Susan Cleveland uses the heavier weight threads all the time. I took a class from her at Paducah on decorative threads and learned lots! She doesn't drop the dogs, but uses the quilting foot to make amazing designs with the threads. Sorry, I don't have a website to refer you to, but you could probably Google her.

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

I quilt with Sulky 30 weight cotton all the time...they have a 12 weight too and they don't need to be used in the bobbin if you use a larger needle. When I use the 12 weight, I also increase my stitch length. The 30 weight thread is also great for satin stitching...it fills in really nicely.

Jan,

Bob at Superior Threads has an incredible amount of information in his Education section at http://www.superiorthreads.com One of the information topics is "Understanding Thread Weight System". If that one doesn't tell you more about thread weights than you could imagine, try "Learn correct thread measurements".

JoAnne in beautiful southern California

drj2athome wrote: If you use a needle with a big eye you should do just fine quilting with the heavy thread. And, no thread is a waste of money
I bought the most ugly thread online by mistake, thought I never would use it at all, but it got to be the perfect match for one of my quilts. So dont worrie, you will make a quilt that just cries out for that thread

drj2athome wrote:
Jan,

That definately not a waste of money...I use heavier thread all the time when I want a specific part of the quilting to pop. U will need to loosen your upper tension and be sure to use atleast a 16 topstitch needle. Just do plenty of practice before U begin on the quilt and have fun with it.

TTFN & Happy Quilting,

Linda in SD

You can use the heavier threads as bobbin work. Check out recent shows where they show how to do this technique. I'm in the process of trying it with very thin ribbons and other decorative threads. I have been filling the bobbins and haven't gotten to the actual sewing yet. Gloria

I bought some 30 weight threads without any idea of where to use them in quilting. I asked Sue Nickels and she said she usually uses a 50 weight thread in quilting. I hope it wasn't a waste of money to buy them. Jan