Hi Laura.
When we're quilting, we usually try to pick a color of thread that doesn't pop out at you. A color that is in the quilt top & doesn't look out of place on the pieces that aren't that color. For instance, when we started quilting Nancy's Irish chain which was a lot of white spaces with scrappy bright colors, we started off with a medium/dark variegated blue. It was pure ugly! So I frogged a bunch & got all the ugly blue out of it & we put white in the machine. It turned out beautiful. We use King Tut from Superior threads & Signature thread. And the same in the bobbin. If you're doing a custom quilting job, you would probably do a lot of changing of thread colors but in an all over, it's usually all the same color.
That's how we do it! Hope this helps you.
Linda

Yes, what Linda said! In the QoV I just posted, I used white, because that was the largest area on the quilt. I looked at both a variegated blue and a variegated red, but preferred the white in the end.

In the "Baby Bundles" quilt, I used a variegated blue/green/pruple rayon thread. Why? There was blue, there was green, and the backing was a horrible blue/white tiny check. Sometimes you have to ignore the red, LOL (or even the fish). well, and also, the thread was a freebie when I bought my sewing table.

Pull out a bunch of your thread and lay it all across the quilt to see it you like it.

Mary

Mary what kind of quilting set up do you have and do you love it? grace

Grace,

Yes, I do love my setup. I have an APQS Millennium. I also have a CircleLord circle maker with several block templates and several giant templates (purchased used for my Christmas present - DH never has a clue so I sent him the ad, LOL).

Hopefully, here's the link to CircleLord. The APQS link is below.

http://www.loriclesquilting.com/index_files/page0013.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: APQS

I like to try to match the quilt but also it depends on my quilt blocks..... if it just a simple say 9 patch or rail refence then sometimes I like to use a different color to make the quilting show and perk up the quilt LOL.I almost always use muslin on the backs of my quilts so I use a neutral color to match the muslin.
Red

This is an interesting topic. Admitted ly I have not finished many quilts but I find that I like the quilting to compliment and add to the quilt. For instance I made my son a snake quilt. It has a dark background with fairly bright snakes and then I used embroidry thread of every color to quilt 8 inch lizards all over it. The snakes are yellow, aqua, and red but the lizards are every color but pink. This is one I machine quilted and I love the results. I like contrasting threads when I hand quilt too. I'm working on the wreath quilt Red did as a myserty a couple of yrs ago. I'm doing a lot of hand quilting so you'll all just have to wait and see later.

Georgia

Generally, I select a thread color that matches the quilt. Sometimes, I quilt each individual block separately and will change thread color to match the patches, sometimes I do an over-all fill pattern and pick a color that will blend in without being obtrusive; it depends on the quilt, I guess. On a recent sampler quilt, each little 6" block was treated as an independent "quiltlet" and I used over two dozen different colors of threads in them--some varigated, some solid, some to blend in, some to contrast and add interest in otherwise plain blocks. It's really a matter of personal preference.

If I'm having trouble deciding what I want to do, I unroll a couple of feet of the threads I'm considering and "dribble" them over the top and then step back a few feet and see what looks best. Easier to rewind it onto the spool than rip it out after stitching!

Annie