Aurifil 2017 April Designer of the Month – Sue Marsh

I’m Designer, Author, Talk Show host Pat Sloan.

This year we are celebrating the rainbow of colors in our color wheel. Each designer is assigned a color to create their block in.

Sue Marsh’s company name says it all, Whistlepig Creek, she designs fun and whimsical patchwork & applique.

Her signature color is Purple, so she wraps up the array with Red/Purple!

And the Challenge part continues as each month we select one random winner to receive a 12 spool BOX of Aurifil thread for just making the challenge block and sharing it at my website! (details at the end plus last month’s winner!)

Let’s get to know Sue!

Where do you live and what is your favorite spot there?

I live in Arvada Colorado. Arvada is chocked full of parks and trails and open space and even though it is a suburb of Denver, it still has a small town, country feel about it.

My favorite place in town is right in my back yard where our deck overlooks a small pond and trees have grown up so when you are enjoying a cup of coffee by the fire pit, you can almost feel transported.

Right after that is our beautiful cabin in the mountains. Yup – I am a lucky girl.

When was your FIRST quilt sighting?

My first quilt sighting was at an auction in Iowa. I was about 10 years old with no money of my own. The handmade quilt that sold for $30 was just out of reach. I think that is when the obsessive seed was planted. A few years later in high school, I made my first quilt. It was a queen size variable star quilt. Of course that was before rotary cutters and the like so I hand cut each and every piece. 100% cotton was a foreign concept. I used the cheapest muslin I could find for the background and backed it with a percale sheet. After which I tied it with yarn. It was glorious. And, like many of us, it was a gift to someone. There are no photos for evidence!

Did you have a career prior this, what was it?

I have a Petroleum Engineering degree and graduated in the mid 80’s right when oil bottomed out. I found myself sewing craft items and selling them at craft shows to pay my rent. I re-trained myself to develop software. This was at a time when PC’s were first coming available and the demand for Software Engineers was on the rise. I work as a Software Engineer for 20 years. About half way through this was when I started my business. It started small and grew and morphed over the years. I was working two full time jobs! Hubby finally said Pick One! So I quit that high paying high tech job and continued with Whistlepig full time.

Have you had a ‘light bulb’ moment in making

I would like to say rotary cutters as I started quilting before they existed, but that would be like say I discovered scissors! A game changer for me was fusible fleece. After I discovered that and started designing bags – my whole business changed dramatically. Then there were charm squares and pre-cuts. I have had several “Ah Ha” moments!

What does your studio look like, and what would you change in it?

Lordy –

My workshop is in an unfinished basement where I am free to hammer a nail anywhere I like and hang things from the ceiling. I am always in various stages of trying to get organized.

My style seems to be perpetual mess. “If I’ve got it..it’s here somewhere”. Just as soon as I get my workspace cleared up, I cover it up again. I have a 6’ x 9’ cutting table and seem to have 2 square feet to work in.

I’ve tried really hard to work differently, but I always land back here.

Do you have a GREAT tip on either storage, organization, sewing, stitching?

I love pegboard for storing odd items and rulers.

What are your 3 favorite colors of Aurifil thread?

Purple (2540), Hot Pink (2588), and Lime Green (5017).

Anything else you’d like to share?

I have three new RJR fabric lines in the pipe line Happy Owl-O-Ween shipping in May, Pow Wow Wow shipping in September

and Llama Llama Bo Bama shipping in January 2018

What is it about your color that inspired you?

I love purple! Every shade. Always have, always will. Violet, Wine, Mulberry, Plum, Eggplant, Aubergine, Boysenberry, and Grape are just some of the glorious names given to the various shades of Red Purple.

Purple is the color of my favorite flowers. Lilacs, iris, violets, and clematis to name just a few. They come in all shades of purple, including my “red-purple”. I’m not sure if they are my favorite flowers because they are purple or purple is my favorite color because of the flowers.

Red-Purple can be the color of wine. Claret, Bordeaux, Merlot, Cabernet. The names are so melodic simply thinking of wine is relaxing. Though referred to as “red wines”, when the light shines through a glass, they are the most delicious shades of purple.

Purple is the color of the mountains. Purple Mountains Majesty, as the song says, only begins to describe the beauty of my home. If you are lucky enough to live in Colorado, you are lucky enough.

Violet is the final color in the rainbow spectrum. Like an exclamation point on the promise of a new beginning.

Even sunrises, the coming of a new day and the potential for all it offers are colored with shades of purple, including my shade. What can be more fitting. Purple is my favorite color.

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DOWNLOAD New Direction Block

tip – Sue likes this video on how to use paper templates

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And a few on the light side…

• If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to, and Why? – I am completely drawn to Middle Ages England, though I can’t explain exactly why. Perhaps it is the architecture. Perhaps it was the rapid changes in art and science. I do know that when I visited England a few years back it seemed familiar territory and that home was welcoming me back.

What’s the most interesting thing you see out of your office or kitchen window?  –Again – I am a lucky girl. My home office is fully surrounded by large windows that let in a lot of natural light. We live smack dab in the city, but our home was built in a little nook that used to be country side. When I look out my office window I see large trees and homes that are beautifully landscaped. Right now it is snowing and it is stunning. My sewing is in the basement, but it is a walk out basement with large windows where I get to enjoy the same beautiful landscape. We have a small pond just outside that gives me the feeling of a mountain creek when it is running in the summer. It’s all rather peaceful.

We are fortunate enough to have a cabin in the mountains where I also have a sewing space with large windows. We have beautiful large rocks and trees surrounding us. It’s not unusually for deer to saunter by and there is always a lovely view of mountain peaks.

• Are you a Dog or Cat person?  While I love animals of all sorts, I have cats. Right now I have three, but I have had up to six at once. Cats and quilting just sort of go together! I have cat hair on virtually everything and keep a large supply of lint rollers nearby. Our newest kitten finds great pleasure in sleeping on my fabric stash. Every. Single. Piece. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

• What is your favorite book you have ever read?. I read most every night before I sleep, but it is usually trivia and short paragraphs. My favorite or most memorable book I think goes way back to high school. I read “Carrie” by Stephen King. I literally stayed up all night. I couldn’t put it down. It was a thriller indeed!

Visit Sue at

• www.wpcreek.com
• www.pinterest.com/WhistlepigCreek
• www.facebook.com/WhistlepigCreek

For 2017 I am making all my blocks with French General fabric. I have all 4 blocks together at my website  

ENTER YOUR BLOCK so you can be in the running to win a box of thread, last month’s winner is below

And  JOIN my fantastic online quilt group with the most incredible  quilt show each day… I’d love to meet you!

******* JOIN our Aurifil Family  *******

EACH MONTH we will pick one random winner that has made a block.. that person will receive a special Aurifil thread prize! Winners are all contacted email

Our RANDOM picker this month selected this darling Kawaii entey from Trisha!  She has WON a BOX of Aurifil thread! Such gorgeous blocks entered .. see all the great versions at the Mar post HERE

REMEMBER – The Photo entry is moved to my website where more people can enter, right HERE

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