#superior threads

I have a love/hate relationship with metallic threads. When they work, they look amazing; but they can often be more trouble than they’re worth.

Metallic threads often break, sheer or snarl in the machine, and I have always had tension issues with them.

I’d seen Superior Threads “Glitter” line at shows many times, and I finally bought a spool in Daytona. I bought it specifically for my Prince Challenge, and gave it a thorough workout that night on my Cherrywood sample pieces.

The Glitter thread is actually a flat, 4-ply holographic Mylar film, which has just a hint of stretch (unlike most metallics), which does a very nice job of not snapping in the machine. So far I have done a dense zig zag, and traveling free motion with no issues.

Today I’m giving it a harder test. I am quilting through Fairy Frost (which is certainly a stiff fabric) applique backed with Misty Fuse.

So much of my gear shaped Robbi Joy Eklow project uses the beautiful Michael Miller Fairy Frost, that it almost certainly called for a strong, shiny thread to support the motifs. I’m happy to say that the Superior Glitter seems to be up to the test.

Now, I have been able to use the Glitter in my longarm without it breaking, but I’m using my little Pfaff (as you can see in the second picture) because I want to use a smaller needle than my Juki allows, and because this thread needs to pull off the spool sideways. The folks at the Superior Threads booth told me that if you have a machine configuration that pulls it off the top rather than the side, it will stress the flat Mylar and cause breakage.

I probably need to say at this point that I am in no way affiliated with Superior Threads, Michael Miller, Misty Fuse, Juki, or Pfaff, except as a customer, and this is an unbiased, uncompensated opinion of the products and tools I use in my art.

Despite it being another crazy work week, things are coming together in a quilty way. The last of my "in transit" quilts made it safely to its destination (in this case, the Machine Quilters Expo for their fall midwest show), I received my shipment of size 8 needles from Superior Threads (so I can hopefully finish quilting the background on my spectrum quilt before I head into work), and Cherrywood Fabrics announced the tour schedule for the Prince Challenge.

They tried to schedule their two collections based in the geographical locations of the artists, which is amazing, and must've been quite a task. I'm just so happy that my Prince quilt will be at Daytona Beach Quilt Week, since it's practically in my back yard!

Threading on the Charm

I had planned on quilting today.  There’s three quilts waiting to be finished.  Instead, I spent the morning trying to find threads that worked on my Gammill Charm.  Unfortunately, the threads that worked were the wrong color for the quilts I’m working on.  So, instead, I played with tension and threads trying to find what works with this machine.

Just to give you an idea of some of the limits I…