I use this 100% cotton, Guttermann hand quilting thread for basting when making our patterns by hand reverse applique. It is thick enough to separate the fibers of the fabrics, thus creating the desired "holes" in the background fabric, essential in our Trace, Baste, Snip & Stitch process. Easy to cut and remove as you needle-turn under along the basting line. Each spool has 220 yards on it. The thread is 40 wt., tear and abrasion resistant, and won’t curl.

Why 3 colors? You need a thread in a contrasting color to your top fabric when basting. In my experience these 3 colors, white, natural and red cover the majority of fabrics. Red is better than black as a universal dark contrast to medium/ light top fabrics, and busy prints. The Natural I’ve selected is dark enough to work for many mediums as well as darks and lights. The white works on almost all darks.

This basting thread can alos be used for hand quilting, too.

At times we change up the quilting thread we offer as basting thread to keep costs down and the quality of the basting thread up. We are transitioning our thbasting thread offerings now, May 2024. The Guttermann thread hsd become difficult to consistently restock in a timely manner, and the cost has risen to $4.99 a spool ($1.00 in a year). I found Coats & Clarks 100% cotton white hand quilting thread for $3.70 a spool, plus its thicker, 28 wt., so will yield a larger hole at a more reasonable cost for something we are going to baste to later cut, pull and throw away. We will give it a try.

Available in natural, white and red.