The Importance of Thread
It makes lines.
It layers color.
It delineates pattern.
It creates texture.
And it secures all the layers of my artwork together. The layers of fabric and batting are held together with stitch. And the final artwork is frequently stitched to a canvas – again with thread.
I couldn’t make my work without heaps and heaps of thread.
Managing Thread
Because I use the thread to layer color (much like a painter might use thin washes of color) to create depth…
And because I love all colors..
I want every color of thread. And I need back-ups so I don’t run out mid project.
So I keep an inventory of all my thread to make it easier to remember what I need to replenish. I’ve been using same thread inventory system for 20+ years.
Today was “thread management and inventory update” day.
It’s been a while since I updated my inventory spreadsheet.
I’ve managed to just update the same sheet for a few years but I just bought a bunch of new colors so I needed to add them into the list.
[I’ve been
A few years ago Mettler renumbered all of their silk finish cotton threads and in the process added new colors – it has taken me a while to find all the new colors as no quilt store in New Zealand seems to stock this thread (or at least none of the ones near me.)
So I have to hunt for them when I’m in the US.
[And that is where I have been the month. I haven’t been blogging because to keep the bad people from mucking up my website I have to turn off the access to the mechanism that allows me to blog from my phone. It puts blogging-while-away from-home in the too hard basket. But I’m home now – so I’m back to writing.]
While on my trip I also added in a few new colors to my Aurifil collection.
I don’t have any extra spools of this brand so I keep track of the colors I have on my pretty color chart.
Right now I only have 52 colors – out of heaps. Adding new colors in this line is a slow process. Thread being the most expensive part of my artwork.
Neat and Organized
And here is the final result with all the thread neatly organized on my thread racks.
Almost. Unfortunately to fit all the new colors a few of my Valdani spools had to be removed. They are in a bin awaiting me buying another rack so they can live with the others.
And yes – I organize my thread by manufacturer first – then by color.
That’s how I think about the thread. Each brand is slightly different and I the thickness and sheen of the thread is the first consideration when picking a thread to use. Then the color.
And I have all the colors memorized as I’ve been using them 30+ years. When I mixed them by manufacturer it messes up my ability to immediately find what I’m looking for.
So to summarize – the 3 brands I use are Mettler Silk Finish, Valdani Handdyed Cotton, and Aurofil. I have a few random spools of some other manufacturers but mostly I stick to those three.
Bobbins
And yes – for every spool of thread I have the matching bobbin. And the only way to keep them sorted out is to attached them to the spool of thread.
That is a lot of bobbins.
And a lot of cool little things that attached the bobbin to the spool.