We are thrilled to be a stop on the Photo Hop in celebration of Front Yard, Sandra Clemons’ debut collection for Michael Miller Fabrics. The collection was inspired by the landscape and movement of things in the front yard of her house. Front Yard features a lovely lineup of prints in two color ways, blueberry and blackberry. A range of purples & blues are offset by pops of green, pink and yellow. It’s a collection that is sure to inspire. Sandra’s coordinating thread collection offers a gorgeous range of colors in our 50wt thread.
THE PROJECT
Aurifil’s very own Hilary Jordan (also of Young Texan Mama) had some fun with Front Yard. We absolutely adore these stunning train cases that she whipped up using the Kismet Trinket Box pattern by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. The blue case uses Bunny Tracks in the blueberry color way along with Aurifil 50wt thread in #1125. The pink case uses Broken Hexie in the blueberry color way along with Aurifil 50wt in #2530. We particularly love that she quilted the Broken Hexie case following the pattern of the fabric!
THE THREAD
Front Yard
12 Large Spools, 50wt (1422yds/spool), 100% Cotton
2630 – 2600 – 2021 – 2530 – 2423 – 2214
5017 – 2710 – 1125 – 2783 – 2540 – 2479
10 Small Spools, 50wt (220yds/spool), 100% Cotton
2630 – 2600 – 2021 – 2423 – 2214
5017 – 2710 – 1125 – 2783 – 2540
To view this info on our website, click on any of the images above. For purchasing, please contact your local Aurifil Dealer.
THE INTERVIEW
What first drew you to the world of sewing and quilting?
Two women. My mom introduced me to sewing. She has a sewing business. In my youth she custom designed just about anything that needed to be sewn. It was mostly clothes for people, but I do remember a lot of doll clothes as well. As society shifted, people noticed that buying clothing was cheaper than making it. This change led to my mom shifting her work to tailoring and alterations. She now also does a lot of work for the military where she makes alternations and sews military patches, which is quite a meticulous process that needs the upmost attention to detail, something which she did with ease.
The other women is someone I don’t personally know, but her quilts introduced me to quilting. She is my husband’s great-grandmother. My first trip to ‘meet-the-parents’, I noticed these beautiful quilts laying around the house. I wanted to learn more about them and quickly. I purchased a quilting book for beginners and signed up for a quilting class at my local quilt shop. Now that I’ve quit my day job to take Make It Blossom (MIB) full time, I’m learning and researching our quilt history and how our history has inspired quilting in the modern era. I’m sharing my research on my blog, check it out by heading over to www.sandramakeitblossom.com.
Do you remember the process of creating your first quilt and how you felt once it was finished?
I do. It was a log cabin quilt from a discounted Debbie Mumm book for $4.95. It was sized at 120” x 120”. I made the entire thing. It has all my firsts. The first time I selected all the fabric for a quilt, the first time I cut with a rotary cutter. It was also first time I pieced, and then ripped, and pieced again, as well as the first time I spray basted and machine quilted. I meandered the entire quilt through 4-1/2” of throat space on an old PFAFF. I’m very determined and sometimes naive. In hindsight, I didn’t understand what I was getting into, but I did finish the quilt before moving on to the next project.
[Check out all quilt patterns at Michael Miller Fabrics and Make it Blossom]
Front Yard debuted at Fall Quilt Market in Houston. Can you tell us a bit more about the line and what inspired its creation?
The Front Yard collection is inspired by my small moments in the front yard of our house with my daughter. This collection is about what she sees outside, a bird in the tree, bunnies hiding in the flowers, the distant city lights. The collection is illustrated with bright colors from my flowerbeds. Front Yard invites all to enjoy the small things outside and treasure the radiant color of summer. Join me on social media by finding me on instagram (sandra.clemons) and facebook (makeitblossom) where I share my creative process and the latest news on MIB. I also publish patterns and books, many of them showcase FRONT YARD. Head over to my website to find out more.
When did you first discover Aurifil threads and what do you love most about them? Do you have a favorite color/weight?
I knew about Aurifil when I first started quilting. Aurifil was very prominent at my favorite quilt shop. I knew about lint building up in sewing machines. Lint was a concern for me because I’m lazy when it comes to cleaning out my machine. I’d rather be stitching instead of taking a timeout to clean my machine. When the lady at the shop was pitching the Aurifil thread to a group of us, one of the benefits was that it produced less lint compared to other brands. When she said that, I was sold. Ever since, I hadn’t had any desire to try any other brands of threads. Why try something new when what you have is working wonderfully. I normally use the 50wt cotton.
How did you go about selecting threads for your latest Aurifil collection?
I knew I wanted a rainbow of colors with some neutrals. I used the Aurifil 50wt color card to audition colors to match the FRONT YARD collection. Then, I decided I wanted to make sure I had a variety of lights and darks of color. Soon, I was able to narrow it down to 12 colors for the large box and 10 for the small box.
THE GIVEAWAY
To enter-to-win 1 Large Front Yard Thread Collection by Sandra Clemons for Aurifil, 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, January 2! Winner will be randomly selected and announced here on Tuesday, January 3. Good luck!
UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Vicki Hill!
To enter-to-win one FQ Bundle of Front Yard, make sure to follow @sandra.clemons and @michaelmillerfabrics. Repost the photo hop image at the top of this post using the following tags: #makeitblossom, #frontyardfabric, and #michaelmillerfabrics. Drawing occurs at the end of the Photo Hop. You can learn more about the hop by visiting Sandra’s blog for details.
ABOUT SANDRA
Website — Blog — Facebook — Instagram — Pinterest — Etsy
Sandra lives in Denver, Colorado along with her husband and daughter and when she’s not quilting, enjoys running, hybrid workouts, yoga, photography, tennis, hiking, travel and sports.
[Most images + all interview answers and biographical information courtesy of Sandra Clemons.]