top and bottom threads - question

Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?
I am trying to finish up a picnic quilt for DH, and the top calls for
a nice sort of golden/khaki thread which I have in cotton, but the
backing of the quilt is solid teal. I could use the same thread in
the bobbin, but I thought it might stand out a lot against the solid
background. I found a polyester thread in teal that matches
perfectly, but I couldn't find that color in the cotton quilting
threads. I thought it would blend in and that would look better on
the back.

I suppose since this is a quilt for picnicking, I shouldn't really
worry about it that much -- being that the back is going to be against
the ground most of the time! But I do want it to look nice.
So, can I mix threads while quilting, or am I better sticking with the
same thread top and bottom?

I'm going to be quilting a freehand "wavy" diagnonal grid using my
darning foot, BTW.

Thanks again for any advice...
Ann

The only way to know "fer sure" is to try it. Make a test sandwich of the
fabric top, batting and backing that you are going to use and give it a go.
It could be that the bottom thread will pop up and do polka dots on the top.
It could be that some fiddling will be required. It may go just great. You
will just have to experiment. I wish you perfection on the first shot. It
could happen Polly

"Ann Adamson" wrote in message
om...
Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?
I am trying to finish up a picnic quilt for DH, and the top calls for
a nice sort of golden/khaki thread which I have in cotton, but the
backing of the quilt is solid teal. I could use the same thread in
the bobbin, but I thought it might stand out a lot against the solid
background. I found a polyester thread in teal that matches
perfectly, but I couldn't find that color in the cotton quilting
threads. I thought it would blend in and that would look better on
the back.

I suppose since this is a quilt for picnicking, I shouldn't really
worry about it that much -- being that the back is going to be against
the ground most of the time! But I do want it to look nice.
So, can I mix threads while quilting, or am I better sticking with the
same thread top and bottom?

I'm going to be quilting a freehand "wavy" diagnonal grid using my
darning foot, BTW.

Thanks again for any advice...
Ann

In article ,
(Ann Adamson) wrote:

Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?...


The poly will cut through the cotton eventually.

I have done this many times, Ann.
I try to match bobbin thread to backing.
I don't think for a picnic quilt that it will matter if the poly damages
the fabric in time. Phae's observation is very relevant for heirloom
quilts; but I just make them to look nice!! (I'm not always a purist!!)
..
In article , Ann
Adamson writes
Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?
I am trying to finish up a picnic quilt for DH, and the top calls for
a nice sort of golden/khaki thread which I have in cotton, but the
backing of the quilt is solid teal. I could use the same thread in
the bobbin, but I thought it might stand out a lot against the solid
background. I found a polyester thread in teal that matches
perfectly, but I couldn't find that color in the cotton quilting
threads. I thought it would blend in and that would look better on
the back.

I suppose since this is a quilt for picnicking, I shouldn't really
worry about it that much -- being that the back is going to be against
the ground most of the time! But I do want it to look nice.
So, can I mix threads while quilting, or am I better sticking with the
same thread top and bottom?

I'm going to be quilting a freehand "wavy" diagnonal grid using my
darning foot, BTW.

Thanks again for any advice...
Ann

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

"Ann Adamson" wrote in message
om...
Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?
I am trying to finish up a picnic quilt for DH, and the top calls for
a nice sort of golden/khaki thread which I have in cotton, but the
backing of the quilt is solid teal. I could use the same thread in
the bobbin, but I thought it might stand out a lot against the solid
background. I found a polyester thread in teal that matches
perfectly, but I couldn't find that color in the cotton quilting
threads. I thought it would blend in and that would look better on
the back.

I have been using YLI nylon lingerie thread in my bobbin for machine
quilting and it has been working out really well. It is NOT invisible
thread, which I don't like, but it seems to blend in with my backings. Also
I have found it much easier to balance the tensions, even in free motion.
You occasionally get a bit of the top thread on the back when going around
curves, but not much. I just ordered six more 1000 yd spools from Nancy's
Notions. I make lots of quilts, all of which are to be used, so i don't
worry about the possibility that the thread will damage the fabric years in
the future, if in fact that is true. I have quilts I made over twelve
years ago with a mix of cotton and poly threads, and I haven't noticed any
problem. Of course I live on the edge with my quilts - I don't pre-wash
either! I have, however, "post-washed" lots of them with no problem.

Iris

Ann Adamson wrote:

Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?
I am trying to finish up a picnic quilt for DH, and the top calls for
a nice sort of golden/khaki thread which I have in cotton, but the
backing of the quilt is solid teal. I could use the same thread in
the bobbin, but I thought it might stand out a lot against the solid
background. I found a polyester thread in teal that matches
perfectly, but I couldn't find that color in the cotton quilting
threads. I thought it would blend in and that would look better on
the back.

I suppose since this is a quilt for picnicking, I shouldn't really
worry about it that much -- being that the back is going to be against
the ground most of the time! But I do want it to look nice.
So, can I mix threads while quilting, or am I better sticking with the
same thread top and bottom?

I'm going to be quilting a freehand "wavy" diagnonal grid using my
darning foot, BTW.

Thanks again for any advice...
Ann


I'd use cotton for both, as the poly might cut the cotton thread
later... I've had this problem with clothing.

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

I have changed my mind and I can prove it. Well, we all knew I could change
my mind - but (!) you need to see this. I made a king-sized quilt for DS /
DDIL and they have begged me to repair it. One seam, from top to bottom has
simply turned loose. Now I knew they had children and dogs and I really did
want them to enjoy the quilt. When I made it, I sewed the blocks and rows
together, then I overcast the seams and, of course, I machine quilted this
great big quilt. Guaranteed sturdy, right? How I wish. The only thing I can
think of that would have caused such an event would be that I must have
picked up a bobbin of poly thread when sewing that particular seam. Unless,
of course, one of the dogs very patiently clipped every stitch with a seam
ripper. Anybody want to come look? Polly

"Kate Dicey" wrote
I'd use cotton for both, as the poly might cut the cotton thread
later... I've had this problem with clothing.

Howdy!
Poly thread cutting thru' cotton? Not usually.

Another of those tales that just hasn't happened
in my history of quilting, at least in my collection
I have a couple of 40+ yr. old quilts w/ poly thread,
no signs of wear from the thread.
But then, I've only been at this for 30+ yrs. YMMV ;-)

Older quilts I've seen at quilt shows and in museums
don't show the poly thread cutting the cotton.
How do these rumors get started?
Coats&Clark introduced their DualDuty poly/cotton in 1962.
Poly thread has been improved over the past several years,
and is generally considered to be acceptable when sewing cotton.

Now monofilament--that's another puzzler. g

Ragmop/Sandy--maybe "eventually" will be long past my time ;-)



"Phaedrine" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Ann Adamson) wrote:

Can I use 100% cotton thread in the top (needle) and polyester thread
in the bobbin when quilting?...


The poly will cut through the cotton eventually.

I was going to stay out of this thread. Having never used polyester for
quilting, I didn't think I had anything to contribute. My reasons for
not using polyester could probably be classified as superstitious rather
than rational. I know of no fact or study that says that polyester is
bad for quilts. I've heard the polyester cuts cotton explanation but
have no experience with antique quilts so I don't know. Polyester has
always just seemed plastic to me, and I like the idea of all cotton.
Irrational again. I use plastic all the time in daily life, and I
realize that cotton in the form I buy it isn't necessarily all natural.


Still. I was helping a friend with her machine quilter. I've mentioned
this friend before. She just needs hand holding to keep her going over
the frustrating bumps. She'd been doing well enough, far from perfect,
still with loads of problems with stitch length, but she was getting the
hang of it. I'd tried her machine and could do it though I have an
easier time with my own machine.


Machine quilting uses lots of bobbins. She wound one and put it in her
machine. She kept practicing. It started going badly. This is to be
expected as getting better doesn't happen in a smooth upward curve.
There will be setbacks. This time her thread was nesting badly on the
back. I was baffled as to what to tell her except to keep concentrating
on smooth even movements.


She kept having trouble. Ever the detective type, I realized that the
trouble started with the new bobbin. I asked her for any book on
machine quilting. She handed me 2 I was unfamiliar with. I know I've
said I'm not good at learning from how-to books when I have to follow
steps or understand diagrams, but I'm expert at finding information on
specific questions. Within seconds I'd found a sentence that said that
polyester thread in the bobbin can cause nesting. I don't remember the
explanation, but I did read it out loud.


My friend was so busy being frustrated that it took me a moment to get
her to see my logic. It hadn't been going well for her before the
change of bobbin, but it had gotten worse after the change of bobbin. I
didn't even know what sort of thread she'd used, but I did demand that
she unwind that bobbin, throw away the thread and start again with
cotton. That did the trick. She went back to quilting badly with
uneven stitches and slight tension problems, but the nesting disappeared.


--Lia

I too have a bobbin superstition. I believe bobbins that are wound slowly
contribute to a prettier stitch that those run as fast as a maniac can
floorboard the foot control. (With apologies here to the confessed maniacs
in our group, don't let me interfere with your style.) Maybe a rapidly wound
bobbin winds tighter? Too technical for my old head, it just seems so. Polly

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news:F2rBc.125192$3x.113348@attbi_s54...
I was going to stay out of this thread. Having never used polyester for
quilting, I didn't think I had anything to contribute. My reasons for
not using polyester could probably be classified as superstitious rather
than rational. I know of no fact or study that says that polyester is
bad for quilts. I've heard the polyester cuts cotton explanation but
have no experience with antique quilts so I don't know. Polyester has
always just seemed plastic to me, and I like the idea of all cotton.
Irrational again. I use plastic all the time in daily life, and I
realize that cotton in the form I buy it isn't necessarily all natural.


Still. I was helping a friend with her machine quilter. I've mentioned
this friend before. She just needs hand holding to keep her going over
the frustrating bumps. She'd been doing well enough, far from perfect,
still with loads of problems with stitch length, but she was getting the
hang of it. I'd tried her machine and could do it though I have an
easier time with my own machine.


Machine quilting uses lots of bobbins. She wound one and put it in her
machine. She kept practicing. It started going badly. This is to be
expected as getting better doesn't happen in a smooth upward curve.
There will be setbacks. This time her thread was nesting badly on the
back. I was baffled as to what to tell her except to keep concentrating
on smooth even movements.


She kept having trouble. Ever the detective type, I realized that the
trouble started with the new bobbin. I asked her for any book on
machine quilting. She handed me 2 I was unfamiliar with. I know I've
said I'm not good at learning from how-to books when I have to follow
steps or understand diagrams, but I'm expert at finding information on
specific questions. Within seconds I'd found a sentence that said that
polyester thread in the bobbin can cause nesting. I don't remember the
explanation, but I did read it out loud.


My friend was so busy being frustrated that it took me a moment to get
her to see my logic. It hadn't been going well for her before the
change of bobbin, but it had gotten worse after the change of bobbin. I
didn't even know what sort of thread she'd used, but I did demand that
she unwind that bobbin, throw away the thread and start again with
cotton. That did the trick. She went back to quilting badly with
uneven stitches and slight tension problems, but the nesting disappeared.


--Lia