Which end of the thread to knot???

From Superior Threads' September Newsletter-

Question: When hand appliquéing or hand quilting, there is a school of
thought that says you pull the thread off of a spool and knot the end you
cut while others say you pull the thread off of a spool and knot the end you
pull. The notion is that there is a twist to thread and pulling it one way
through fabric is better than the other and pulling it the wrong way ends up
causing problems. So, what's the answer?

Answer: It will matter if you use a low quality, loosely twisted, budget
thread. If you use a high quality thread with a tight, consistent twist
(such as So Fine, Bottom Line, MasterPiece, or Kimono Silk) for hand
appliqué or King Tut and Treasure for hand quilting, the twist is so smooth,
precise and consistent, the direction does not matter.

So. Now we know. All Quilt Police please make note of this. LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I wholeheartedly agree. YLI HQ thread, likewise.

But I like to pull mine through Thread Magic if the weather is wrong,
or my hands are sticky.

Nel
(Gadget Queen)

What has always confounded me about this question is that no matter which
end you knot your thread is still bent in half thru the needle eye and one
strand has the so-called 'nap' in one direction and the other half goes in
the other direction. There is *no* way both thread halves can go in the
same direction. You would always be pulling one side of the thread or the
other thru the fabric in the 'wrong' direction- no matter which end you
knot. Right??? ;-)

Or am I showing off my blonde logic again? LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

"Sartorresartus" wrote in message
...
I wholeheartedly agree. YLI HQ thread, likewise.

But I like to pull mine through Thread Magic if the weather is wrong,
or my hands are sticky.

Nel
(Gadget Queen)

you can knot the thread at the needle end too, leaving a very tiny tail.
works well with silk thread..
j.

"Leslie& The Furbabies in MO." wrote ...
What has always confounded me about this question is that no matter which
end you knot your thread is still bent in half thru the needle eye and one
strand has the so-called 'nap' in one direction and the other half goes in
the other direction. There is *no* way both thread halves can go in the
same direction. You would always be pulling one side of the thread or the
other thru the fabric in the 'wrong' direction- no matter which end you
knot. Right??? ;-)

Or am I showing off my blonde logic again? LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

"Sartorresartus" wrote ...
I wholeheartedly agree. YLI HQ thread, likewise.

But I like to pull mine through Thread Magic if the weather is wrong,
or my hands are sticky.

Nel
(Gadget Queen)

Never thought about starting in the middle. Thanks for giving me a new
idea!

On 9/14/2010 10:16 PM, Polly Esther wrote:
I don't think I'm following this. The thread on past the eye of the
needle is receiving no pull or stress - it just goes along for the ride
and hopes for the best. IMHO the quality of the thread is much more
important than which end is knotted. There's also Thread Heaven, beeswax
and lots of luck. And then, sometimes it's necessary to not have a knot
at all. That's when I begin in the middle of the thread and stitch off
to one end and then the other. Polly



--
Denny in Fort Wayne
http://community.webshots.com/user/kiteflyer54


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Oh Polly dear! I never thought of starting in the middle, either. What
a wonderful trick. I will add it to my stitch bag of tricks
immediately. Who taught you that? What else do you know that I need to
know. Okay, other than 'everything'. I mean about stitching by hand.
At least for right now. Maybe we need a thread started to each t ell
our most favorite tricks for hand work. Another thread would be for
machine stitching and still another for quilting.

Thank you, Polly. That little bit of info is going to help me
immensely with a tiny project I'm working on. It's not something that
will ever be shown around, just something for me -- to keep my hands
busy because we all know what happens to idle hands.

Thanks and appreciation,
Sunny
hoping to receive more wisdom from Miz Polly

Well, for goodness' sake. That's a very old trick. Not needed very often
but sometimes you need for the back of your stitching to look as fine as the
front. Just a silly notion for this old biddy but I even sew buttons on so
there's not a knot. It may not be a great idea to be quite so neat. More
than once, the Daddy of the house has dressed a daughter and later Momma
discovered that he'd put the dress on inside-out. Everybody knew. Daddys
tie sashes just like they tie shoestrings. Polly





"Sunny" Oh Polly dear! I never thought of starting in the middle, either.
What
a wonderful trick. I will add it to my stitch bag of tricks
immediately. Who taught you that? What else do you know that I need to
know. Okay, other than 'everything'. I mean about stitching by hand.
At least for right now. Maybe we need a thread started to each t ell
our most favorite tricks for hand work. Another thread would be for
machine stitching and still another for quilting.

Thank you, Polly. That little bit of info is going to help me
immensely with a tiny project I'm working on. It's not something that
will ever be shown around, just something for me -- to keep my hands
busy because we all know what happens to idle hands.

Thanks and appreciation,
Sunny
hoping to receive more wisdom from Miz Polly

The greatest liberation I got with hand quilting was to be told I
could start anywhere on the line.

So if I'm on a big frame and I need to stitch a circle, I can sart at
the top, the side, the bottom, whichever. And I can sew in either
direction, or even in both.

And I can start at the top of a quilt and roll down as well as the
bottom and struggle north with my thumb.

Oh, and for good measure, I can have ten needles working at once if I
want to (or ten threads, if you like it like that). That is so much
better for doing cables and chains. I can sew so far with one thread,
stick it in the fabric, and go to another needle and bring that line
up to where I am, change needles again, and so on.

And I'm with you, Polly. My back has to be a s good as the front,
regardless if anyone will look. It was a huge shock to learn that
some of my quilting heroes (heroines) only even GOT to the back in
75-80% of their stitiches, let alone had them the same lengths and
distances apart.

10-12 spi are not so hard if you only have that target to hit. I
prefer 8, and on both sides.

Nel
(Gadget Queen)

Howdy!

I believe it.
With the Gütermann there's no difference; I knot whichever thread end
I catch first.
http://www.guetermann.com/Startpage/Guetermann/

R/Sandy

On 9/14/10 12:07 PM, in article , "Leslie&
The Furbabies in MO." wrote:

From Superior Threads' September Newsletter-

Question: When hand appliquéing or hand quilting, there is a school of
thought that says you pull the thread off of a spool and knot the end you
cut while others say you pull the thread off of a spool and knot the end you
pull. The notion is that there is a twist to thread and pulling it one way
through fabric is better than the other and pulling it the wrong way ends up
causing problems. So, what's the answer?

Answer: It will matter if you use a low quality, loosely twisted, budget
thread. If you use a high quality thread with a tight, consistent twist
(such as So Fine, Bottom Line, MasterPiece, or Kimono Silk) for hand
appliqué or King Tut and Treasure for hand quilting, the twist is so smooth,
precise and consistent, the direction does not matter.

So. Now we know. All Quilt Police please make note of this. LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Sartorresartus wrote:
The greatest liberation I got with hand quilting was to be told I
could start anywhere on the line.

So if I'm on a big frame and I need to stitch a circle, I can sart at
the top, the side, the bottom, whichever. And I can sew in either
direction, or even in both.

And I can start at the top of a quilt and roll down as well as the
bottom and struggle north with my thumb.

Oh, and for good measure, I can have ten needles working at once if I
want to (or ten threads, if you like it like that). That is so much
better for doing cables and chains. I can sew so far with one thread,
stick it in the fabric, and go to another needle and bring that line
up to where I am, change needles again, and so on.

And I'm with you, Polly. My back has to be a s good as the front,
regardless if anyone will look. It was a huge shock to learn that
some of my quilting heroes (heroines) only even GOT to the back in
75-80% of their stitiches, let alone had them the same lengths and
distances apart.

10-12 spi are not so hard if you only have that target to hit. I
prefer 8, and on both sides.

Nel
(Gadget Queen)



Wow!! I've never been happy with my handquilting because the back never
looked as good as the front. I thought that was a general standard to
aim for. Maybe I'm not so bad after all - at least all of my stitches
get to the back! LOL

Allison