BLACK LIGHT? What’s that?

Add some fun to your quilts with Neon thread and a little Black Light flashlight.

How did I get started on this “Black Light” jag?  My friend and customer Julie Lucht sent me pictures of quilts she was making for her grandchildren.  They were stitched with MeadowLyon designs and highlighted under “Black Lights.” Check these out and you’ll see why I was so excited!

Wow, I was motivated!  I could do that for my grandchildren and pass them out at our family reunion this summer!

I wouldn’t have to “piece” the quilts – just use uncut pieces of fun fabrics.  Hooray!!

Here are the 11, and almost 12 quilts I’ve made so far!

I’ll include links to the pantos and some pix of the original fabrics.

As Julie was sharing her photos she mentioned that they were not all stitched with “Neon” thread.  So I did some experimenting also!

• Here are some things I learned:
• At first, I ordered machine quilting/embroidery thread.  I would say to quilters, “Don’t bother.”  It was too thin for a strong statement on the quilt.  See how it turned out on the Dino-babies quilt back.  On the front of that quilt I used a heavier thread.  I wish I’d done it all in heavier weight.
• I also found that heavy thread from varying companies was successful. Unfortunately, some the threads I liked best were discontinued spools I had on hand.  I loved some of the colors of Superior’s Brytes and Highlights. Neither of which are still available (except on my shelf )
• Another that was successful was Linda Taylor’s Neon thread.
• A strong heavy weight “white” thread is always successful.
• To begin, I shone the black light flashlight over my thread racks to determine the strength of various colors.
• Before stitching out a quilt I laid the backing fabric out and draped various threads over it- lighting it up with the black light flashlight. That way I could adequately see which thread showed best! Sometimes it was a surprise.  Once I thought I had found a green that was good, but when I stitched it out on the space quilt, the “Earth” did not show up at all!
•  Back to the Spacemen quilt again (many disappointments), there was a heavy white thread that showed up great, but as it was in the bobbin, the top thread kept breaking so I had to switch to a less heavy white. It still showed, but not as good by comparison. On that same quilt the neon green I used does not show as well as the ordinary white. Humpf!
• Hot pink and hot orange and bright gold were all super!  And a heavier lime green was wonderful too.
• All my backings were dark colors;  Black, navy, dk brown, hot pink, and royal blue.  Interestingly the pink shows as dk. blue with the Black Light!

So just what threads did I use?

• American & Efird Inc Perma Corre Tex 40; Neon Green, Neon Red.
• Isacord Et 40 Fluorescent Orange
• Linda Taylor’s Thread by Design Tex 4; Fluorescent Orange, Highlighter Yellow, Psychedelic Green
• Superior Highlights #731 Neon Green
• Superior Brytes Neon Green
• Sulky Poly Deco
• YLI Jeans Stitch Tex 90; White & Hot Pink
• New Brothread Glow in the Dark Embroidery Thread Tex 30; It’s not as thick as I would like.
• Julie suggests trying Glide #10002 Super White!
• Aurifil’s Everglow from Tula Pink looks promising, but it does not specify thickness.
• There are others online that look promising.

What about “Glow in the Dark ” Thread?

What’s the difference between Neon and Glow in the Dark? Glow in the Dark actually retains light for a period of time. The claims are it will retain “glow” for 3-8 hours. This shows brightly after 3 hours and there is a very faint glow after 8 hours that the camera couldn’t pick up, but could be seen.

• The best that I’ve found is the big one – BulingBuling TMLuminous Embroidery Thread. It is still a thin embroidery weight.

• In this picture is the Brothread Glow in the Dark thread I purchased. It is the one I decided was too thin. But….Maybe it would be a great alternative to carrying a Black Light flashlight.
• Glow in the Dark Simthread looks promising, too. It should”Glow in the Dark” glow for an extended period without black lights. I’m not sure the thickness of this thread from amazon. Sadly it did not have staying power. I returned it.

So get busy. Buy a Black Light Flashlight, Search your Thread Drawer and HAVE FUN!