Ongoing Quilt Projects, Continued from the "No Appreciation...." Thread

[speckledhen]

Got colors Leghorn, more Straw Gold, which was my lighter gold, a Sunlight, which is brighter yellow than Leghorn, and a Khaki, which seems a really nice neutral. Hard to tell here, but the khaki has a greenish tint even though it's close to the straw gold.
I got two Straw Gold, two Sunlight, one Khaki and one Leghorn (I think that's the way I ordered it, anyway).
Leghorn

Sunlight

Straw Gold
Khaki

I have quite a bit of thread I got on a great sale, but I like to use a pale gold tone on a lot of stuff rather than an off-white or white or something darker. You can see the dust on one of the packages I haven't opened yet. I have used the Coats & Clark stuff that Walmart sells, but it shreds too easily. The Maxi Lock is much better about that and of course, the colors are awesome.

 

[JanetMarie]

Soon, after I get the quilt tops finished that are lined up to quilt, and I do one maybe one more project, it will be time to get the garden ready for planting. These fabrics I pulled to do a project. I think the deepest gold top left is too dark or bright or something, but the others will make a gorgeous quilt. Not sure which quilt, exactly, though.
View attachment 1275564

If I do this block in a very large size as the center of a medallion quilt, I think it would look nice with these colors.
View attachment 1275567

Love those colors!

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, JanetMarie

I tried that mercerized cotton quilting thread I got at Walmart on my machine. It does pretty well, though it's definitely thicker than I'm used to quilting with. Did that little scrappy star I made with all the cut-off triangles from the half-square triangles to test it out to see if I want to buy it again and to get back into the groove of machine quilting, testing my tension, etc.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm pin-basting the quilt now, but will continue tomorrow. Hard on the back, for sure.

 

[jeria]

Your quilt looks great put together.

I've used some Maxi Lock and it worked pretty well. I wouldn't use it on a child's quilt again that is going to be washed a lot and abused. It is not a very strong thread so it won't stand up to much abuse.

 

[speckledhen]

It's certainly much better than any Coats & Clark serger thread. I've not seen any issues with it myself, was recommended to me by a quilter who longarms. I love that it comes in so many colors. BUT, I'll think about going back to only cotton for the baby quilts, though most of mine are either/or quilts, i.e., couch throws or "wubbies" or multi-use small quilts.
I used the Hobby Lobby brand of serger thread, a very fine thread and seems super strong, but I have no Hobby Lobby around here and it only comes in limited colors. It's probably a 50 wt, or at least, it feels that way. The only review of it on the Hobby Lobby site seems to be mine, though, LOL. They're having a sale on it now, apparently, but again, not in a color I wanted.

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, @jeria what do you think of Isa Cord thread? I think it's a 40wt. The very popular machine quilting teacher on YouTube, Leah Day, uses that almost exclusively. I have learned a lot from her, though I don't care for a lot of her quilts, being so intensely quilted and her goddess quilts are my least favorites she does. But, she is an excellent teacher and always mentions the Isa Cord polyester thread. Others use Aurifil.

 

[jeria]

Oh, @jeria what do you think of Isa Cord thread? I think it's a 40wt. The very popular machine quilting teacher on YouTube, Leah Day, uses that almost exclusively. I have learned a lot from her, though I don't care for a lot of her quilts, being so intensely quilted and her goddess quilts are my least favorites she does. But, she is an excellent teacher and always mentions the Isa Cord polyester thread. Others use Aurifil.

I have never tried the Isa Cord though a lot of quilters love it. I like Aurifil 50 wt for quilting and the 40 wt for piecing. If there are a lot points I also use the 50 wt for piecing and have quite a bit of it. I do not like Signature as it is too nubby and linty. I hate threads that are not smooth as they tend to break and also create more lint.

I have a lot of filtec, they just changed their website name, www.habanddash.com . I used to use strictly cotton but have in the past few years started using a lot of poly for quilting. They have incredible pre-wound bobbins but I do not like them on my regular machine only the long arm. Both their cotton and poly are good products with very little lint and very smooth threads.

Sulky also makes amazing cottons in different weights and have some very nice variegated. I will often use a variegated when I want the quilting to blend in and choose one that matches or comes close to the fabric colors.

I'm kind of a thread junky. I'll have to look Leah Day up on youtube.

I haven't done a lot of quilting for awhile as I've been trying to remodel my house and get my coop finished--just me. I started one recently but have managed to blow out 3 discs in my neck which has made looking down to piece very painful and holding arms out to control the long arm has been impossible. Just had a cervical epidural steroid shot and it is beginning to feel better so hoping to be able to work on a quilt @ night.

 

[speckledhen]

I haven't done a lot of quilting for awhile as I've been trying to remodel my house and get my coop finished--just me. I started one recently but have managed to blow out 3 discs in my neck which has made looking down to piece very painful and holding arms out to control the long arm has been impossible. Just had a cervical epidural steroid shot and it is beginning to feel better so hoping to be able to work on a quilt @ night.

Oh, you poor dear! Ouchouchouch! My husband suffers from excruciating back pain so I get it, as much as I can without actually having the problem myself. But, I've injured my back once or twice where I had to stay in bed for a couple of days and it was not fun in the least! Hope you feel better soon.

Here is a link for you to Leah's intro video:

 

[jeria]

Thanks for the link!! I will check it out later. Home from the gym and some errands. I'm limited to legs, walking and some specific arm exercises for now. Am working with a physical therapist. Heading outside on this beautiful early spring afternoon. I think I'll lock the pups inside corral mr roo in a big dog crate in the yard, and let the pullets roam a bit while I pick up the yard some. Roo is too hard to catch to let him loose. The girls just squat.