Revisiting My Grandma's Quilt - Final Thoughts
My main learning during the process of restitching My Grandma's Quilt is that thread choice is subjective. There are no rules - stitch it how you like it!
Experiment with different threads! Do you like canvas peeking through? or do you prefer not to see the canvas? Do you like silk or cotton better? Do you like lots of texture?
I picked the threads and colours I liked and then adjusted the number of strands based on the stitch and size of canvas. Some of the blocks have more coverage than others. It makes the piece more interesting!
1 - I used a combination of silk and cotton threads for both projects
On the 18 count canvas - 3 strands of cotton floss and 4 strands of silk. I also used perle 8 for some of the blocks. Silk strands are finer than cotton ones, so I increased the number of threads used (3 strands of of cotton, 4 strands of silk).
On the 24 count congress cloth I used primarily 2 strands of floss (for both silk and cotton floss). There was only one block where I used 3 strands (center of block 5) where I wanted more coverage.
2 - it is entirely possible to stitch all of the blocks on 18, 24 or 28 count fabrics using the same thread type (ie all cotton, all silk, etc) - all that changes is the amount of strands used for each stitch.
3 - on the 18 count mono canvas, Perle 8 works very well for some of the blocks. If you like more texture and full coverage, move to perle 5 weight threads.
4 - try other variegated threads - cotton or silk - there’s some nice products out there! Caron, Cottage Garden Threads, Threadworx, DMC Variations, Valdani, etc. The only caveat would be to ensure that the variegated threads you select have a minimum of 3 colours.
How much thread do you need? Depending on how many threads you end up using for each stitch, I would purchase an extra skein of each of the stranded flosses for the 24 count and definitely 2 skeins for the 18 count. Also extra ribbon is required for 18 count (2 packages). Also, if you are experimenting, extra thread is essential.
I hope you enjoyed following along with this project - it's been a lot of fun restitching My Grandma's Quilt and sharing my learnings with you!
Yours in stitching,
Lisa
My Grandma's Quilt - Original Sample - 28 Count Jobelan
Sample Stitched on 24 Count Congress Cloth
Sample Stitched on 18 Count Mono Canvas
