Why using Invisafil thread is best for adding texture to your quilt

This week I’m making three wallhangings to inspire and encourage the recipient for the coming year.

Yesterday, I showed how I pieced some flying geese blocks using WonderFil’s DecoBob 80wt polyester thread. DecoBob is a fine thread and results in perfectly pieced units.

Today, I’m adding a border, layering the quilt and quilting the inner part of the quilt. The piecing is again done with WonderFil’s Decobob, and using WonderFil’s InvisaFil to quilt them.

InvisaFil is a 100wt polyester thread and available in 60 colors that blend beautifully, which is why it’s the thread of choice for quilting. Check back at the end of the week and I’ll show you another way to use InvisaFil thread.

I’m a stickler for measuring carefully and adding borders to most of my larger quilts. But for a small project like these wall hangings, I ‘cheat’. I cut 2 strips of border fabric and lay them over the quilt top.

I use one of the horizontal seam lines as a guide to arrange my border strips to make sure they are square to the quilt. I then trim the border fabric even with the quilt top. I cut and sew my longest edge first.

Piece the borders using WonderFil’s DecoBob 80wt thread. Press the seam allowances to the border.

Yesterday I pieced the flying geese quilt blocks using DecoBob, a cottonized polyester thread. It has been heat treated and won’t melt or shrink when you put an iron to it! Perfectly flat seams every time.

I repeat this step with the side borders by cutting two strips of border fabric and laying them over the quilt from top to bottom border. I trim the border strips to size, sew and press the seam allowances to the border fabric.

The quilt top is now done.

I’ve chosen a batik fabric for the backing. I like to save fabrics like these for use in backings. A wild and busy backing will hide any quilting issues that may arise.

I use my smaller batting scraps for projects like these. I used 2 layers of a thin cotton batting to add a little bit of texture and body to the quilt.

I laid out the WonderFil InvisaFil threads I thought would work best on the quilt. I decided to use the brownish thread (middle). And you’ll see in the image below whether that was a good choice or not.

Well that didn’t work! I started quilting in the geese, but the thread color just didn’t do it for me. I switched to the lighter of the 3 spools of InvisaFil and I decided to do some simple quilting.

Because InvisaFil thread is so fine (100wt), it requires a short stitch length. I really don’t like un-picking my quilting, especially when I use InvisaFil. I’m glad I didn’t quilt too much but a sharp seam ripper and good light makes the job easier.

For this quilted wallhanging, I used two of WonderFil’s finest threads.

InvisaFil is 100wt cottonized polyester. It’s perfect for fine quilting stitches. For piecing, I used the 80wt DecoBob thread. DecoBob thread has an extra twist which adds texture which is perfect for piecing. The threads lock around each other as the stitches are formed. InvisaFil is much smoother which is great for hand stitching or machine quilting.

So far, I only quilted the body of the quilt. Join me tomorrow when I switch the threads and quilt the borders. I think you’ll like them.