"Applique The Piece Of Cake Way" dvd came over the weekend from 'Connecting Threads' and it is so worth the little bit of money I spent on it! (Cheaper and more knowledge then the class I just recently took)Anyone needing an applique boost or further know-how...get this! Check your library or do like I did-buy it:)The 2 of the gals in this video explain thread weights, length, etc-etc. Defin worth a looky here:)Skeat (Who will be looking now for the book for patterns)LOL

Skeat, their DVD is wonderful. I can't tell you how many times I have just sat and watched it in the last couple of years. As for the book, I believe it is out of print but I did pick up the pattern at a quilt show or LQS, I can't remember LOL. Maybe you can find it on Ebay. Well, I was wrong, there are books available. Here is where I found the best price http://www.quiltersquarter.com/cgi-b...#0734817103714

Crispy

the absolute best is Aurifil and the best place to get it is www.pacificrimquilts.com and I also use mettler 60 W but like aurifil the best. Silk finish is so slippery and knottie ha. Have used it tho

That is a big thank you Crispy! I am defin going to order this book...I really like this quilt and it looks like it would be fun to do too. Thanks for the 'threads up' on that! Skeat

See my next message, was trying to reply to a previous post here, grrr!

I am doing some applique now & wondered about this? Thought I read somewhere, that you use thread that matches your background, now I am seeing otherwise. So which is best? Which shows less, & which do you prefer & why? Mine isn't showing much, but if matching the applique, instead of the background, would make it show less, then I will try that next. Any advice would be appreciated!... I am so loving hand applique, & doing back basting applique, for the most part...

I use 100 weight silk thread, in neutral colors. I usually try to find a color that matches the applique piece, not the background. If I could find it locally, I'd use 60 weight cotton, in a color to match the applique.

Janet

I haven't tried silk yet, but am hearing it's not good to use, if the quilt will be used, as in sat on, so am curious? Have you run into problems with this, or do you mostly do quilts that won't be used this way? I have done some silk cross stitch & love the soft feel about it, but wonder when it comes to hand applique? Thanks for the info!

I use silk thread and straw needles.

I haven't had any problems with the silk. If the quilt is going to subjected to hard use, I'd probably rethink doing hand needle turned applique anyway, and go for a machine technique.

Some people don't care for how silk handles - it's slippery! But I like that I only need 5 different colors to handle most applique situations, and the thin thread disappears into the applique so the stitches aren't visible.

Again, if I had a close, local source I'd go for fine cotton, but since I don't, I'll stick to the silk for now. With the cotton I'd need to match the thread closer to the applique than I do with the silk.

Janet