Greetings Aurifil family! As Master Educator and Aurifilosophy Program Coordinator I’m excited to introduce Aurifilosopher Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts as the host of the August 2024 installment of Thread Matters. Patricia’s energy, excitement, and passion for Japanese textiles has us feeling inspired, and we’re thrilled for you to experience a delightful new use of Aurifil Cotton Floss. Be sure to visit Patricia’s website where she and her daughter Victoria share details about workshops, retreats, and Japan-based tours along with some incredible vintage textiles! Huge thanks to Patricia for sharing her insights today via a new creative direction for our Aurifloss.
Is your shop, group or guild looking for insightful, inspiring and educational information on thread? Consider booking a virtual or in-person program with one of our skilled Aurifilosophers. Learn more about Aurifilosophy and find your favorite Aurifilosopher here.
Happy Stitching!
Karen L. Miller ~ Redbird Quilt Co.
This year I am scaling down my holiday decorations. I’m not a Grinch; I’m just downsizing.
Last fall, during an Okan Arts tour, I was inspired by the Temari Ball workshop with Naho and her team at Enneste in Tokyo. Temari balls are a traditional Japanese craft, where tennis-sized balls are intricately wrapped in colorful threads.
For almost two decades, I’ve had a wire tree-like note holder in my Highland home. This odd object had no real function, and I’ve often wondered why I kept it. But it has now become my new Christmas tree. To give the “tree” the right holiday spirit, I sprayed the wire form with Garden Green enamel paint.
For the ornaments, I collected four different sizes of red wool felt balls from Etsy, petite S hooks from Amazon, and Cotton Floss from Aurifil.
Threaded with all 6 strands of Floss, I pushed a long (doll) needle from the North Pole to the South Pole of each ball—leaving ample Floss (about 5”) hanging out for ultimately tieing on the S hook. Wrapping the Floss around the ball, back to the North Pole, I made my first meridian thread line. I pushed the needle from the North Pole to the South Pole again and wrapped the Floss back to the North Pole to make my second meridian line.
On the smallest balls, I created four meridian lines. On the largest ones, I created seven. After making the final wrap, I took a few stitches and made a knot to secure the S hook.
Ultimately, I abandoned the Lobster Red Floss, color 2265 in favor of the high contrast of the Natural White Floss, color 2021. And I never needed to use the needle-nose pliers.
To make the tree topper stand out, I used double wraps of Floss for the meridians plus an equator line. At each thread intersection, I pushed in little white-headed pins.
Now, all my ornaments fit into a small Ziploc bag, and the tree is tucked away in a corner of my basement. When December rolls around, I’ll be able to decorate the tree in minutes and perch it on a small table. Merry. Merry.
ABOUT PATRICIA
A creative quilt maker, speaker and teacher, Patricia co-owns Okan Arts with her daughter Victoria. The family business imports vintage Japanese textiles, and hosts quilting retreats and workshops for adventuresome quilters (okanarts.com). Patricia is the author of East-Meets-West Quilts, a book about making improv quilts with Japanese fabrics. These days, Patricia and Victoria are busy leading textile tours to Japan!
