Stash...The Real One

Tue, May 6th - 1:03PM

Stash, the real one.

Apologies for not updating yesterday, I'm still trying to get used to the blog/internet thing. I know many of you out there don't have stashes, but I love my stash. I never buy anything specifically for a project, I always buy beautiful things and wait for the project to find me, and that's worked pretty well so far. I also have an APQS George (and am a dealer) and an APQS Milleniumm longarm. I thought I would get to quilt y own quilts now that I had my two big, beautiful, machines, but instead, I do a LOT of quilting for other people. As one of the kids in an after-school class I teach said, "Why don't any of your quilts have that tiny little border around the edge." Point taken, kid, I don't finish anything. Well, I like to think that I finish a lot of stuff! It's just not the same stuff that I start. I try to finish one or two quilts for customers a week (albeit, I have been a little tied up with the internet lately), so the stash below is used for them too. Yup, that's my weak justification for owning hundreds of different threads, but the real reason is that I LOVE THREAD!!!!

Yes, some people would walk into my studio, see this and think, "Man, that girl has a LOT of thread" (not to mention books, projects, glitter, and whatever else is crammed on those shelves)...But these are just my 'cheap' threads, and small spools. If you were too mosy around my studio and open any given drawer at random, you would probably find thread (or candy). Like the drawer below, which is all bobbinwork (or couching) thread.

I will tell you now, that once I discovered Superior Threads, my life (and bank account) changed drastically. Yeah, I do have every color of Razzle Dazzle, and about half of the Halo colors :) Sparkle junkie, don't you forget it!

My metallic collection (I only use Superior Metallic, the other brands are just too much hassle) and my collection of the flat monofilament Sliver/Holoshimmer/Glitter type threads, while appearing small is probably close to twenty colors (I love Hello Kitty too).

Can you tell that I also like to buy in bulk? Why buy a spool when i can buy a cone? And why buy a cone when I can buy a JUMBO cone!

And yeah, that is a drawer full of candy above my thread.

What can I say, I need sugar while I sew (and while I do everything else).

Yet these are just the tip of the iceberg: these are only my sparkly threads!

Below I have my variegated cottons. My two favorite types of variegated cottons are Superior's King Tut, and Sulky's Blendables. While I find Blendables annoyingly weak (on my gigantic machines) at times, they have too many beautiful colors to ignore. I also have some YLI, but the darker colors are also very annoying to use on my large machines (bear in mind, that I can use holoshimmers, metallics, etc...APQS aren't picky), but again YLI has some colors I just can't resist. They also tend to be VERY heavy weight which I love.

I confess, I have a couple solid cottons in the same drawer (though some look solid that are very subtly variegated)...Alex Anderson's Masterpiece has some colors I couldn't live without. Did I mention that I love Superior threads. Also, in addition to this jumble, I have probably 30 more cones of vari cottons at work, by the long-arm, but I forgot my camera today, so you'll have to wait for my long-arm post.

Ah, my other true love, big, fat, high sheen polys. I also fell in love with Carol Bryer Fallerts Brytes. They are solid, 30wt, trilobal polys. I love variegated, but often what a quilt really needs is a beautiful, bold, shiny solid.

Mmmm....I could almost eat them. I have a couple Highlights in there too. And no, I don't quite have every color. Shouldn't Superior be sending me some free thread for this post? Not to mention for my 'frequent buyer' status. Speaking of solid polys...

While I think the Bottom Line is fine, I actually prefer John Flynn's So Fine. You can cram a ton on the bobbin, it comes in gorgeous colors, and I piece with it to. I know some people are opposed, but the only plausible reason anyone has ever given me not to piece with high quality polyester, is that it might melt. Well, dear quilters, my iron is set to "Fire & Brimstone" and I've never melted it, so I don't quite buy that business. Anyway, I love to use it in my bobbin when I quilt, and I really love it to piece because it's lint free, and my seams lay so flat. Which is why I need so many colors. (Neutral shmeutral, I like to piece with thread that matches my quilt).

And, unsurprisingly, I have more at the shop! Imagine that. Even have a couple newbies in that drawer.

And the final bit of my poly collection is my Rainbows and Lava (the best combination of fat, shiny, and variegated).

Lava is made for Gammills, since they aren't as accepting of thread. Lava is a tougher, heavier version of Rainbows, with some great new colors.

So, now anytime your husbands or wives (or financial advisors) give you a hard time for wanting some pretty thread, you just show them this post, and I bet they'll shut right up, because with few exceptions, I think I have more thread than most quilters.

And they say you can't buy happiness.

Happy quilting!