Celebrating 40 years of Olfa’s Rotary Cutter!

One of our absolute favorite tools is the one and only OLFA rotary cutter. It’s classic, stunning, versatile, and best of all, most of us couldn’t possibly live without it. From classic Yellow, to Aqua, Pink, and Purple, to the newly minted Ruby Red… the rotary cutter is a tool that has found its way to every maker’s studio. It has made our lives easier, leaving us with countless saved hours to be used for new projects. Still, it’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years! We’re thrilled to be a part of this celebration. <3 Read more about OLFA’s history right here.

Photography: Kitty Wilkin / Quilt Design: Roseann Kermes / Machine Quilter: Marilyn Kidd

OLFA’s 40th Anniversary quilt is a celebration of the rotary cutter, featuring original blocks from 40 different makers from various part of our remarkable industry. It was launched at Road to California earlier this year, its release marking the beginning of a 40-week Quilt Along. Each week, a new block pattern is released, with shared instructions for those who want to sew along. More info can be found on OLFA’s blog.

Our very own Creative Director, Erin Sampson, was asked to contribute a block and we’re happy to share that with you all today!

I have to say, when Yvonne (from OLFA) first emailed me, asking to take part, I said ‘surely, there must be someone else you would rather ask.’ I consider myself to still be a beginner, and we have a handful of incredibly skilled quilters and sewists on staff here at Aurifil. But Yvonne’s mind was set — she told me that if she could do it, I could do it… so here we are;). My block isn’t particularly complicated, but it it was fun, and I’m hoping that’s what counts!

Three in One represents my journey to the sewing and quilting industry. My current role as Creative Director for Aurifil marks my third career path – the first was in A&R/Marketing in the Music Industry, the second was as an accessories shop owner in New York City. Though very different, all three do have a common thread – that of story-telling/marketing and the appreciation of artistic expression. I feel very fortunate to have taken the paths that I have and love seeing how they intertwine!

To create the block, I stitched strips of 3 different prints together, each representative of one part of the journey. I cut them up and stitched them back together, so that they all come together to create one story. I couldn’t have made the block without OLFA, which goes to shows that nothing is possible without a little help from our favorite tools;).

For the block, I used fabrics from Kate Spain’s Early Bird collection for Moda, Aurifil 50wt thread, my Aqua rotary cutter & mat from OLFA and my absolute favorite 6″ ruler.

To grab the instructions for this block in addition to instructions for the first 7 blocks, head to OLFA’s page HERE. It’s a great landing page for the whole series, as there will be a new block launched every Monday.