Stymied

Finally got up the nerve to start quilting the ORBCo monstrosity. Thanks to all for the suggestions. I found the most gorgeous hand-dyed variegated thread at my local quilt shop. The orange/pink/purple combo just worked so well, I was thrilled to find it. Bought the last two spools they had. After a couple of practice ideas on a spare bit of fabric, I decided to go for a loopy stipple a la Brenis.

And then… I kept skipping stitches and breaking thread. Cleaned out the bobbin case (holy lint balls, batman), adjusted tension, et cetera, et cetera. Thread kept breaking. My suspicion: thread is too thick. It’s a 35 weight, instead of the usual 50. Sure enough, I put in some 50 to test my theory, and no breakage issues. Damnit. That thread was so darn pretty.

The thinner thread I experimented with was the slate gray I was originally considering. And, in fact, I hate it. I don’t like how dark it is against the otherwise cheerful quilt top, even if it does blend perfectly with the backing.

On recommendation from crazy mom quilts and some folks in the ORBCo quilt-along Flickr group, I went online and ordered a bunch of big honkin’ spools from Connecting Threads. (I may have also ordered some of their fabric, but we’re not going to discuss that right now…)

In the meantime… I’m just waiting. Can’t move forward on the stippling until the thread arrives. Can’t work on the ragged square quilt that’s next on my list, because I’m waiting for thread for that one, too. Better start cutting white sashing for the nine-patch quilt!