From the moment we met Ben Millett at QuiltCon years ago, we knew there was something special there. Ben is kind and measured, meticulous yet wildly creative— the sort of maker whose work pulls you in quietly at first, then stays with you long after. Over the years, we’ve absolutely loved working alongside him as an Aurifil Artisan, watching his practice evolve with intention, care, and an unmistakable point of view.
That’s why it feels especially meaningful to celebrate his shift into this new space as a collection designer. Proud Work, Ben’s Aurifil debut, is a bold and thoughtful set of eleven Large Spools of Cotton 12wt and one Large Spool of Cotton 28wt— threads made for intentional stitching, statement-making, and everything in between. It’s a collection that reflects not only how Ben works, but why he works the way he does.
We so enjoyed hearing Ben’s perspective while putting this interview together, and we know you’ll sink right into it as well. Be sure to sign up for his newsletter, follow along on his blog, or find him on Bluesky (@benmillett.us) to keep up with all that’s ahead.
Can you take us back to the beginning— how did you first find your way into the creative world of textiles and stitching?
There were quite a few firsts. I sewed together finger-knit ropes to create clothes for my stuffed animals, hand-pieced patchwork in fifth or sixth grade to create a pillow, sewed costumes for middle school projects, designed and sewed my own flags for color guard, and created a quilt from t-shirts accumulated in high school, among other events. An attitude of do-it-yourself was encouraged at home, supplemented by exploration of different crafts during every visit with my grandmother. Fortunately my mother was generous with letting me use her Bernina Nova 900.
In graduate school, I taught myself to knit so I could make myself a sweater (blog post). Then I used that skill to make gifts for nieces and nephews. After making a quilt for a cousin’s wedding, I caught the quiltmaking bug. I enjoyed aspects of knitting, but quickly found that patchwork ticked boxes I didn’t realize I had. Quilts could easily cover a body or a bed without having to have a specific set of dimensions.
Do you remember if there was a particular project or creative experience that really drew you in… that made it clear that this was going to be an important part of your story?
A niece was to be born right before my brother and his family relocated to South Korea for a few years. Rather than a block-based quilt like I had made for her siblings or cousins, I wanted to commemorate her early years in another country. They were going to be staying in an apartment next to a pond filled with lotus plants and a distinctive pathway. I interpreted that area into a patchwork of flannels and used a decorative machine stitch to accentuate the lotus flowers (blog post). This experience gave me a glimpse of what I could do with interpreting an idea, rather than “simply” making a quilt using colors and a block I liked.
Early on, what did quiltmaking give you— was it expression, comfort, curiosity, connection… or something else entirely?
Initially, quiltmaking was an alternative way I could express welcome to a new family member (instead of knitting). But it also became an outlet for me creatively, working with tangible fabric instead of ephemeral digital pixels. Fabric can be manipulated only so many times, forcing me to commit to an idea, whereas I could edit HTML/CSS endlessly and not have to say “it’s done”. At least, that’s what I see looking back, that I was needing something that didn’t invite perpetual tweaks. The tangibility aspect has persisted as other reasons for quiltmaking have waxed and waned.
As your work has evolved, is there a particular technique or approach you find yourself returning to again and again?
Traditional patchwork. There have been times I thought foundation paper piecing (FPP) was the only way to get precise piecing, and I recognize there are some times when FPP is invaluable. But I keep going back to just traditional patchwork as I improved in consistent cutting and piecing, as I can keep precision without dealing with removing foundation paper.
Your work often feels both bold and deeply considered— how do you balance experimentation with the comfort of familiar methods?
I appreciate that. I’ve found that learnings from workshops and lectures have led me into new paths I wouldn’t have anticipated, and I’ll combine those learnings with my tried-and-true methods.
When you’re starting a new piece, what tends to lead the way first: color, texture, technique, or concept?
More recently it’s been more a conjunction of color and concept that have been starting points. It varies which one is driving and which is in the passenger seat with the map.
I believe we first met at QuiltCon and I remember marveling with a co-worker about how spectacular your quilted jumpers were. What do you love about creating wearable art and what are you hoping to communicate through those pieces?
The Coat of 365 Colors was made in three weeks before my first QuiltCon (blog post), being inspired by Tighe Flanaghan’s quilted blazers and leaning into the Comic-Con-like usage of Con in QuiltCon. Of course you have to wear something quilted. I leaned more into that latter aspect in subsequent years. For QuiltCon 2023 in Atlanta, I also wanted to express my disappointment in Georgia’s consideration of a “Don’t Say Gay” bill (blog post).
Usually, though, I like the challenge of creating something in the third dimension, working through how the design will work going over the shoulders, or along the sides of the body, or with the arms. The different garment patterns I’ve used, too, have presented challenges and opportunities. For “It’s Electric!” (blog post), I first chose to do a studio jacket and had to design the patchwork and quilting around that. The button band imposed a limitation on symmetry, especially if I wanted the front and back to be the same, whereas the Linden sweatshirt-based jackets provided a more quilt-like rectangular surface to work with.
You’ve now been an Artisan with Aurifil for three years— what initially drew you to working with our threads?
I had a good conversation with Kitty Wilkin (@nightquilter) on one of the last days of QuiltCon 2020 about why she used Aurifil. I had used only a certain brand of polyester thread out of habit from sewing in my youth, but Kitty waxed poetic about Aurifil’s environment-friendly practices and the quality of the thread, among other aspects of the company and the thread. She sent me a few spools afterwards, and after using them in some projects, that was enough for me: I switched to Aurifil. (I did still need to work through a 15km stash of polyester thread over the next few years, but hand work gave me an excuse to start building my Aurifil collection.)
What inspired you to take the leap from Artisan to curating your own debut thread collection?
For the years that I’ve been an Artisan, each yearly welcome box has included a thread collection. The collection was often a way that I would be introduced to a color or a weight I may not have used. Additionally, when I would consider using the collection for a specific project, the constraint of that set encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. For example The folios of the Book of Benjamin (blog post) was made in conjunction with the Aurifil Artisan challenge to use a collection (mine was The Wellness Collection by Sarah Ashford).
How did you approach narrowing down the threads you use so regularly into a single, cohesive set?
Other than 50wt in 2021 Natural White, these twelve threads are the threads I’ve used consistently over the years. I did look at other collections offered by Aurifil to see which colors have been included in others to make sure there wasn’t one that was in every other collection. This appears to be the first collection to include #2150 (Pumpkin). Knowing I wanted to include eleven colors meant that large spools was the route to go, which makes this one of the only with a majority of large spools of 12wt. It really is an investment in your own making practice.
Proud Work features eleven Cotton 12wt spools and one spool of Cotton 28wt. Why are these weights essential to your practice?
When I decided to add extensive hand quilting to a quilt already machine-quilted (blog post), I wanted to make sure the hand quilting stood out. I talked with Amanda Carye of Broadcloth Studio about her handwork practice and she sent me some spools, including a 12wt, to test with. The 12wt did what I wanted it to do: visible stitches that complemented, not overwhelmed, the patchwork design. I liked that I didn’t have to be heavy-handed when quilting with 12wt.
I took classes from Amanda Nadig and Zak Foster about quilt-as-you-go tiny quilts. As I made my own tiny quilts for both exploration and to complement larger quilts in a show (blog post), I used some different weights and found that 28wt had the strength for holding together two patchwork pieces, batting, and backing with minimal gaping. It was also heavy enough to provide noticeable hand quilting. And when I used it to attach the backing wrapped to the front as binding, the thread was just barely visible if it contrasted with the fabric. I’ve also subsequently hand quilted an entire quilt with 28wt (blog post) and found it just right to keep attention on the patchwork, without itself disappearing.
You’re known for using heavier-weight threads boldly, both by hand and machine. What do these weights allow you to express that finer threads don’t?
There was a time when I wanted to remove all trace of the maker’s hand from the quilt. It needed to look like it just appeared in a perfect finished state out of nothing. And the quilting was meant to be in the ditch or a seam echo, keeping the focus on the patchwork. As I developed in my practice, though, and came to recognize the value of a distinct quilting pattern, I allowed myself to use the heavier threads for quilting. In recent quilts, such as the Ombre Improv series (blog post) or If I Had Said Yes (blog post), pairing longarm quilting with 50wt and hand quilting with 12wt has allowed me to keep that “out of nowhere” aspect while encouraging the recall of the human maker to the viewer.
The colors draw directly from the Progress Pride flag. Can you talk about the significance of this palette and how it intersects with your creative identity?
The colors from Daniel Quasar’s Progress Pride flag have been a rich source I have pulled from for a number of quilts. I’ve made a number of quilts for fundraisers of LGBTQ+ advocacy groups (blog post) (blog post). The colors enable me to evoke recognition of all the individuals represented by that flag, without having to use the exact pattern of the flag. The intensity of the colors from the flag align with the saturation of color I like to use in my quilts, so I can pull those colors into other quilts and create a throughline of continuity across my practice with those colors.
The name Proud Work carries a lot of weight. What does that phrase mean to you personally and creatively?
The immediate reference of the name is the word “pride” often associated with celebrations organized by LGBTQ+ people, which is a time to recognize our value and worth and all the work it’s taken to find that strength in ourselves despite what people in our own lives may say. It took a long time for me to come to terms with own own identity, and for a while after I did I was going to just be, but then realized I couldn’t just be (blog post). Expressing that aspect of my life through my work enabled me to keep growing personally and creatively. I could create physical items directly for LGBTQ+ organizations. I could donate proceeds of my patterns. I could speak to guilds and museum visitors of the work I had to do on myself and how that made me a better artist. But it’s not just this aspect that I wanted the name to evoke.
In recent years we’ve seen people who don’t value work and effort pushing an implementation of digital tools that produce things of middling value. No one is edified in the process, indeed we’re all negatively impacted by them. It’s only through the deliberate effort of humans that an individual learns, grows, develops skills.
It’s my hope that when people first open this collection, they’ll initially see these beautiful colors, but then they’ll recognize the quantity of thread on each large spool. There’s no expectation that the first stitches with each color will be perfect stitches. Instead, as they use each inch of the thread, there’s 356 yards (or 325 meters) of opportunity to refine their own practice and create pieces they can be proud of. I imagine many of us can quickly point out the flaws of what we make, and I hope we can just as quickly point out where we excelled.
How do you imagine others incorporating Proud Work into their own creative practices?
I have a specific set of Kona Cotton colorways that I use to which these threads coordinate (Kona Cotton in White, Carnation, Bahama Blue, Chestnut, Black, Lipstick, Orange, Duckling, Parrot, Cyan, Dark Violet), but I definitely don’t expect that people will only use these threads with those fabrics. I don’t even expect that all the threads will be used together in the same project. Because of how much thread is on each spool, I easily imagine that someone will choose one of these as the exclusive thread for multiple entire quilts. And they’ll choose a few threads to add accents, whether for a coordinating fabric or perhaps to contrast with the fabric.
The collection has an accompanying quilt pattern— how does this pattern reflect the spirit of Proud Work?
The Proud Work pattern (shop page link) is a medallion-esque pattern that provides the opportunity for people to show off their piecing precision, or as an opportunity to build that precision. With half-square triangles, flying geese, and nine-patches, there are plenty of points to match up and have crisp. Additionally with multiple larger curves, they can build their curve experience before they move on to smaller, tighter curves. It also provides the opportunity to match threads and colors for quilting, with plenty of white borders and background for creating quilting texture contrast using the 28wt thread.
You’ve done extensive research on using heavier-weight threads in a machine. What are your top tips for successfully sewing with 12wt and 28wt by machine? Are there specific needle choices, tension adjustments, or stitch settings you recommend?
When I made Facets of Pride (LPQ 138’s “Piecing Pride”, blog post or Auribuzz), I quilted using my Handi Quilter Moxie. I used 12wt threads on top, using a size 19 needle, with 28wt in the bobbin. Hey, what do you know, those are the weights in the Proud Work collection! In addition to the larger needle, I used a longer stitch with a slower speed, looped the thread through the three-hole thread guide only once, and tested my tension quite a bit.
For the longarmed back-and-forth channels for my Proud Work quilts, I used 28wt on top and 50wt in the bobbin. With my Moxie XL, I set the speed to 29% acceleration and 65% speed.
For 12wt in my domestic machine, for HFCS Star (Pride, Intersections) (blog post) and the Proud Work Mini, I found using a larger needle (100/16) with my usual 50wt in the bobbin, worked well.
How do you like to use these same threads differently when hand-stitching?
My hand quilting repertoire is entirely running stitch, Xs, and seed stitch, whether with 12wt or 28wt. While seed stitch works well as a fill (Some Say It’s Mystic blog post), I typically will limit them to a line of a certain width, whether meandering like for Hanky Code (blog post) or in straight lines for Sleeveless Undershirt (blog post).
What can we look forward to seeing from you at QuiltCon this year— any sneak peeks you can share?
I’ll have a new jacket featuring all twelve Proud Work threads, as well as my Sleeveless Undershirt. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll be wearing them together, so I think we can all wait to see what happens there.
Are there new ideas, formats, or experiments you’re especially excited to explore next?
After the intensity of preparation for Iowa Artists 2025: Ben Millett at the Des Moines Art Center (blog post), I’m letting things be a bit loose plan-wise. For that show, I got to spend an afternoon hand quilting in the gallery, adding a meandering seed stitch line to what’s essentially a length of garland, 3-4 in wide by 5 yards (I’ve since added to it and it’s grown to ~15 yards). I’m still quilting it, letting the ideas of how I’ll use it percolate in the meanwhile.
QuiltCon Speed Round
Which QuiltCon number will this be for you?
#6 (including 2021’s QuiltCon Together)
Favorite QuiltCon location so far?
Austin, because of how walkable it was to good food, museums, and other things to see. (It was also my first.)
Favorite show category to visit?
Minimalism or piecing
One must-know tip for navigating the show?
Do a quick pass to get a sense of what’s there, then go back for a targeted study
If you had music in your ears while walking the floor, what would it be?
I would opt for the “music” of the hall, getting to overhear others commenting on the quilts, the excitement from the vendor booths or the presentation stage, and the conversations from random encounters of fellow quiltmakers
Shoes: statement or comfort?
Comfort