In case you missed it, Aurifil has some big, exciting news to kick off this year…
Meet Aurifil 100% Cotton 8wt thread!
Presented on an elegant white wooden spool, Aurifil 8wt is a 2ply thread produced in Italy to the same standards you’ve come to know and love. It was developed in partner with new Aurifil Designer and longtime friend, Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts. Evolve is her debut Aurifil collection featuring an introductory palette of 20 hand-selected hues, designed to perfectly coordinate with her three Art Gallery fabric lines (Duval, Signature Pure Solids, and Evolve). Aurifil 8wt is ideal for hand quilting, embroidery, and cross stitch or anytime something a little heavier than 12wt is desired. It will officially release on February 24th, available first at QuiltCon!
In celebration of Evolve and the launch of Aurifil 8wt, we sent initial samples in three stunning hues out to a wonderfully creative group of Aurifil Artisans, Designers, and friends. We’ve been simply giddy with the positive feedback and have eagerly anticipated each new project, ultimately wowed with each and every one. We shared our first grouping of featured makes last week and today, we’ll share another impressive lineup, featuring the work of Aurifil Artisans, Aurifil Designers, and Aurifil Friends. Be sure to click the button below to check out last week’s post and mark your calendars for Thursday, February 22 — opening day of QuiltCon, the Evolve release, and our feature post with Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts.
Karen Foster
8wt was easy to use even with the multiple fabric type and layers used in my scissor covers. I enjoyed quilting with an organic free form approach, changing thread color, stitch style and direction as I went along and by taking design influence from the tie dyed velvet. Two versions allowed me to experiment with construction and technique pairing it with 40wt and 80wt.
Tips: I tried double but preferred single strand.
I have zero experience with other brands of this weight. Despite that I found it to be very approachable to use. The smooth finish made it glide with ease and I love the natural sheen. Having it on a spool feels more familiar than if it were in a ball or stands like embroidery. Using fabric that has more texture than quilt cotton was great because it was thick enough to stand out- good for repurposed fibers.
Karen Foster
Sandy Saengsuk
I had a pleasure to work with Aurifil’s newest line, Evolve 8wt thread, curated by Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts, so you know that it pairs beautifully with her fabric collection. 💗
Fabric: Truffle from #agfsignaturepuresolids by @artgalleryfabrics
Diving into the cozy vibes of color truffle – think warm browns, creamy neutrals, and a touch of earthy goodness. Draped in the charm of beautiful silky threads – because casual moments deserve a touch of effortless luxury.
Sandy Saengsuk
Ama Frimpong
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been completely captivated by miniatures. When these lovely shades of 8wt arrived at door I just knew I wanted to make a rug with all of them together. This miniature braided rug has brought me so much joy that I just want to make many more!
Karen Miller
Hand embroidery with Aurifil’s new 8wt cotton thread is delightful! I began with two very traditional stitches, the back stitch and French knot and added something new to me, raised leaves. Everything stitched out wonderfully. There was no knotting or tangling and that lustrous Aurifil sheen made this small project shine. The sample was stitched in a larger hoop on quilting cotton lined with muslin. A single strand of Aurifil 8wt was threaded through a size 5 Bohin Crewel/Embroidery needle.
Tip: When embroidering through fabric, choose a crewel/embroidery needle. The sharp point and comfortable sized eye assist in stitching and threading. When stitching on aida or linen, choose a tapestry needle, size 26. The blunt end of the tapestry needle will easily stitch through the even weave holes without snagging the cloth.
Perfection! Aurifil 8wt is my new best friend for hand embroidery, wool appliqué, cross stitch and big stitch quilting. I’m excited for you to give it a try!
Karen Miller
Debbie Jeske
When I was offered the chance to try the new, soon-to-be-released Aurifil 8wt threads, I jumped at the chance. I was sent three small spools in colors 2840 [Loden Green], 2420 [Light Blush], and 2930 [Golden Toast], and used them to add accent stitches on a trio of squeeze-frame pouches, using the pattern by @bookhou in her book Contemporary Patchwork. I stitched with a double-thickness of thread, and it was just a delight to work with. I look forward to adding more colors of 8wt to my thread stash!
Aimee Hagedorn
One of the highlights of my winter break was having the opportunity to try out the new Aurifil 8wt thread. Personally I think this weight is✨magical✨. I decided to use my samples to hand embroider on canvas fabric scraps to create these one-of-a-kind pendants for some special friends. I LOVE how they turned out.
The thread is so smooth, no splitting at all when stitching. Who knows, I may be converting from traditional 6 stranded floss to 8wt…
Aimee Hagedorn
Claire Campion
Cross stitching with the new Aurifil 8wt thread was an absolute dream. Normally, I’m accustomed to working with floss, splitting the strands and relying on thread gloss to smooth the process. But with the 8wt, all the fuss was unnecessary – it was sheer perfection. The threads glide like silk, and the slight sheen adds a beautiful touch that makes every cross stitch pop with elegance. It’s truly a game-changer for my stitching projects!
Tips: Using a Tulip size 3 Embroidery needle, I effortlessly threaded the needle without any issues. I didn’t require any thread gloss – the process was as smooth as silk!
Sarah Harris
It was such a treat to get my hands on the new 8wt thread as part of the upcoming Evolve collection with Suzy Quilts! When the thread arrived, the colours reminded me of a favourite topographical bandana map from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. I planned to make a small bag, but then it called out to be a small tent pouch. Using the three 8wt colours, I stitched a row of flying geese, and a topo inspired map on the Essex linen side. The 8wt gorgeously glides so beautifully through many layers of fabric, making it a perfect weight for embroidery, hand quilting, cross stitch, and anything else you can dream up.
Tips: I found that Sashiko needles worked very well with the 8wt thread.
The Aurifil 8wt is a versatile weight for embroidery and hand stitched details. I found it to be very strong, but easily glided through many layers.
Sarah Harris
Jo Avery
This Folk Art mini quilt with text is a sample for a forthcoming online class for @threadhouseuk Academy. Needle turn appliqué and embroidery embellishment is enhanced by hand quilting with 8wt thread. Be sure to follow along with me on IG for the full reveal, coming this week!
Justine Wilson
I used Aurifil’s new 8wt thread to create a dumpling zipper pouch. I wanted to include a variety of hand stitches in different designs and lengths to add texture and show off how beautifully versatile the thread can be! This was such an enjoyable slow stitching project!
Tips: I used a #5 Clover Gold Eye embroidery needle for this project.
I used Aurifil 8wt thread to create a variety of stitches for my hand quilted pouch. It performed perfectly with each stitch that I tried and created a lovely sewing experience with smooth stitches and no tangling!
Justine Wilson
Madeline Bonner
I had great fun with these new 8 weight threads. The colours were a perfect match for my English Paper Piecing panel. They were lovely to sew with and gave a beautiful texture effect to the quilting cottons.
Sarah Ashford
When the lovely people at Aurifil asked me if I’d like some of their brand new 8 weight thread to have a play with, I jumped at the chance. I’ve been an advocate of Aurifil for many years, and as well as having 4 of my own collections I have loved experimenting with the different colours, thread weights and techniques. So I was really excited when I heard that they had released an 8 weight thread!
It’s fair to say I’m a convert to the 8 weight Aurifil and I’m excited to get my hands on some more colours soon. I know you’re going to love it too.
Sarah Ashford
Zeïba Monod
There is a new member in the Aurifil thread family: a 100% cotton, 2ply, 8wt thread. For any hand quilter or embroiderer out there, this thread is amazing. I am a huge fan of big stitch hand quilting and my go-to were the obvious 12wt (which I liked but could be a tad too thin for some projects) and my favourite thread: Aurifil floss (separating the thread into 3 strands to achieve the thickness I like). If I am going to spend the time hand quilting, I want it to stand out, right!
This new Aurifil 8wt is absolutely perfect for me. As always with Aurifil, the quality is excellent, the thread glides beautifully (so much so I didn’t use any thread wax on this project) and the colours stand out. I used embroidery stitches for her hair and cheeks and I hand quilted her dress. I also used a 12wt to horizontally quilt the background as I wanted to see how the textures contrasted. I can genuinely recommend this 8wt. I love it.
If you enjoy hand quilting or embroidery, this new 8wt thread is for you. I am a huge fan of visible big stitches and this is now my new favourite thread. The quality and sheen are perfect and it glides beautifully. I genuinely totally recommend this 8wt!!! I love it.
Zeïba Monod
Alison Carpenter-Hughes
‘Absorbed’ – a self-portrait taken from a photo in 2020, stuck at home and making play with sunshine and lace in the garden. Trying out Aurifil’s new 8wt cotton thread, being launched at QuiltCon next week. After a few tests, I decided to combine free motion embroidery using my usual 40/50wt threads with hand stitch using the 8wt. I love the contrast of the two stitching techniques on the shimmery linen background.
As with all Aurifil threads, the 8wt has a beautiful sheen that takes the finish of my work to another level. I liked that it was a very strong single thread, that didn’t fray or spilt and created a nicely textured and 3D element to the artwork. It threaded beautiful through the linen I was using as my background.
Alison Carpenter-Hughes
We encourage you to click through and check out each of these amazing projects in more detail!
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