Quilting Thread

What is the best thread to use for quilting? If you’ve been searching around for affordable, quality quilting thread, look no further! Create long-lasting memories with Missouri Star 50wt Double Mercerized Egyptian cotton thread made especially for use in both machine quilting and hand quilting. This quality sewing thread is double Mercerized to increase its strength and luster, which also allows the thread to absorb more color, infusing it with bright, colorfast dye that will last years to come. 

Use it to quilt and sew a variety of fabrics. This versatile cotton thread runs smoothly through your machine with a minimal amount of lint and it can withstand the rigors of washing, high temperature ironing, detergents, and mild abrasives. Let your projects shine in the sunlight without fear, it has excellent sunlight resistance! Your memories are precious, so trust them to high quality thread at an excellent price. Choose from 100 vibrant colors to coordinate with any project in cotton or polyester.

Missouri Star thread is also available in polyester. Our Trilobal Polyester thread has a unique structure: three filaments are plied together in multiple continuous strands, giving it greater strength and shine—and it won’t form lint like other threads. This versatile quilting thread also allows you to create more uniform stitches due to its tenacity and low stretching quality, practically eliminating thread breakage. For some who might wonder, Is it ok to use polyester thread for quilting? Of course it is! Polyester thread is the perfect longarm quilting thread and machine embroidery thread to use, in fact, it’s what we use in our Machine Quilting Department.

You may have heard that there’s a difference in quilting thread vs. regular thread and that can be true. For the most part, when you’re piecing a quilt, you’ll want to use thinner 50wt cotton thread instead of thicker 40wt thread. To keep on sewing without stopping to change out your spool, try larger quilting thread cones! They’re totally amazing. And when you’re quilting your quilt, the thickness is up to you, but if you prefer to free motion quilt, polyester thread is recommended because it doesn’t break easily and has excellent tensile strength. Whatever thread you choose to use when quilting, make sure it’s good quality so you can spend more time sewing and less time rethreading! If you’re asking, can I use all purpose thread for quilting? You can, but you may not get the same stitch quality or longevity. Long staple Egyptian cotton is the best for quilting because it shreds less, creates less lint, and holds up longer. After all, you want your quilts to last a long time!

And, finally, for those who enjoy hand quilting, let us answer this all-important question: what is the difference between hand quilting thread and machine quilting thread? Well, hand quilting thread is usually a bit thicker like a 28wt instead of a 40wt. That’s because, when you’re quilting, you may want your stitches to stand out a little—after all, you put in all that work! We carry all your favorite brands of hand quilting thread like Gutermann quilting thread, Aurifil quilting thread, and more right HERE.