Thread Matters 2021: It’s All About the quilting

Happy New Year all!! Thread Matters is back for a brand new year of Aurifil Thread Education and we’re thrilled to kick things off with a delightful and incredibly informative cross-over post from Program Director Karen L. Miller of Redbird Quilt Co. This month, she takes us through the quilting of Aurifil’s 2019 DOM Quilt and it’s magnificent. Karen is a quilting master and we’re always grateful for an opportunity to learn from her.

If you missed the 2019 introduction of Aurifilosophy and this fun new Thread Matters series click here to read more.  Consider scheduling an Aurifilosophy Program for your shop, group or guild – learn more here.

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Hello fellow thread lovers and welcome back to Thread Matters – The Aurifilosophy Series.  We’re kicking-off 2021 with a throwback to 2019– celebrating the Aurifil 2019 Designer of the Month Quilt with some fun quilting using Aurifil Forty3 (40wt 3ply) thread!! Many thanks to Designer of the Month host Pat A. Sloan who for 10 years has chosen and rallied a talented team of 12 to design and document free blocks for the annual event.  Each year Pat prepares the setting layout and 2019’s 62.5″ square design will certainly be one for the books. Pat’s whimsical star blocks and simple yet elegant sashing design perfectly highlight the unique custom blocks prepared by the amazingly talented 2019 team that included:  Alyce Blyth, Andrea Tsang Jackson, Annette Plog, Beverly McCullough, Carl Hentsch, Jenni Smith, Karen L. Miller, Kristy and Shayla Wolf, Laura Piland, Lissa Alexander, Natalie Barnes, and Sedef Imer. WOW — What a lineup!!

I was thrilled for the opportunity to custom quilt the 2019 DOM because, you know, it’s RED and white and has ample negative space and all that! But seriously, with some of the amazingly creative blocks in the quilt, it was hard to imagine applying an edge to edge design that would not highlight the beauty of these really spectacular blocks.

LET’S TALK QUILTING
First– choosing a machine:
Hmm… ya’ll know I love to quilt on my domestic machine but in this case time was of the essence and space in my temporary transient “studio” was non-existent. So that left my trusty longarm which was in tip-top condition and anxious to have a quilt loaded. I quilt on an Innova 26” longarm with the famed lightning stitch feature. I’ve been dabbling in FMQ on the longarm for a few years now — practice practice practice.

Second– batting selection:
Ahh, the batting. Batting can add so much texture to the stitching and that dimension helps setup a “WOW” factor to a completed quilt. With this in mind, I decided to go with 2 layers of batting — Quilters Dream Wool for loft and Quilters Dream Blend for stability, layering the wool over the blend next to the quilt top.

Next– thread:
Oh, this one was easy! You see, in 2017 Aurifil introduced Forty3, a 40 weight / 3 ply thread made specifically to handle the rigor of today’s high tech, high speed longarm machines. Forty3 has 3 strands of 40wt and is delivered on a yellow cone sporting 3280 yards of amazingly strong thread. While using Forty3 on the longarm, I choose to use an MR needle size 100/16 (or 3.5) with Aurifil 40/2 in the bobbin.

Finally– Quilting motif:
Choosing the quilting motif is often the hardest part of finishing a quilt, but I was fortunate in that each designer was asked to design their block inspired by “a tradition”. While choosing a quilting motif for the blocks, it was fun to read about the “tradition” that inspired each designer and let that tradition inspire the quilting motif. Now that was easy. I’ll explain more with each block.

A couple of thoughts before we begin:

• Aim to be consistent with the density of the quilting and repeat your motifs across the quilt. For instance, if I choose swirls, pebbles, and feathers for a block or sashing, I’ll try to repeat those same designs other places in the quilt. This adds a cohesiveness to the finished quilt. You’ll recognize the swirls, pebbles, and feathers “theme”, along with a little ruler-work throughout this quilt. Some blocks have a bit more quilting than others. The variation was somewhat dependent on the “inspiration” for the block.
• When quilting on the longarm, I generally quilt a row at a time. I start at the top with the border and move down from there, basting the top and sides a row at a time as I advance.
• Because the completed rows disappear into the take-up bar on a longarm, it’s important to take pictures of what you quilted before advancing the quilt, otherwise you’ll have to roll backward to “refresh” your memory on what you did above –ask me how I know.
• The motifs chosen for this quilt are easily duplicated on ANY machine. Everything was free motion and achievable on a domestic, a sit down, or a longarm of any brand.

So here we go!! I’m thrilled to share a ton of images with you and attempt to explain what motivated both the thread color choice and the quilting design for each block.

First up, Pat Sloan’s beautiful Star Blocks:  
I loved the variation of fabric and shades of red in these blocks, especially the red stripe, but that same variation posed a challenge for thread color selection.  Aurifil variegated thread to the rescue! In the negative space the background Forty3 color #6722 was perfect, and Forty3 variegated #4668 worked wonderfully across the center of the star. In all cases 40/2 color #2026 was the right selection for the bobbin as the backing fabric is a simple red and white print.

Before image:

I loved quilting pebbles and swirls in the negative space of the star block, but the block needed something more. The center square of the block was the perfect spot for a bit of curved ruler work using Aurifil variegated # 4668. Ta da!

Next, Carl Hentsch of  3 Dog Design Co. Carl created a unique paper pieced block inspired by visiting Florida beaches as a child. The quilting design needed to be whimsical in support of this tradition.

The variegated red and solid white threads weren’t the right solution for Carl’s block, so I chose to use Aurifil clear monofilament to stitch the ditch around the beach dunes and umbrella. Echo quilting of the ditch and some added ruler work helped add to the depth of the block. A few whimsical swirls and feathers enhance the beach playtime.

Kristy and Shayla Wolf, the dynamic mother/daughter duo of  Sassafras Lane, prepared a beautiful foundation pieced log cabin-like block named Tradition with a Twist where two halves make a whole.

To allow the “whole” of the circle to shine I decided to quilt this block very simply, segregating the halves along the log cabin color change and adding a slight break in the center to gain some loft and a bit more quilting density. I adore the unique colors and fabric designs these two very talented ladies used. In hindsight, I may have considered quilting the interior of the circle with concentric circles — highlighting the “whole” of the team.

Natalie Barnes of  beyond the reef prepared Hanalei’s Garden, a block inspired by traditional Hawaiian quilts and the plants found in the garden of her dear friend Jill Marie Landis of Hanalei.

This block is one of three that convinced me to use an Aurifil variegated thread for the quilting.   I’m not likely to choose a variegated color to quilt on solid fabrics, but the extensive variety of colors representing Hanalei’s Garden in Natalie’s block screamed variegated.

This block begged simple quilting to allow the fabric colors and pieced design to shine.  Stitch in the ditch was my quilting of choice with a little match-stick quilting to knock down the negative spaces and let the garden bloom!  Love this block Natalie – although for me to piece it would be quite an achievement. 😉

Beverly McCullough of Flamingo Toes prepared a pieced block inspired by a vintage wedding ring quilt that belonged to her great-grandmother. Beverly’s love of vintage shines through in all her designs, and this uniquely pieced wedding ring block was icing on the vintage cake. It was also really fun to quilt!

In an attempt to support the wedding ring block inspiration, I choose to quilt a circle of feathers in the negative space and support the remaining components of the pieced block with simple continuous curve stitching.   I do love the simple design Beverly created and in hindsight would probably add a bit more quilting to her red wedding ring cuts.

Andrea Tsang Jackson of 3rd Story Workshop prepared the Ruby Red block featuring simple gemstone shapes inspired by jewelry designed by her  grandmother. Andrea’s block screamed modern quilting and something that would highlight the cut gem inspiration, don’t you agree?

Modern quilting often takes on simple straight lines, and with this particular block “ghosting” the gem shape in the negative space was an added bonus. Pay special attention to the double echo around each gem — again highlighting the gem shape so that the remaining geometric quilting would not take away from the beauty of the gems. Someone asked how I came up with the “plan” to quilt those straight lines and the truth is I didn’t plan it. I quilted a few straight lines, changed direction and continued with straight lines until a point where echoing the remaining space made sense. I had so much fun with this unique block!  Thanks Andrea.

Note: My favorite straight-line and curved ruler sets are made by Linda Hrcka (pronounced Hersh-ka) of The Quilted Pineapple

Laura Piland of Slice of Pi Quilts designed a unique Pi block aptly named Pi Day Games. You see Laura and her Pi-land family take pi very seriously, turning Pi Day (March 14th) into a holiday full of fun traditions, including eating everything round (pie, pizza, pancakes) and making circle art with a few circle math activities too!

Laura’s block and tradition inspired me to turn her pi circles into pi slices with somewhat round pebbles as a background fill.

Echo quilting the pie {or is it pi – wink wink} shape helped accentuate the design and segregate the slice from the background fill. Thanks for a fun block to quilt, Laura.

Sedef Imer of  Down Grapevine Lane designed a unique Harvest block to represent a newly adopted family tradition of joining the Adelaide, South Australia town-folk in harvest. The region grows grapes, fruit, and other crops and is often referred to as the “food bowl” of Australia.

Sedef’s block inspired me to quilt feathers up a vine.   An echo of the feathers helps them pop.  Some straight line quilting in the sashing allowed more focus on the harvest component.  It was great fun to quilt this simple but elegant block.

Karen Miller of Redbird Quilt Co. (yeah — that’s me!) designed a quilt block inspired by a family tradition of gardening. Flowers, shrubs, and hosta adorned the family garden where Karen was reared. The Redbird Garden block was created in honor of the gardening tradition instilled by her mother. Karen used a faux ruched flower technique and needle-turn appliqué to create this unique floral block.

I’d been dreaming of quilting this block for years!!  Adding feathers to anything that has a stem seems “natural”. I used an air soluble purple pen to rough-in a feather spine; then I changed my mind and marked one that fit more naturally with the block. You can find my “curled feather” tutorial on YouTube.

With most any applique block it helps to “pop” the applique by quilting dense motif in and around it. I stitched and echo stitched the appliqué before doing one of my favorite background fillers “wild goose chase”. So much fun to prepare and quilt this block. How about we all make a larger version of it one day?

Alyce Blyth of  Blossom Heart Quilts was inspired to prepare the Advent block based on a family tradition of having an Advent Calendar to celebrate these special days during the Christmas season.

This simple quilt block in beautiful red and white was a perfect opportunity to stitch out some Christmas stars.  The weight of Forty3 helped the stars make a statement in the negative space.

I just love the simplicity of the block and the quilting.  It’s calming.   Thank you Alyce.

Jenni Smith took the opportunity to prepare a Poppy block in honor of Armistice Day in the UK, where it is a tradition to wear a paper Poppy as a symbol of remembrance for those that fought for their country in war. Jenni used beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics to create this thoughtful block.

Jenni’s brightly colored Liberty fabrics worked perfectly with the variegated red thread, but the center blue colors challenged my collection of blues.  As you can see my best choice was to go with Aurifil monofilament in this area.  If you’re not familiar with using Aurifil monofilament, check out my 2019 Thread Matters post on the topic.

The poppy quilting left me clamoring to stitch something “like” a poppy.  With the busy fabric it’s hard to see the quilting, but a gentle circular meander proved useful here. Thanks for sharing your precious design with us, Jenni!

Annette Plog of Petite Quilts designed the Summer Fun block. It was inspired by her family tradition of opening the backyard swimming pool on Memorial Day weekend and having all the family over to test the waters. Annette loves that, like the triangles in the pieced block, they have adults, kids and pets going in all different directions, having lots of fun, eating lots of food, and enjoying the warm summer weather and each other’s company.

The shading of the background color on Annette’s block warranted a change in color from the #6722 I’d been using.

I chose color #2310 for the background quilting where the straight line quilting represents the family all going in different directions yet coming together in the center of the block.

Lissa Alexander aka Moda Lissa prepared the Inside My Window block inspired by her childhood home that has now comforted 3 generations of family and is occupied by Lissa and her husband. The 3 windows represent the 3 generations of family and the spool block represents the view of her studio shelves from the outside looking in.

Lissa’s quilt was another that challenged my available thread colors, so I decided again to go with Aurifil clear monofilament.

I was excited to stitch out a gentle curved roofing design. You can see I did this completely unmarked and free motion (it’s a little wonky if I do say so myself). In the main house section I felt it appropriate to show all the LOVE that Lissa and her family have for their home — what better way than with hearts. <3

Thanks for a fun block, Lissa!

In a few of the previous images you’ll notice the negative space was stitched with a combination of swirls, pebbles, feathers, and straight lines — adding a ribbon candy like design in the center block sashing. The outside border was also stitched with straight lines appx ¼ – ⅜ “ apart (taking care to NOT worry about the spacing — it all worked out fine).

Many thanks for joining us today for a throwback to the 2019 Designer of the Month quilting adventure. I hope you gained a few tips to aid in your future quilting experiences.

Have you tried Forty3? Educators, Professional Longarmers, and Industry Professionals can purchase it through the Aurifil Supply Closet.  Retail customers can ask for it at their favorite quilt shop. It works beautifully on a longarm or domestic machine and is a must-have for every quilting fanatic.

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