We just adore Pat Sloan. Not only is she a true industry icon, she is also one of the sweetest people we know. She has written over 30 books, has designed hundreds of quilts, has put together countless fabric collections, curates thread collections for Aurifil, was the longtime host of a weekly podcast for American Patchwork & Quilting, organizes the Aurifil Designer of the Month program, and still manages to travel extensively for her lectures while peppering in fun events all along the way.
We’ve come to love her enthusiastic travel selfies, her quilty showcases, and her contagious smile — she keeps us engaged on a daily basis. She is a tireless crusader for quilting and sewing education and is generally seen as an inspiration to all;).
Pat is also one of our most passionate Aurifil champions. She has been with us from the beginning, both as a featured collection designer, as the genius behind our long-running Aurifil Designer of the Month program, and just generally as a dedicated user of our threads. You’ll see Aurifil spools peppered throughout Pat’s social media feeds and it’s tough for us not to smile every time we see one of those delightfully styled images. So… we love Pat. Pat is just amazing.
We’re thrilled, today, to introduce Pat’s latest Aurifil collection — Perfect Little Box of Neutrals. Building on the success of her Perfect Box of Neutrals Collection, released a few years back, this box features Pat’s absolute perfect go-to neutral 50wt threads in those perfectly sized small spools. 220yds of wonderfully versatile thread that won’t add lint to your machine and will add a certain sheen to all of your projects. Thank you, Pat, for being such a thread hero!
THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
Perfect Little Box of Neutrals
100% Aurifil Cotton, 10 Small Spools 50wt (220yds each)
2311, 2692, 2340, 2370, 5011
2312, 2372, 2610, 1158, 2600
To view this info on our website, click here. For purchasing, please contact your local Aurifil Dealer.
ALL ABOUT PAT
Do you remember the very first thing that you made?
It might have been cakes in a little childs baking oven. For crafts, besides school stuff, I started making beaded necklaces in maybe 5th grade.
You manage the largest quilt group on Facebook. What do you love most about overseeing that group?
My facebook group has 160,000 quilters from around the world and it’s such an exciting, vibrant, and inspirational place to hang out! Everyone inspires me with their work. From people just wanting to learn to quilt to seasoned veterans, they are all there. And if you have a question, just ask, someone will help you. We are a true quilters’ neighborhood.
Join me: https://www.facebook.com/groups/QuiltWithPatSloan/
You’ve just released a brand new collection with Benartex – Bonnie Lane. What inspired this collection? What do you love most about working with Benartex?
When I first started my business I did a lot of work for the magazines. Benartex was the first company that gave me fabric to use in my magazine projects, and we’ve been friends ever since! I’m so delighted to now be working with them on my fabric collections, joining Eleanor Burns and Nancy Halvorsen to name a few of their designers.
The Benartex art department is so talented, they are a joy to work with. They take may vision and turn it into beautiful fabric for quilters.
I refer to my quilting community as my neighborhood, so it felt right to bring that cozy feeling to my fabric lines. Pat Sloan’s Neighborhood my main theme and each line will be something about neighborhoods, like my first line, Bonnie Lane… which is actually named for my mom, who is Bonnie Lane! This is my favorite photo of my mom and I from a few years ago.
Bonnie Lane has a group of soft shades of blue and yellow. I then created a colorway of coral and charcoal. It was fun to create the project for this and my friends did some too!
I had a lot of fun taking photos of the projects with things that are near and dear to me, like my favorite cookie book that i’ve had for years!
See more at https://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pat-sloan-fabric-lines.html/
Do you have a favorite project made to showcase the fabrics?
I enjoyed designing and making the free pattern ‘The Corner Store’, every neighborhood has a Corner store. I remember the one by my grandma, we’d go out her kitchen door, though the yard to the back alley. Then cut across a lot to the Squires on the corner. Such fun memories.
My Fabric line and free pattern will be available in September, ask your favorite shop to order it for you!
How did you first come to work with Aurifil? We know there’s a great story there!
There is an online website called Second Life. It’s not a gaming site, but a virtual world. It was all the rage when I joined it twelve years ago. I started a quilt group in Second life, of course, and we had group meetings. One day a gentleman arrived to join us. His name was Alex. He wrote me a message and introduced himself as working with Aurifil thread. Then asked if he could send me some Aurifil thread to try. A few weeks later a suitcase from Italy arrived containing every color of Aurifil thread, we’ve been best friends ever since!
If you know Alex, he loves games! This is a photo of the quilters in Second Life paying Bingo, Italian style. That is Alex hovering above.
What drew you to curate your first collection?
Alex asked me if I would put together a thread collection of my own. When Aurifil released their very first thread collections, one was mine. (See spools from two of my best-selling collections below!)
Your latest thread box is the Perfect Little Box of Neutrals. Why do you think your followers will love this collection?
I think we get stuck in a rut of colors, even for neutrals. The thread kits are a fabulous way to have a group of colors to try out. For neutrals you’ll be surprised how many different colors of fabric a groups of warm tans and a group of cool gray will work with.
You just announced that Monday’s podcast will be your last with American Patchwork & Quilting. We know there are thousands of fans out there who will miss hearing your voice every week. Where can we go to find you? What new things are on the horizon?
It’s been a wonderful 10 years running a podcast. I have meet so many great quiltmakers. But my podcast was just one of the zillion things I do. I am currently writing my 36th book, I am hosting 5 sew alongs, working on new fabric, doing new tutorials, and I host a weekly Fireside chat Monday nights on Youtube.
I’m looking forward to doing a few projects I’ve not had time for, so join me at Youtube for my weekly chat!
Join me on:
Facebook || YouTube || Instagram || Sew Along Website || Blog || Newsletter
And… because you do such wonderful interviews with your Designer of the Month posts, we wondered if you might humor us with your answers to a few of your fun questions:
What’s on your playlist? I’m so boring! I usually work in silence. But when I do play music I listen to background music with no words. Either Jazz or Salsa. If I want to learn something I’ll have one of several NPR shows on like Fresh Air.
What do you collect? Scissors!! I just got a pair with guitar handles….
Dog or cat? When I had pets it was Dogs all the way! The black one is my Teddy. The tan one is his sister Zener that belong to my father-in-law.
Favorite book? Alice in Wonderland is my #1 book. I just bought the one that is beautifully illustrated by Rifle Paper Company.
Favorite Snack Food? Comfort snack food is Fritos!
Thank you, Pat!! We absolutely love getting to chat with you!
LINKS
- Perfect Little Box of Neutrals
- Bonnie Lane Fabrics
- Aurifil DOM
- Pat’s Aurifil DOM Free Patterns
- Main Street Quilt Along
Join Pat On:
Website ||Facebook || Facebook Group || YouTube || Instagram ||
Sew Along Website || Blog || Newsletter || Pinterest || Twitter
About Pat:
Pat Sloan is a designer, author, and lecturer, and with her weekly radio show, Pat truly is the “Voice of Quilting”. She has a deep passion for making quilting fun for herself and everyone around her. Pat loves to hang out with quilters on the internet as well as visit you in person. Be inspired to get more done!
Having sewn since she was a child and quilted for over 20 years, Pat eventually looked to her craft as a business. After a few years quilting she started to teach quilt making to others and then turned her skills to pattern designing. She found that she really enjoys designing and seeing how other quilters made her patterns. In 2000 Pat’s designs became so popular that she and her husband Gregg formed a design and publishing company called Pat Sloan & Co. In addition to designing and publishing her work, they now travel around the country teaching and showing her quilts to quilt guilds and quilt shops. Also, Pat has had her designs published in all the national magazines, she has written 31 quilt books, has designed many lines of fabric for Moda Fabrics, and is a designer for Benartex Fabrics.
Visit her website for more info.
Thanks for this great interview with Pat Sloan. She is an inspiration! And I love Aurifil thread! Alex came to my local quilt store and have a presentation. I never knew there was so much to learn about thread! I grew up using Coats and Clark. Aurifil is my go to thread.
Wonderful interview with Pat. I won her box of Neutrals about 5 years ago in a drawing after making the block of the month, which I made into a pillow cover. I love the neutrals. It really taught me about how many you could use. My first Aurifil was a large case that I won from Lily’s Quilts about 7-8 years ago. Once I got those and tried them, I never went back to any other thread. I love all the colors, and I keep all my threads in the big case. I have a wish list of colors that I keep and whenever I have a few extra dollars, I buy a spool from the list. Keep making that wonderful thread.
Love Pat Sloan and Aurifil thread! Tried some on her recommendation and hooked immediately:). Probably have more than I’ll ever use but I love it!