There are makers whose work you recognize instantly, not because it follows a formula, but because it carries a point of view so consistent and so considered that it becomes its own signature. Ben Millett is one of those makers.
We’ve been fortunate to have Ben as part of the Aurifil Artisan family for years now, watching him refine a creative practice that’s equal parts bold and precise. His use of color is deliberate and his stitching is purposeful. His eye for what a quilt can say— not just how it looks, but what it means— is something we never take for granted.
When his debut Aurifil collection, Proud Work, made its way into the world earlier this year, it felt less like a launch and more like an arrival. Eleven spools of Cotton 12wt in the saturated spectrum of the Progress Pride flag, plus one spool of Cotton 28wt in Natural White… they are the threads that reflect exactly how Ben works and exactly why. We absolutely love seeing them show up exactly where they belong— in a pair of stunning finished quilts.
Ben has completed two quilts using the Proud Work collection— a 60″ × 60″ throw and a 23½” × 23¾” mini— both worked from his own Proud Work pattern. Same design. Same threads. Entirely different in feel.
What strikes us about these two pieces together is the way they show the full range of what this collection can do. In both quilts, the Cotton 28wt in Natural White handles the machine quilting— that steady, structural layer that holds everything in place. From there, Ben lets the Cotton 12wt find its own voice in each piece.
On the throw, the Cotton 12wt threads come in as hand quilted lines and accents, tracing and echoing the edges of the pieced design— the Pride colors rising up through the surface, stitch by stitch, in a way only hand quilting can deliver.
On the mini, the Cotton 12wt does its work through echo machine quilting within the central patchwork, the colors folding back into the design itself. Ben also quilted a running stitch by hand using the Cotton 12wt in between the machine quilted Cotton 28wt.
Two scales, two approaches to the same threads, and in both cases, a result that feels entirely intentional. We’d love for you to head over to Ben’s blog for the full story on each quilt… (via the buttons below) the details, the process, the thinking behind them. He writes about his work the way he makes it: carefully, with care for the reader, and with nothing left vague.