Are you having a fun time getting organized with your creative space? Even if you are only virtually following along, that can be tons of fun, too! Be sure to scroll to the end of this post for links to all 16 creatives on the Creative Spaces Blog Hop. I’m getting inspired, and hope you are, too!

This week we are discussing ways to organize our embellishments: buttons, trims, thread, and what have you. Here’s a not-so-secret truth about my work: I’m a minimalist and I don’t really embellish my quilts. (FYI, that’s why I find it hilarious that I named my current fabric line Fandangle  – a real, but silly-sounding word that means excess embellishment or ornamentation, LOL!!)

But anyway, back to today’s post! I choose to decorate my quilts with quilting and thread rather than bling them up with buttons or beads, so I’ll share a bit about the thread I love to use.

I love being able to get an exact thread match, no matter which fabrics I choose! This is an in-progress shot when I was making my modern Abacus wallhanging – (PDF pattern available here).

My favorite thread is Aurifil 50 weight cotton and I use it for everything: piecing, quilting, binding and machine applique. It comes in every color of the rainbow and I love mixing and matching thread colors to the fabrics I use.

During my last huge quilting cleanup I decided that it was high time to organize my thread stash. I sold or donated anything that wasn’t Aurifil and I keep all of my threads in plastic drawers sorted by color. The drawers are located in a shelving unit with doors so that the threads are kept away from heat and light (just like my fabric).

I have drawers full of Aurifil thread to choose from, sorted mostly into warm and cool hues.

The picture above is actually an older image that shows a small collection of other weights, too. But since then, I’ve gotten rid of those, too. I really only use 50 weight now for everything.

I love taking the time to “audition” my threads to see which will work best. Above is an image from a recent quilt along I did to showcase my first fabric line, Modern Marks.
Quilting it was just as much fun as sewing the top!

One of the main reasons I chose to simplify my thread stash is for purely logistical reasons. I didn’t want to have to keep track of all the different types of thread, in all the different sizes, and worry about which bobbin matches which thread!

Once I find something that works, I tend to stick with it and don’t really need to veer outside my comfort zone. Besides, since I piece and quilt with the same thread, I know what to expect performance-wise in each and every quilt that I make.

If I’m not sure which thread to pick, many times I’ll choose a soft neutral with just a hint of color!
This is a detail shot of Modern Puzzle, one of the free quilt patterns I offer.

The nice thing about being able to piece AND quilt with the same thread is that I can always use up leftover quilting bobbins whenever I piece my next quilt, especially if it’s scrappy.

In fact, I’m so gung-ho on thread being able to do double duty that I curated a collection of my favorite threads with Aurifil – the Piece and Quilt Collection in Colors and Neutrals.

My threads with Aurifil have been hot sellers for several years now because they cover all the basics! Want to go wild and colorful? Choose the Colors collection.

If you prefer to tone it down, choose the Neutrals collection. I love storing these in the Aurifil thread boxes, because that helps keep the clutter under control when it comes to thread!

I’ve been quilting with Aurifil exclusively since around 2013. I’ve tried many brands in the past, but none of them gave me satisfactory results. I tried other brands that friends raved about, only to be disappointed with how they performed in my machine. So my biggest piece of advice when figuring out what you like is to get a small spool, quilt it on a real quit and see what you and your machine like best!

How do you like to store YOUR threads, or other embellishments? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Mondays

• Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis
• Cherry Guidry of Cherry Blossom Quilting

Tuesdays

• Reeze Hanson of Morning Glory Designs
• Jessica VanDenbergh of Sew Many Creations

Wednesdays

• Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream
• Kris Poor of Poor House Quilt Designs
• Jessica Caldwell of Desert Bloom Quilting

Thursdays

• Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works
• Vicki Hansen of Cranberry Pie Designs

Fridays

•  Erin Hentzel of Avery Lane Designs
• Christa Quilts ——— That’s me!!!!

Saturdays

• Toni Smith of Quiltoni
• Swan Sheridan of Swan Amity

Sundays

• Pauline McArthur of Funky Friends Factory
• Annie Smith of Simple Arts
• Joanne Sharpe

In my quest to find the perfect threads for piecing and quilting, I’ve been trying to make as many quilts as I can, trying out different quilting designs and brands of thread. I can now say I’ve enthusiastically jumped on the Aurifil bandwagon. (That is, once I learned how to spell it!)

I’ve been hearing rave reviews about how wonderful Aurifil 100% cotton thread is for piecing, so that was a no brainer. But after finishing my latest quilt, I can now recommend it for machine quilting, too. Here’s a closeup of one of my String of Pearls blocks, quilted with matching Aurifil 50wt cotton.

I like the 50 weight because it works well for both piecing and quilting. I prefer to buy the larger 1300 meter spools because that’s usually enough thread for an average sized quilt. Since it can be kind of spendy to stock up on large spools of all the colors I need, being able to use the same thread for sewing and quilting makes it more economical to keep a wide variety of colors on hand. I love all the neutral basics, too!

Thanks to Nancy at Owen’s Olivia for her indepth thread review, I was able to see exactly why Aurifil is such a good quality thread. Her husband took these pictures under a microscope showing what thread looks like when magnified close up. I’m re-posting them here with her permission.

Aurifil is very smooth and closely twisted, leaving less lint and making for a nice tight stitch. No wonder the cheaper cotton threads are so linty – just look at all of those thread slubs sticking out everywhere on the last picture!

My top two machine quilting tips are to use a thread that blends with your fabric, and use the same thread in the top and bobbin. Both of these suggestions will help hide your mistakes (not that anyone makes those, right?).

In all fairness, I do like other brands, too (Superior So Fine 50 wt Polyester, Glide and Isacord Polyester, and Superior Silk.) But Aurifil will be my new “baseline” or go-to thread for both piecing and quilting from now on.