Aurifil 2018 October Designer of the Month Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill

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

In 2010 I created the first original Block of the month for Aurifil and it was so much fun we’ve done it ever year since! 2018 is the start of my 8th year running this super fun program.  Learn more about how it works at our intro of the 2018 team

This year we challenged each designer to create a block inspired by ‘The Places We Go’ and I asked them to use  black & white fabrics  + a color of their choice.

Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill is our October designer. I first meet Sheri at a trade show but I’d seen her wonderful and very unique quilts many times already. Her bee quilt might be a signature piece, but she has so many wonderful designs!  As a graphics artist she brings her fabric to life with the story she tells. She also created the ‘Sew Many Colors’ FREE Pattern for  Aurifil 

Listen to our chat HERE on Unique designs and making it your own.

visit her at Whole Circle Studio

Missed a month? CLICK FOR PRIOR DESIGNER interviews

Remember we have a Challenge portion of our Designer of the Month interview.

Each month we select one random winner to receive a 12 LARGE spool BOX of Aurifil thread for just making the challenge block and sharing it! Details at the end plus last month’s winner!

Let’s get to know Sheri!

 

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

I live just outside New Haven, Connecticut with my husband Jason. We enjoying living in this area because it’s a ten minute drive into downtown, where we can get the BEST pizza in the USA (seriously!) and we can stroll around Yale University and take in the amazing architecture.

Our home is in the suburbs and I take most of my quilt photography in my backyard near our beehives (you can see them in the photo —they’re the small white spots in the background).

New Haven is also just a commuter train ride away from New York City, making it an easy day trip.

When was your FIRST quilt sighting? Did it inspire you to start quilting?

I subscribed to Martha Stewart Magazine in the 90’s and vividly remember reading about Denyse Schmidt, a graphic designer who was making quilts that didn’t look like a “typical” quilt. As a graphic designer myself, I was really inspired by her story and her work. Even though I didn’t make quilts at the time, and my only real experience with a sewing machine was making a pillow that looked like a hamburger in fifth grade home economics class, I saved that article for many years.

In the mid 2000s, while browsing the craft section in a bookstore, I came across Denyse’s first book. Still not knowing how to sew, I bought the book and it sat on my bookshelf for many years. About six years ago, I decided I needed a distraction and wanted to make something. I finally cracked open Denyse’s book, bought everything she outlined that I needed to make a quilt. I started sewing away on a Sears Kenmore that I bought in the 90s to sew paper for a bookbinding project I was working on. After making my first table runner, using a block pattern from her book, I fell in love with quilting.
Have you had a ‘light bulb’ moment in making

You can do a lot with your walking foot! I quilt everything on my domestic machine and create quilting designs that support the quilt top.

(clockwise from left) Bzzzzzzz, Dragonfly Dance, Butterfly Bunch and Ladybug Loop

I love pushing the boundaries of my walking foot.

Quilt – Butterfly Bunch in progress

I find if I go slow, I can achieve accurate geometric designs, organic lines and beautiful curved lines.

Quilt: detail of Kona Sunset

What does your studio look like, and what would you change in it?
My studio is technically a small bedroom that overlooks my backyard. While it’s cozy and only a few steps from my bedroom, making it convenient to work late and then crawl into bed, I’d love more space! Taller ceilings and a bit more natural light would be great—our house was built in the 1830s . Houses just weren’t typically built with tall ceilings back then!

My quilting business, Whole Circle Studio, has taken over the entire house. Another bedroom in the house is reserved for quilt storage and pattern/product fulfillment. Our tiny guest room, which has a built in Murphy Bed, is used as my photo studio.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I recently released two new patterns (both can be found in my shop: https://shop.wholecirclestudio.com/
Patchwork Petals, a foundation paper piecing pattern

Leaf Peepers, a collaboration with Leah Day. We also have a great time presenting a Quilt Along at your own pace where we each give tips for piecing and quilting. It’s so much fun to see how different quilters approach the same project!

While I love designing new patterns, I also love combining my graphic design and quilting skills and am working on lots of new products that will launch next year. I recently began offering my quilt designs on leggings. My Kona Sunset leggings (http://wholecirclestudio.com/leggings ) launched this summer and I have a new (and slightly more subdued) pair of leggings launching in a couple of weeks!
I’m also traveling more to teach and give presentations/trunk shows. I love meeting other quilters through guilds, shops, retreats and conferences!

About your block – What location inspired your block?

My block, Central Park, was inspired by my favorite public park in the greatest city—New York City! Central Park and NYC hold a special place in my heart as it’s where my husband, Jason, and I got married. When I found out that my block would be released in October, I decided that I had to design a NYC-themed block since it is also my anniversary month.

Jason and I spent lots of weekends walking around Central Park to find the perfect spot for our ceremony. We settled on a section called Hernshead, close to the American Museum of Natural History. Twenty of our family members and closest friends joined us, and our good friend Brian officiated. After the ceremony, we all took the subway downtown to feast on dinner in a private room at a restaurant. The evening was topped off by cocktails at a rooftop bar with views of the Empire State Building.

Years later, Jason and I still love visiting the Big Apple. Here’s a photo of us from last December in front of Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building.

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DOWNLOAD Sheri’s Central Park block for Aurifil

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• A  Fun Question – If you could eat only 3 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be?
  Bread, cheese and avocados! (they also make a great combination for breakfast)

Visit Sheri at:

• Website and Blog: http://wholecirclestudio.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/wholecirclestudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wholecirclestudio
• Subscribe to my Newsletter: http://wholecirclestudio.com/signup

I was very happy to be able to use this beautiful print in my block!

CLICK TO MY Website to see a few ‘Pat Tips’ for construction & all my blocks together!

Enter your block BELOW by Nov 14, 2018 to be in the running to win a BOX of Aurifil

This is SUPER EASY to enter all you have to do is make ONE BLOCK.

https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js

last month’s winner is below

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

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

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

Our RANDOM picker selects the winner, glad it’s not me that does it as  your September blocks are outstanding!

Our monthly winner is #4-Lori!  This awesome quilter has been emailed and WON a BOX of Aurifil thread!  .. see all the great versions HERE

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