We are incredibly thrilled to be part of the kick-off to a whole new Splendid Sampler™ sew-along, hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson of Want it, Need it, Quilt. If you are visiting Auribuzz for the first time, welcome!! We’re glad that you found us and are truly looking forward to seeing all of the gorgeous blocks that you’ll all be creating over the next year!
We post all sorts of thread-related news here, including designer spotlights, collection announcements, thread info, how-tos, quick tutorials, giveaways (don’t miss today’s giveaway, right here in this post!), and more! We hope that you’ll stick around and have some fun:).
The Splendid Sampler 2™ follows on the heels of The Splendid Sampler™, a wildly popular sew-along that launched in 2016, pulled together over 80 talented designers, and engaged nearly 100,000 quilters worldwide. This new book will again offer 100 quilt blocks authored by a remarkable community of quilters. The sew-along kicks off today and a series of 20 free blocks will follow, one released every Thursday throughout the Summer!
One of our favorite things about the Splendid Sampler is that each block comes with a story — in this case, ‘Best Quilting Life’. For each introductory blog post, you’ll learn about what inspired the block and what it means to the designer who created it.
Today’s block is by our very own Alex Veronelli and we couldn’t be more excited! Alex and business partner Elena Gregotti disovered the quilting market back in 2000. As manufacturers of a fine, high-quality 100% Cotton thread, they quickly discovered that it was a perfect fit. They launched Aurifil USA in 2007 with a primary focus on sewing & quilting and took the industry by storm. Aurifil has been a mainstay of the twice yearly (Spring & Fall) industry trade show called International Quilt Market ever since, so it’s incredibly fitting that Alex’s block is titled Quilt Market.
Alex is always known as a vibrant presence, strolling (or scooting) up and down the aisles, checking in with old friends and making new connections. He feels incredibly honored to be included in this sew-along and hopes that you love his block!
“The center of the quilting industry is International Quilt Market. Twice a year, designers, manufacturers, and quilt-shop owners share the beauty of fabric, the variety of stunning quilts, the newest innovations, and most importantly, the building of lasting relationships. When attending Quilt Market, I’m surrounded by friends in an inviting environment. I feel like I’m home.” — Alex
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HEAD HERE FOR THE FREE PATTERN
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Though Alex hasn’t yet embarked on his own quilting adventure, three of us here at Aurifil had to give his block a try. Hilary and Kate are both more experienced quilters, while Erin would consider herself to be a novice. The fun thing is that the block works for all levels! We can’t wait to see how you all pull together your quilt market ‘aisles’.
KATE
Fabric: Caturday by Felice Regina for Windham Fabrics
Thread: Aurifil 50wt, #2600 (Always!)
This is a great block to ‘go scrappy’. Part of my New Year’s resolution was to use more of my scraps! I used all trimmings from other blocks and was able to make a cute pin cushion with the bits I had leftover from squaring up this block.
HILARY
Fabric: Kona™ White (Robert Kaufman) + Rainbow FQs from my stash!
Thread: Aurifil 50wt, #2600
One of my goals for 2018 is to use fabrics from my stash, so I figured the best way to use as many as possible was to use a little bit of every color for this sew along. 😉
ERIN
Fabric: Indah Batiks (Me and You/Hoffman Fabrics)
Thread: Aurifil 50wt, #6722
I had so much fun with this one and what a treat to make something on behalf of Alex:). Confession time — I’ve never made a full quilt. This year, I’ve thrown myself into a few QALs and am determined to finish at least one! I thought it might be fun to offer a few tips from a beginner’s perspective:
- Don’t be afraid to build a tribe of trusted and more experienced quilters! As a new quilter, you’ll likely have LOTS of questions (I have at least a few for every block I do) and it helps to have a few friends who are willing to help you out. In my case, I have Hilary and Kate and I’m so grateful!
- Read through the pattern, understand how the block goes together, and work in shortcuts where you can. As a mom to two toddlers with a full-time job to boot, I’ve got limited time. For this block, rather than making and then trimming each section, I made all strips at once by strip piecing. I was able to sew it up in a flash!
- Batiks are AMAZING for beginners — since both sides are equally as beautiful, you don’t have worry about right side/wrong side, eliminating one ‘oops’ that could make you turn to the seam ripper.
- Embrace the imperfect!!
GIVEAWAY!!
Making your own? You might need some thread to get you started! Leave us a comment here with your favorite quilting story and we’ll select a random commenter to win an Aurifil Prize Pack (Large collection + Color Card) on Friday, June 22! Open to all of our friends, worldwide!
Just love this post, thank you so much for this insightful article– sharing!!
I’m a new quilter and just left a guild meeting where Karen Miller shared her view of how she loves Aurifil thread. I have never tried Aurifil but will purchase some before I tackle my next project. New to this blog but will check back often. Thanks!
Aurifil has been my go to thread since I began sewing over 10 years ago. I love it!
I was so intrigued by a quilt gifted from my mother-in-law that I wanted to make my own quilt. My husband bought me a sewing machine, I took a class on piecing, and I’ve never looked back. That was over 18 years ago, too. Funny how you can find your passion, and Aurifil is with me all the way!
My sweet friend Krista is one of the designers for Splendid Sampler2, I can’t wait to see what she has designed!
My favourite thing about quilting – so many stories to tell – is the impact it has on the people who create and receive quilts. At our quilt show last weekend the education area had a display on Quilts With Meaning. Such a moving and impactful display illustrating the power of a quilt to heal, memorialize or make a statement. It gave a broader view of the purpose of a quilt to the viewing public.
Excited about this sampler 2 bom. This will be my first join. I’m new and the closest I’ve gotten to a quilt is a table topper/placement. Proud – I made applique hearts.
Erin’s colors….wow!
I would often say to my friends ” I’m never going to quilt ” now they often remind me of this as I’m sitting at my machine sewing or putting a binding on. I just love quilting and have met a lot of talented people, one thing does stand out in the quilting community is that they are so friendly and always ready and willing to help you if you need help on a project.
I was making a quilt for my one grandson and all it needed was the binding. I took the quilt with me while I was babysitting him and his brother. He sat next to me under the quilt while I did the hand stitching.
Love your rainbow colored blocks. I am very excited about Sampler 2 ( although this will make my 4th!!! Lol) I made 3 sets of blocks the first time around. A blue and white….red and white and what a call country colors sets…noticed I said sets…hopefully soon to become I love thread and would love to add these to my stash.
I started quilting when I had a burnout 15 years ago .I am still working but also quilt every day. It’s gives me much joy and pleasure. Instead of medicines start with quilting when you are depressed. All that colors, all the shapes, all the materials and making something greats. I blessed the day when I STARTED WITH THIS GREAT HOBBY.
My favorite quilt story is when I was 11 years old and watching the little ones while the mothers were doing their thing. I went to take one of the kids to his mom and saw the most beautiful thing ever! I already knew how to use a sewing machine, crochet, embroidery, needlepoint. I can never keep my hands still since I started at the age of four. The women were hand quilting around a loom and I just looked at them and told them you need to teach me and find someone else to help with the kids. I made my first hand quilt by the age of 12. I love quilting!
Thank you for all your tips. Love sewing and quilting and Auriful!
Favorite quilting story….I think it would have to be when my quilting angel gave me her leftover 2” squares of Grace fabrics and I made a winning quilt from them. What a treasure!
I tried many other threads before finding Aurifil, now I only buy Aurifil. Love your blocks, this will be fun!
I was thrilled to meet Alex at the Not Fade Away Conference for the Quilt Alliance in 2015. Now, I always “Document, Preserve, Share” with labels on my quilts.
About 10 years ago I bought my 2nd Bernina, a 730, which came with a Bernina Stitch Regulator. I was so fortunate that Rogers sewing center (Rogers, AR) offered a class taught by Wendy Sheppard!! I’ve called her “friend” ever since! She introduced me to Aurifil thread & that’s all I’ve used since!! I free motion quilt all my quilts including queen size on my Bernina 710, saving the 730 for just embroidery.
Congratulations to Alex Veronelli, Aurifil and you three lovely ladies for designing and sharing such a beautiful block. Loving the colorways Hilary, Kate and Erin — WOO HOO! I’ll just have to make this one too. I’m thinking it’s perfect for selvage… Stay tuned 😉 xoxoxox
So many threads; so little time! But I’m working my way through. Thank you for a great thread.
I wasn’t going to join another quilt along but I can’t resist! Saw amazing presentations on Aurifil last week and get to meet Alex next year!
When I first met my mother-in-law and stayed over at their home, there was an obviously well loved and quite worn quilt covering my bed. My MIL didn’t know who the maker was, only that it was made by a family member of long ago. It was so soft,, beautifully pieced and hand quilted. I knew then that I wanted quilts on my own beds when we had a home of our own. It took many years before finally achieving that goal, but now I’ve made close to 100 quilts, given the majority away, and still try to quilt every day.
For me, Quilting is a never ending adventure. Each aspect brings pleasure and challenges me to break out of my comfort zone. Designing, choosing and finding fabric, piecing and quilting are each a journey to be enjoyed. Quality fabric and thread are essential.
Favorite story – hard to choose! I guess it would be when my first son got married and I was unsure about making a quilt for them, I wasn’t really sure if it would be wanted or appreciated by my new DIL, some people don’t really like quilts. And then they were opening presents, she opened the box and started crying, she had wanted a quilt made by me but wasn’t sure how to ask! Ten years later their quilt is still in use and they even painted their bedroom in the colors of the quilt. Thank you for the chance to win!
Hard to think of a favorite story (as in single story), but my favorite quilts are always those that I make for gifts and give without a special occasion to someone. I’ve yet to have anyone not be happy to get it and eveyone uses them. What else can I ask for. Thanks for hte chance to win!
I took a class in Millersburg,Ohio taught by Pat Sloan. What a wonderful weekend of shopping, quilting and friendship revolving around this fabulous sport of quilting.
One of my favorite quilting stories is about making my first quilt. I had chosen my pattern with my mother but after she passed away suddenly I was at a standstill, wanting to start but feeling both so sad and so unsure of what to do. Enter one of my best friends from high school. She flew in with her sewing machine and I went to her hotel room, where she taught me the basics of quilting, started cutting out the strips of my first quilt, and watched over me as I sat at the machine and got started on the new love of my life.
This isn’t a story so much as a comment. I love the inter-generational friendships that I’ve made through quilting! So fun trying new techniques and learning from others.
So, because we love aurifil thread, my friends and I have decided to get rid of all our old thread ! We have started to buy Aurifil thread collections, so this would be awesome! Thank you!
First quilt was made by hand many years for the birth of my first son but it was when I was ill with ME that I took to quilting again and soon found Aurifil thread – which I have been using ever since. Although over the ME (or in remission), I continue to quilt, no longer by hand, and love using the neutrals and the colours of Aurifil.
I’ve always wanted to have my very own hand-made quilt. I took me almost 42 years of living to finally have one. My husband, the love for the rest of my life purchased a 3-year anniversary quilt made by a little lady in an Amish countryside for me. I love the quilt! Now I make my own because I have more confidence and (eek) money to purchase little bits of fabric here and there 😉
I was introduced to Aurifil thread when I took a Free Motion quilt class with Karen Miller. Love the thread!!! Beautiful block, can’t wait to make it.
I make quilts for all my friends when they have their babies. I use to make sure they work fit the cribs perfectly by going in my sons room and testing them. Well he LOVES quilts and would chase me through his room as I flipped it on his crib to test and run out the room. He would cry when I took the quilt back fast lol. I’m now on baby number 2 and he LOVES sitting in his high chair watching me sew. I’ll have a house full of helpers!
Quilting is my therapy. It helps me unwind after long days of working with special needs children. Even just sitting in my sewing room is soothing to me.
When I was first bitten by the quilting bug, I took a class at my local quilt shop. Everyone was so friendly and helpful I just had to take another class which, of course, let to another. Aurifil hadn’t hit our markets yet but when I found it a few years ago I use nothing else.
Good morning! I love your thread! I have great quilting memories…sewing with my sisters, being part of a quilt quild, seeing my aunt’s hand sewn quilts. Lots of inspiration our there!
My favorite story is when my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter woke me up one Saturday morning and said “Mumsy, wake up! Let’s go make a kilt ! (Quilt)
I have been sewing since about age 10. I found quilting in 1972 and have loved it from the beginning.
My favorite story is that of the lady who introduced me to quilting. She had grown up on a farm and her dad used to chop the pieces of fabric they would use for a quilt with an axe using a piece of wood as a template. She introduced me to the world of quilting and it has become my greatest passion.
My favorite quilt story is of a quilt memory. I was 7 and my grandmother was making a Sue Bonnet quilt. I was in awe with her work and was curious as to what a “quilt” was. I spent my time watching her build her blocks until they were sewn into a quilt top. Then I watched her tie the quilt with yarn. 6 years later I had asked my grandma if she still had the templates for Sue Bonnet and I told her I was going to attempt my own quilt. That was my first completed quilt. When I has my 3rd child, my grandmother offered her the SB quilt that I had watched her make so many years ago. Today my daughter lugs her quilt all around and said she’s taking it with her to college this fall.
I was at a college Moms Weekend with my daughter, who was a junior at Washington State University. She has never been interested in quilting or the quilts i make for others, but mentioned a nearby quilt show taking place that weekend because she knew I would enjoy it. We were walking down the aisles, looking at the various quilts, when she came to a standstill. In front of her was Laura Heine’s Ol’ Blue Pickup collage quilt. My daughter turned to me and said “you HAVE to make me that quilt!” It now hangs in her apartment, and won Best of Show both times I entered it in competition.
I use quilting as an escape from the choas in the house, when I am at my sewing machine, my kids are expected to give mommy some alone time. It is also a craft that produces beautiful results, which is very satisfying. Thanks for the chance to win, just tried Aurifil, and love the results when piecing.
I love color and the blocks and thread are so satisfying visually. I will be following along and making as many block as I can!
I couldn’t wait to retire so I could join my local Quilt Guild! Now I can sew and visit with my QUILTY friends when ever I want! Now that I have found Aurifil thread, that’s all I buy!
I started sewing at age 9 on my grandmothers singer, I did not stop I was hooked.Quilting came into my life 7 years now, I did not start out with Aurifil thread, but I use it now, its a great product, I like to use the best in my quilts and projects, I have met some very nice people who quilt and enjoy seeing peoples faces when I give them a quilt I have made ,especially for babies.
My late Grandmother was a very accomplished quilter. She intended for all of her quilts to be used and if she gifted you a quilt she enclosed a little note telling you to USE it, not STORE it! The first quilt she gave me has brought me comfort in times of loss, joy in playing with my children on the quilt and now it still serves as a picnic blanket, fort cover or whatever else my Grands want to use it for. I have one friend that is aghast that I allow this treasure to be “so abused”, but I know this is exactly what my Grandma wanted.
I took a class at our local community college for Quilting. I wanted to learn how to do everything by hand. I love handwork, but after taking 3 months to finish my first quilt I wanted to make quilts faster. I took a machine piecing and Quilting class and was hooked! My husband surprised me with a Bernina 440QE and now I have a longarm as well! I love using Aurifil thread for my piecing! Thank you for the beautiful block and giveaway.
I have so many fabrics in my stash, I have used lots for charity quilts many tiles. It has helped me “grab and sew” as I call it. Love to sew this way and it helps me be more creative than just reading a pattern and following it. I only use aurifil thread, it likes my machine.
Quilting keeps me connected to my family. My Grandmother was a quilter and my Mother so it seems natural that my 2 sisters and I quilt. It makes for a lot of fun to take classes together.
What a terrific post. Aurifil is the only thread I use. I tried many others and there is no comparison. I love every one of Aurifil’s threads.
I love this block and look forward to quilting “along” each week. A great way to keep on task. My first quilt was a candlewick quilt which I was so pleased with at the time but unfortunately when I look at it now I still love the embroidery BUT the construction and quilting leave a lot to be desired. Thank goodness I have learned a lot since then. Maybe one day I will find time to pull the quilt apart and redo it.
Why redo it? That was your best at that time….enjoy it for the memories and its ability to show you how far you have come. It is a piece of your quilting history….No one starts out being a perfect quilter…it is all about the journey.
I love the new 80 wt thread! I use it for hand and machine applique. Blends so nicely I have converted slot of people!
*alot 😄
I love the “use it up” spirit of quiltmakers – no scrap is too small to be included in something beautiful. One of my most prized possessions is a Trip Around the World quilt made by my grandmother – out of scraps from my grandfather’s upholstery business! Gorgeous dark brocades shot with gold thread, a vibrant blue brocade backing and binding – truly unique, with (I suspect) an old wool blanket for batting.
I still get excited walking into quilt shops touching all the fabrics and coordinating threads. I have been quilting over 25 years and finally found Aurifil three years ago. It makes my machines sing. That in turn makes me happy. Thank you for all of the beauty.
I’m a newbie quilter and dream of buying aurifil thread! Since I’m so new to the craft, I hate to waste beautiful thread on less than stellar stitching. So I’m waiting until I get good enough to i can showcase the stitches!
I love using Aurifil, and my favorite project using Aurifil was my daughter’s graduation quilt. I created my own design to make a large mountain bike wheel on the top to celebrate my daughter’s accomplishment of the Ohio Interscholastic Racing League’s women’s varsity champion title her senior year. The back I pieced with 40+ fabrics that celebrated all that is Emily – prints of pizza, sunglasses, drums, ice cream, cereal, Sr trip to Disney world, music, etc. Truly a labor of love. And Aurifil made it easier – always consistent, always strong, always smooth.
Love love love Aurifil…my go to thread!! 😍
My story goes that I was talked into quilting by a coworker who said”You can do this!”. Being a novice sewer I jumped in and was I intimidated, but she was a great teacher and I owe many thanks to her. That was almost 30 years ago, and have been quilting off and on since then.
I recently made and gave a quilt, cotton top and minkie soft backing, for my great niece’s high school graduation, she posted a pic of herself under it later that day and said she was relaxing under her wonderful new “blankie” after a long day and that she would be doing that while studying at college . I didn’t mind she didn’t call it a quilt, calling it blankie sounded endearing and made me feel she was enjoying it and would keep her cozy while studying.
Cute blocks!
I’m taking a break from making quilts and sewing some summer garments. For some top stitching on the garments, I found that Aurifil threads are the best! They work beautifully with all my linen and add an elegant detail.
When I was recovering from two back surgeries last summer, I decided to clean up my stash of fabric and thread. I made a string quilt using stack after stack of the pieces in my closet. It turned out great and reminds me of an updated version of my grandmother’s scrap quilt.
Love my Aurifil thread – I have lots of the neutral shades and would love to branch out into color!
It is so much fun to sew along with my Aurifil friends; I love the block and seeing all of your versions!
I love thread; I love fabric; I love buttons; I love Quilters. A favorite quilting story? Well, I wasn’t going to do SS2 as I have a list of 59 works in progress, but then I saw your block, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Love these blocks ! What a great way to use up my stash and then quilt it with
a trusted thread.
That is a really nice pattern. I am looking forward to Splendid 2 even though Splendid 1 didn’t get done. When I was little we had a scrappy quilt and I remember playing Eye Spy with it and looking to try and figure out a pattern. Good Luck with your new adventure into the addictive world of quilting!
First I have to say my machine doesn’t like anything but aurifil thread. Many years ago when my children were young I began a wedding ring quilt to give to my parents for their 50th anniversary. I sent precut muslin center plates for each family to draw something that represented themselves. Well health problems interfered with any celebration but I did get back many of those centers. Fast forward to a few years ago. I took a class on the wedding ring quilt and was finally capable of putting those centers together. Instead of my Parents the quilt went as a wedding gift to one of my nephews.
The bride to be cried and I was thrilled that someone who knew what it ment received the quilt
That is sure a great block to start the sampler. My quilt story: I posted a block photo on a quilting forum and received an email asking about the fabric underneath the block, which was my black and white cat ironing board cover. I responded and we have been great friends ever since. All because of our love of quilting, and cats. 🙂 Thanks for the chance to win such a great prize.
My 3 quilting friends have become my best and closest friends. We shop together, quilt together and share life’s ups and downs. Even our husbands join the fun with our weely Friday night dinners.
I have recently started using Aurifil and love it. Am slowly transforming my thread to Aurifil. Quilting is very relaxing for me and I love gifting my creations. Maybe one day I will actually make something for myself. Happy quilting everyone!
I just finished quilting the Splendid Sampler 1 this week — using Aurifil thread! My quilting story is how I came to be a quilter. On our honeymoon in Kauai, my husband and I wandered into a fabric store, I’m not even sure why. I was dazzled by the lovely fabrics, especially the batiks, and I wanted to take them all home. The shop owner suggested I make a quilt so that I could pick out a pattern and a small piece of several fabrics. I didn’t even have a sewing machine! I chose an applique pattern of Hawaiian fish and over the next year I made the entire quilt, and quilted it, by hand. We still have our Honeymoon Quilt, but now I use a machine!
Quilting story? I bought a longarm to finish my own quilt tops. Once the word got out, people started asking me to do their tops. So I started a small business, which I finally quit so that I can finish my own tops, which are still in a stack in my closet. Meanwhile I am making more tops. I love Aurifil thread for piecing!
I was on a quilt retreat with my best friend. We were both working on large projects and each had a moment of disillusionment. We traded projects for about 30 minutes. It was just enough of a change, and now we are each part of the others quilt.
Love this block, my 5 yr old nephew has been helping me sew strips, which will be perfect for this block..
Awesome block! Can’t wait to get started!
So many quilting stories. My favorite is when I felt a great urgency to make a quilt for a friend I haven’t seen in years. Her son was very ill and I made her an X quilt stitched up with hugs. From the moment I knew I needed to make this to the moment I put it in the mail was 4 days. A marathon of love stitched together. Sometimes time is of the essence.
When I was working on some blocks in my sewing, I guess I was in there for quite a while. My German Shepherd. Phryne came in trying to get my attention when it did not work. She took her nose & flipped all my pieces on the floor. I quit.sewing went and sat on the couch & she jumped up and fell asleep.
My first quilt was made from vintage hankies, long before I knew anything about quilting! Now I am learning & practicing quilting through QAL’s and wonderful quilters newsletters! Thank you for a wonderful giveaway!
I love using Aurifil thread🧡💙💜❤️💛💚‼️💟😊
I learned to quilt when my kids were very young then stopped. I restarted during Row by Row 2016. I loved picking up free patterns or kits & learning new things to challenge myself. I have been the first to turn in a winning quilt for 2 years in a row! Winning to me is the really the learning, experiences, memories & more. My kids (now all elementary through high school age) know that all summer trips include quilt store stops along the way.
What a fun block!
i have been quilting for a long time and have many fond memories of times with quilting friends, but my favorite story is about quilting with my grnaddaughters. The oldest just turned 8 and loves to go through my stash and pick out fabrics. She has made her parents, sister, grand[parents and aunts and uncles each a patchwork pillow (with assistnace from me). She refuses to use simple patterns and her selection has included a barn and some pieced ears of corn. I love the big beaming smile she has when she gives her pillow to the recipient on their birthday. And I love when she says,”Sewing is a blast!”
Although I don’t have a specific story, my favorite quilting memories always involve sewing with my mother, daughter and aunt. I especially love going to retreats together. Wonderful shared memories of creating beauty together ❤️
My favorite quilt story is when I was teaching my granddaughter to sew “Turning Twenty” quilt blocks. All straight seams but hers were never straight. I finally found out why when I turned around from pressing to discover her taking “selfies” as the machine was sewing away! Beautiful threads!
I have 17 years of quilting stories, but the most amazing one is my daughters. They play in my sewing room. This year my 7 yr old pieced her first quilt all by herself. I was blown away. So, I put her on a chair next to my longarm and we quilted it together, taking turns, block by block. Mind blown! Of course, she gave it to her teacher (yay, teachers!)!
Wonderful block! I love the different fabrics in each sample! I’ve been using only Aurifil thread for several years.
My friend Angie and I met through our children (they ended up marrying each other) and we realized that we were both new quilters. I had been sewing since high school but she had never sewn before. She watched videos on how to sew and put together a quilt and soon she was making quilts. That was about 5 years ago and today she has a longarm and a business making quilts and quilting for others.
Teaching my niece to paper piece and then years later teaching her daughter to sew. Both are great memories!
I found Aurifil in 2010 but my local quilt shop only had a small supply. I was trying to collect reds for an applique quilt because I knew the thread would be perfect.
I’ve been sewing since I was in middle school, but didn’t learn how to quilt until my Grandmother taught me how to piece at the age of 15. I quickly pieced my first quilt and I was hooked. Throughout my life, I’ve quilted on and off, but in the last 5 years that sewing in the evenings is my treat after a long day and helps me get things done a little at a time. Because of this, my sewing machine sits right next to the couch and in the room with the big tv. My family wouldn’t see me in the evenings if my sewing area was somewhere else!
When I finished Splendid Sampler 1… i was proud of myself for finishing.. and thinking NEVER again. Then i heard of Splendid Sampler 2 and my instant thought was NOT!! But I’m up for another challenge and ready to go.
Too many best quilting stories over nearly 50 years of quilting! Best new adventure is co-stitching little blocks into pillows with my 4’yearmold granddaughter. She uses the pedal and I steer, or,Vic’s versus, while standing in front of me at the machine. @susansquiltstudio
My favorite quilt story is of me making a small hand pieced quilt for my Doll! It was a wonky little thing, but I loved it and Dolly seemed to too !
Favorite story, I started a very detailed paper piecing star many years ago. Got bored, gave the blocks to my mother. She put them together in more of a “scrappy looking” quilt. took her almost a year to finish it. It was later gifted to my niece, who loves it. My mom has since passed but the quilt will live on. One of the reasons I quilt!
I started quilting about 15 years ago. It started with a class at a local quilt store. Now that I am retired it is a wonderful hobby! I really enjoy using Aurifil thread. It is a great product.
My favorite quilt project is always the one I am currently working on, but sometimes it gets left behind.
My favorite quilting story is when my grandma showed me how to piece my first quilt.
Every year or so my quilt guild gets photos on fabric to make kid comfort quilts for young children for when their mother or father is deployed overseas. The pictures are of the child, their soldier parent and the whole family. There is a specific pattern we follow but use our own fabric choices. The quilts are quick to make but as I sew I can look at these children and their families and I pray for them and think of the sacrifices they make for our country. They are my favorite quilts to make.
I am fairly new to the quilting world – I’ve made about a half dozen quilts now, but I’m totally hooked. My sister and I quilt together, me in Calgary, her in Connecticut. We are constantly sending each other updates and ideas. And this year we are both following along with a block-of-the-month and making duplicate squares to send to each other so we can have matching quilts for our daughters!
So excited for this… This quilt is for ME.
My favorite quilting story is that I myself quilt…
I don’t get too much done because I have super busy kids…
Lots of sports activities…
I introduced my friend to quilting 15 years ago….
She has made more quilts than I can every imagine to do…
So proud of her…
Looking forward to this.
Some projects take longer than others. My daughter was almost 4 when the very patient owner of my LQS spent well over an hour helping her choose fabric for quilt “Mommy” was going to make. I had no hand in the fabric choices as they sent me next door to the coffee shop to wait. I started the quilt that day (almost 4 year olds are very persistant) and continued to work on intermittantly until it was done. As I was dertermined to get it done I finished the binding sitting in the parking lot of our local pack & ship store. Pack & ship store you say? Yes I was sending the completed quilt complete with Strawberry Shortcake fabrics to my sophomore college student several states away. She had no idea it was coming and her friends thought I had sent a massive amount of goodies in that really big care package :-). Everyone was quite surprised with the contents. My daughter was thrilled and her friends confused. She called to say it had arrived and I could almost hear the almost 4 year old voice again as she cried joyful tears and thanked me for finishing her quilt.
Every day I quilt is a “story”, sometimes a good one, sometimes not! Do love Aurifil thread and all the luscious colors. I use a lot of 2600 (?) Dove grey for piecing.
This looks like fun. A chance to make new connections and pick up some tips.
I especially like the tip about the green Aurifil thread. I’m on it.
I love quilting with my sister, we have sew much fun together, we get so involved that we forget to eat.
My grandmother made quilts. I bought my first quilt book (one of the few available then) when I was in colllege in the early 70s.
I began my quilting journey when I found 4 beautiful old quilt tops pieced by my grgrandmother in a stored trunk. Because I feared these quilt tops would crumble into dust I began to hand quilt them. I preserved two, then eventually had another repaired and quilted. One of truly did turn to dust-it was unsalvagable, but the ones I saved speak to me every day about the beauty we can create in any circumstance or situation. I’m a quilter!
my favorite quilting story ? Meeting Eleanor Burns in person at her shoppe and studio in San Marcos California. Nicest lady on the planet, she is my hero in the quilting world.
I can’t wait to get started on the Splendid Sampler II quilt! I have not tried Aurifil thread yet but I look forward to getting some soon.
My favourite quilting story – I’ve shared the story of two of my quilts this year on the website http://www.ukqu.co.uk – as I am one of the bloggers on the site. Today I shared the stories of these quilts with other foster carers, about how I have designed these quilts at times of stress and depression, and how doing this has been therapeutic for me – it has helped me deal with what I was facing. I’ve now been asked if the pictures of these quilts can be shared in other groups. I have always found doing some kind of craft very therapeutic, very calming, and I am never far from needle and thread – very often I’m found with tiffles on me (those little bits of thread that you get sticking to clothes).
Back in 1973, when I was a new immigrant to Canada a friend was bequeathed a sewing machine from her mother in law. She did not know how to use it but I did so I set out to teach her and she decided that she wanted a log cabin quilt for her queen size bed. We were both students and had little to no money so we went to fabric stores and asked for scraps. This was before fat quarters, jelly rolls, layer cakes and all the exciting pre cuts we have now. They gave away the little bits and we made a queen sized log cabin quilt. The only way which I had ever seen a quilt put together was by the rustic Indian quilt makers who sewed together the three sides, layered on the batting, and in a sequence of rolling and tucking and then unrolling and un-tucking “birthed” their quilt. This is what we did and used a broom handle to poke out the far corners. We then quilted it with big stitches in the same way as the Indian quilt makers whom I had grown up watching. It was such a beautiful quilt. I have, since, lost touch with that friend and I often wonder if the quilt has survived all these years.
My favorite quilt story is meeting all the people at our local quilt guild. I joined several years ago (my husband joined too) and I have loved meeting every month. I may even start going to a quilt guild that meets at a church that is only a few blocks from my house. All of the ladies have been so nice. I wish I had started quilting when I was much younger. I just love learning new stuff.
I love Aurifil thread! I have been quilting for years and the stories are numerous. Most recently, I made a Quilt for my middle son who is 51 this year. He is a singer so I made his Quilt with music-themed fabric. He left my house hugging his Quilt like a kid with a new toy.
I love Aurifil thread and I love all the colors that are available. I like your block a lot too.
The very first quilt I ever worked on was one I had inherited from a relative who had passed away. I was a novice sewer at that time so it was overwhelming at first. I went to the library and got out books on sewing and quilting. I watched “Sewing With Nancy” every Tuesday afternoon on PBS. I didn’t know any quilters so I was really on my own. We didn’t have You Tube or the internet yet, yes I am a dinosaur, but I muddled thorough and finished the beautiful quilt. It was on my daughters bed for a long time. That was almost 40 years ago and I have been quilting ever since. I’ve taken breaks through the years, but have always gone back to quilting. It is one of my greatest creative pleasures.
I’ve sewn quite a few quilts, small and large, and I use them often. Ones that I have sewn for my family, I tell them to use them and enjoy them, also. I don’t want them stored away. I’m going to sew a few of The Splendid Sampler 2 blocks for sure! Thank you, peterstankovich@comcast.net
Love this first block and the beautiful variations
I followed some good embroidery friends into this side of the textile arts. They are not only good friends but helpful ones as well. I have learned a lot, but I still have a lot to learn. Love the bright colors in these blocks.
I love sewing!
I’m trying to make 12 mini quilts so I can display one each month of the year. I’ve only made 3 so far so hoping to find some inspiration from the Splendid Sampler 2 blocks
i just made 4 blocks with the presser foot up…………oye, oye, oye.
when I started quilting almost 3 years ago I wanted good thread so when the quilt show came to Paducah Ky, I decided to to a survey, every time a quilter came into where I worked I ask “what thread do you use?” and I only got one answer Aurifil, but I didn’t stop there I went to the show and sat in the hall way and would stop quilters and 7 out of 20 said some other the rest said Aurifil. Now I am hooked…
Thank you. Dixie Lange
I love aurifil thread and am looking forward to using it on my splendid sampler 2
I first heard about Aurifil thread when I did the first Splendid Sampler. Had to get mine in Australia when I went there on holiday. Love it, great thread. Downloaded block 1 for SS2, will start on it tomorrow.
One of the most rewarding aspects of quilt making has been the appreciation I’ve received from the recipients of my gifted quilts. For example, I made personalized quilts for my 3 married children and their spouses and for my 4 grand children, and it warms my heart to see the quilts being used on a regular basis rather than being stored in a bottom drawer. I love Aurifil thread for piecing and quilting, and use it all the time for my projects!
I’m a retired RN. I always admired the precious quilts that some of my patients enjoyed when their family members brought them from home!!
My goal was to make a quilt someday if I lived long enough to retire!!
22 years ago, I prescribed to a quilting magazine and learned to piece a quilt..since then, I discovered Bernina and then Aurifil and your thread is the only one I will sew with!!!
Thank you for the beauty!!
I now have a 12 year old granddaughter who can sew and quilt after watching me!!
Today my grandson, Miles (aged three) finished his first machine embroidery and sewing project – a cushion. He especially liked choosing bright coloured thread. I’m sure he would really appreciate this collection for his next project. I would like to use them on my splendid sampler quilt. I’m sure we could share. 👵👦🏼
I loved quilting in my granddaughter’s happy colors, turquoise, pink, purple, green, and blue.
I learned to quilt from books at the local library many, many years ago. I have 3 daughters who I tried to interest in quilting, but no luck until the youngest wanted to make a t-shirt quilt for her best friend. She has jumped in wholeheartedly and has just designed and made a commissioned quilt for a friend. I love when she comes home and shops my stash. No grandbabies yet, but I do have grandquilts!
When my grandmother passed away I found a quilt top made by my great grandmother. I never knew her. We have decided she hand sewed the top using material from her clothes back in the 1890’s/1900’s. The top is a 100″ by 100″ star with 14 points. Since I was not into quilting at the time, I carried this top around since 1984. About 4 years ago I took a class on quilting and loved it. Now I can finish what Great Grandma Emma started.
I went to my first quilt show in Lancaster, PA in 2013. I bought my wonderful Janome 8900 and my first Aurifil thread at that showing!
I’m so thankful that I grew up watching my Mom and Grandmother sew clothing and quilts. There’s always more to learn, threads included!! So I would be thrilled to win these threads and learn more!!
My favorite quilt story is about the 1st quilt I ever made. Talk about ambitious – a log cabin in red, white and blue for my brother’s wedding. Deadline! I was sewing the binding down the morning of the wedding. It was well-loved by my brother and SIL, then by their children. It got smaller and smaller and now is no more.
I started quilting when a friend and I decided to join a quilt group at church. After one meeting, she quit, but I hung in there and made my first quilt using fabric my mother had given me. I gave that quilt to my mother and have made several prayer quilts for our church group to be given away. And yes, I only use Aurifil thread for piecing and quilting!
I started quilting in 2009, that’s when I learned about Aurifil.
My first class was in 87 and the portable machine I carried was a very heavy Singer that only sewed forward!!! Newly married and fresh out of college, I couldn’t afford a new one so I lugged that beast every Saturday to the class – quilting and a workout all in one activity!
I started quilting shortly after my oldest was born in 1993 — my sister in law recommended it. Boy, did she hit that nail on the head! I’ve had the best time venturing into so many different aspects from my first quilt — from basic piecing, to designing patterns, to editing for a publication when the kids were small, to teaching at local quilt stores and quilt shows, and now creating my own original designs for competition. Along the way I’ve discovered wonderful hints and tips from other quilters, as well as great products. Aurifil thread has become one of my mainstays.
My friends and I did a ‘Remember When’ quilt, we used scraps and each block had a piece of muslin on which we wrote some remembrance, such as ‘when JoAnne and Joani gave us the wrong directions to a quilt shop’. At the top we appliqués the words Remember When. Such a fun quilt to look back on. And I love Aurifil threads.
Love the Quilt Market block. I plan to create the block with scrap fabrics. Of course, I will use Aurifil Thread, which I always use for quilting. Love the diverse colors.
I always use Aurifil thread- love it!
My absolute favorite memory is of my mother sitting at a table with me and quietly hand piecing a six inch quilt block while softly singing America The Beautiful. We sat every morning together to hand sew or quilt. You see, my mother had Alzheimer’s and one of the things she could still do was see by hand. I treasure all those moments with her, and the quilts we made together.
I always try to use the best thread, ‘Aurifil’ for the project. I love your block for SS2
One of my best quilting stories is when I joined a quilt-along in Norman, OK the summer of 2013 to make quilts for the victims of the devastating tornado in the neighboring city Moore earlier the same year. Thanks to the quilt guild of Norman for organizing the great event, and providing the kits for the many quilts that were made. I had a wonderful day together with the other ladies!
Fell into quilting about 14 years ago – it has since become a slight obsession! I love the look on a recipient’s face when they receive a quilt that was made just for them. The most recent was a dear friend on her 90th birthday. Shortly afterwards she fell and had to go to stay in a rehab center for 6 weeks. I was thrilled to see that her quilt went with her. I use Aurofil threads to piece and topstitch – love them.
Beautiful thread! My first quilt was one I made for my mom 40 years ago when I was a teenager. In between the two layers, I used an old blanket. She used that quilt often for naps on the couch and when she waited up late for my sisters and I to get home.
Aurifil thread is the best thread I have used for quilting and piecing. I have been sewing since I was 13 and quilting has brought a lot of enjoyment in my life plus all the great friendships that have come along through quilting.
Recentlly I was part of a collaboration to make a high school graduation quilt. The blocks included meaningful sayings and events from the graduate’s life like a lifeguard stand, bottle of ketchup, horse, dog paw print and musical instruments.
I have used Aurofil for many years and find it great for all kinds of work. Would love to add to my thread collection!
I am pretty much self taught! But at least three of my great grandmothers were masterpiece quilters and I really feel connected to them when I sew. I loved seeing the variations in the three blocks!
Beautiful Block pattern!
I made a quilt in high school with my Grandma. I’ve done some quilting with my mom too. I loved seeing what I had created. But, the actual act of sewing, I hated it! It stressed me out so much, my back ached, it really wasn’t my happy place. Just a few years ago, I took my mom’s sewing machine home and started sewing things on my own. Starting over with smaller projects and really focusing on the technique. My love for sewing and quilting has grown so much, I can’t wait to get to the sewing machine. It’s actually a stress reliever now and I have to have multiple projects going at the same time. I love that it’s become such a light in my life.
Almost 2 years ago I went into a hobby lobby looking for material to make my son a new cover for his body pillow. I guess 13 year olds don’t want Thomas the Train pillow covers anymore! haha Well seeing all those fantastic fabrics got my brain working and having always wanted to try quilting I decided it was time! I went home and looked up all kinds of info online about quilting and one of the first thing I learned was about Aurifil thread…I bought some and have been using it ever since! I’m now a quiltaholic! I can’t wait to get home and behind my machine to sew another block!!!
I hand pieced a sampler quilt in 1972 and loved the piecing. That top remains today as a top, never quilted. I have gone on to machine piecing and quilting which I love to this day. Only discovered Aurifil thread about 5 years ago and never looked back.
My most recent quilting story is my visit to Quilt Canada in Vancouver. Because I live in rural BC it was exciting just to be in downtown Vancouver at the Pacific Convention Centre. The juried show was overwhelming with its array of talent! And the vendors’ market was so varied & had such a variety of wares I don’t normally get to see. And I participated in a workshop with Gloria Loughman from Australia! A great overall quilting memory!
My mother in law made quilts for every member of the family as a keepsake, and I decided that was a great way to honour family and friends. So I took a beginners class and was hooked!
My favorite quilt memory (so far) is when I walked into the National Quilt Museum in Paducah KY. I have been creating my whole life, but seeing what those artists could do with fabric and thread zeroed in my creative outlet to quilting. That was November of 2017 and I have been obsessed with every aspect of quilting since. I remember how hard I fell in love with a spool of Aurifil thread at my local quilt store. I bought a spool of the variegated Marrakesh before I even knew what I was going to use it for.
I hate to admit this, but here goes….30 yrs ago my mother-in-law gave our newborn daughter a simple quilt she’d made. Rebecca loved it to dickens and by the time she was 6, it was in shreds. I had just started getting into quilting then, so I thought I’d make her another similar quilt. Long story short, I purchased the fabrics but never made it. Now Rebecca has a small girl of her own, and I’ve pulled out those fabrics to make a quilt and surprise them both! I have every intention to finish it this time. Long overdue but I’m motivated!
I love making memory quilts to remind us of our loved ones who have passed away. It is like getting a warm hug every time you use the quilt! I also love Aurifil thread, I use it all the time!
Love the beautiful colors! I have finally decided it’s ok to work on multiple quilts at the same time, so it’s easy to add in a sampler doing one block at a time along with current projects. Yeah, this is great!
When my granddaughter was about 4, she was giving her mom a hard time while we were Skyping. I told her to go design a quilt. She went to her room and did just that. A week or so later, I got an envelope in the mail with her designs- one for the front of the quilt and one for the back. I called her and got instructions that I was to make the quilt just like she drew and colored it. I think it ended up being about 8 inches square. She carried it around with her for quite a while. I love getting my grandchildren hooked on sewing and quilting!
I have been quilting for over 50 years and never knew about Aurifil thread until I joined Pat Sloans group 3 years ago. I love it. My blocks are much more accurate now. Thank you Pat Sloan and to Aurifil.
My grandmother worked at a Fruit of the Loom factory sewing men’s boxers. She would bring home the scraps of fabric left over and make quilts. My mother recently gave me a box of my grandmother’s fabric and I’m excited to make a quilt in her honor!
I don’t have a specific story, but always when I see a picture or story with Alex involved, I am thinking about his first quiltshow (I think it was) with a collegue at Veldhoven in the Netherlands during the Open European Championships. It must have been in 2002 or 2003…
At that time we were one of the first quiltshops selling Aurifil in the Netherlands maybe Europe? Maybe the video they made is still somewhere on the Internet? I have no idea.
Till today I am a great fan of Aurifil!
Hi My name is Lori.I started learning to quilt 8 years ago. I still consider myself as beginner because everyday I learn something new. The kindness and generosity of the ladies I have met on my journey admaze me. I run a Facebook swap group and we played quilt bingo it was so much fun! We ended up with enough to make 3 quilts. Our first one went to a battered women’s shelter I am still working on the other two so we can donate these as well. Bravo ladies for teaching me about your kindness and generosity 🙂
Hearned to sew in home ec class. Made me so tense it gave me a headache, a friends with a home daycare insists I make at least one quilt and taught me to quilt. Didn’t tell me I picked an harder pattern. A6” See saw block and I made it queen size isn’t joAnn calico and cheap muslin backed with a sheet. Never mentioned 1/4 inch and I used the side of singer foot which is way less as my guide, Did I say I never used it as I’m afraid it will fall apart but I did get hooked,,,,,bought a 1/4 inch foot and have made many quilts for family, chairity and myself,
I am part of Seaside Quilters in coastal Fish Hoek a Capetown suburb. Tomorrow some of us are going on a three day retreat to sew, make and renew friendships, laugh, enjoy served meals, sew lotsa more and have a wonderful girlfriends time. There will be many aurifil spools turning this weekend.
I gotten to meet so many friends because of our love of quilting.grateful and blessed.
I made a “quilt” (panel) when my first born was about two. Sewing with Nancy was on, and I found the show while surfing for something for the little one to watch, so I could get something done. We both ended up watching her show and I was bitten by the bug.
As a child love sitting under the quilts in the frames listening to my mother, aunts, and grandmothers tell stories as they quilted.
Great block, Alex. I must admit that meeting Alex, Victoria Findlay Wolf, and Marie Bostwick at Quilters Take Manhattan is one of my quilting highlights. I had already met Mark Lipinski when he walked into a fabric store where I was teaching. It’s the best feeling when you can talk “quilting” to someone who gets you!
Love the block design and the color variations on the blocks! My favorite thread’s are Aurfil. 2310, 2326, and 2610 as these colors seem to work well with many things I piece. They are great for that scant 1/4″ seam. Another great benefit you do not have as much lint in your machine, yah! more quilting and less cleaning machine.
So excited to do this again. I began with Splendid Sampler I and finished all 100 blocks. I learned so many new skills and techniques,and look forward to those to be discovered in Splendid Sampler II.
When I was in college, I made a little baby blanket out of scraps and gave to a childhood friend for her new baby. She said, “Thank you for the baby quilt.” That was the first time that I realized I had made a quilt!!
My group of friends and I made a quilt for a neighbor that had to move away so quickly that she didn’t get to pack her fabric room up and her son asked us to clean it up to in order to sell the house. We did and as she no longer could sew anymore we used her fabric to make her a quilt and sent it to her new home. Her memory was fading, and she could not remember all the peoples names signed on the fabric in the blocks of the quilt, but we like to think that she remembered her lovely fabrics. Her son said that she loved the quilt and it gave her comfort to know we love her too. Thank you for the chance to enter the give away.
Quilting is a community. Full of bloggers, textile artists, creatives of all kinds and they are so willing to contribute. I’ve enjoyed two on line quilt alongs since last Fall and my skills have improved so much because of the tips, tutorials presented by the hostesses. Thank you. Great job Alex!!!
I love colors and always wanted to learn how to quilt. After retirement my dream became true and I am a beginner quilter. I discovered Aurifil Thead and I love it!
Wanted to learn to quilt, so a friend said she’d help me learn. We picked out material, etc. and then she moved away; so I had stuff but no idea what to do with it, and then I started looking online for some way to finish it. That is over 5 years ago, I still haven’t finished that one, but I have done many more.
My first quilt was 15 years ago – a baby quilt for a cousins newborn. It started a love of all things quilts and fabric for me, and I am so glad it did. I have made baby quilts to give for friends and family, wedding quilts for them as well. Such a unique and personal way to express love to someone.
I guess my favorite quilting story is about finishing a quilt started (by someone else) circa 1940.
I bought a new BabyLock Elegante the day after I retired from the working world. After taking some machine embroidery classes and quilting classes, I began a quest to make quilts for my grandchildren and now my great grandchildren. I have this profound sense of accomplishment when I finish a quilt. I’m now starting a new quilt using several of the Splendid Sampler and Splendid Sampler 2 blocks using remnants I find at my local fabric store which happens to be 2 blocks from where I live. Hard to stay away.
Love the block and Aurifil thread. I have learned so much from the quilting community that I want to make The Splendid Sampler 2. What a great way to learn new techniques and share with so many Quilters.
My grandmother started me with the quilting bug. Since then I have infected lots of new people, including kids with the desire to sew. What an honor. Thanks You for the fantastic thread giveaway.
OMG, I would be in THREAD HEAVEN if I won. I sew with a little Singer Featherweight and the only thread it likes is Aurifil Thread. No lint….happy machine, happy quilter. Thanks for the contest.
I saved Pansy fabrics while studying and shifting around, because I was too busy to quilt. Buying the fabrics let me enter the shops and fondle the fabrics, and occasionally buy something. When I finished studying I figured I had better use up all those pansy fabrics at long last. Well, there were a lot, and they covered every colour palette and style. I called the quilt the Pansy Monstrosity, and it lives with my MIL. She loved it, and so it arrived one year for Christmas. Have I learned my lesson? No! Now I just collect thread (Aurifil), Art Gallery, French General and Alison Glass fabrics, and Jen Kingwell patterns. I like to think I have just become more discerning in my collecting instead!
Oh, forgot to mention that I am using some of my saved salvaged to go into this block.
I’m just learning how to quilt, and I started watching Angela’s Midnight Quilt Show. I learned very quickly that I should focus on projects that are at my current level before trying something advanced and getting discouraged. Some of those pieces she cuts are tiny! I’m going to stick with bigger blocks for now. I’d really appreciate winning this bundle because I’ve never used your thread before and I’d like to try it. Thanks.
I recently sewed/pieced with my first spool of Aurifil thread. It won’t be my last! And I make a lot of quilts because I love to play with design and color. I love it when something that has given me such pleasure in the making of it, also brings a grin or even tears to the viewer or recipient.
I have been a sewer for many years and a quilter since the mid 1980’s. My love of quilting evolved over the years and now it is my passion. I have many new friends (sisters) who share my love of quilting. We can cry on each other’s shoulders, celebrate together and support each other through life’s trials. I am very thankful for these women and what they have added to my life.
I have been sewing since I was about 9 years old, my cousin Gloria, a 4 H leader, taught me to sew. And then I began quilting way back before there were quilt shops, before there was online, before there were only books I could borrow from the library. But I did it.. made some quilts. Some of them were just plain awful! And thank God Eleanor Burns came along with her strip quilts and Quilt in a Day books.. Eleanor, my hero, saved the day !
Love the block and your thread! It’s the only one I trust and I’ve been quilting 24 years! I’ve sewn since I was 6 and am obsessed with quilting!
I got into quilt making through reading Emilie Richards Shenandoah Album series of fiction books where the ladies have quilting bees and make quilts. It all sounded so wonderful. And quilting has such a history. And so when I retired from teaching three years ago I have been learning to quilt. I was happy to finish the Splendid Sampler 1 and put it on my bed. Now I can’t resist doing SS 2. This block is adorable by the way, I will want to make it more than once.
Looking forward to seeing all the splendid blocks and reading about their makers. My favorite quilty store is about a retreat. Before the advent of plentiful commercial retreats our guild used to run their own retreats with teachers from afar. One year all eight of my quilting group were able to attend. Our group is called the bees. For the dinner, we all dressed up in bee-galia to amuse the group. We sure had a lot of laughs. I’m pretty sure some of the other attendees thought we were crazy and perhaps they were correct!
I have many wonderful moments related to quilting. Perhaps my favorite was the look on my mother’s face when I gave her a double wedding ring quilt that I made after my father died to honor their love and marriage.
Love my Aurifil so much that last year I joined an Aurifil thread of the month club. Am now missing getting my 3 spools of thread each month. Such beautiful colors. Thank you for the chance to win some to join what I have.
Shortly before my mother-in-law, an experienced quilter, passed away, I began my journey into the quilting world. With her encouragement, I pieced and quilted my first small projects, pillows and placemats. I never had the chance to do an actual quilt before she passed away. I inherited her quilting supplies, including her stash and her completed blocks. I took some of the blocks she pieced and arranged them into a quilt with some of my own blocks to fill in the gaps. I finished and awkwardly quilted it and presented it to my family as a quilt made by both her and me. My husband loves that quilt. That was my very first quilt.
Back in the late 1990’s for some reason, I got it in my head I wanted to make a quilt. Just one quilt, that was it. Never sewed and my best friend knew that I had little patience for anything and laughed in my face! Well, here I am years later still quilting and still loving it!
I think my favorite part of the quilting community has been the various charity drives that quilters give to those in need. The best stories come from those blessed by the talent and generosity of creative quilters! I loved the drive for the senior center that burned down and the hundreds of quilt blocks and materials collected for them.
Several years ago my husband was alone in a Veterans Hospital, Mountain Home, out of state in the cardiac unit. Avery nice lady came in and coverrd him in a quilt called Old Glory. She thanked him for his service, and as quietly as she came in she left. Today is Flag Day in the USA. The beautiful quilt has graced his bed ever since she gave it to him. It is an appropriate day to honor our flag, and to remember the kindness of a stranger sharing her quilting ability, out of the goodness of her heart.
Love this! I recently finished grad. school then moved to a small town. Realizing that I no longer had any hobbies or nearby friends, I took up quilting. The community and activity itself has given me so many new opportunities!
My quilt story is this. After making my first quilt 13 years ago and making one about every other year since, I still feel like a beginner. I hope this QAL will give me confidence as I learn new tips and tricks from all the designers.
Just learned about Aurifil thread at Missouri Star Quilt Academy last week and immediately bought my first spool. Now I am hooked. Great giveaway. No fun stories, just enjoy sewing and have recently started to piece quilt tops. Going to sew along with this sew along and can’t wait to do my first quilt with your thread.
One of the first quilts I made, over 30 years ago, was a Sunbonnet Sue quilt from blocks that my grandmother made. This is still one of my favorite quilts!
I am pretty new to quiltingso no funny / good stories…. yet! thank you – I love Aurifil!
What a great block! I don’t really have an exciting quilting story to share as I am a newish quilter. Maybe I’ll have some soon??
learned of Aurifil thread these 2 years. I love the threads durability and ability to run smoothly through my machine, no breaking and fraying. Great product. Love this new pattern, it will be on my wall
My grandmother and aunts Gand quilted many quilts. My favorite picture is of them in the farm house kitchen quilting. I miss them. They all had common sense and wisdom to share. I love this group feeling.
I have just returned from my first ever quilting retreat and am hooked! I have been quilting for 18 years and to be surrounded by such a talented group of women was a true inspiration. Can’t believe I haven’t done it before. My name is already down for next year’s!
My favorite part of quilting is getting together with friends, eating, drinking, and sharing our projects with each other.
Our Guild makes quilts for foster children. One of the quilts I was making was very bright. As an older quilter walked by it, she said “Well, that will keep some child awake at night”. I laughed along with her.
Love the block!
My quilting group has become such good friends that we now call our quilt time together ‘therapy’ and it is!! I even feel happier and more ‘on top of the world’ when I leave!! It’s a whole lot cheaper and way more fun!!!
Love this group! Plan on trying to keep up as we go thru these blocks & the book. Incredible group & designers! My quilt story is I started quilting & really got into the art of it all, so I was so intrigued & inspired that I talked many of my friends into trying it out & sure enough we had a small quilting/sewing group that would meet at my basement converted into a sewing studio & we would sew for others, charity, gift-giving & just for fun as well. Love to sew & quilt with others -makes it really fun.
I didn’t start quilting until 2010. I took a class, when I was pregnant, in order to make a quilt for my soon to be born son. And I was hooked. 🙂 Like Alex, I now eat, breathe and sleep QUILTS. Funny how one action can make such a HUGE impact.
I have found over the years my quilts are often the same size as my attention span. Yes, I have a lot of mini quilts hanging on my wall. Oh look, a squirrel. 😂😂
I’ve been quilting for over 30 years, since being a newlywed. I love making items to give as gifts to friends and family as well as charity quilts. I can’t wait to see what this wonderful group of designers have in store for the Splendid Sampler. Great start, Alex, very cool block.
I moved to the Welsh countryside, and although I had done some machine sewing, had never thought about making a quilt. There was a local quilting group, so I joined , to make new friends. Two years later I’m hooked! I have made a baby quilt for my grandson, and a batik lap quilt for my son and his wife which I hand quilted. Recently I made a quilted craft bag with pockets to all the bits and bobs I need to take with me to the group, and I have one and a half quilt tops to finish as well. I have also taken to adding to my stash, whenever possible as there are no fabric shops locally. I have enough fabric to last a life time of quilting!
Life is busy and stressful. Then I started quilting and those at least 15 minutes a day brings me such a calm feeling I can’t do without this prescription every day. Thanks for the chance. I love your block.
I learned to sew watching my Mother sew when I was very young. I started quilting about a year or so ago. I have many works in progress going but no actual quilt finished. I bought a new machine recently and love using your threads!!
I finally became serious about Quilting in fall of 2011. It seems that every quilt I make is, sew it together and cut apart and sew together again. I became aware of Aurifil thread in 2013 and LOVE it. It’s the only thread I use. !!!!!
I joined a sewing quilting group last winter when we moved from Ohio to Washington State just to fill our days. We meet every Wednesday at McCausland Hall, the Westport Maritime Museum’s community building in Westport, Wa. Each first wednesday of the month is our charity sewing project day. This spring we did baby blanket sets for Children’s Hospital in Seattle. With left over scraps we quilted up comfort pads for cages at the local pet shelter. So out of one donor’s financial assistance for the blankets we were able to do two charities. A great feeling to be helping babies, who get to take home their blanket sets upon release from the hospital but rescued pets as well feel a little bit more safe and warm from the flannel pads.
I have been quilting for nearly 30 years. I have tried many types of thread but once I found Aurifil 50 wt. it has become my go-to thread. I piece with it and I often quilt with it. Thank you for making such a wonderful product and thank you for the chance to win in this giveaway.
Hi, I am very new to quilting/sewing… I have only made 2. One was for a children’s charity and the other a fix up job (which ended up being a whole new quilt) for my son. He was so blown away by it he was trembling and almost crying when he received it. So I will take that as a great start to new quilting adventures. I am looking forward to SS2 and learning lots along the journey. Thank you to all who make it possible.
Most of my quilting knowledge comes from an old tv show Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson. I would record that show every day and then race home from work to watch. Thanks to Pat and Jane who once again are making this second Splendid Sampler sew along a reality.
Love the Caturday fabric in Kate’s block. And purple yet!!
I have become infatuated with quilting! I have sewn for over 60 years, and just started quilting about 8 years ago. I have so many projects set up…just hope I can finish most of them while I can still see!
I was just introduced to Aurifil thread last year. My sewing machine loves it! And so do I. Just finished a QOV top last week. Now to quilt it. BTW…I am called the “Scrap” Lady in our local Guild…I am given many “scraps” from my friends and use them in many quilt tops. They make Beautiful Quilts! This will be my first sew along…looking forward to learning new techniques. Thank you.
A friend gave me a sampler of Aurifil thread several years ago and it’s been my go to thread for piecing ever since! Love all the beautiful colors too.
I love the dear friends I’ve made through quilting–lifelong companions!
Very excited to get started on the the Splendid Sampler II! I am a resurrected quilter! Having worked my career and hardly visiting my sewing room, I have waited a long time to stretch my quilting wings and have fallen in love with the quality of the aurifil threads. Excited to get started! Thanks
I learned to quilt from my husband’s mother. I wanted to start small, but she said – make something for your bed = so my first quilt was for a king sized bed – 144 blocks with 144 appliqued hearts – all in different shads of green with a white background. I loved every minute of it – and still quilting 35 years later. Thank you for this great quilt block – so excited to start the Splendid Sampler 2.
Wow! Thanks for the chance to win some of my favorite thread. My sewing machine loves it!!
I have a quilt made for me by my great grandmother. My daughter used it as a guide to make a quilt for herself!
I have never used Aurifill thread because my husband worked at a garment factory and brought home many spools of thread when they closed shop. I would love to try some though!
I complain about my hand sewing ability yet somehow keep getting sucked into needle turn applique.
Quilters build connections! I think my mother and I both started quilting at about the same time, after my first child was born. Now that I’m retired, quilters are my best friends. We just donated quilts to a local women’s homeless shelter, sharing our caring as we wrap this women in comfort!
My mom started quilting when I hosted a quilt along. Quilting has been something that we now have in common. I believe it helped to heal our relationship.
My favorite memory is watching my grandma quilting while she had cookies baking in the oven.
There are lots of stories out there about quilts. Mine is many years ago our house burned to the ground. Among the things that members of our little community gave us to get back on our feet was an old cherished and well love quilt. It had wear and tears, and I remember looking at it and seeing several layers exposed in a few places. My first introduction to quilts. The top layer was made up of squares about three inches. The had been tied with various strings and yarns. The blocks were different fabric, and different colors, the back was red plaid flannel. I cherished that quilt for years. I was in third grade at that time. I finally learned to quilt 7 years ago, I’m currently 64, so the impact on my life of that one treasured gift is still going. I only hope the quilts I make will be loved and cherished a fraction of my first quilt. I use nothing but Aurifil and have sine I started quilting. Small spools to cone, the fill my thread drawer. Love it.
I’ve made some of my best friends through quilting. I met two of them in fitness classes and we would just chat casually. Once we found our shared interest in quilting we became fast friends.
I have a picture of me as a baby in a bouncy seat on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt, so I was destined to be a quilter! When asked, my mom had no use what happened to that quilt, nor by whom it was made. Fast forward 20 plus years and I found Pepper City’s quilt shop, “Culpepper Quilts” two blocks from my apartment! Thus began my quilting journey 40 years ago and I haven’t stopped yet!
I remember my grandmother quilting with her quilt hanging on frames hung from her ceiling.I inherited some of her blocks that she pieced on newspaper. I haven’t put them into a quilt because the are all different sized blocks. I started trying to trim them down to a certain size, but I found I was cutting the block and making it either too small or too much of the design off, so needless to say they are still put away.
I just made my first quilt for my daughter who is getting married next month.
Love Aurifil!!
I just came from the Minnesota Quilt show! A great show with lots of Aurifil thread! Great combination!
With over 200 entries, I don’t think my chances to win are low but here we are. I started quilting in the 80’s learning by watching a few quilting shows on PBS-TV. Later I found a quilt shop and took a class (all pre internet) we made templates from plastic, cereal boxes, or file folders. That quilt I made all by hand. The teachers wanted us to learn from the ground up. Later a quilt shop opened in my small town. Lots of classes were taken, quilt were made by machine using all types of rulers and a rotary cutter. Now if a question arises or I’m questioning what to next I look on computer or my phone.
** the last 2 special quilts were a king size for my son who is not living in Florida any more. The quilt is made from pictures of beach and building in Tampa along with things Florida. The second was a very large one made for his daughter. Every block contained something she liked.–Robin
quiltyladyrr@gmail.com
After searching 2 other grocery stores, I finally found freezer paper in the third. I needed it for my applique work, so I grabbed 6 rolls. Standing in line to pay, a handsome gentleman behind me asked what I was going to do with all that freezer paper. So I explained about my applique work. He reached into his pocket and slammed a badge onto the counter. “Had to ask,” he said. “I’m a police detective and you have enough there to wrap a body.”
When I was a child, my grandmother gave me a velvet/velveteen crazy patchwork quilt. When I was sick or needed comfort, the quilt was always there with it’s wonderful textures & embroidered patterns. It’s still with me now & will eventually be passed on to my daughter!
One of my favorite quilting stories has to be about the small group of co-workers that I got together to start a sewing group. We have become friends becuase of our love for sewing and the passion that they are showing for quilting is so exciting! We have become not just co-workers but friends and go on shop hops and talk about all of the amazing fabrics and patterns and threads! It is an amazing feeling to have friends to talk quilting with and they really enjoy it, not just tolerate my constant quilt talk, hahaha!
My quilt story is actually my Mom’s story. She was next to the youngest of 9 children. As her story goes, my grandmother made (by hand) two quilts for each of her children, gifting them as they left home. How my grandmother did this I still marvel! My Mom would lament, in the retelling of her leaving home, of receiving not two but ONE quilt…AND it was only the top…”not a real quilt at all!” said my Mom. She kept it folded up in a cedar chest for years and years.
Fast forward to me now being in possession of that quilt top wanting so much to make it in to a “real” quilt! My hand quilting skills are presently zero to zilch…but by golly…I am determined to get it done one day!
I always wanted to learn to quilt but knitting and cross stitch just took up less space. Well finally 3 years ago, at age 59, I took my first class. So yes old dogs can learn new tricks. Everyone in the quilting world is so great with sharing! I usually have to tell myself to step away from the tutorials and blogs and actually quilt. Aurifil is absolutely wonderful so many beautiful colors and hardly any lint.
Can’t wait to make this sampler quilt! I have learned that using cheap thread is not a good idea! I love your thread and love the great colors!
I have to confess that i have never tried aurifil thread😨! I love all the colorful options and plan to jump on the aurifil bandwagon asap!! Looking forward to this journey!!
I have made a few crib quilts, and 2 lap quilts in the past 4 years. Now that I have retired from full time work, I am looking to expand my quilting to more challenging projects, including machine quilting my own work. This takes lots of thread, and good quality thread is so important.
My first Aurifil thread was a gift from a friend. Wow! I was so impressed by its quality that since then it is the only thread I use.
My favorite memory about quilting is that I was young when my grandmother quilted, and I had no interest to sit with her and learn. so sad that I didn’t realize, but I am the only quilter out of her grandchildren and therefor got the box of templates that she hand drew and used repeatedly, a few projects that she had started and patterns she sketched out! I am thrilled to take one of her well used patterns, with some finished blocks, and make my own blocks with her Pansies pattern! I hope to put the two generations of blocks together in one quilt and then I will be “quilting with grandma”!
I love Aurifil thread and your block! Thanks
I have always had a love for blankets especially my childhood puffy quilt bought out of a magazine. Unfortunately, the last quilter was my great grandmother who i mever met. Since I didn’t inherit heirloom quilts, I decided that I would start making quilts. Two years later, I am a zealous quilter who has given away more quilts than I have kept. It is the most satisfying feeling to gift someone a gorgeous piece of usable artwork!
Going to keep up this time😎. Love airfoil thread
I love the herringbone design. It reminds me of my grandparents.
My favorite story is my intro into the Quilt world. Both of my grandmothers sewed. My Granny was a clothes sewer and my Nana was a quilt sewer. Every five years my Nana would make each of her grandchildren a quilt for that year’s birthday of that grandchild. So for my birth, my 5th, my 10th and my 15th birthday i got a quilt. But not just any quilt. Each of my quilts was a Sunbonnet Sue quilt, all created by hand sewing. Each grandchild had a different theme. My sister always got quilts with teddy bears, the others also had their own theme quilt, so none of us ever had the same kind. She would always make each one of my quilts different by color. The Sunbonnet Sue hand applique pattern used was always the same though, just colors changed by quilt. So I have 5 Sunbonnet Sue quilts and they are my treasures and greatest memories of my Nana.
I have only just just using Aurifil Thread and would love to have some more before I run out…..😁. I think the best quilting story I have is really every time I create a quilt for someone. When I draw on my original sketches and personalize it. I am a very solitary quilter….sewing on my own, never been to a retreat. I am inspired by so many that it can be overpowering. Love this block and look forward to the next.
Oh, how I love Aurifil and this set would keep me happy for quite a while! My favorite quilting story is how my former colleague encouraged me to start quilting. She was/is an exquisite quilter and since I knew how to sew and always admired her projects she’d bring to school to show us, she told me start small with placemats. I did a full set of 4 placemats, she critiqued them (gently) and I never looked back! I give so much thanks to Dee for her help and support!
Love this block! Best thing about quilting is the versatility – everything from fast + fun baby quilts to heirloom wedding quilts. And I love Aurifil!
So excited to be joining this sew along for number 2. Took a class to learn to quilt and learned that thread does make a difference , fought to get exact 1/4 inch seam teacher suggested switching thread brand the shop sold aurifil and I bought it and never looked back perfect quarter inch . Love this thread. Thank you.
looking forward to this project Am going to use just scraps and aurifil thread of course
Joining in on this as I did on the first one. Sewing the first one is definitely one of my favorite quilting expierences. Look forward to each block and a new lesson.
My love affair with “Jack” the ripper continues as I begin the Splendid Sampler with your fun block! Sad to have to rip out Aurifil thread but one needs to make the blocks right 😍
I am SO excited for this quilt along and I am really hoping to keep up this time! I love the QALs…I really enjoy reading and learning about all the blocks designers… there is so much amazing talent and inspiration to see!!
I lIke Kate’s block and her scraps. I love Aurifil thread and I use it always for my quilts. Thanks for this opportunity!
I made about a dozen blocks of the first Splendid Sampler (was a little distracted by my daughters wedding!). Hopefully I’ll finish a few more this go around.
Last summer I had to temporarily relocate to attend 12 weeks of training. I took some handiwork with me to keep my hands busy in the evenings. But it wasn’t long before I found myself buying a cheap sewing machine at a flea market. Makes a horrible racket, but sound stitches, and I completed the blocks for a small quilt. Never touched the handiwork I had brought with me.
The first quilt I made was a tree to hang in our daughter’s room (pre-walking foot). It was made like a pillowcase and slip stitched at the bottom before the quilting started. Of course it was not basted (who knew?) so the top scooched onto the back as I worked. I have improved my skills and made other quilts for her but she still has that tree more than 40 years later. If you make it with love, that is all that counts.
This block looks like a perfect one for me to use my strip stash! Thanks for the inspiration.
Would love to win this. I am just restarting in quilting and collecting a stash of fabric and thread. Love quilting with about 10 women each week and we share so many laughs and stories.
I have always loved Sunbonnet Sue and a few years ago I saw a pattern I had to make. I was a pretty new quilter, not confident in color selection, so I took my ironing board cover in to my LQS for inspiration. That quilt is still a favorite, probably the most cheerful quilt I’ve ever made…but I’ve been through several ironing board covers since that one. Maybe I should quilt my next one 🙂
Why I started quilting: To get my mind off of bad choices I had made…I needed a distraction. Time to teach myself quilting…that was 29 years ago. PS: Enjoyed an AURIFIL presentation, about 4 years ago, by Alex – facinating and informative!
I have a special quilt my grandmother made for me when I was a child. She sewed the appliques by hand and then the sewed the backing with her Singer model 125. I have her sewing machine and both are truly treasured. I would love to win the prize. I have some Aurifil thread and find it to be the best. Thank you.
I tried many other threads before finding Aurifil, now I only buy Aurifil.I fell in love with quilts seen in deco mag when I was a teenager and years after I’m proud to be able to make them.
Love the Aurifil thread because of the gorgious colours I can chose from and my Pfaff sewing machine seems to prefere this thread 🙂
One of my quilting stories: when I first started to learn to sew and quilt, in the 1990’ties, my focus was on fabric. As the years passed by, I learned more tricks, understood more about piecing, cutting and how to iron the back so the quilt came together smoothly and without too much bulk. Then, I was introduced to different kinds of thread, and my sewing experience just became so much more fun and easy. I understood I also needed quality to have a good sewing experience. Well, for my son’s confirmation and 15 years birthday this year, I had made him a blanket of blocks from Pat Sloans quilt along “My Secret Garden”, and I had a very tallented lady to quilt it for me wiht her longarm. It came back absolutly gorgious and to my excitement, she had used a turquoise thread that blended very well with the blocks in the front BUT made the backside of the quilt totally awesome. He loves the quilt and because of the thread colour and quilting pattern, he can use the quilt on both sides. I am now totally in love with what the thread colour can add to my sewing and the quilt itself.
Just love using the lovely colors of aurifil for applique and sewing. And the new 80 weight tread is even better. I take it anywhere, even in the tent during the vacation
I recently started quilting when I was diagnosed with cancer. Quilting has provided a wonderful distraction from my treatment. I have so enjoyed the rich fabrics and beautiful threads available from Aurifil. There is something so exciting about opening a new box of thread! The variety is outstanding and I am looking forward to using the new to me Fourty3 in my Gammill.
I don’t know we’ll how to sew, but I really want to quilt since a couple of years ago. I have been “collecting” a bunch of beautiful fabrics and wanting to make a “memorable moments” quilt for my only son, who is going to college and leaving the nest. I signed for The Splendid Sampler to make that big project. This particular block is giving me an excellent idea of how to put in a 6×6 square many of the themed fabrics that reflect my son’s multiple hobbies and interests. Thanks!
I love the personal stories behind quilts. Quilting is just so much more than the finished thing to the maker !!
Great block! My favorite quilting story is how our dog used to lay right across the middle of any quilt I spread out on the floor to baste. He was a big boy, so he would cover a good part of them. It was a little annoying at the time, but now is a fond memory. I’m sure he thought he was helping. LOL
I observed my sister quilting for years. I always said, “I don’t have the time or patience for that!” The first grandchild changed that. Nine grandchildren & nine quilts later, I am hooked!
When my son was younger, he had a bed sized quilt with fluffy clouds all over it. He decided that it was too babyish one day, so we decided to recover it with a superhero fabric. My plan was to just cover it with the new fabric and stitch the fabric down over the old quilt. I struggled with the stitching as the quilt was very bulky and uncooperative and spent a whole day trying to finish the quilting and getting very frustrated and wondering why I had agreed to such a tedious job. When I was just about finished, my son came in with one of his friends, who said “Oh, are you sewing? Are you having fun?” I didn’t answer.
I love when we find a signature quilt made by ladies in our local communities from years ago and can connect with family members!
My favorite Aurifil is 28 wt. for machine quilting.
My Nana left us the day after my 40th birthday. While cleaning out the house I found 2 quilts, years before I had asked her how to quilt, she scoffed and said it was tedious. I brought the quilts home. My aunt came to visit and I showed her the quilt, it was in bad shape and I wasn’t sure I should even keep it. She probably picked it up at a garage sale. Then my aunt spotted her favorite dress fabric. So we looked very closely. Well, it turns out it’s ours, all ours, my great grandmother started it Nana finished it and all our clothes are in it! It’s a wedding ring design.
There will be 5 generations of children’s clothes in it! When I finish repairing it. I lost my own Mom less than a year later so it very special to me. I’ve used aurifil to repair it because your colors even match the much older fabrics.
I am very excited to join SS2 and am still working on the first SS…I get distracted by sew many fabrics I see and designs LOL I have not use Aurifil Threads sew I feel now is a good time to start 🙂 Sew many great ideas and sew little time. Thanks Alex for this design. Off to start SS2. Would love to win some thread!
I like this cute block and will be making it, for sure, using my scraps. I met Alex at Fabric Cobbler in Forsyth, IL, a few years ago, and loved his presentation. I had sewn since I was a little girl, but never liked to hand quilt, so when my aunt–quilter extraordinaire–told me I was going to quilt a baby quilt, I told her “no way.” She sat down with me at a sewing machine and started me on machine quilting, and I’ve been quilting ever since. Thanks for your lovely thread. I use it in piecing and quilting.
What a fabulous project for inspiration! My first quilt was one I made in high school and tied. I had no clue, just loved the fabrics and had to use them somehow. 40+ years later, I still love fabrics but don’t feel I have to have a project in mind to buy them 🙂 I’ve not used any other piecing thread but aurifil 50 wt since my first spool ….but I couldn’t tell you when that was…years ago. I’d love to win a collection of aurifil to go with my ever burgeoning fabric collection. PS- aurifil 12 weight is great for free motion quilting when you want to write words for example in the border of a baby quilt!
This looks like a wonderful quilt along and a great way to build my skils/use my stash! A beautiful block to kick off this QAL.
I started quilting almost 3 years ago by doing a sorority tshirt quilt for my daughter. I have not stopped quilting ever since that first quilt. Love aurifil thread!
My Mom was a quilter, she designed a pattern and had it patented. She left us way to early before I had a chance to learn great techniques from her. I am now retired and venturing out in the quilting world and love the Splendid Sampler quilts that have started and have learned ALOT from the first Splendid Sampler, now ready to learn from the second one. Way to go, I love what I see and learn.
A few weeks ago I decided to make a quilt for a graduation present. Seemed a jellyroll race would be simple and quick. My machine decided this was the time to go nuts. I quilted about 1/4 of the quilt with the tension in such a mess I spent about 6-8 hours ripping it out. So much for a quick quilt.
I was making bags, baby quilts and hippos until last year. I joined a quilting group last year and have learned a lot and was introduced to Aurifil thread.
When we moved to Mississippi three years ago, our niece, Charlene, saw some of my quilts and wanted to learn to quilt. I started teaching her and gave her a great quilting reference book. We have had lots of good times spent cutting and piecing since then. She’s made some beautiful quilts and is now teaching some of her friends to quilt!
I don’t have a lot of design imagination. My husband sure does and he gives me all kind of great ideas for blocks and color combinations. I’m glad to have him help me with my quilting.
Too many stories to share…but I quilt most every day…it’s my “Zen” moment. Whether piecing or sewing on my Long arm named after my Grandmother.
I always wanted to learn to quilt, took a class last year and have been making quilts ever since
My Grandma made a Quilt for my wedding in 1974. It was a scrap Quilt made from all kind of fabric she had recycled. She used every piece she could find. I love that Quilt and now make Quilts. Thanks Grandma for the inspiration.
My love of color began when I was a small child. My dad was a painting contractor and he had a wonderful color chart book. It had cutouts on each page that showed 3 complementary colors along with the main color. As you turned a page one on the colors was deleted and a new one revealed. I loved how a color “changed” by its proximity to the 3 neighbors. Not suprising , my favorite part of quilting is choosing fabric and seeing how different colors work together.
My sister and I walked to the store to buy a gallon of milk and stopped at the local quilt store to look around. By the time we walked out we had fabric for a queen sized quilt. I always say that was the most expensive gallon of milk I’d ever bought – but we forgot to buy the milk!
Oh, how I wish I could quilt with my grandma! She was the local expert back in “the day”. I loved to sit under her quilt frame and play, occasionlly threading a needle or picking up a dropped spool of thread. As I grew older I was “too busy” to learn from the best. Now I have those precious memories and a few precious quilts. I have taught many people to quilt and am often relied upon for quilting advice:)
Sitting on the porch with my Grammy one day (I was 8 years old) sewing some blocks together, the lesson of the day was tiny stitches. After about an hour and her being satisfied with my stitches she said it was time for me to learn how to use her machine. This was the the best day ever! The machine I learned to quilt on was a treadle machine and I was lucky enough to have this machine passed down to me. I still use this machine and each time I sit down I think about the first time I used it.
My first ‘quilt’ (notice the quotes) was a gawdawful nine patch made with cheap calico and a navy blue polyester for sashing. I didn’t have a pattern, so I just winged it. The corners didn’t match, the seams weren’t consistent and I didn’t know about binding, so I just sewed around the edges and turned it. I made it for my dorm room in college. After I got married and had kids, we used it as a beach blanket until it finally fell apart! I must say that it lasted quite awhile, so at least the seams were well done!
Before I became an avid quilter 20 years ago, I was hand quilting a “statement” quilt with a group of friends in a public park.
An older woman came up to us and looked at what we were doing and commented, “We call that basting.”
My favorite memory is spending a year making a basket quilt filled with applique flowers with my mom. It was the pride of her house, she even entered it in the King County fair and got a blue ribbon. I no longer have my mom, but the quilt lives on and reminds me of the wonderful time we spent creating together. Miss you, mom.
My mom once was a quilter but has stopped as she has gotten older. My brother put all her sewing related things out for a yard sale. Not every thing sold and when I came back to go through them I found a quilt top she had made in the $2 bin. I found some matching fabric in the $2 bin as well, took it all home and finished the top, quilted it, and put it in our local county fair. I brought the finished quilt back to her with a first place ribbon on it and told her I’ll give her two dollars for the quilt. She wouldn’t let me take it back home…now she wanted it!!
My favorite memory is sewing crazy quilt blocks with my mom from a bag of scraps my oldest sister Cindy gave her when she visited me after her cancer went into remission. We put together many blocks before she left and she did quite a few with my other 5 sisters before she passed away 2 years later. My older sister took those blocks and made each of us a memory quilt with them. It is 14 years later and I made my first quilt ((the Star quilt) after watching Angela Walter’s midnight quilting show. I quilted it and gave to my friends daughter for her graduation present. My sister Cindy came to visit and helped me with my fabrics and gave me a Christian panel. After she left I designed and sewed the panel into quilt top which I am currently working on quilting. The rest as they say is history. I would love the aurifil threads as I have heard great things about it from a lot of the quilters I watch on utube. I would like to increase my aurofil collection to complement my quilting during my ongoing journey.
So excited for the new Splendid Sampler journey. I’ve been quilting since 1982 but only recently discovered Aurifil thread through #Karen Miller of #redbirdquilts, probably Aurifil’s biggest fan. Combining The new Splendid Sampler blocks with the delicious colors and weights of Aurifil thread will be tons of fun.
Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned through Youtube!
My first quilting experience was making a mini quilt by hand for an art class back in middle school. I was probably the most dedicated person to this project because I carried around my sewing bag religiously for the duration of the class. I hand sewed the entire thing and even added some beading onto it as embellishment. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but looking back, I put a lot of effort and dedication into that tiny quilt! It has been hanging in my grandmothers dining room ever since.
I just found your site through Lori Kennedy’s “Inbox Jaunt” link. I’m looking forward to using some of my over-flowing scrap stash to follow along w/ the “Splendid Sampler 2”. Aurifil’s reputation is one of excellence & so many of the quilting & machine embroidery sites I visit use & recommend their various lines. Joining a quilt group nearly 15 years ago, I always have a quilt “in progress” & another 2-3 in the planning stage. At the moment, I’m 5 quilts behind!! Since I hand-quilt on a frame & even with the help of my quilt friends (we meet weekly), it takes from 6 months to 2 years to complete one. We rotate around the group, w/ the quilt-owner hosting. Now, here’s hoping I live long enough to get them all done! (smile)
I love Aurifil thread — can’t get enough of it. As for quilting stories: When we arrived in Pacific Grove, CA from Ireland for my husband’s sabbatical, we got in touch with some folks we had known years before in Massachusetts who now lived there. Her first question to me was “What do you want to do while here?” I said “Do you know of any quilters?” Her answer was “Do you want to go to a meeting tomorrow night?” I had a wonderful year there including a workshop with Jinny Beyer and went back to Ireland with a set of “Block of the Month” CardTrick blocks my friend won and then gave to me.
Six months ago, having my sister teach me how to quilt, and I got the bug. I have so much fabric from my mother’s collection. She passed in 2014, so the fabric has such a warm connection to her.
I have about six projects 90% complete. I love everything about quilting!
I have several interesting quilt stories, but this is one of my favorites. My grandmother made all of her grandchildren a quilt when they were growing up, but she got sick and ended up in a nursing home before she finished my younger sisters. My grandmother gave all the partial blocks and fabric to my mom in a box to have someone finish. I never knew about this, as I was a newlywed living out of state with my new husband who was serving in the United States Air Force. Fast forward many years. My father had recently passed away, and my mom’s house had caught on fire. I was helping my mom go through things in her house. After we finished going through the house we had gone out to the detached garage to go through things she had stored in there. Since it was detached nothing in there was damaged. That’s where I found it. The box with the partial quilt blocks. I asked her what it was, and she told me. I was a newer quilter, but decided I wanted to surprise my sister and finish this quilt for her. She was now a senior in college. She thought the box had burned up in the fire. The quilt pattern was kittens in baskets. All appliqué. But I worked very hard and finished it. I foolishly decided to do echo quilting on it, so it took forever. Therefore, I did not finished in time fir her graduation. I wrapped it in the original box and took it to my mom’s where we planned to meet. When she unwrapped it and saw that box, she started shaking, and when she opened it, she started crying. She thought her quilt was gone forever. That was way over 20 years and many many quilts ago, but she still has that quilt on the bed in her guest bedroom. She cherished it very much.
Aurifil is the only thread I use when piecing quilts. Low lint produced and love all the colors available
Wow, I have never actually used Aurifil … but would like to give it a try! I’d love to see a display of it to pick out some colors sometime! I live in rural Kansas and don’t get to big cities very often. I love free motion quilting and have done several quilts and looking forward to doing more.
I can’t wait to start sewing.
I made first Splendid Sampler so I have to start again. Luckily I just finished a quilt that I made fully with Aurifil 50 wt thread. Quilting was quite epic, it took 1,5 kilometers of thread… Pics at IG @tiukuliina
I started quilting with my friend Fran when our kids started school together. That was 35 years ago and we still get together to quilt every week, as often as we can. We’ve made many quilts together plus lots of smaller items.
My grandmother guided me into a love of creating, including quilting. Once, she badgered me to make an appliqued Morning Glory block for a project she and her friends were making. She has long gone to Heaven and I inherited that quilt. Great loving memories and my quilting adventure continues with Aurifil threads. Thanks for this opportunity
Thanks for the opportunity to win. I love Aurifil threads so much, I buy them on the cones for piecing and quilting. Appliqué and wool, those are the smaller cones, and I have some for crazy quilting, too! I was 17 when I saw my first quilting. A lady was hand-piecing a basket block. I fell instantly for this wonderful art, and I still like baskets and basket quilts the most!
What a wonderful block design! I will have to make my own version of the Aurifil weave! My favorite quilt and quilting story is that I made a quilt for my father-in-law from my mother-in-law’s blouses after she passed away. He was very touched by the quilt and showed it off to everyone who visited the house. He has passed away, but the quilt is still in their house and has been used by family members who visited for his memorial. Everyone loves the quilt because it reminds them of Evelyn.
Thank you for designing a wonderful block. My quilting story has just begun…I have 4 different quilt projects started and now I think I will add a 5th. I have never tried your thread but am looking forward to using it in the future now.
Back in the 1970’s I was drawn to books about quilting, but was totally put off by the thought of cutting out all those little pieces with scissors. Then along came rotary cutters and cutting mats and I said “I can do that”. And I’ve been doing it ever since.
Aurifil colors are so Yummy, Wish i had them all
My favorite quilt story would have to be my memories with mom who passed at 101 and how we talked about how her and found fabric to make three quilt tops for my kids (her grandkids) and how we had to rummage through her basement for something for the backing as I couldn’t afford much at the time. We laughed how she always saved everything and how it came in very hand for us.
Memories of quilting will always be my favorite and how she loved to watch when she was older and couldn’t get over all the new gadgets that are out. Love my mom, family and quilting!!
Can’t wait to get started!
I decided to learn quilting after I retired 3 1/2 yrs ago. Little did I know how much I’d love it! I now have a sewing room set up, and I’m making quilts for all my lived ones, as well as for charities. Love the colorful blocks in this posting.
I found an unfinished quilt my grandma made after she passed. Since she taught me to sew as a child, I thought I should learn to quilt so I could finish her quilt. It was the binding I needed to do…so I watched videos, and finished it.
So began this journey, a little over a year ago. I love making quilts!!!
Thank you, Grandma!
I followed my literary passion by making a replica of Jane Austen’s quilt using the Linda Franz book as a guide. I was able to travel to England to see the original quilt this spring! And I used Aurifil thread for both the piecing and the quilting on my quilt.
I’m so happy and grateful I found quilting not long after I stopped working. I had sewn since I was a girl, but never quilted. I stumbled onto a YouTube video with Jenny Doan doing one of their weekly tutorials. I was entranced. It was like the storm was over and a rainbow had shown itself. I’ve found many meaningful projects to participate in – I believe in craftivism. I’ve been an Auriful fan since I learned about the brand, and I haven’t looked back.
A group of my work colleagues formed our own quilting group, and met up every 4th Friday. We ended up christening ourselves Stitch and Bitch. We did lots of sewing, laughing and debriefing about our jobs, family, and anything else we needed to de stress about. It was so/sew much fun.
As a kid, my summer bedspread was a feedsack pieced quilt and I loved it and looked forward to using it every summer. Somehow it got lost, and I wanted to recreate one like it. I learned how to quilt just so I could make a feedsack quilt. I’ve been bitten by the quilting bug every since!
My grandmother was a seamstress her whole life. When she was 14 years old (we’re talking 1940) her stepmother decided she had to quit school and start earning a living, sewing. Can you imagine her surprise when I made her a quilt. I was nervous (she’s really good!), but she couldn’t get over the fact that I would spend all this time sewing for her. Best feeling ever!
First let me say Aurifil is the only thread I like and use. My machine loves it too. I have gifted many quilts to family and friends and I am wishing someone close to me who quilts too would gift me one. Hint Hint.
My first introduction to quilting was from my mother who came home one evening with these large wooden slates and proceeded to set them up in our living room. It was in 1975, and the frame was an old antique then. That was my first lesson in quilting and I’ll never forget it. It was all hand sewn. I wish I had that quilt! It’s a wonderful memory, and goes along with the other’s I learned from my mother, like making Jam, and Bread and all the things we used to do. I appreciate all those times now, much more than I did then!! I can imagine how thrilled my Mom would be now if she could see what I’m doing with my quilting. I know she would be proud, and happy. She would also be jealous of all the wonderful fabric and thread choices and machines we have now compared to what we had then!! I’m thrilled to start this splendid sampler quilt and I LOVE Aurifil thread. It’s the only thread I use in my quilts. Having a scrumptious new set of Aurifil thread to go with my collection and add to all my quilts would be heaven!!
I think my favourite quilting story was how I discovered quilting when I moved to attend university in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario near a number of Mennonite farms. The women in the area made astoundlingy lovely quilts and I couldn’t wait to learn, having previously sewed for most of my life.
I never thought I wanted to be a quilter, even though women in my family 3 generations back were quilters and I treasure quilts made for me by each of them. However, I was looking for a summer project, took a quilting class at my local quilting store and voila! I became a quilter. Now seven years later and over 70 quilting projects later, I’m a confident beginner, but I’m not afraid to tackle challenges. I had seen instagram posts from the last splendid sampler and am excited to jump in with this block.
I love this block!! And favorite story…gifting a quilt to my sister in law who also quilts — for her new baby (now two years old). She tells me at least monthly how much it means to her and how great it is and how they love it so much!! Seeing my quilts being used is the best!
LOVE this block and the fabrics you have all picked for your individual blocks! As busy as I am with my own projects, I am determined to complete the Splendid Sampler 2. Will be making my first block this afternoon.
My quilting story. As a child I can remember coming home from school to find my grandmother and several friends sitting around a large quilt in the living room. They were smiling, talking, and having fun. My brother Joe and I would crawl under the quilt, lay on the floor and watch the Three Stooges. This is one of my dearest memories of my grandmother and the reason I quilt today.
My best quilting buddy moved to Georgia from New Jersey a few years ago. We still manage to quilt together at what we call “cyber-sewing” sessions. Once every few weeks we schedule a free day for sewing a preselected pattern or project. We share our fabric auditions and suggestions via texts with attached pictures, and do the same while sewing. It’s so much fun sharing while we work together and then seeing each other’s finished work.
My first quilt was whole cloth, tied and with double batting for my side of the bed.
I wanted more warmth than my husband.
My first quilt was for my first baby 34 years ago. We lived on a farm in an isolated area of NSW Australia and we only had electricity at night when we turned the small generator on for lights. I had a treadle sewing machine and cut up pieces of fabric left over from when I made clothes for myself in the 60’s and 70’s. As you can imagine it had some wonderful colourful swirly fabric amongst it. It had no batting but a calico back. I didn’t know about batting then. On the front I decided to hand appliqué a farmer with a big hat holing a pitch fork. I was thrilled with the result. Sadler I no longer have it but it had been my favourite quilt.
Love your thread. Use it for piecing all the time.
I have friends that got me into quilting.I still have lots to learn.
I love all quilts but have never purchased one at an auction. My husband once won a bid on a box of odds and ends. Low and behold, in the bottom of the cardboard box was a quilt!!! Needless to say, I was ecstatic!
I love seeing how quilting keeps involving; I need to live another 70 years just to try out all the ideas I have!
My favorite quilt story is of the first quilt I made. My mom and I took a quilt class together that was put on by the local community college. I was probably about 12 or 13 at the time. We made lap size crazy quilts, nothing fancy, just scraps sewn completely at random. We used a sheet for the backing fabric. I learned my love of sewing from my mom. I know she looks down on me and sees the many things I create, and smiles. 😉
Thanks for the great post! My favorite quilt story is funny in retrospect. (It wasn’t at the time).I was making a huge quilt for a wall of our church using a watercolor technique (all two-inch squares). For weeks I had been arranging and rearranging them on a design wall. Then one night our two new kittens got in the sewing room and discovered how much fun it was to dive at and climb the design wall and make squares of fabric fall to the floor. They had almost everything on the floor by the time I discovered them. So the quilt took a lot longer than anticipated.
Hi , I can feel your positive energy here in Canada! I don’t have a favourite quilt story, every quilt has a story for me. I have made many many quilts for over 25 years, all for other people 🙂 I give all my quilts away to family and friends, I have not made one for myself yet. I think I will start this sampler and keep this quilt for me!
Thanks for the lovely block!
Piecing a quilt block is so relaxing, nothing gives me more enjoyment than to see a block come together.
When I was about 19, I decided I wanted to make a qult as a gift for our company’s owner and president. Thing is, I’d never made a quilt before. My aunt was the quilt maker in the family and patiently gave me ideas and helped me with the process. I handed out blank white 20″ squares of fabric to the stores and asked each one to decorate it any way they wanted as long as it is permantently affixed to the fabric. I had no idea what they would do. I should have given more insgtructions, like don’t use the entire square, edge to edge, for your design as I needed seam allowance. I also had no idea how big this thing was going to be. Turns out, 16 stores and a centerpiece make a pretty large quilt! I had to hand quilt it in rows then my aunt helped me connect them. The quilt was done on time, but only by me working day & night after work. When I gave it to them, they seemed like they liked it, but (not so much my favorite part) when I had to go up to the office a few months later, I saw it unceremoniously bundled up in their closet. I quilt shortly after (thought not for this reason…solely :)). I later heard that they commissioned someone to make a plexiglass frame to keep it on display at the office. That made me feel much better about trusting them with my first work of art! And now I’m addicted! 🙂
I had never used Aurifil Thread until I received a sample of it in my first Fat Quarter Shop Sew Sampler box. I am now in love with this thread. Thank you for such a great product. You have an exquisite line of color choices to match all my fabric colors. And the mainstay colors of whites and greys. Love, love, love your thread.
My granddaughter doesn’t YET share my passion for quilting but my little 10 year old neighbour and I have been doing a little sewing together and she completed her first quilt top not too long ago.
My journey in quilting started in 1985,and my first quilt was a sampler, because I was advised it was a good way to try out different techniques—curved piecing, applique, paper piecing,embellishment. I drafted all the templates, designed one of the blocks (a picture of our house). Hooked ever since. Love the way Aurifil allows for more precision.
I made my one & only quilt when I was in high school back in 1960. Never made another quilt until 2001 and I was totally blown away by the new supplies in the quilting world….rotary cutters, mats, machine quilting, etc. Now, it’s a rare thing if a day goes by without me sewing something. I love everything about sewing/quilting.
Started quilting by taking a class back in the 1980’s. This class was a sampler quilt that used templates and was all stitched by hand. I am glad I did it, but I washed it and the reds bled and now the whites are a mix of white and pink… didn’t have color catchers back then. Would love to win the collection of threads. I don’t have many of the new and improved threads and the many colors that are out there now. Thanks for reading my story and hopefully picking me as the winner!!
Since discovering quilts while travelling the USA some years ago, I had to make at least one quilt. At the time, I purchased everything I needed while on holiday and asked everyone that knew something about quilting to tell me what they know. Thank goodness the quilt necessities, including Aurifil, are finally making it to South Africa also. I’m very proud to say, I finished my first quilt ± 15 years ago. I just love quilting and I’m still continuing.
I’m sad to say that I haven’t finished a quilt in over 2 years. First grandchild sucked up my quilting time making curtains and crib skirts and glider cushions and Halloween costumes. After that was done, I decided to make a quilt for a friend, but made the mistake of telling her about it. I think the problem is that I’m feeling pressured to finish and it’s not one I’m enjoying working on (nor am I enjoying the little snarks about how she’s not going to get her quilt for another 5 years). I know I should just suck it up, piece the back, sandwich it and do some simple straight line quilting on it and get it out of my studio so I can go back to working on something I enjoy, but I’ve lost my mojo. Every time I see something wonderful and inspiring I think ‘oh no, you can’t start that until you finish that darn quilt). Second grandchild coming August 1st and I haven’t even started on his baby quilt. I don’t even care about buying fabric. (I’m a mess). Help!!!!!
Such pretty colors of thread! I am certainly not an experienced quilter but love making them – big and small. My first was a queen size log cabin quilt in high school! Ambitious for sure. I grew up under my grandmother’s homemade quilt frame that my grandfather made her. They were farmers. She would put together the quilt tops all summer and in the slow winter days she would quilt them. We had a fun “tent” for our winter camp out sleep overs. I’m enjoying learning so much every day from all the quilters in online groups.
My first quilt was for my son. It was a simple fence rail block alternating with a red square that had rainbow unicorns on it. I basted it with thread, and put it in a hand held hoop so I could hand quilt while my son played with his toys.
My fondest memory is when he played under the quilt, while I was quilting it, hoop and needle safely on my lap. He used his quilt to play peek a boo with his new baby sister, and as a tent.
My son is almost 27 years old, and 6’4″ tall. Every time I quilt by hand, I remember him playing under my first quilt. That find memory always makes me smile.
I have been quilting for well over 20 years, I started making baby quilts and then lap quilts for my children and family. As everyone has gotten older I am making larger quilts Queen and King sizes for my family. Now that they are having children I am also back to making baby quilts, funny how life is a circle…
I have a real problem with not finishing quilts as well! I start blocks and sometimes get a whole top done quickly and then I’m left with the daunting task of trying to quilt it. I’ve even started rescuing all the un-quilted tops that I’ve found in thrift stores. This is such a fun block I could see making a whole quilt of just it…or a few for pillows. 😉
Been quilting since the late 70’s with a 25 year break to have kids and go back to work full time. Now retired and I get to sew whenever I want. Had to learn all the new tricks with rotary cutters and rulers once I got back into it again…Love, love, love all the new fabrics, threads, tools,etc! and I LOVE scrappy!
Dean’s List: University College Center for Advising and Counseling – Kris Izzy, Thurston Roy, Turner Oswell, Troy Connolly, Percival Meyer, Gershon Chan, Abbott Nichole, Albatros Mahesh, Ethelred Mike, Rodrick Justin,
Oh am I up to the challenge?? I’m not sure 😬 but I’ll give it a try!!
My grown daughter said that she had never slept in a bed that did not have a quilt on it. Now she and her husband have a duvet cover, but inside the duvet is a tied wool quilt made by my mother. The wool batting came from the sheep that were raised on my parents’ farm.
I have been using Aurifil since the mid 2000’s. I love the colors.
I started quilting about two years ago and love Aurifil and it’s quality. And the colors! I would love one of each.
I am glad another season of sampler blocks has begun. I love seeing all the options and colors, of course being made with AURIFIL thread!
When I was young we had a scrappy Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt my great grandmother had made. I spent hours looking at the different fabrics. Even then I wanted to learn to quilt. I have been quilting for almost 30 years and I still love looking at the fabrics in a quilt.
This new quilt along looks great. I hope to keep up this time.
I made a t-shirt quilt for a young friend of my daughter’s. Although really nothing special, it was the first quilt she had ever received that was for her only. The look on her face was so priceless and one I will always remember.
Looking forward to helping my daughter make her first quilt this summer.
Being part of a quilt guild, sewing together and giving our quilts to our community. We make baby quilts for our local hospital,
large bed quilts for people getting a new habitat house, quilts for our local kids shelter and many more community activities. Amazing the good one can do with needle and thread :0) Thanks so much for sharing your block :0) Happy Sewing
Thank you for the neat looking block! It will be fun to make. I grew up sewing, and when my mother died, her stash became mine. I found a stack of nine-patch quilt squares among her fabrics, and decided to finish what appeared to be her last WIP, a quilt. I had never pieced or quilted, so I took what I had and went to our local quilt shop to see what I could learn about quilting, so I could complete this last project for my Mom. Little did I know it would become one of my favorite things to do! Now when I am quilting, I feel like my mother is right there with me, and we are enjoying sewing together, again.
My sister came to visit me a couple of years ago and was flipping through a quilting magazine I’d just bought. She really liked the photo of an Apple Core quilt. I was new to quilting and had never made one before. I asked her if I could make one for her… After a little persuasion, she agreed! So, I took her shopping in my stash and then to a local quilt shop to find the bulk of the colors and prints we both liked. It was so much fun to put it all together and have it ready close to her 60th birthday! It was a great sense of accomplishment for me and something she loves! It doesn’t get much better than that. Oh, and I paid someone to machine embroider the label (another Apple Core block) which I sewed onto the back of her quilt! Perfect finish!
I love this block, but can’t decide which of my fabric stashes to use. I started quilting just about 4 years ago and I love it! Prior to quilting, and as a young stay at home mom several years ago, I bought my first sewing machine with money I received from my husbands grandfather as a Christmas gift. I sewed all of my children’s clothing, made them stuffed animals, and doll clothes. I self-taught myself to follow patterns and learned some things by trial and error. Now that I am older and don’t have children to sew for, I decided to start quilting. I have finished several quilt tops, now learning to free motion quilt on my sewing machine so I can quilt them together. I would love to win some Aurifil thread, its my favorite!
I have always loved sewing and embroidery, but didn’t fall into quilting until later in life, too. Now it’s a passion!! Love the kick-off block of Splendid 2 … this is going to be FUN! 🙂
My story is about my first attempt at quilting. I knew absolutely nothing. I bought a piece of fabric and I had some leftover pieces from making clothes – NOT quilting cotton. I used a coloring book to get a picture of an elephant to use as a pattern. I cut out the elephants, then got a yardstick and tediously measured and used a pencil to mark dots on the large piece of fabric in order to place the elephants equally spaced. I didn’t know to sew the elephants to squares then sew the squares together. I had never heard of applique. I tediously topped stitched (by machine) the elephants on the fabric taking great pains to turn the edges under as I sewed. The first elephant was all puckered and looked horrible. But I didn’t give up. I had heard of stitch witchery for repairing hems, so I went to the store and bought a roll thinking that if I ironed it on, it might help the elephants stay in place better. I cut it into little pieces to go around the curves of the elephant and ironed it. The second one looked a little better. I did a total of 16 elephants and I think I attached each one differently as I was trying to learn. 20 years later, after quilting became popular, quilt stores began popping up, and quilt magazines could be found everywhere, I finally learned how it should have been done! Making quilts is so much easier these days!!! LOL!
While stitching my first quilt I was having a little trouble getting my seams allowances sewn correctly. The shop owner recommended Aurifil 50 wt and I’ve using it ever since. I love the variety of colors and weights
I sew quilts with my great grandmother’s New Home treadle – and Aurifil works great on my machine. i started quilting because I wanted a quilt and nobody in my family has sewn for 2 generations. It’s a perfect hobby and I have great quilting friends.
My story is more like advice. I thought I needed to have a perfect finish – so it took me around 18 years to finish one of the many projects I started. It doesnt have to be perfect – just done. Then it can be used and become part of your life! Thanks for the chance – your thread makes it nicer to sew!
My husband’s client gave us a quilt one year as a thank you gift. This sparked my interest in quilting. Now as the first quilter in our family I need to get someone else interested or else there will be no one to inherit my stash!
I had to make a quilt block with branches on it as it is called. It should be 15″ all around, but one of my quilts became 14 1/2″ instead.
My friend convinced me to make an easy scrap quilt with her about 7 years ago. I had never pieced a quilt before. Since then I have made more that 50 quilts, and she has made just that one that got me started.
Love Aurifil thread! Love the quilt market pattern….I can see using this to use up a lot of scraps! Thanks!
Making a quilt makes me happy twice. Once when I make it and once when I give it away and see the smile on the person who receives it. There is no better feeling in this world.
i started quilting in 1997. Making a baby quilt for my granddaughter. I sat in the hospital , where my Mom was passing and stitched away the time making this quilt. I then joined a quilt guild that actually had classes, I was using a jeans machine that they teased me about because it was so noisey. I bought my Baby Lock Allure and sewed on it for 15 years. During this time I fought with threads breaking because I didn’t know what a good thread was. I discovered Airifil thread and found happiness , learning free motion quilting and making queen and king size quilts on it. Then In February my Hubby came home with a Jenome and a Arifil pack of thread. what a wonderful 73 Birthday and Valentines present. I sew every day that I can and am working on a queen size one again using my favorite thread.
A friend and I starting quilting together about 30 years ago. We taught ourselves by reading quilt books and watching PBS quilt shows. They were simple quilts and we handquilted each one. The first year we made together about 12 quilts from twin size to queen. Oh the wonderful fabric we purchased! Some of the quilts are still used today!!!
She has since passed away and I miss our time together. So much laughter, tears and laughter through tears. There is not a quilt I work on that I don’t miss her or am reminded of her.
I am a beginner
so just love this that makes me think and try different things cannot wait for the book.
Sad story, just found an UFO which was to be a wedding gift….the marriage has already dissolved. Need to win this 40 wt Aurifile thread so I can finish this quilt and have it done for the next wedding. Love this stripped block and will try it soon.
I love the batik tip! As a child I loved looking at my Grandmother’s ‘Pickle Dish’ quilt, and as an adult I still love looking at Fabrics. I’ve just tried your thread and love it. I’ll be joining the QAL (albeit a late starter) and I cannot wait to see the finished result!
Appreciate your post. Looking forward to reading through a lot more of your content. I really hope to give back and help people like you helped me.
Heya this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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