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What kind of thread/yarn to tie a quilt?

9 years ago

Hi all. I'm mostly a lurker here. I've only completed one quilt, a small one. I posted pics here of the crib quilt I hand appliqued a year or so ago. But I hang out here all the time to see what you all are doing and to grab any helpful hints I can. I have a couple of quilt tops in the works now. Another crib quilt that I am machine appliqueing and a HUGE quilt for my teenage grandson. There is no way I am going to fit it on and around my sewing machine, so thought I would tie it. It is done in black, white, gray and red, with a black backing. I thought red would be a nice color to tie with. But I've checked online to see what type of thread or yarn to tie it with and there are lots of different answers - from embroidery floss to wool yarn. I thought I would ask what you all would recommend, because I really do think this group has ALL the answers. TIA.

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Comments (10)

ritaweeda
9 years ago
You are right, you can use many things as long as it is strong. I prefer heavy mercurized crochet cotton using a large-eyed needle but that's what I have on hand. I also machine tack quite often.
teresa_nc7
9 years ago
For a quilt that sounds big and maybe? heavy, I would use a thread thicker than embroidery floss. The crochet cotton (10wt) sounds like a good candidate and wool or cotton knitting yarn (sport wt up to worsted) would also be good. If the quilt is washed often, the wool yarn will tangle and might get fuzzy, but it will hold the quilt together just fine.

Teresa
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loisflan
9 years ago
Hi, Donna. I've never tied a quilt, so I have nothing to contribute to your question, but I wanted to say, "Hello." I sometimes forget that those of us who post often are not the only ones using this forum. Be sure to post photos of your latest projects. We're glad to hear from you.

And you are correct about the folks on this forum. I, too, think they have the answers to everything quilty. And they are the friendliest bunch around.
donna_loomis
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for your thoughts. I have lots of crochet thread, but knit and crochet almost exclusively with yarn now, and I'm pretty sure I have red, so that is what I think I'll use. I'll be sure to post the finished quilt.
K8Orlando
9 years ago
Red sounds like a perfect accent! What a great choice!

You might want to tie a small piece of scrap fabric with the red yarn and get it wet to be sure the color doesn't bleed before you tie the whole quilt. I don't know much about yard or crochet thread so I don't know if that's a potential problem or not.
amazingcm
9 years ago
I have used embroidery floss and never had a problem of course I used all 6 strands.. A few years ago I took all the embroidery floss off of one of the daughters quilts and quilted it with the long arm.. They were all in good shape. But wanted the edge to edge look.. Made it look like a new quilt and it was 15+ years old.
nanajayne
9 years ago
I just read an article in one of my older mag. that said to use pearl cotton to tied a quilt... As I have never tied one I have no personal opinion.
teresa_nc7
9 years ago
Pearl cotton would be another good option - it is very strong.
teresa_nc7
9 years ago
duplicate post removed

This post was edited by teresa_nc7 on Thu, Aug 28, 14 at 21:55
calliope
9 years ago
I use either perl cotton, or skeins of cotton yarn. It's a bugger with the cotton yarn, but on large, primitive quilts the effect is dramatic.

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