Crazy Quilt Along 2014- Threads and Stitches

Hello friends and quilters, I'm back from a nasty flu/cold thing that just laid me flat out!
I'm really happy to share that this Crazy Quilt Along 2014 is open to anyone! So do follow me!

 Stitching below is from an experienced embroidery nut, who crazy quilts all the time, I'm raising my hand.

Don't fret and think this is what I might  be expecting of my new friends participating in our CQA2014. 

I'm not expecting anything other than participating and sharing a link to your blog when you comment.

Your three stitches to concentrate on if you are a beginner are the Blanket Stitch, Chain Stitch and the Daisy Stitch. 

That is all, I don't want you to get stressed about anything we are doing  here in this quilt along. Compare these two photos by going back and forth and seeing the difference from a beginner (BELOW PHOTO) and an experienced crazy quilter (ABOVE PHOTO)
The photo below is from my winning quilt "Silver Linings Crazy Quilt 2004" below and I've left the actual size so you zoom in.

Any thread that can make a nice clean stitch is a good thread in my mind. 

• When I use embroidery floss, it depends on the impact I wan the stitch to have in my work. If its high impact, I'll use as is, full 6 strands, without dividing strands of the color I'm using.
• Lots of time to begin with, you can use all 6 strands, why complicate things?
• Almost all the time, I split the 6 strands into 3 strands and go and carry on stitching.
• I keep a length of strand to no more than 16 inches. 
• I also transfer the newly purchased embroidery floss to a cardboard keeper that you can purchase too. I rewind the entire new color onto these cardboard papers and then they are easier to keep in a plastic embroidery floss carrier.
• I've used metallic and I will say this about those little beggars. They are tricky and totally different brand to brand and they can be tricky to stitch with, so if you are a beginner, then I'd say maybe leave the metalics until you are past a beginner stage. If you have already used other threads then metallic thread is a go ahead for you.
• I don't use antique threads, well because they are antique and have broken too many times for me to count, so they are OUT of my attention completely. That's just me. 

Carli