frannella

I am SID-quilting an Edyta Sitar quilt (Spring Bouquet) which features a lot of dark/bright batiks on light neutral backgrounds and sashings. The stitching side of the SID-quilting does not consistently fall on the neutral background/sashing fabric. I like the Superior Threads MonoPoly threads, but whatever brand you use, would you use their clear/light thread or their dark/smoke thread for SID-quilting when the color/value mix of your fabrics is quite varied? Switching the thread colors would be crazy-making, I think. Many thanks.

Watson

I would do a trial and see if you can decide that way.

Otherwise, I'd be tempted to use the lighter as it won't show on the light areas and the dark fabrics may show through it?

Watson

sash

I am working on that quilt right now, working on borders now. Would love to see a picture of yours. I have no idea how it's going to be quilted.
I was mistaken; it is not the Spring Bouquet quilt, it sounded so familiar to me I thought it was the one I am working on now. I have made the SB one though (two years ago, that's why it sounded familiar to me) and it is finished and laying in closet waiting to be quilted. So I would love to see yours finished.

costumegirl

I just finished a Christmas table runner and used a beige thread for top quilting and a mono filament (Aurifil) in the bobbin. The backing is a forest green with red berries. I was going to use the dark/smoke in the bobbin but because I was using a light color thread on the top and I didn't want dark lines on the berries, I decided to use the light/clear in the bobbin. I think the results are "ok" overall - the quilting on the top is fine and on the backing it blends in with the background but is still noticeable. The stitches on the back are shiny and I had a bit of a tension problem in a few small areas but probably not noticeable to anyone but me. I'm not sure if the smoke color would have been better and give a smoother look.

I definitely wouldn't be changing back and forth between the clear & smoke - I don't think the difference would be worth the effort. The clear will probably blend in with both lights and darks. I agree with Watson and would try on a sample to see which will work better for the look that you want to achieve.

feline fanatic

I used clear monofilament on this quilt Agave Garden, the big reveal which was nothing but darks and brights. I encourage you to view the close up pics and tell me if you can see my ditching thread.

In your case I would use clear as opposed to smoke. Some people say the smoke has less sheen and is less visible when under direct harsh lighting (as is often used in show venues). In my experience the clear is fine for just about all applications.