Sometimes the most exciting creativity comes from a few simple rules. This month, our Aurifil Artisans embraced the 3:2:1 Challenge, working with at least three thread colors, two different thread weights, all brought together in one cohesive project. A small framework, designed to encourage experimentation, thoughtful choices, and a fresh look at how threads can work together in harmony.
By mixing weights and colors within a single piece, Artisans were invited to explore contrast, texture, and balance, discovering how different threads interact, support one another, and ultimately elevate a design. From subtle shifts in detail to bold visual statements, this challenge highlights just how versatile Aurifil threads can be when used intentionally across techniques and surfaces.
The results are a beautiful reminder that boundaries don’t limit creativity, they spark it. This month’s showcase is full of curiosity, problem-solving, and playful exploration, with each project telling its own story through color, weight, and stitch. We’re so excited to share how our Artisans interpreted the 3:2:1 Challenge. Let’s take a closer look.
Janice Reimer
I love an Irish Chain quilt, and this was my take on the traditional block. Working with a familiar pattern allowed me to slow down and focus on how different thread weights and colors could bring subtle detail and texture to the design. The process echoed a quote by Susan Magsamen that I shared alongside this project: “The arts offer us a way to slow down, feel our emotional pain, and let it unfold, revealing a changed but full human being.”
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 5015; Cotton 12wt 2525; Cotton 8wt 2420, 2215, 5003, 2564, 2311
Jessica Jones
For the Aurifil 3:2:1 Challenge, I created a small art quilt inspired by the folklore of “telling the bees.” I used soft, organic fabrics and a bee motif from a vintage observer book, combining machine stitching in Cotton 80wt, 50wt, and 40wt threads with hand-embroidered words and hand quilting in two strands of Aurifloss. Each stitch whispers a gentle message to the bees and reflects my connection to nature and the countryside
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 80wt 5011, 2000, 2360 — free-motion stitching and sewing the facing
Cotton 50wt 2600, 2140, 4667 — free-motion stitching
Cotton 40wt 2308 — free-motion stitching
Cotton Floss 2000, 2026 — hand-stitched words and hand quilting
Maude MacDonald
Such a fun make! This is my Flower Power quilt from my book, Retro Quilts, and since I was using busy and beautiful prints, I wanted some definition around the flowers. I was able to use Cotton 8wt in my machine (!!), very slowly with a slightly larger stitch of 3 and slightly looser tension. Cotton 50wt was used in the bobbin as well as quilting around the blocks. Love love love these thread weights!
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 8wt 2564, 5001, 2843, 2847; Cotton 50wt 2479, 2026
Amy Freyn
January’s Aurifil Artisan Challenge was the 3:2:1 Challenge- use at least 3 thread colors, in at least 2 different thread weights, in 1 project. I did the @wildboho Needle’s Out Embroidery Challenge and used 11 Aurifil threads. The fabric was salvaged from a sofa from an old hacienda in Cotacachi, Ecuador.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 8wt 2735, 6730, 2000, 2840, 2850, 2847, 2545, 2564; 12wt wool 8330; Cotton Floss 2310, 1148
Claire Houghton
A spring feel to the January challenge 3 -2-1. I created this layered landscape textile art, using 4 colours and thread weights, and incorporated them into 1 project. The Cotton 8wt was perfect for hand embroidering the loopy buttercups.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 40wt 2600, 5023; Cotton 50wt 5022; Cotton 28wt 2132; Cotton 12wt 5015; Cotton 8wt 2120
Sarah Ruth Morris
‘You Monkeys Need to Read’ is a nod to Caps for Sale, my parents, and a love of reading that I wish our country shared more widely. I use five monkeys to represent myself and my four siblings—chaotic and curious until our parents put books in our hands and taught us that reading was play, knowledge, and responsibility. The stitched phrases suggest the way our parents pushed us to question, think independently, and resist easy answers. In a time when reading is treated as dangerous or pointless, this quilt insists that literacy, curiosity, learning, and self-directed thinking are developed early…and are essential to who we become.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2311; Cotton Floss Storytime Collection
Aimee Hagedorn
A friend reached out to me about creating hand-stitched mementoes in honor of her father, who had recently passed away. Repurposing the denim and cotton fabric from her dad’s jeans and button down shirt, I made memory hearts for her. They include his shirt buttons on the front and a pocket in the back that can hold keepsakes for each person.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton Floss 1147, 2250, 2800, 2784, 4658, 2535; Cotton 8wt 4129, 2021; Cotton 50wt 2235
Tamara Darragh
For the January 3:2:1 Challenge, I shared my Lumi Quilt, finished with a hand-stitched quilt label sewn onto the back. Using multiple thread colors and weights across piecing, quilting, and handwork allowed each stage to add texture and quiet dimension while keeping the quilt cohesive. Thread has a gentle way of shaping structure, function, and story.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt; 2311 for piecing, 2370 for top stitching the binding,
Cottom Forty3 2311 for longarm quilting,
Cotton 12wt 5008 for attaching the label,
Cotton 8wt 2847 for the quilt label,
Cotton Floss 5019, 2130, 2420, 5009 for quilt label.
Mira Jones
In my mind, this fabric collection was calling for a free-flowing, intuitive and organic quilt pattern, so I decided to explore improv curves and freehand piecing (both new to me), which I enjoyed immensely. I also wanted to bring some of the sentiments behind the collection from the designer into this quilt and added machine embroidered words (taken from the text in one of the fabrics) that resonated with me, and also added some as appliquéd patches. This was definitely my most meaningful quilt project to date.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2311 for piecing,
Cotton 50wt 4652 for stitching in the ditch quilting,
Cotton 28wt for other quilting in various colours from my stash,
Cotton 12wt for hand quilting in at least 8 different colours from my stash.
Vivian Doan
The state of the World is creating a great deal of anxiety within me… I am having trouble functioning as a normal human being. It had been difficult for me to process things, but at the beginning of the year, I decided to make a quilt I had wanted to make, and I found the process of creation, of quilting, was very beneficial to my soul. When I saw a friend of mine opening a package she received from @afullenglish, I was inspired. She received two art prints that had the slogan “Make Quilts Not War” and I knew I wanted to echo that statement in a mini quilt. I used a new Tim Holtz fabric as the background that looks like a quilt, and black letters and bound it with a floral print, and used Jaquie Gering’s Walk 2.0 book for the quilting pattern.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2026, for the quilting,
CottonForty3 2692 for the raw edge appliqué,
Cotton 40wt 2324 for the binding.
Janine Heschl
Having a heart that beats for African Penguins, a critically endangered animal that could go extinct by 2035, I decided to threadsketch a simplified version of one, using only black, white and pink for their uniquely coloured area around the eye. All done in 50wt on my vintage Singer sewing machine, and for more texture, I added white little French Knots using Aurifil Floss to replicate some sea foam. So 3 colours, 2 weights, 1 penguin.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2021, 2692, 2430; Cotton Floss 2021
Sofia Natty
I made this banner back in August, knowing its moment would feel obvious in January. Turns out timing has its own sense of humor. Flames and lettering are machine appliquéd with Coton 50wt, hand quilting with Cotton 40wt, and hand embroidery with Cotton 12wt.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2140, 2240, 2535; Cotton 40wt 2530; Cotton 12wt 2026
Marta Chade
My new project bag is tiny, but it can fit all my favorite threads (sort of…). First, I crocheted the bag using Cotton Forty3 thread and a 0.6 mm hook. Then, I embroidered the letters with Cotton 50wt in various colors. The 3:2:1 challenge is officially my favorite, and I had a blast working on this tiny project.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton Forty3 2024 for the bag
Cotton 50wt 2692, 7002, 5002, 2882, 2132, 2835, 2720, 2240 for the embroidery
Russell Barratt
I was working on ideas for a large quilt, so I thought I would use the challenge to start smaller samples in preparation for the quilt. I appliquéd smaller scrap pieces together using a Cotton 28wt thread, then used a Cotton 80wt thread in white to appliqué my manipulated and flat-pressed scrap dots, notable for me as I’m usually keen to show the stitches, and this very fine thread almost completely disappears, giving an interesting floating dot effect. I used Cotton 8wt thread for the simple quilting lines. I’m very happy with this result, looking forward to making a larger quilt now!
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 8wt 2600, Cotton 28wt 2145, Cotton 80wt 2021
Sarah Bookwalter
This hand-quilted jacket is pieced from a playful mix of pastel prints, checks, and florals, using three different thread colours and thread weights to add depth and a playful feel. Both the fabric and thread are from the Genesis of a Journey Collection, celebrating a cheerful aesthetic to accompany any adventure.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2315; Cotton 80wt 5022; Cotton 28wt 2588
Tara Glastonbury
The Aurifil 3:2:1 challenge gave me the opportunity to develop a new skill builder pattern for walking-foot quilting. I’ve never been much of a sampler person. I prefer even my test pieces to have an end use, so I turned the sampler my students make in class into something practical they can actually use. If you’re new to walking foot quilting, it’s a small, manageable project to get you started. The pattern is available in my Etsy shop, StitchandYarnStore.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 12wt, 28wt and 50wt
Susanne Kuprella
The 3-2-1 Challenge is by far my favorite. When sewing bags, I have always liked to use Cotton 28wt for the topstitching, but for this project, I also tried wool thread. You have to sew a little more carefully, but it’s a good alternative, especially if you like a matte look. For the front of the bag, I highlighted the print on the canvas with embroidery using Cotton Floss. Ultimately, it’s an 11-3-1 result!
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton Floss 5014, 5001, 5022, 2850, 5023, 2975, 2132; 12wt Wool 8326; Cotton 28wt 6001, 2310, 2850
Barbie Mitchell
For my January Aurifil Artisan challenge, I used the 3:2:1 thread approach to create this MQG-inspired pouch for my QuiltCon lanyard, to display my ticket (with a little zipper pouch on the back). I paired Cotton 50wt for construction with Cotton 12wt for some hand quilting.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt 2605; Cotton 12wt 2120, 2810, 4020
Andrea Kjorlaug
This month, I used a combination of Cotton Floss and 12wt Wool thread to add hand-embroidered flowers. I sketched the flowers onto soluble stabilizer then embroidered the design onto a cotton and lace blouse that I will be wearing at QuiltCon.
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton Floss 2145, 2445, 2530, 2000; 12wt Wool 8130
We encourage you to click through and take a closer look at each Artisan’s brilliant take on this challenge. A huge THANK YOU to our 2025 Aurifil Artisan team. Your creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm shine through already, and we’re so grateful to have you on this journey with us!