When the Aurifil Artisans request an additional challenge solely to acquire the new Tula Pink neon threads ahead of time, it indicates that you’re doing something right. The enthusiasm and eagerness of the Aurifil Artisans towards working with the new Neons was contagious, filling everyone with excitement and anticipation.
The Artisans have taken their skills to another level and produced the most beautiful projects, really showcasing what these three new neon hues can do in the most imaginative and creative ways. HUGE thanks to all of our participants for the Neon Challenge — we are grateful for you, your creativity, and your incredible willingness to play along with us!
Want to join in with the neon thread craze? All three neon threads are available in the new Tula Pink Neon Aurifil Collections.
Alison Carpenter-Hughes
I LOVED this project! Mixing appliqué with an unusual colour palette for the thread painting, I took full advantage of the gorgeous neon threads as a backdrop to make my Sci-Fi inspired Miss Scarlett really pop! The threads positively glow and were beautiful to sew with, standing up to the rigours of free motion embroidery effortlessly.
Madeline Bonner
I was thrilled to try out these gorgeous new Neon colours. I focused on using the 50wt threads to quilt these small scale projects. The neon colours complemented the Liberty Lawn Cotton and makes the colours pop!
Genesis Hall
When fellow Aurifil Artisan, Anna (@thehackneyquilter) announced her newly pattern release, I had big ideas in mind. Showcasing the new Aurifil and Tula Pink collaboration Neons was an absolute blast for me. This quilt featured many firsts for me: pattern matching curves, quilt faced binding and a fun pieced backing. The threads completed the final product beautifully and as a great added detail! It was such an amazing opportunity!
Ledine Watson
For the special neon challenge, I decided to make a wall hanging using raw edge applique-featuring a unicorn of course! I really wanted the colors of the thread to stand out and have maximum impact, so decided to use a solid black for my applique piece. I’m so happy with this decision! And of course, how could I make a project to celebrate Tula Pink without using my favorite background print from her as well! The free motion sewing on this applique piece was the perfect touch!
Karen Foster
Aurifil Neons pair well with a bold and graphic quilt design so for the artisan challenge, I continued my modern medallion series. To highlight the center, I densely quilted the 50wt in a grid which gives a lovely glow. After echoing the curves with all three neons, I added some big stitch by hand using 12wt wool and cotton in similar colors.
Debbie Jeske
When the opportunity arose to use the new Aurifil 50wt neon threads, I chose to combine them all in one project – a solid, minimalistic quilt design that would be a great vehicle for showing off those neons. For quilting, I stitched both straight line and ‘fancy’ zig zags across the quilt, alternating the thread colors at my whim. Along the way, I discovered the threads showed off especially well on the black fabric. Finished off with matched binding, this quilt was a fun one, and I’m really glad I got the chance to play with those neon threads.
Kate Sandford
Oh the NEON ❤️. I was very excited to be asked if I wanted to play with Tula Pinks new 50wt neon. I kept it real simple with some small scale FMQ to make the most of those beautiful colours. And I am so in love with the green (7001) a colour I probably wouldn’t have picked up, but wow, it’s so pretty stitched out. I gave it the reverence due, and made it into art by framing it! Its one of my favourite makes
Ama Frimpong
Every since the neon threads were announced! I just wanted to make everything with them! I also love a good pop of neon on my clothes so I decided to use this collection to add a little pop to this button up shirt.
Emma Giacalone
I was so excited to play with the new Aurifil neon threads, that I really wanted to think of a fun project to showcase their vibrancy. Although my first thought was to really go all-in with the neon theme and to make some sort of neon sign artwork, I was really keen to play with the contrast between the neons and other colours to make them really pop, so I pulled out all of my greys, whites and navy threads, and settled on the idea of sewing a disco ball. I love how the darker threads really make the neons glow, and how the yellow thread especially was so effective as not only a highlighter, but also in giving a real sense of depth
Anna Wraith
I really wanted to show off just how vibrant these new neon shades are and show that a plain dark background would really let them sing. I made a notebook cover and went quilted it with an ombre grid pattern for some eighties school book vibes! you can find the tutorial at the link below.
Carrington Elliott
In my world, neon is totally a neutral! So I got so excited about the opportunity to make a project featuring the new neon threads! I had so much fun accenting my new handmade Knox Jumper with some free motion quilted flowers. I also used heat transfer vinyl to create the solid purple flowers.
Sarah Harris
I enjoyed working with these wonderful new Neon 50wt thread colours. I made a mini friendship treasure map quilt. I used the three colours to machine quilt, then used 4 strands of thread together for the hand quilting. The different colours represent the journey of friendships in this mini quilt.
Mary Davis
I knew I wanted to make a quilted denim tote with crosshatching and flowers. My initial thought was to free motion quilt tiny flowers at every intersection in the cross hatch. But, best laid plans, right? Once I made the crosshatch and saw how many flowers I’d have to make, I decided to go for a bigger flower.
Sue de Vanny
Neons! Love them decided to do a little different a bit edgy? Mixed up a colour match with one of the threads, teamed it up with my hand dyes as well and made this fun little purse pattern.
Cristina De Miranda
This piece is called “Neon Way.” I used neon as my cue for both the threads and fabrics. The strip piecing creates a dynamic background for the quilting design – the true storyteller in this piece – to shine.
Sarah Ruiz
I wanted to really highlight these great new threads, so I turned to my tried-and-true method for experimentation — fabric postcards! I made a set of 5 “wholecloth” cards that feature different thread motifs. All were created on my domestic sewing machine using a walking foot with Aurifil 50 wt neon cotton thread. They turned out great and I loved making a coordinated set of cards!
Yasmeen Kreebani Branton
I loved taking part in this challenge because I had never really used neon colours in my work before and wanted to push myself creatively to do something different. I decided to add them to a current personal project I was working on to create a knitting bag. Rather than use them with my machine I thought it would be fun to hand embroider some detail onto the hand applique shapes. I used two strands of the thread and a simple blanket stitch around the shapes. Having the darker background fabric really makes these threads shine too – I feel this won’t be my last time using these amazing neon threads!
Kerry Keeble
These neons are absolutely glorious! As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted to create something extra special, I found the perfect coloured Vintage Train Case to complete my favourite print Kabloom from Tula Pink’s Moon Garden and the rest as they say is history! A mix of straight line quilting, raw edge appliqué and teeny pleats brought my vision to life, using as much neon thread as I could squeeze in.
Katrina Hadjimichael
I loved using the gorgeous new Aurifil Neon threads! I was expecting them to be very bright but they are actually very soft and gorgeous. The pink, orange and green perfectly matched the Tula Pink “Tiny Beasts” fabric I had chosen. I made a lovely needle /accessories folder with embroidered felt in the middle. I used the Neon threads to stitch some intensive machine quilting in straight lines on the plain and feature fabrics. The sheen of the threads is lovely. I also used some gorgeous Aurifil Perle 12 for my embroidery embellishments. Overall a fun and useful project!
Adam Burch
When we were asked if we’d like to be part of a NEON challenge I said yes and jumped at the chance to work with these beautiful new threads. You can see in the finished booklet pouch, the threads were using for the quilting, construction and Embroidery to create this pouch to showcase my new favourite threads.
Tina Curtis
This bag is an expanded version of my Zip Zip Hooray Pattern- I laid the fabric out on a diagonal for a “fabric pull” picture and was inspired to use an angled patchwork and zipper to make this bag a little extra cool- just like the neon thread! I added triple topstitch to bring out the neon yellow, and incorporated the perfect matching pink zipper to go with the neon pink thread! I love how it turned out and the fun accent of thread peaking out of the pocket!
Claire Campion
I had the pleasure of participating in the Tula Pink Everglow and Aurifil Neon & Neutral Influencer Tour and had the chance to use these new neon hues quilting a full quilt with these threads, so for my Artisan neon challenge I wanted to showcase them in a quick ‘anyone could make it’ project! Geometric framed quilts have been on my to-do list for a long time and these Neons were the perfect thread colour! Now to do the same using black fabric and a black frame!
We encourage you to click through and check out each of these amazing projects in more detail!
All of these projects are fabulous! So many really neat and inspiring ways of using neon. I am especially inspired by the neon buttonholes (can’t wait to try that) and that disco ball – oh my!!! What an amazing use of thread…