look for or part of the overall design element?

More often than not, cause I'm mostly a sassy gal, I like my quilting to pop. So, I'll use thread that will really show.

It's a tough call.

Verigated threads offer a lot of options. I am a fan of the Sulky blendables.

JMO

MM

[Nadine2007]

When I am thinking about quilting a quilt I try to quilt without the thread showing too much in the block. I like the piecing in the block to show up I don't like to take away from the work in your blocks. I would rather let it show in the sashing and borders. Then you have more color in your borders and sashing. A lot of it depends on the quilt. I use different colors on the front and back most of the time so it's kinda hard without seeing what you are working with.

[quiltnewby05]

I'm having this problem also. I am getting close to being finished piecing an Irish Chain. I'm new, so I don't think I really want to bring attention to my quilting. There are big white squares, with a scrapy bunch of purples.
Could I used the varigated purple in the colored part, and white thread in the white squares?

So many decisions......
Cynthia

[HomespunMary]

Cynthia, I think your choice of thread sounds great! I love the variegated threads!

I'm guessing you are planning to free motion quilt it, or do straight lines across the chain, but... if you are planning to only stitch in the ditch, I'm not sure you want to use a varigated thread, unless it is very close (colorwise) to your purple fabric.

[SewSew]

Lori, I understand your dilemma completely. I agree that first you really have to determine if you want the quilting to take the spot light or you want the piecing to be the center of attention. I recently finished a log cabin quilt with the dark being a deep olive green tone and the lights were a golden yellow with the center square a deep red. When it came time to quilt I did a meandering design that I started with a green and that was good for the dark part but I did not like it on the golden tones. Luckily I had only done a small part so it was not too difficult to take out and start over. What I found was a golden colored thread that had a greenish tone and that worked perfectly on all the different colors. My choice really let the colors and design of the quilt show through and the quilting was kind of in the background. The borders are red and olive green so the quilting design really shows up on the red and kind of blends in the green.

Good luck with your quilt.

Ann

[gardenquilter]

varigated is always a good choice and why not change thread colors I do