The Heather Jones Collection

HeatherJones-Promo

Color DashHeather Jones‘ debut collection for Robert Kaufman, is a stunning collection of prints in an array of bolds, brights and black & whites. It is available in three primary color ways: Sorbet, Harvest and Shadow. The collection is a terrific stash builder, featuring prints that are not only strong on their own, but partner incredibly well with other fabrics.  Heather’s Aurifil Thread Collection, The Heather Jones Collection, features our 50wt thread in a gorgeous lineup of colors that coordinate best with the Sorbet & Harvest color ways.

THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
The Heather Jones Collection
100% Aurifil 50wt Cotton, 12 Large Spools
2115 – 2230 – 4020 – 2566 – 2220 – 2372 – 5015 – 1147 – 2835 – 5006 – 2784 – 2600

HeatherJones

100% Aurifil 50wt Cotton, 10 Small Spools
2230 – 4020 – 2566 – 2220 – 2372 – 5015 – 1147 – 2835 – 5006 – 2784

HeatherJonesSM

To view this info on our website, on either image above. For purchasing, please contact your local Aurifil Dealer.

THE INTERVIEW
What first drew you to this amazing world of quilting?
I have always loved quilts, but didn’t grow up in a family of quilters. My great-great-Aunt Ollie was born in rural eastern Kentucky in 1895, and she is the only person that I know of in my family that quilted. I’m sure she learned out of necessity, as many people from her era and community did, but she seemed to have made it a hobby because she continued to quilt throughout her life. She made me a quilt when I was a baby (when she was almost 80 years old) and it’s one of my most prized possessions to this day. My mom has a few other quilts that she made, and because of Aunt Ollie’s work, I learned the importance of quilts from a very early age. I also began to buy vintage and antique quilts when I was a teenager, from another great-aunt’s antique shop. I’d look for them every time that I visited her, and still buy them when I can to this day. However, it wasn’t until many years later that I began to make quilts myself, after seeing the work of the quilters of Gee’s Bend and Denyse Schmidt, and after the growth of the Modern Quilt Guild.

Heather and her Aunt Ollie
Heather and her Aunt Ollie

Do you remember the process of creating your first quilt and how you felt once it was finished? 
As I mentioned above, I have always loved quilts, but I was intimidated to make one for a long time. I was afraid of all of the little pieces and nervous that I would mess it up if I tried to make one, plus they can be kind of sizable projects, so for a long time I just admired them from afar. I made my first quilt while I was in college as a gift for my mom, and even though it was far from perfect, I remember feeling a great sense of accomplishment once it was finished. There is something really satisfying to me about making something with my hands, which is one reason why I love quilting so much.

Dash Quilt in Color Dash
Dash Quilt in Color Dash

Who or what has been your greatest creative inspiration?
My children, Aidan and Olivia are my greatest creative inspirations. They have given me the confidence to follow my dreams and to try things I had never done before. It really is because of them that I do what I do, because I started my handmade business almost ten years ago because I began to make accessories and clothing for babies and children, after making things for them. My husband Jeff is also a great source of inspiration, as well as my biggest cheerleader, and I definitely couldn’t do what I do without him. He’s always challenging me to try new things he supports all of my endeavors along the way.

Ohio Supernova Mini in Color Dash Harvest
Ohio Supernova Mini in Color Dash Harvest

What do you love most about the process of creating, whether it be for a new fabric collection, a new pattern, or a new work of art?
My favorite part of the creative process is figuring out the challenge of translating my inspiration, whatever it may be, into whatever project that I’m working on. I also love to find inspiration in non-traditional places and incorporate that into both my quilting designs as well as my surface designs.

How did you first connect with Robert Kaufman fabrics? 
I first connected with the folks at Robert Kaufman when I was working on a publication for Generation Q, I believe, for their inaugural issue. They provided me with fabrics for the project that I designed for the magazine, and they were really great to work with. Since then, I have worked with Robert Kaufman multiple times, for publications, for projects for my book “Quilt Local: Finding Inspiration in the Everyday,” and on some free patterns for their website using some of their different substrates. They approached me last year about working on a fabric collection, which I was really excited about, as drawing and painting were some of my first creative outlets. They are incredible to work with and I’m so proud to be a part of the Robert Kaufman team.

Color Dash Precuts
Color Dash Precuts

What was the inspiration behind your upcoming collection, Color Dash? 
Color Dash, my first line of fabric with Robert Kaufman, was inspired by my sketchbook drawings and making marks with a variety of drawing tools. I start all of my quilt designs in a graph paper sketchbook, and I also doodle in them as well, often times with thick markers and drawing pens, and those sketches became the basis of my fabric designs in this collection. I knew that I wanted my first fabric collection to include these drawings so I came up with some of my favorite designs that I thought would translate well onto fabric. I’m really happy with how the collection came out! I think it works really well on its own, but I also love the fact that my designs can be easily used with so many other fabrics as well, and I can’t wait to see what people do with it.

Color Dash on paper at the Robert Kaufman offices
Color Dash on paper at the Robert Kaufman offices

How is this collection representative of your overall artistic vision?
I always strive to make work that is completely original and true to myself, and I think that is the case with Color Dash, as well. My quilt designs tend to be bold and graphic, and the designs in Color Dash are too. I’m also excited this has allowed me to focus on surface designs again, as drawing and painting were some of my first creative endeavors.

Do you have a favorite project that was created using this collection? 
My favorite project that I’ve made so far is probably my Marrakech quilt in the black, white, and gray prints from Color Dash. I think it’s really striking!

Marrakech Quilt in Shadow Color Dash
Marrakech Quilt in Shadow Color Dash

When did you first discover Aurifil threads and what do you love most about them? 
I had heard of them for a long time, but it wasn’t until I was working on some of the projects for my book that I used them. My friend Kim Niedzwiecki, of My Go Go Life, learned that I had never used them, so she offered to send me some to try. I have to say, as soon as I tried them, I was sold. They are the best threads that I’ve ever used. I had been having some problems with the tension of my mid arm quilting machine, and that stopped when I switched to Aurifil.

Make Your Mark quilt in Color Dash Sorbet
Make Your Mark quilt in Color Dash Sorbet

Do you have a favorite weight/color? 
I like both 40 and 50 the best, and I tend to use color 2000 often because it’s a great neutral that goes well with so many colors.

How did you go about selecting colors for this collection?
It was really hard to narrow down a collection of only 10 and 12 colors of thread, when Aurifil has so many gorgeous colors to choose from! I tried to build a collection of my favorite colors that would be useful to people to use on many different projects.

The Heather Jones Collection for Aurifil
The Heather Jones Collection for Aurifil

THE GIVEAWAY

HeatherJones-Rafflecopter

To enter-to-win 1 Heather Jones Aurifil Thread Collection and one Fat Quarter Bundle of Color Dash by Heather Jones for Robert Kaufman,  click here to head to the Rafflecopter entry page, or simply click on the image above. You do not have to complete all the options to be entered but the more options you choose, the more entries you have!  Entries will be accepted from now through 11:59pm Eastern Time on Monday, August 8! Winner will be randomly selected and announced here on Tuesday, August 9. Good luck!

Update (8.9): This Giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Katy M!!

ABOUT HEATHER
WebsiteBlog — PinterestInstagramTwitter
heather jones new headshotHeather Jones is an author, designer and self-taught quilter who lives outside of Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two young children. Her first solo book, Quilt Local: Finding Inspiration in the Everydaywas released in October 2015. She is the founder and former president of the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild; three of her original quilts were chosen as winners of “Project Modern,” a year-long national quilting design competition sponsored by the national Modern Quilt Guild; and she is also a two-time finalist for the Martha Stewart American Made Awards. Heather is often inspired by everyday places and things, and is excited by the challenge to translate that inspiration into her work. She has a great love and respect for the traditional art of quilting, is an avid collector of vintage quilts, and loves to bring a modern twist to traditional patterns. Heather’s modern quilting patterns are available at a number of online locations and she will soon be bringing the Heather Jones Studio patterns to print as well. Her work has also been featured in numerous publications, most recently in “Lucky Spool’s Essential Guide to Modern Quilting” (2014), “Quilting the New Classics” by Michele Muska (2014), and magazines including Quilty, Quiltmaker, Modern Patchwork, Generation Q, and Love Patchwork and Quilting.

Heather has taught quilting and design workshops nationally at venues such as the Makerie in Boulder, Colorado; QuiltCon in Austin, Texas and Pasadena, California; International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California; and A Gathering of Stitches in Portland, Maine, and at many shops and guild across the country. She offers online workshops through Creativebug.com, and has also has appeared on Quilting Arts TV. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the New England Quilt Museum, QuiltCon, International Quilt Festival, and the University of Dayton, among others.

**All images and biographical text courtesy of Heather Jones.

140 comments

  1. I love this fabric line. They will make wonderful blenders. I also love Aurifil threads, I own 4 collections. It is the only thread I use. I gave the rest of it all away.

  2. The dash quilt made with Color Dash is very bright and striking. I like the way the lime green goes with the dark fuchsia.

  3. Oh! Such wonderful fabrics and threads!!
    My favorite project(s!) are all the ones I’ve made for and gifted to people, and *I see them using and enjoying!!*
    I loved designing and creating a special quilt for my aunt, and it delights me to see how she so enjoys it! I love seeing that the quilted tote bag I made for my daughter-in-law, with my design for a paper pieced (the first for me!) frog, is her favorite that she uses all the time!
    Thank you!
    Pat T.

  4. I love the quilting design on your quilts-very interesting, very different. My favorite quilt will always be my Hanky quilt, the first attempt at quilting for me. I didn’t follow any of the standard rules, just went for it! It took me a while to collect 123 hankies, vintage & new-hand & machine quilted-very proud of it.

  5. I make lots of sewing quilting items and sadly a lot of UFOs but I have to say my favorite finish has to be my mini Death Star quilt for my hubby its stilly finished and hanging on the wall in his space

  6. My favorite project is the one I’m working on now because it’s so modern and bright and all solid colors which I’ve never done before and it’s also a paper piecing project which I’ve never done before either and now I love paper piecing!

  7. Hard to pick a favorite, the ones I made we use everyday always bring me smiles. Love your new line and the thread WOW.

  8. My favorite projects are ones that bring joy when I give them away. I wnjoy working with color, and this thread and fabric collection are stunning! I am in color love!

  9. my favorite quilting project was my very first quilt – i am so proud of it and use it almost every day

  10. I was working on a bow tie red,white,and blue quilt when 9/11 happened. It’s my favorite quilt.

  11. I have many “favorites” that I have gifted. Guess my most memorable favorite was given to my sister. She was so pleased. Love this line of fabrics. Aurifil threads are the best!

  12. My favorite quilt that I have made was a sampler quilt that I made for my niece in honor of her high school graduation.

  13. Loved this interview! It’s so interesting to read about these designers. Thank you Aurifil!
    My favorite project was a mini wall hanging I made last summer that I called A Girl on a Swing. It was a patchwork background with appliqued tree and a rope swing with a younger “me” swinging away!

  14. Love the Color Dash Quilt! My favorite quilt I’ve made is a mini improv New York Beauty, that I did with my absolute favorite colors, including a blue solid that I’ve never found again.

  15. Asking which quilt is my favorite is really an impossible question! You know that, right? But it might be my first, which is an oversized pattern for a Trip Around the World, because it is on our guest bed, and every time someone stays at our house, they are kept warm–and more importantly, are welcomed–by something I made, and that we love, and which really represents our home and “us”.

  16. What a bundle of loveliness that someone will win!!! Love both the fabric and the thread collection. I can think of sone many things I would make with this.

  17. My favorite project, at least at this point in time, is a quilt I recently made for my cousin who just retired. The fabrics were fun to use and I did free motion quilting which actually looked good.
    The Color Dash fabrics look wonderful as well as the matching thread. What a treat to win.

  18. My favorite project always seems to be the one that I am working on. But, if I have to choose only one, it is a Hunter Star quilt that I have finished the piecing and now have to quilt.

  19. My favorite project was a quilt for my granddaughter using fabrics she chose and a pattern of my own design.

  20. Thanks for the chance to win some great fabric and beautiful thread.
    It’s tough to choose a favourite quilt but, if I must choose, it would be my appliqued friendship tree. A friend gave me some fabric to use as a challenge and I turned it into a tree with leaves of assorted fabrics, including her choice. I hand stitched around every tiny branch and leaf of that tree and stitched the words buddy chum pal and friend in the corners. A different version of that same quilt won another fabric challenge.

  21. Favorite project ever … is this like a favorite child? Hmmm. .. quilting since the mid 70’s that’s just not possible for me 😉

  22. tough question – I think the baby quilt i just finished was pretty amazing. it was made using Elizabeth Hartman’s Preppy Pod quilt design.

  23. My current favorite quilt is the Union Jack quilt that I made for my husband. I think it might be his favorite as well.

  24. Loved the Interview…and fabrics are super!! Thank you for chance to win your Give-a-way too!! 😀

    My fave project has to be the HST’s Quilt I made for my Daughter 3 yrs ago! Was my first big quilt. 🙂

  25. My favorite project to date has to be the BOM I did through an on-line class. I used a green fabric for the background and I love how it turned out! I still need to quilt it, though, so it isn’t all the way complete!

  26. choosing a favorite? I thought that wasn’t allowed (like choosing a favorite child!)! I have several, but probably my double wedding ring, expertly quilting by Margaret Solomon Gunn. 🙂

  27. My favorite project was the first quilt I made, in 1985. It was a Lone Star wall hanging that I hand quilted. I absolutely loved the feeling of the fabric becoming a quilt!

  28. My favorite is so difficult! I’ve loved many of my projects. It depends on my mood at the time, I guess. Great collection. Thanks for the info.

  29. My favorite project I’ve ever made was an American Flag quilt that hangs in my livingroom yearround. It is the one quilt I will never part with. Lots and lots of HST’s.

  30. My favorites are the quilts I made for my son. He has several hanging on the walls in his house.

  31. My favorite project so far is a strip pieced quilt that I made for my son. It was my first quilt I made from start to finish and it made me feel like I had really accomplished something. Even to this day when I see it at his house I love how it looks.

  32. My favorite project is the one I’ve just started piecing. By the time I have to quilt it, it’s my least favorite. But when it’s done, it’s my favorite again. Such a rollercoaster of love, frustration, and hope in making a quilt!

  33. My favorite project is the one I am working on at the time. Right now it is an applique quilt, working on block 9 at the moment.

  34. My favorite project is always a baby quilt. So many options to play with and I love the expression on their faces when it is received!

  35. My favorite was the quilt I made for my new granddaughter. Our last name is Bird, so i of course I used a Bird theme!

  36. My favorite project was my “Polaroid” quilt, which I ended up selling at a craft fair last year. I might need to make another.

  37. My Tula Pink Anchors Aweigh quilt. It’s just so pretty, and it’s cooler than any quilt I’ve dreamed up on my own!

  38. My favorite project, though far from my best work, is the quilt I made when we lived on Oahu, which is the one that got me hooked on this crazy hobby. As I’ve progressed, I’ve learned the difference between quilt shop quality fabrics and threads. I’m definitely an Aurifil devotee. And hold me back in a LQS that skews modern. Yikes, stripes!!

  39. Oh, it’s hard to choose just one thing!! But, if I must, I was very pleased with the 2015 BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop and love my Aurifil thread! Just purchased the boxes to keep the spools in and organized. Thanks for the opportunity to win this fabulous prize!

  40. one of my first quilts, applique blocks of Alaska scenes similar to Alaska sunbonnet sue, is my all time favorite. it’s the only hand-appliqued piece I’ve worked, took no time at all and began my love affair with applique.

  41. Ooooh! I love these bright, modern, playful Color Dash fabrics! Having a luscious, matching Aurifil thread set to go with the FQ Bundle is a dream come true! I thank you for this giveaway opportunity and really hope you’ll pick me as your winner…

  42. My favourite anything is always so hard for me to pick but right now it’s probably my x-plus quilt I made with the help of my #truenorthbee ladies this past year!

  43. When my first granddaughter was born. I made a heirloom christening gown for her. Even though I had sewn garnets for over 50 years, I still learned new techniques making this gown.

  44. My teenager and I worked on a pink, brown, and white quilt together. It’s on her bed right now, and it’s my favorite project!

  45. I have a pillow with an embroidered sleeping bear on it that I made with i was in my 10s. My mother helped me finish it because I wasn’t allowed to use the sewing machine until I was responsible enough to not sew my fingers.

  46. My favorite project is always the one I’m currently working on…right now I’m working on a QCR Pumpkin Table Runner.

    I’m swooning over Heather Jones new color dash line and the beautiful Aurifil coordinating collection!

  47. Such beautiful colors! My favorite project would be my first quilt. I made a log cabin for my mother. The satisfaction I got with making it and the joy on my mom’s face were so very rewarding.

  48. My favorite project out of all the my projects was an apron for 7th grade Home Economics. This was to be a 6 week project. I had learned to sew under my wonderful mother’s loving guidance years before this beginning (required) class.My apron was complete in a couple of classes (not weeks) so I spend the rest of the course embroidering a very colorful rooster on the bib of the bright orange apron and being the teacher’s junior assistant helping the other girls finish their projects. I loved the class, the teacher and the apron! Such fun!

  49. One of my favourite projects is a lap quilt that I made for my grandmother when I first started quilting. When she passed away the quilt came back to me and every time I use it, I think of her.

  50. I haven’t made that many as I am a beginner, but the first quilt, which was a log cabin heart wall-hanging is my favorite.

  51. I made my mother in law a log cabin quilt – she loved it and I loved making it for her – it was my favorite quilt !

  52. I love this new fabric line….so versatile! I have too many projects to pick just one….

  53. It’s impossible for me to choose a favorite project. Every time I create something new or succeed at a new technique, it’s a fav! And I hope that never ends.

  54. I love the fabrics and threads in the giveaway! Thanks for the chance to win! My favorite project I’ve done so far is a paper pieced fox pillow. rosesabeyatyahoodotcom

  55. I just finished a minnie mouse quilt for a friend’s daughter. That was definitely my favorite project so far!

  56. Right now my favorite project is a Halloween quilt that I made – maybe because it’s one of the only finished quilts that I’ve kept! But the embroidered Mickey Mouse and Friends quilt that my husband helped me design will probably be my favorite…if I ever get it finished!
    Thanks so much for the chance to win 😉

  57. I think the quilt I gave my Mom (split nine patch ) done in her favorite colours was my favorite , she loved purples and fuchsias. I love that deep fuchsia.

  58. I adored a recent finish which were white wonky stars on a patchwork green background. I had students from my daughter’s kindergarten class decorate a charm square for the center of each wonky star and gifted it to their teacher. She loved it, but I missed it when it was gone!

  59. My favorite quilt is the one I designed for the pantone marsala 2015 challenge. It was a lot of firsts for me.

  60. For me it’s usually the one I’m currently working on. So that would be the Red and White Vortex quilt. I love this quilt.

  61. My favourite project of all time was a wedding quilt I made for someone and then couldn’t give it to them. I have saved it for one of my own children. I of course made a replacement quilt

  62. Lovely collection!
    My favorite thing so far has been a bag I made using a selvage that said “be open to whatever comes next.” I’m kinda in love w/ it.

  63. My favorite quilt is my triple bear paw quilt – It’s the only one I haven’t given to someone else!

  64. I am going to have to name 2 quilts. One was a t-shirt quilt for a granddaughter using her shirts from the Alabama Children Choir School which she sang in for 11 years. The traveling choir did tours in Europe, Hawaii, Williamsburg, etc. The fabrics were perfect for the quilt and I PP musical notes for the corners. The 2nd quilt was a wall quilt for another granddaughter who is a senior at the University of Alabama. The quilt has an elephant in red and white on a grey background.

  65. My favorite project is usually the one that I’m working on right now (smile…). But, overall, my favorite project in the past few months is my Sarasota Sunset quilt.

  66. I made a baby quilt for my first grand nephew that was all pieced words of what a baby would do: eat, fuss, sleep, snuggle etc.
    This is a fantastic fabric and thread collection. Hope you pick me to win!

  67. Beautiful fabric and beautiful thread colors! I have two favorite quilts – ‘Postcards from Sweden’ with Kona solids and Tessellation quilt made with ombres.

  68. My favorite is a 9 Window Boxes wall hanging w/Dream Catchers, horses and Serape in turquoise, cream, copper prints. It hangs over me as dream/sleep.

  69. Beautiful collection! One of my all-time favorite projects has to be the first improv quilt I ever made. I didn’t know what it would turn into when I sat down with a pile of random purple scraps, but as I worked on it, it started to take the shape of a little gem (hence its name, “radiant gem”). Such a fun and rewarding process! 🙂

  70. My favorite project was a flannel rag quilt that I made for my daughter. It is me giving her a hug every time she covers up with it. Thanks!

  71. My favorite, so far, was a quilt that I made for Project Linus. I hope the recipient loved is as much as I did, and I was happy that it was for a good cause.

  72. So many projects and so hard to choose. Right now it is a recently completed project for the guild’s 2016 challenge to be revealed next month.

  73. My favorite project so far is an ordinary looking nine patch that I made with my grandmother when I was young. It’s not the most beautiful quilt I’ve made, but the memories are wonderful. Thanks for the chance to win this beautiful fabric and thread!

  74. My first quilt was one I started in College, finished 5 yrs later when I was expecting my first child. This fabric is beautiful.

  75. My favorite project was a postage stamp wedding quilt I made for my daughter. I look at it now, oh my can’t believe I cut and sewed all those tiny squares….

  76. I made a quilt out of French General’s Rouenneries fabric line for my mom, and since that is the first quilt I made and it got me hooked, it is my favorite.

  77. My favorite project was an applique circle quilt. It was my first applique quilt…loved the pink, brown, and lime colors of the quilt. And, all the satin stitching around all the circles. Was a fun quilt!

  78. My favorite project to sew has to be the backpack purses. I make one of a kind color combinations to make each one unique to each person!

  79. I have so many projects going on. I guess my fav is my collage quilt. It turned out beautifully

  80. My favorite project is the quilt I made for my daughter. It is lovely and made of my favorite Tula Pink fabric and quilted with a pretty Aurifil cross hatch, but the part that makes it my favorite is that she sleeps with it every night and wants nothing else!

  81. They are all my favorites. I put work and dedication into all of them to gift to the very people I love. Can I choose a favorite? That would be like choosing a favorite out of all of my friends and family who got quilts so far….. I love them all. Now with all this said, my latest favorite is the Chevron News quilt I made for my nephew for his high school graduation. I absolutely love the fabric line by Zen Chic.

    tushay3 (at) yahoo (dot) com

  82. My favorite project I ever made wasn’t a quilt. It was a dress I made for Easter for my daughter. I made it out of a vintage sheet.

  83. I learned a lot about the design process and working on a deadline when I made ‘Star Bright’ and entered it in a juried show. Favorite project so far!

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