Thread..cotton/poly or 100% cotton...both? or neither?

I know this has gone around a time or two, but the weirdest thing happened to me today. I have been using the Connecting Threads 100% egyptian cotton thread for quilting. Sewing the top together has been fine, but off and on I have had the problem of the thread breaking on top thread.

But today, it got worse. While FMQ'ing (meandering) the top thread looked fine, but the bottom thread...good grief it was so bunched up and looked like hair that was pulled out of a hair brush! It was terrible! I couldn't get it to do right and then remembbered about the cotton.. and machines not liking some threads. So I put in DD Cotton/Poly on the top and 100% cotton on the bottom. Still no good. I put DD Cotton/Poly top and bottom and it worked fine.

Question: I know machines can "choose" their own threads, but why is the 100% working for sewing the blocks etc together, but not the FMQ'ing?

I also, cleaned the bobbin cage area (which I regularly do) and it was literally loaded with fluff and fuzz....all from the 100% cotton thread. Why? Is cotton that loose and fuzz-proned? As I understand cottn/poly, the poly is for strength, the cotton covered is for smoothness...am I wrong? I just was amazed that there was so much fuzz in the bobbin cage area.

And...diff thread in top and bobbin? Good or bad? Okay as long as it works? I am coming up on having to restock my thread and want these problems to stop...I don't see CT has cotton covered poly. I want a thread that will work for assembly and for FMQ'ing. I know about the weight of the thread...higher number, stronger thread...but that doesn't seem to matter as CT 100% is a high number.

Can anyone help me?

Honestly, if the Coats and Clark's works in your machine and you don't have problems with it, I'd use that. The same thread isn't always going to work for everyone.

That is what happened to me when I first tried FMQing on my Janome 7700, which made me very sad! I know I did a few setup things wrong, and I've gone to setting the tension manually, setting the needleplate for quilting (single round hole instead of wide oval hole) and the thread doesn't seem to matter. It can be very frustrating, trying to figure out what the problem is.

I say use whatever works for your machine. So far mine has been good with the cotton from Connecting Threads.

I use the CT threads too and it's been good...I also use all kinds of other stuff, polyester, monofilament, etc. and bought some Isacord polyester thread (Leah Day swears by this for both piecing and fmq) but I haven't tried it yet - am excited to see if it makes a big difference to my stitches in fmq).

Your stitches could be other issues--like tension or needle size. Try messing around with that and see if it helps.

I must have the best machine in the world beacuse I can use all types and brands of threads without any problems. Then again, I don't use it for FMQ either, just piecing and quilting with my walking foot.

For FMQ use the same thread, top and bobbin. It sounds like something was up with your top thread either not being threaded correctly or the tension being off. Birdsnesting often happens due to the top thread having issues. Nothing wrong with using a polyester thread to quilt with or even rayon. I've used both with good results. I set up a new way for my thread to feed into my machine from the cones that they come from and it likes it MUCH better.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7219/6...5557856e_z.jpg

The thread spool sits on the table, goes up to the thread holder "arm", through the safety pin eye hole and then it is threaded into the machine like normal. This gives the thread time to unwind a bit after coming off the spool and it pulls cleanly off of it when sewing at high speeds (while FMQ or doing machine embroidery which is typically when something will snag and break your thread).

You may want to try something like an Aurifil 40 wt. cotton mako thread and see how your machine does with FMQ.

Thanks for the tips everyone. The needle I use is the embroidery foot..large open hole. But I think I have a single hole foot so I'll try that and the thread spool thing...that might be a fixer too...the spool of thread is right there on top with little length to unwind..that might be my problem...needs some length to unwind before going into the thread path. Thanks everyone! Will let you know how it works! I was really bummed yesterday as I had just started getting good a FMQ and then this happened!

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Originally Posted by a1angiem

I use the CT threads too and it's been good...I also use all kinds of other stuff, polyester, monofilament, etc. and bought some Isacord polyester thread (Leah Day swears by this for both piecing and fmq) but I haven't tried it yet - am excited to see if it makes a big difference to my stitches in fmq).

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I have heard that poly is better for FMQ'ing..I figure since it is a bit smoother maybe it runs through the machine better since there is no presser foot ...just thinking out loud.

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Originally Posted by coffeebreak

I have heard that poly is better for FMQ'ing..I figure since it is a bit smoother maybe it runs through the machine better since there is no presser foot ...just thinking out loud.

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I like Poly or Rayon myself when I'm not using Aurifil. It's stronger and I like the sheen. My machine doesn't really seem to care which foot I use as long as it is set up properly.

Thanks for giving the tip about poly for FMQ, I thought you had to use cotton. I started to quilt a baby quilt but the color I really wanted to use was poly but chose a cotton because I thought it was preferred.

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Originally Posted by nurrsey

Thanks for giving the tip about poly for FMQ, I thought you had to use cotton. I started to quilt a baby quilt but the color I really wanted to use was poly but chose a cotton because I thought it was preferred.

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The only argument I've seen against poly is that poly is a synthetic and is stronger so it won't wear at the same rate as cotton. Some people worry that as the quilt gets washed the poly will irritate the cotton fibers and wear them out faster. I say do what best works for you. If you aren't quilting for a quilt show then think of how the item is going to be used and choose your thread that way.

I stick to Coats & Clark thread, so I stock up on it when I´m back home. Other than that, I can only get Gutermann here or generic store brands and I don´t trust those.