We are thrilled to share the third project showcase created by our talented Aurifil Artisans for the 2023-2024 season. Our yearly collaboration with these skilled artisans aims to showcase their expertise and beautiful creations, while also inspiring others to experience the joy of working with Aurifil Threads.
Throughout the month of September, our highly skilled artisans embarked on a creative journey with a carefully selected Aurifil thread collection box of their preference. Their mission? To demonstrate the incredible versatility of our threads and to encourage the exploration of uncharted territory beyond their beloved, familiar color palettes.
HUGE thanks to all of our participants for September — we are grateful for you, your creativity, and your incredible willingness to play along with us month after month!
Debbie Jeske
For the Collections challenge, I used the Orchard collection curated by Jill Finley, which consisted of seven small spools of Aurifil 50wt. I made a scissors cozy using a tutorial by Sotak Handmade, featuring the assorted threads by densely topstitching three rows of each thread color on either side of the coordinating fabric strips on the exterior front. On the cozy back, I stitched an angular grid using all the thread colors.
Heidi Schlicht
I made an improv bag with improv quilting out of Aurifil’s Pastel 50wt Collection.
Robyn Cuthbertson
I absolutely fell in love with Jill Finley’s 50wt Orchard Collection that I received in my welcome pack. It was the perfect colour combo to stitch up a beautiful leaf, using one of my laser cut leaf frames. I simply adore how the contrasting colours come together to create a crisp, vibrant piece of textile art, reminiscent of the blossoms in a crisp spring morning.
Emma Giacalone
For my September artisan challenge, I had to make something using the Jill Finley orchard pack. I thought the colour would be just right for a pack of refreshers and, having given myself a social media break over the summer, reflected on feeling refreshed (or not!) so ended up giving the words a tweak. I like how you can roll it over depending on your mood!
Janice Reimer
Planning a quilt around a thread collection felt like an exercise in reverse engineering and it was so fun! I was drawn to the Moon Garden collection for its rich but playful colour palette. I decided to make my Anechoic quilt pattern and matched my fabric pull to the collection. To showcase (almost) all the threads, I free motion quilted the top with four thread colours and used four different colours in my bobbins. Texture galore!
Madeline Bonner
This gorgeous thread collection by Jill Finlay is perfect for hand sewing. I have used it during September for two projects. The first is English Paper Piecing where 50 weight is a perfect choice and the second is entirely hand pieced on a lightweight lawn. The colours in the collection are really beautiful and coordinated with all my botanical fabrics.
Zeïba Monod
This month our challenge was to create something with our gifted collection threads. I received the gorgeous Orchard collection by Jill Finley. I was immediately inspired to create something floral and set about to make a cathedral window pillow. Though the threads came in 50wt, I was determined to hand sew the window frames so I doubled up my threads and big stitched them against the white fabrics. They beautifully stand out.
Lou Orth
I used the beautiful colours in the Orchard thread collection as inspiration for my latest Paper Kites project. I pieced the EPP panel using 50wt 2600 (my go to thread) and when quilting, I used all the threads to add coordinating stitches to this project.
Annie Tremblay
The idea of making a book sleeve came to me when my daughter came back with her damaged book and was sad about it. She toss it in her bag and brings it everywhere so I made herself a padded book sleeve to protect her beloved book. For this month’s challenge I used all the beautiful colors from the Orchard collection from @jillistudio to quilt my sleeve. It took a little bit more time but the result is a fun rainbow which pops beautifully on the neutral background.
Janine Heschl
White-Browed Rosefinch For the Aurifil Artisan September challenge, we were asked to stitch a project using the ‘Orchard’ thread collection box by Jill Finley @jillilystudio that we received in our Artisan Welcome Box. At first I was playing around with the idea of actually embroidering a cherry blossom, but you know me: fauna before flora 😉 and so I did my research and found this beautiful guy (photo reference: wikipedia). There aren’t many pink species around, so I consider myself lucky to have found the perfect match for my threads.
Ledine Watson
Free motion raw edge applique is one of my new favorite techniques. Combining the artistic freedom of making my own design and then the free flowing of securing the pieces with free motion stitching is a fun and enjoyable way to finish a project! For my September Aurifil Artisan Challenge, I used Kimberbell’s Vintage Flora Collection from Aurifil and prints from her matching fabric collection! Look at these prints and the colors! Gorgeous! Looks like these were picked straight from my garden!
Mariana Diaz
No one will gasp in surprise when I say that I love Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics, they check all the boxes: the prints, the texture, even the vibe, it’s all marvelous. And if you were in my studio, you would find more than one drawer full of Aurifil threads, so working with both of these in one project has been a dream. Now, last month’s aurifil challenge made me sweat a bit, since I’m not exactly an embroidery master, but this month’s was a breeze: we had to pick one of their collections and sew something with it. That’s more of a treat than a challenge! Well look at what I picked: The English Garden by Liberty of London.
Even the box is delicate enough to make you think there might be tea bags inside. The threads themselves, well, where to start? Those peachy pinks that reminded me of strawberry ice cream, or the cool blues and spring green and yellow… all of them come together for a palette that looks like the perfect combination of vivid and cozy. Since the threads were this easy to work with, matching the Liberty fabric I wanted to use to a t, I decided I didn’t need anything complicated, and went with a simple patchwork cushion. Once again, I was digging through my scraps, pairing white on white for the back, brainstorming quilting ideas as my sewing machine pulled each piece together. In the end, every element has the chance to shine: from our base, the aurifil threads, to every detail; the patchwork, the back, the quilting, even the size of the project itself. My favorite part of this aurifil journey is how it’s had me slow down and really enjoy every little bit of the process, and that’s led me to experimenting, playing, and making small pieces to allow myself the time to put in as much detail as I like.
Irina Malyukova
I took inspiration for the September Aurifil Artisan Challenge from the name of the thread collection that I received in my welcome pack, called “Vintage Flora ” by @kimberbelldesigns. I designed a simple minimalist wall hanging “Vintage Bloom” 25” x 26 ½” (64 x 67cm) featuring a variety of colours and organic shapes. I used all thread colours from the collection (except for 5019, Military green) for English Paper Piecing and applique. Every month I try to use the Aurifil thread in a new, unique way. This time I explored the possibility of using one strand of Aurifil 50 wt for hand quilting. While it might not give as big of a visual impact as heavier threads, it still brings out a beautiful texture, in addition to just a hint of colour needed for a perfect touch.
Devida Bushrod
A little box of thread sunshine is helping me get some direction on how to embellish my new quilt…
Elissa Ziccardi
I love a challenge – and the Aurifil Thread September Artisan Challenge project just hands down delivered It checked all of my boxes: creating authentically to my style (aka bright, bold, and a smidge over the top), producing a project that is both beautiful and useful, creating from an outside-of-the-box POV. The theme for this month was “Aurifil Collections” and I chose to work with Dragon’s Breath 50wt by Tula Pink. I love this rich collection of gemtones selected to perfectly coordinate with Tula’s Dragon’s Breath solids that I featured in my foundation paper pieced flying geese. Starting with a blank canvas of Tula Pink Fairy Flakes in Paper for the exterior I laid down some basic straight stitching and then allowed the thread to fall where it did, resulting in a rainbow of geometric stripes and shapes at the intersections on both the exterior and interior. Thinking outside-of-the-box with this travel bag I am able to carry all weights of thread, plus the new Aurifil Swatch Book, with me to lectures and classes. What is especially lovely is that I have a sample in my hands to be able to show-off just how glorious these threads are out of the box and on fabric! SUPER LOVE this project. 💖🧵
Pattern: Travel Essentials 2.0 by Patterns by Annie
Fabric: True Colors and Dragon’s Breath solids by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics
Thread: Dragon’s Breath 50wt – 10 spool collection by Aurifil.
Francesca Kemp
The only problem with Aurifil thread is deciding between all those wonderful thread colours, there are just so many to choose from! Fortunately this September we were challenged to use this glorious Orchard Collection, featuring colours I wouldn’t normally use, and they have worked out perfectly for these roses! Here I used all seven shades to create my latest piece ‘Wild Rose’ including inks and scrap appliqué. This piece will go on to create a new tile for print work, so look out for the fabric release.
Mary Burroughs-Mayer
For the September Aurifil Artisan Challenge, we were tasked with using one of Aurifil’s great thread collections for a project. I used the Orchard thread collection by Jill Finley and just loved the green to pink gradient in the collection! I chose to try quilting with a twin needle for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by the awesome texture I got between the lines of stitching! I used this quilted panel to make an Emerson Crossbody Bag (pattern by @theblanketstatement) and am so happy with how this turned out!
Justine Wilson
For this challenge, I used the thread colors from the Orchard collection by Jill Finley as inspiration for my fabric choices and created a quilt-as-you-go panel. I used all 7 thread colors in the collection, quilting a different design on each piece of fabric, then turned the panel into a zipper pouch.
Jennifer Cannon
The colors in this thread box inspired me to create a desert sunset with a shadowed cactus. I wanted each color of thread reflected in the fabrics I used & I love how it turned out.
Sarah Harris
Inspired by the hexagons on the Kimberbell Aurifil collection, I made a quilted laptop cover which closes where the hexagons meet. This collection of seven 50wt threads challenged me to use more pinks and pastels along with my favourite blues and greens. Using an assortment of fabric from my stash, I used all the scraps from piecing the larger hexagons to create tiny ones for some of the centres. I made up the pattern as I went to get a custom fit for my laptop, then quilting it with all seven thread colours.
We encourage you to click through and check out each of these amazing projects in more detail!