Showcase Sunday {08.09} – Festival of Quilts 2026 Edition

There’s a particular kind of magic in walking a quilt show. The pause when you round a corner and something stops you where you stand. The stitches you lean in close to study. The color you didn’t see coming. The maker nearby, quietly hoping someone notices the hours held in every seam.

This year at Festival of Quilts, so many of those quilts had something in common. You told us they were stitched with Aurifil. You filled out our form, you raised your hand, you let us know your quilt was hanging in the show. And that’s the part we love most: this isn’t the handful of projects we spot across your feeds each week, the way Showcase Sunday usually goes. This is you, telling us where you were and what you made.

Normally these quilts would live in a single paragraph at the end of our Festival of Quilts round-up. But this many makers from our community, in one show, all reaching for the same thread? That felt like it deserved room to breathe. So consider this your invitation. Walk the show with us, one quilt at a time. Take your time with them. Notice the piecing, the quilting, the choices. And when you find the ones that make you catch your breath, tell the maker in the comments. That’s what this community does best.

Sustainable Quilt Category

In Memory of Brian ~ by Kris Shanks @kris.shanks.art
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 40wt

Untitled ~ by Laura Elford @laura_elford_creative
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 40wt

Clothes and Curtains I have loved ~ by Carolyn Forster @quiltingonthego
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 12wt 4060 for the hand quilting, Cotton 50wt for machine piecing and Cotton 40wt for hand stitching the binding

Window Open ~ by Hope Talbot Waller @hope.talbot.waller
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 40wt 5021 for machine piecing, Cotton 50wt 2606 for hand sewing the binding, Cotton 8wt 4644 for hand quilting

Modern Quilt Category

Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles ~ by Charlie Morton @londonquilt
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt

Going Tula Mad ~ by Melina Kama @Melina.Kama
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt

Perspicuous ~ by Petra Kolkh of @sewingp
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt and 28wt

Nine Green bottles ~ by Jo Avery of @joaverystitch
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 50wt and 40wt

Original Design Quilt Category

Threads of Curiosity ~ by Paula Steel @paulasteel.quilts

Liminal space medallion ~ by Jo Avery of @joaverystitch
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 50wt, 80wt and 40wt

Rainforest Creatures ~ by Kimberley Arnold of @Griffinandthebearstudio
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 50wt
Kimberley’s new book Foundation Paper Piecing Animal Portraits that will be out Winter 2026

Party Rings 2 ~ by Tracy Aplin of @sewing_tracy
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 50wt, 40wt, 80wt

Christmas Blomma ~ by Yasmeen Branton of @sand.and.stars
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 28wt 5003, 2535, 2540, 4129, 2214, 2530, 1100, 2145, 2230, 2888

Minature Category

The Thames Through Oxfordshire II ~ by Charlie Morton @londonquilt
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 8wt, 12wt, 40wt, 50wt and 12wt Wool

Miniature Happenstance ~ by Charlie Morton @londonquilt
Aurifil Thread used: Cotton 50wt

Two person Quilt Category

Mesmerist ~ by Jo Westfoot @thecraftynomadfleet
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 40wt 2886 & 5016.

Joy of Sharing Quilt Category

Gather and Sew ~ by Louise Crabtree of @louise_quilts
Aurifil Threads used: Cotton 8wt, 12wt, 28wt, 40wt & 12 Wool
EPP stitched with Cotton 80wt. Machine piecing with Cotton 50wt.
Long arm quilted by @cumbrianlongarmer and @trudi_wood with Cotton 50wt.