April Aurifil Artisan Showcase featuring Kaffe Fassett fabrics
Welcome to another Aurifil Artisan project showcase! Each month we task our team of Artisans with a new challenge, and each month we are thrilled to share the amazing projects they have created! For April we once again partnered with an amazing member of the quilting industry. FreeSpirit Fabrics graciously provided several fat quarter bundles of Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. To make things interesting, we sent our Artisans four fat quarters each without previously telling them what colors they would receive! 😀 In the end we are absolutely blown away with the variety of projects and their use of the Kaffe fabrics.
*Click on each Artisan’s name below to read more about their project.*
Heather Black – “Mixing beautiful fabric with my favorite thread, I couldn’t ask for a better sewing day. I love using Auritil Forty3 and 28 wt thread for quilting. The heavier thread adds great texture and holds it own on the bright Kaffe Fasset prints.”
Steph Skardal – “I laser cut crowns (from paper crown patterns) in cork and Kaffe fabric for this month’s project. With the wrong sides together, I added detail stitching to all of the crowns with 50wt Aurifil thread in bright colors!”
Kymona Tracey – “Trivet anyone?! This month’s challenge was fun, and I learned a couple of new things along the way – how to add pom-poms to a project and how to do some tufting.”
Kathy Ross – “This piece was inspired by fairy tales, mythology mother nature, creativity and growth.The eyes and nose wer stitiched onto fabric with free motion embroidery using 50wt thread. I then created the flowers and fauna with the free spirit fabrics using raw edged applique and fabric collage. the whole piece was then stitched onto artists paper to give a clean look.”
Eliane – “I used Aurifil 12 weight thread to add hand quilting to my mug rug! It added such nice definition to this big floral Kaffe Fassett fabric.”
Sarah Ruiz – “I turned my Kaffe Fassett fat quarters into what I’m calling the “juicy, fruity” version of my Modular Maze quilt pattern! I decided to fully embrace the maximalist vibe of this quilt and chose 7 different colors of chunky 12 wt Aurifil thread to follow the maze lines created by the piecing. The finished mini quilt feels appropriate for the impending arrival of a bright, hot Houston summer.”
Sue de Vanny – “I’ve used these wonderful Freespirit fabrics in my new Tote I’ve made. Not only in the structure but also the little Frog as the Art feature on the front which is what I’m more known for.”
Amanda Carye – “This month’s mystery box challenge was the perfect project to play with and showcase my collection of bright threads! After a failed attempt to make some densely quilted bag straps, I cobbled together my remaining scraps, quilted them using five of my favorite bright threads (Cotton 50wt 2540, 1147, 2535, 5002, and 4093) and made a fun quilted fanny pack (pattern is  #fennelfannypack by @sarkirsten). The Kaffe Fassett   Big Blooms in Emerald print by FreeSpirit Fabrics  was the perfect scale print for this mini bag and the perfect canvas for the thread play!”
Elise Baek – “Bright, bold and colorful Kaffe Fassett dresden panel for my new tote bag. I just love the colors but need help deciding which thread color to add some hand quilting with!”
Amy Ball – “I used Aurifil 80wt with beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabrics to make these colourful foundation paper pieced moth blocks. The 80wt thread is my go-to for FPP projects as it is very fine but still strong. This means the little stitches aren’t visible but also aren’t weakened when the FPP papers are removed. And as there is a great selection of 80wt colours you can fine a colour to blend into any fabric.”
Erin Kroeker – “For this month’s challenge I wanted to try something new! I’ll admit, I know very little about applique, but I did spend a lot of time playing around with decoupage and Mod Podge as a kid! I decided to take that same strategy to use up those tiny pieces of fabric we all end up with! I used basting spray to arrange these beautiful Kaffe Fasset fabrics into an arrangement that I felt good about and then quilted them in place with 50wt thread (2134). Then just whipped up a little quilted iPad pouch and voila! Fun, fast and scrap busting!”
Isabelle Selak – “Kaffe Fasset fabrics made the perfect pairing with improv EPP for this bright mini quilt project.”
Jen Belnap – “I made this little stitch book with Kaffe fabric and Aurifil thread. I had sew much fun working with these bright fabrics and bright threads! I have never used Kaffe’s fabric before and it was a joy to work with!”
Allie McCathren – “I made this 40″x40” art quilt by using raw edge applique and densely quilting with several colors of thread. I call it “Sun Tiles” because the Kaffe Fassett fabric reminds me of a bright sunny day.”
Martha Woollard – “I made a panel of 1″ squares using the 5 Kaffe Fassett FQs and hand quilted it using 18 different 12wt threads from the Glorious Kantha set. I now have a portable design board and storage solution for my hexagon quilt blocks.”
Jennie Pickett – “Pairing the vibrant Kaffe Fassett Collective fabric with rainbow cork was a fun project that showcased the fabric. I added some hand stitching details with Aurifil 12wt to give the flowers detail without distracting from the prints.”
Wendy Chow – “I’m revisiting a design I came up with a few years ago for Mother’s Day. This year I’m incorporating fresh green florals and prints by Kaffe Fassett Studio. To tie everything together, I’m using three coordinating 50wt threads by Aurifil – Orange (2235), Red Plum (1100) and Dark Olive (2887). I hope this project inspires you to use more than one coloured thread in the one project.”
Audrey Esarey – “The Hemisphere Quilt features Aurifil Forty3 thread in a pale pink, quilted in spirals. I always love the texture created with overlapping spiral quilting! The pale pink color is just enough to stand out against the white background and the dark pink Kaffe fabric!”
Lucy Brennan – “A traditional and modern courthouse steps quilt inspired by Kaffe Fassett blooms. Choosing solid fabrics and the quilting thread colour for this quilt was not simple! It was made with happiness and is being gifted to the charity Siblings Together.”
Henrik Müller – “For this months Aurifil Artisan Challenge we teamed up with Free Spirit Fabrics I got a selection of red Kaffe Fassett fabric and the colours are so vibrant. My sewing machine was in the shop for a while so I was late to the party (again). I called for help on Instagram to find a pattern that uses 5 fat quarters and Charles from feltlikesweets suggested his lovely crooked crosses and bent boxes pattern.”
Sherry Shish – “I wove the Kaffe fabric with some solids to create a woven panel. Then I used the woven panel to create a Lilac Mini Messenger bag. The pop of color makes this bag super fun and cute!”
Lisa Hofmann-Maurer – “I finally put my Kaffe Fassett collection to good use and made a huge quilt for my daughter. As we’re having a lot of constrution work going on lately I took the chance to take a quilt picture with an excavator last weekend ;o)”
These are all FABULOUS!!!