Introduction to Thread

In this post you'll learn everything you ever needed (or didn't need) to know about thread :)

So first... where to begin? Let's start with the basics. Thread usually costs about $3-$4 depending on where you buy it. We always wait for thread to go on sale (we've seen it for as low as 50% off!) before stocking up. We usually buy 10 spools at a time. Yes, people think we are crazy :).  The brand of thread doesn't seem to make a difference, we usually buy the Dual Duty brand because it frequently goes on sale at JoAnn's.

We use all purpose thread for every part of quilting. No, machine quilting does not require a special thread. Just buy your usual and it will work wonderful! For one quilt, we estimate about 2 spools...it varies depending on the size of the quilt, amount of machine quilting, and the yardage of thread on each spool.

 

Our standard color of thread is white. This is our staple for machine quilting. Sometimes it is fun to mix it up and do machine quilting with colored thread...your choice!

Now for a game...which spool has the most yards of thread on it?

You may be tempted to think that the right spool has more thread on it. Wrong! You should always read the labels on thread to determine what you are paying for. Size of spool can be very deceptive.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Blue + Orange Quilt Top

Blue and Orange are perfect compliments of each other. This stack of fabrics has been combined for a while, but the trick was choosing a quilt pattern while only using two different tones. Sometimes its just best not to think too long about the pattern choice. Being the indecisive people we are, we have to force ourselves to choose at some point :)

We decided to go with the famous disappearing 9-patch quilt but added a twist. We love white fabric and decided to incorporate that into this quilt.  The white makes the quilt brighter and adds variety to the pattern.

Who ironed that quilt? Not us, apparently :) We love all 120 blocks of this wrinkly quilt top. 

 

Now to choosing the quilt backing. Hmmm.... being the indecisive people we are, this could take a while :)

Scattered Squares

After finding this cute quilt on Pinterest, we decided we needed (ok, maybe wanted) to make one.  The fabrics don't match at all...maybe that's why we love it so much :) The white background fabric helps tie everything together and makes it seem fun and scrappy.  This quilt is for sale in our shop.

Our first quilt in February has us wishing for spring. It is warming up (40 degrees is warm...right?) and we are looking forward to even warmer weather.

We've had this random green back forever (meaning about 1 year, which is eternity in quilt time). We are glad it finally matched um, got put in a quilt.

We tried this method of binding and loved how fast and easy it worked.  The only downside...we need a new excuse to watch Pride and Prejudice. Now we can't use the old "we have to bind our quilt and Mr. Darcy Collin Firth is the best helper." Oh well, we'll think of a new excuse. :)

***Come check us out on Or So she Says for a linky party.***

Valentine's

Happy Valentine's day! As you can see, we take our Valentine's days very seriously :) Serious as in eat as much junk as possible and sew.

Lucky for us, this cute line of fabrics from our local quilt shop was on sale on the Valentine's rack. It's not even covered in hearts.

Here's our Valentine's quilt from last year. After it tumbled through the wash it turned pink thanks to the red backing. Oh well, we learned our lesson.

A Texas-sized doughnut

Now back to business...not! (That doughnut is calling our names.)

Blogging

It's been one year since we started blogging. In some ways it seems like a long time, and in others it feels like yesterday. We made a total of 38 quilts, 82 blog posts, and 2 quilt patterns. Quackadoodle Quilt has been an adventure...if you asked us a year ago if we would ever start a  blog, our answer would've probably been no. Yes, it's a lot of work. Yes, nobody probably reads this. And Yes, Quackadoodle Quilt is definitely worth it. We love being able to express our creativity and share it with all of you! We are so proud of what we've been able to accomplish!

Sugar Cookie Quilt

Thank you to all of our readers!!

Up to our Knees

We are up to our knees in fabric! And no, we are not complaining :) Our sweet neighbor brought over 3(!) garbage bags full of fabric, folded and ironed. We feel like we won the fabric lottery...it's probably thousands of dollars worth of fabric! Scrappy quilts are in the works after we sort this fabric and find a place for it.

We've been...

...looking on Pinterest a little (okay alot) too much. It's a little addicting! We've been pinning color schemes trying to decide on some fun color combos.

...sewing and sewing and sewing. Let's be honest here- when aren't we sewing?? We are almost finished with this little lovely: (we'll show you soon.)

...using one machine instead of two. This machine had to take it's turn in the shop this week. Hopefully it will be all doctored up by next week so we can have some more blog posts!!

Batting 101

 Choosing batting may seem like an overwhelming task…but it can be easy if you know what to look for. Here are some things to consider:

Polyester vs. Cotton: When machine quilting, cotton batting or cotton-poly blend batting are best.  Stay away from polyester; 100% Polyester batting pulls apart and stretches easily, making it difficult to machine quilt. We always buy 80% cotton 20% polyester (80/20) batting. We’ve found that we like the price, and the 20% polyester makes the batting less stiff. We have also used 100% cotton batting, but it is a little pricier and is not worth the extra money.

 

 Loft: Stick to a low loft batting to make machine quilting easier. The batting we buy is a ¼” loft height…perfect for machine quilting.

 Price: Batting can be expensive but if you watch for it to go on sale, it is reasonable. We buy our batting at Joann's (surprise, surprise). For queen size 80/20 batting, the regular price is $30.  On sale for 50% off it costs only $15 (much better!).

 

 How much to buy: You want your batting to be  5" bigger on all four sides of your quilt top. We buy the queen size packages so we can fit 1-2 quilts (depending on the size) per package of batting.

 Piecing Batting: When we run out of batting, we like to piece our scraps together. We do this by butting up our two batting scraps and zigzagging down the seam. We use our walking foot to make feeding the batting easier.

 Hope this helped!!