Vitality

I am getting a long arm machine and will need to do some practicing. If anyone could offer advice on good places to shop online for reasonably priced thread in the large cones, or other needful things for long arm quilting, I would appreciate it. I don't want to get the highest end thread out there just for practicing, but would like to avoid total junk as well.

As an aside, I am getting an HQ Avante 18… though I was also contemplating the Juki QVP 18… if anyone has any comments on either of those as well, I'd love to hear your input.

Thanks a bunch!
Vita

soccertxi

Vita,
Congrats on your new baby! I sometimes dream about quilting! My husband says I cannot quilt after 8:30 as I thrash around in my sleep- quilting I guess! I get most of my thread from a local source. I quilt mostly for myself and might be branching out to quilt for others in 2015. I like Permacore and Omni for a matte look and Glide if I want a bit of shine. The Glide I buy from www.bobbincentral.com as I cannot find a local source. I would suggest trying a single cone of a few diff types to see what what YOU like and what your machine likes. I quilt on an Innova, but earlier in my quilting life I had an HQ16. I sold it to a friend and she quilts on is almost daily. Good luck in your search- try out as many as you can...

luvstoquilt301

I have an HQ16---very old one. I am a charity quilter and very productive. I use Connecting Threads Essential Pro only. It is very inexpensive and works perfectly. I just bought some on sale for $4.19 for HUGE cones. I was given some expensive thread and saw no difference.

I do not have a bobbin winder and use Bottomline prewound bobbins.

Gramie bj

I buy from Superior Threads, they carry all kinds.

loisf

Longarmquiltingsupplies.com is a source that I have found to be fairly priced, and they carry Signature Thread, which was suggested for my Tiara. The owner, Jolene, was very helpful when I called her with questions. And... the thread was at my house in TWO DAYS!!!

MaryStoaks

I have bought inexpensive thread from both Thread Arts and Connecting threads. They both have good prices and the thread works fine for me on my Tin Lizzie.

Quilt30

Try Long Creek Mills in Gastonia, Nc. Www.longcreekmills.com. I was there recently and what an amazing stock and good prices

feline fanatic

It all depends what look you are going for. My universal thread of choice is Glide from www.bobbincentral.com But I have also used So fine, bottom line and King tut from www.superiorthreads.com With Superior I try to hit them up at the bigger shows as they usually have pretty good show specials. I have used isacord embroidery thread that I have found at all different sources. When I want the look of silk but not the big price tag that accompanies it I go for Invisifil thread and bought that from a couple of different sources softexpressions.com and redrocktrheads.com

for deep discount thread go to http://metroemb.com/store/ they have a super shiny embroidery thread that works just fine in the LA and you won't find less expensive thread anywhere, not even connecting threads. It is a fine thread but I like to support US manufacturers so I don't use them a whole lot but the few times I have the thread worked great and it is really pretty, very high gloss though, so if you are looking for a matte finish they won't be a good source. I could not discern a difference between their Metro line or their Sigma line, both the same price.

Prism99

I use Glide almost exclusively and purchase it from the bobbincentral website above. I tried several brands before settling on Glide. The Connecting Threads poly is 70wt, therefore relatively fine, and it broke frequently when I tried to use it on the frame. Signature and King Tut cottons both worked fine, but created a lot of lint in the bobbin area. Glide is the easiest for me to use because it never seems to shred or break on me. I may experiment some more in the future, but for now I am happy with Glide. (Oh, and I love the Magna-Glide bobbins for Glide; however, I also wind my own bobbins.)

Vitality

Thank you everyone! I will look at all the sites and threads this evening