I also love Aurifil and Mettler threads. I will use whatever brand I need to in order to have the right colors.

Everyone, thank you for your posts. I did forget the most important part that I was making the bright color quilt. I'm going to order the sample card today and order the donut of threads. Thank you again

I also live where it's hard to get quality thread, so I order on line -- or whenever I'm traveling, I check out quilt stores. But one thing I've done is order the color cards from Superior Thread. They sell them for $3 a card, and so far I have the one for Masterpiece, and one of the two for King Tut. The cards contain real thread, not just a photo of thread, so it helps. Of course, you can't lay it across your fabric, but it's certainly better than just choosing from photos on your computer. Here's the link to the one for Masterpiece: /http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/category/600-yds/products/. If you scroll down, the first entry is the color card. I also have the frosted donut, and though it doesn't cover everything I've needed, it gets close. DMC also sells thread cards, and I like their thread for applique, too. I think you can get those through JoAnn's. I have the printed one, but I think you can actually get thread versions. Hope this helps! Robin

I'm doing hand applique on my block. In anticipation of the BOM, for Christmas I asked Santa to bring me the Superior Threads "Frosted Donut" collection of MasterPiece threads. The thread is 50-weight/2-ply Eqyptian cotton. There are 36 different bobbins in a rainbow of colors packaged in a circular bobbin holder. So far, I've had a perfect match for every color I've needed. It sews like a dream!

Here's the link:

http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/product/frosted-donut/

For the center of the Ruffled Roses 2011 BOM, I used Superior's MonoPoly on the top and Superior's MasterPiece in the bobbin for my turned edge machine applique.
The color of thread that you use will depend on your fabric. MonoPoly (or any monofiliment thread) is very slick, and I find that the cotton MasterPiece works very well with it. For more details, you are welcome to check out my Machine Quilting tutorial in the TQS classroom here: [url]learn/classrooms/[/url]

This is not the only way to do it, but it's what works for me.

I live in an area where any better threads are unheard of. So I must order on line. To make it easier, can anyone please give me the thread #'s they used for the applique block. After reading several opinions in the forum, I think I would like to try the Superior line or Mettler line of threads. This would be greatly appreciated.