We’re thrilled to bring you the fourth installment of six Slice & Stitch Challenge posts that we’ll bring to you throughout 2019 in partner with our good friends at OLFA. With each installment, one Aurifil Artisan + one OLFA Ambassador will receive the same products with the challenge to make one new project to share with all of you.
JULY CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS
Amista Baker AND Audrey Mann & Diane Brinton
PRODUCTS
Rulers & Aurifil 28wt
Without further pause, we’re excited to introduce you to Amista and Audrey & Diane from The Cloth Parcel. We are absolutely in love with these projects, complete with FREE patterns so that you can get started on experimenting with all of these fabulous notions;).
Hello and welcome! My name is Amista Baker (of Hilltop Custom Designs) and I’m here to share with you some tips and tricks for hand quilting with Aurifil 28wt thread and how to use Olfa Rulers to mark off your quilting designs. PLUS, you’ll get a FREE mini quilt pattern!
Aurifil and Olfa products are a staple in my sewing room. I use them almost exclusively on every project. In my opinion you just can’t beat the quality of these two companies. Personally, I only own Olfa brand rotary cutters. They are beautifully made and cut like a dream – especially the new Endurance Blades! I can cut multiple layers of fabric with ease. When it comes to Aurifil threads, you’re not going to find another brand with the amazing quality and huge color selection that Aurifil has. They’ve got a thread color match for EVERYTHING!
Ok, on to the free project!
The Slice & Stitch Modern Mini Quilt is a 23″ square skill builder. There are different blocks that use different piecing techniques and empty space on the quilt perfect for getting creative with your stitches!
*This pattern assumes knowledge of basic piecing techniques. I’ve given you the fabric and cutting requirements, but not instructions on how to assemble each block.
DOWNLOAD THE MODERN MINI QUILT PATTERN
After piecing your blocks and assembling your quilt, let’s talk about hand quilting with Aurifil 28wt threads and using Olfa rulers to mark off quilting designs.


I’m using Aurifil 28wt threads in the following shades: 2860, 1147, 2588, 2930, and 2225. I’ll also be using Olfa 6” x 12” and 12.5” sq. Acrylic Frosted Non-Slip Rulers, a simple Hera marker, a thimble and Tulip hand quilting needles.
For this mini, I’m going to do a mix of quilting designs in colorful threads to outline my blocks and do some echo quilting to extend my block patterns into the empty space of my quilts.
Mark your quilt using your Olfa rulers and Hera marker (or a washable fabric pen / pencil). This is also a great time to use your coloring sheet from the free pattern! Use it to draw quilting designs and get creative before actually quilting. You can choose to do tiny even stitches or try out some big stitch quilting.
The sky is really the limit when it comes to hand quilting, and Aurifil 28wt threads make beautiful defined stitches.
Once you get going, you should have no problem getting the hang of it and moving right along. Don’t forget to be creative with your stitches… outline your blocks, echo your blocks, or even stitch out a brand new block design in the empty spaces.
I chose a black and white stripe binding for this quilt to give it that extra modern feel and I really love the way it turned out!


I hope you love this Slice & Stitch Modern Mini as much as I do. If you make one I’d love to see your projects! Please share them on social media using #aurifilthread, #olfacreates, and #sliceandstitchchallenge and tag me @amistabaker!
GIVEAWAY
To enter to win
- 1 OLFA 6″x12″ Frosted Acrylic Ruler (QR-6X12)
- 1 OLFA Splash 45mm Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter, Pacific Blue (RTY-2DX/PBL)
- An assortment of Aurifil 28wt Thread
click HERE. You do not have to complete all of the entries, but the more you do, the greater your chance of winning! This giveaway is open to all of our friends, worldwide. Entries will be accepted between now and 11:59pm on Thursday, August 8th. Winner will be contacted via email. Good luck!
Head on over to OLFA’s blog to check out Audrey & Diane’s (The Cloth Parcel) project and don’t miss our next Slice & Stitch Challenge coming up in September!


ABOUT AMISTA
Website — Facebook — Instagram
Amista Baker is a wife, a stay-at-home mom to two girls and a boy, and the owner of Hilltop Custom Designs. She began her business in late 2012 by making her very first hand drawn birthday board for her daughter’s first birthday. She posted a photo of it online to her personal Facebook page and soon after, she was getting requests to do boards for other people. To date she has done hand drawn boards for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, birth announcements, inspirational (various types of cancer), nursery wall art, and family wall art.
After getting a lot of local business, she decided there might be a place in the market for her product and went online to set up shop! 🙂 She now make lots of items including digital invitations, banners, cupcake toppers, and more party printables as well as hand sewn baby bibs, burp cloths, quilts, and more!
Amista’s love for quilting didn’t begin until 2014 when she made her very first quilt, a Jelly Roll Racer. It was so fast and easy she immediately became obsessed. She’s now made several quilts for others and for her own family and it is truly a passion of hers. She also enjoys making bags, pouches, and so much more. It is really a stress reliever and something she is truly proud of!
I love this color scheme so much! In the header image, there are six spools shown, but only five color numbers listed later on. Is the sixth one 5022?