Hi friends! I am back from summer…and moving! I will have to dedicate a blog post to the move, but for now I had to sneak in a quick FPP project.
Aurifil Artisan 2021
As an Aurifil Artisan, we get a ‘challenge’ every month to work on. I love this opportunity to try new techniques! I have recently discovered FPP (foundation paper piecing). As one of my first 2021 Aurifil Artisan projects, I made this FPP dog! I am falling in love with FPP! I had to jump on this month’s challenge…FPP!
Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cottons
I have a quilt that I designed (which I will share later) that needed some roses for the corners. I purchased this rose pattern by Jitka Designs. I gathered up my favorite ombre Riley Blake Confetti Cottons. From lightest to darkest:
Petal Pink
Petunia
Rose
Piglet Pink
Super Pink
Riley Fuchsia
I also used two greens:
Basil
Pear
And of course Riley White for the background.
FPP rose
This rose turned out so cute! This was all made possible with my favorite Aurifil thread! I branched out this time and used pink instead of white. I used Aurifil 2405 in 50 wt. This Oyster color is such a light pink it works as a neutral. But I felt like if I was sewing up a pink rose, I better use pink thread too!
The 50 wt. glides through the fabric and paper! Because remember, this is FPP! I may switch to pink from here on out!
Thanks for stopping by today! If you would like to see more of what I am up to, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and subscribe to my new YouTube Channel!
I am thrilled to be an Aurifil Artisan again this year! I had so much fun sharing all about Aurifil thread last year and can’t wait to share more this year.
The amazing team at Aurifil sent us each a beautiful welcome pack! Our challenge for the month of June was to make a project using some of the thread from our welcome pack. Do you want to see what is inside?
Artisan collection 2021
Aren’t these threads so beautiful? They come in a variety of colors and weights! I was drawn instantly to the pink! No surprise there.
FPP puppy
No this is not a pic of my dog, I don’t even have a dog. But this quilt block (designed by the incredible Kerry at KidGiddy) looks just like a very special dog. I have done very little FPP (foundation paper piecing) but I had to give it a whirl. We just finished up school (I swear we are the last school in the country!) and I made this up for a very special teacher. She had my son this year and my daughter a couple of years ago. She has been so great with my kids. We just love her! Her dog is very special and she talks to the kids about Sally. Sally has become a bit of the classroom mascot!
Sally
Using my 50 wt. Aurifil thread, I embroidered ‘Sally’ on the bottom of the quilt block. I used Aurifil 2440 peony pink from my welcome pack. It matched the collar and border of the quilt perfectly. I decided not to quilt this mini quilt. I didn’t want to take away from the intricate FPP block or the sweet message on the back.
Dear Ms. Conway
Isn’t this note the sweetest? I had both of my kids write a little note on the backing fabric. I love the extra little pics they drew for this special teacher.
Thanks for following along today. I had sew much fun stitching up this little teacher project. If you would like to see more of what I am up to, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or subscribe to my new YouTube channel!
Hi sewing friends! Every month as an Aurifil Artisan, we are given a challenge to work on with Aurifil thread. This month we partnered with Free Spirit fabric and got to work with Kaffe Fassett’s beautiful fabrics! Confession, I’ve never worked with Kaffe’s fabric before. His use of color and patterns is stunning. I enjoyed working with this fabric!
Kaffe Fassett Fabric
I had to gather up my favorite tools for this project starting first with my favorite Aurifil thread. I used my favorite 50 weight but in some new colors! I used 1100 which is a super fun hot pink! I also matched 4030 to this amazing fabric. The three 40 weights are part of the Blue-Throated Macaw Earth League International 2021 Color Builders Thread Box. I love these colors! And I’m excited to try a new thread weight. Last of all, I picked 28 weight. I have fallen in love with the quilting detail that this weight adds. I picked 1148 and 4093. I have the hardest time matching thread colors online. So I included the numbers in case you wanted to match!
I couldn’t decide what exactly I was going to make with this fabric. This came together the more I worked on it. And I changed my mind A TON!!! I used my new Go! Qube Mix and Match 4″ Block set. I don’t love quilting tiny pieces. But I soon realized I don’t like cutting them and trimming them! Go! Qube to the rescue! These little flying geese were super easy to construct and NO TRIMMING!
I couldn’t make these without what I call the pressing dream team! I used my pink Oliso mini iron to press. Then I place my Riley Blake Designs clapper on my seams. And they are flat! If you haven’t tried out this dream team yet, you should!
Stitch book
Aren’t all of these flying geese together sew cute? These colors are so rich and saturated. I used a chambray fabric as the background. I decided to make a little stitch book with these flying geese. This stitch book matches my Tula Pink hardware! It was meant to be!
Tula Pink 770 Bernina
I got a new sewing machine for my birthday last year! Yay! There are so many amazing stitches that come with this machine. I decided to stitch out all of the Tula Pink stitches on the machine.
Tula Pink stitches
Aren’t these sew cute? I seriously love them all! I have already used the bunnies on an Easter skirt last year. Now I’m dreaming up new ways to add these stitches to my work. I used the Aurifil 50 weight 1100 to stitch all of these out! The rest of the stitches are on the other pages.
This book is just the beginning! My plan is to add more stitch pages since my machine has a TON! And I’m going to use all of the colors that I previously picked out. They all match this Kaffe fabric! I love this stitch book! Have you made a stitch book before?
Thanks for stopping by today! If you would like to see more of what I am up to you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, subscribe to my new YouTube channel!
Hi! I am excited to share my quilted table topper for the Land of Liberty project tour with Riley Blake Designs. I love patriotic fabric! And My Mind’s Eye nailed it with this fabric line!
EPP stars with Aurifil
Each month as an Aurifil Artisan, we have a new challenge to focus on. This month was EPP (English Paper Piecing). I knew instantly I wanted to make stars with this amazing patriotic fabric. If I machine piece these star blocks then I end up with one thing…y-seams. Y-seams are not my favorite. So to achieve this block, EPP it is! I had sew much fun with this on-the-go method of sewing. My daughter and I enjoyed watching The Great British Baking Show while I stitched these up (which seems a little unpatriotic-haha).
I created a YouTube video using my top 7 EPP tools. Most of these tools are by my friends at Riley Blake Designs. Watch the video as I talk about each tool and why it’s on my must have list! The following are the 7 must have tools:
I used Aurifil 50 wt. for all of the EPP. I love 50 wt. because it is not too thick or too thin to EPP with. It glides through the fabric like butter. I have no thread breakage. And there are a ton of colors to chose from to get the perfect match to your fabric. I used my favorite 2021 white to EPP. There is a lot of white in this fabric line, so it matched great!
Table Topper
After I finished stitching up all of my stars I appliquéd these stars onto the cutest background fabric, Uncle Sam Blossom by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake Designs. The red and blue little blossoms are so cute and match Land of Liberty perfectly. I used what I’ve heard called Sue Glue by Sue Daley to appliqué the stars. Then I used a blanket stitch on my Tula Pink Bernina to attach the stars to the background.
Aurifil Liberty
One of my favorite pieces of this whole quilt is this spool of thread! This spool of Aurifil is called Liberty. It is a variegated thread that transitions from red to white to blue. I used this thread to appliqué and quilt this quilt. I love it!
Quilt back
Land of Liberty has an awesome panel! The flag is a cheater print that looks like it is pieced with all of the cute prints in this fabric line. I decided to back my table topper with this flag panel. Now I have a double sided table topper. Probably my favorite print is the text print in Land of Liberty. The text is the lyrics to the National Anthem. When I was in high school, I sang the National Anthem for the football games. Since I sang it so much, I grew to love this song. So this fabric is extra special to me! I can’t wait to use this table topper this summer!
Star binding
Here you can see a close up of the binding. I decided to bind this in navy stars. I think it frames out the quilt and matches the borders of the flag. You can also see a close up of the Liberty thread! I seriously can’t get enough of this Aurifil Liberty thread!
Land of Liberty EPP stars
Now if it would just warm up, I am ready for summer! And now I need a new EPP project! This one was sew much fun! And I have the best tools ready to EPP!
Are you an Anglophile? I most certainly am! When we were young, my cousin and I used to pretend to have British accents while traveling through Yellowstone National Park. As I have grown older, I still love British accents and have a slight obsession with Jane Austen, British Royalty, any British History and the Great British Baking show to name a few. So yes, I am an Anglophile! When I saw Amy’s new fabric line- Notting Hill for Riley Blake I just knew I had to make something with it!
Notting Hill fabric with Aurifil Thread
Riley Blake recently released a line of Chambray fabric by Christopher (a.k.a. the Tattooed- quilter.) I wanted to try it out too! Doesn’t it match perfectly with this Notting Hill fabric?
I decided to make a travel pouch in anticipation of the day when I get to travel again! Do you want to make one too?
I created a video on my new YouTube Channel! I take you step by step on how to sew a zipper! Make sure to subscribe!
How to Attach a Zipper
This month’s Aurifil Artisan challenge was to use 3 different thread weights! I chose my three favorite- 50 weight, 28 weight and Floss.
3 Aurifil thread weights
Let’s be honest 50 weight is my favorite! I use it for everything! I used it to construct the bag. You can’t see it on the outside of the bag, but it is holding it all together. You can see 50 weight in action in my video!
I decided to add the word London to the bag. I drew out the text, traced it on the chambray and stitched it with floss. I love using Aurifil floss. They have so many colors! I can always find the right shade that I need.
28 weight thread
I am new to using 28 weight thread. I really wanted the quilting to stand out (even if it is straight line quilting). I absolutely love the way this Aurifil stands out on the Chambray. I used Aurifil 2415 for both the 28 weight and the floss. And it matches Notting Hill perfectly!
Vinyl lined interior
The last thing I added to the bag was a Vinyl-lined interior. I used HeatnBond Iron-on Vinyl to turn this pretty floral into a vinyl interior. This protects the fabric from spills or messes that may occur while using the pouch. Who am I kidding?!? My kids are going to spill all over this! Now it will wipe clean WHEN the mess happens.
London Travel Pouch
Now I’m all ready for my next adventure! Whenever the world opens up again! London is high up on my list!
Hi friends! Happy New Year! I always love the start of the new year. I take some time throughout the month of January to look back at the previous year and set some new goals. I have some fun things planned this year! So stay tuned!
One of the main goals I am working on in January is getting organized! Our Aurifil Artisan challenge for the month is Sew Organized. My Aurifil thread was one of the main things that needed organized.
Aurifil Thread Storage
I found this great shelving piece at Micheals. Since I have different weights of thread and sizes, a typical spool holder didn’t work for me. I grouped the thread together by weight and then by color. The bottom is where you will see all of my floss. I do have a few spools of Aurifil weight 28 thread. They are in the bottom corner. I have a fun project planned with the 28 wt. thread coming up! I’ll give you a hint- 28 wt. thread is great to emphasize quilting!
Aurifil Thread Sizes
I posted on Instagram recently that I started an Aurifil Cone! I store my cones on top of my shelf. I use Aurifil 2021 so much, I decided it was time to switch to a cone! The smaller spools (like my 28 wt.) are great for when you want to try out a new color or have a smaller project.
The rest of my shelf is my Aurifil 50 weight thread. I use this the most for piecing and quilting! I have them all grouped by color!
Aurifil Spreadsheet
Now let’s get a little nerdy! I like to keep track of what spools of thread I have and which ones I have used up! So I made a spreadsheet (with the help of my CPA husband:) This helps me stay organized! This is just a sample page. It’s like 13 pages long!
Aurifil Thread Chart
One of my favorite things (and you can see it to the right of my Aurifil storage) is my Aurifil Thread Chart. I order everything online these days. But I really want my thread to match! When I place an order, I have my thread chart out and my spreadsheet so I can stay nice and organized!
Plan to Quilt
My other favorite organization tool is my Plan to Quilt planner! I put everything in here! I usually have multiple projects going at one time. This planner keeps each project separate with all the information I need. Shannon is offering 10% off to all of my readers! Use code SMITTENCHICKEN at checkout! If you haven’t tried it, check it out!
Plan to Quilt details
One of my favorite parts of this planner is this section about thread! There are so many different weights of thread by Aurifil. And colors! This section helps me remember which thread I was using.
How is your January organization going? Mine is Thread-tastic! Now I’m off to sew!
It’s my turn on the New Dawn blog tour for Riley Blake. As soon as I saw this fabric, all I could think about was the Aurifil Artisan monthly challenge…bags! I thought the florals and strawberries would make for the perfect bag combination. I have loved the Sew Together bag pattern by @sewdemented for a long time. But it wasn’t quite big enough. With some help from some instagram friends (Thanks Jackie!) I made a Jumbo Sew-Together bag. It is the perfect size!
Gathering Supplies
Before I share my bag, I have to share some of my favorite tools. I have found additional success with using these! My friend Shannon designed Plan to Quilt. And I love it! Especially when making the Jumbo Sew-Together bag. I use modifications to the pattern and continue to misplace them! Haha Now they are all in one place! Along with what fabrics, thread, etc. I used. This undated planner is proving to be so helpful.
I also love my Aurifil thread! I used 50 weight on this project. I used Soft and Stable for the exterior of this bag since it so big. It needed more stability. And my 50 wt. Aurifil quilted it up so beautifully! I was so impressed. I think 50 wt. is my favorite!
Bag Guts
I love the three pockets that are found inside the Sew-Together bag. And since it is jumbo, there is plenty of room! These bag guts are super fun to assemble. There is a lot of Thermoweb interfacing I used on this project. I love using my pink Oliso iron to adhere all of my interfacing parts. I also love that my iron matches my project! So does my Olfa rotary cutter. Pink for the win!
More bag guts
I really love it when this bag starts to take shape! And those strawberries are some of my favorite! Sew cute! And did you notice my new Aurifil thread storage? This new storage makes me so happy! I love looking at all of my pretty Aurifil colors while I sew!
Jumbo Sew-Together Bag
I have made a few Jumbo Sew-Together bags, but I think this one is my new favorite. That New Dawn floral prints is so pretty. And I love the green binding. I think it makes this print really pop!
Interior of Jumbo Sew-Together Bag
I really love the interior of this bag as well. Rachel of Citrus and Mint designed the cutest cross stitch rose print. I love the green print. Or the coral! Actually I just love all of this fabric! And of course these strawberries! I used the pink strawberries and the cream for the lining. I can’t get enough of them.
Thanks for stopping by! If you would like to see more of what I am up to, you can stop by my Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and my new YouTube channel.
Have you ever had a plan that didn’t turn out? So you came up with a Plan B? That is exactly what happened to me! And I am calling it a Fall Rainbow!
This month’s Aurifil Artisan Challenge was to use Aurifil Floss. Have you tried this yet? Let me just say, it’s amazing! It stitches up so beautifully and comes in every color! You should try it!
Supplies for Fall Rainbow
I gathered up some of my favorite supplies for my fall rainbow:
I started by preparing the background fabric. I first fused the interfacing to the wrong side of the background fabric (per manufactures instructions.) And I used my Oliso iron of course! Next, I fused the HeatnBond to the felt. Then I cut out the rainbow shapes and fused the shapes to the background fabric.
Fall Rainbow
Then comes the fun part…embellishing. I love the freedom of embroidery. It seems to be more forgiving than cross-stitch. I also really love florals. So I started with some woven wheel stitches. My idea was that the florals would replace the clouds. I ended up using less colors as they just seemed to match better than my original pull. (Plan C at this point…Haha) I added a few lazy daisy stitches and some French knots and then I was done!
Fall Rainbow
And now I have a fun Fall Rainbow to enjoy. After this crazy year, I could certainly use a rainbow to help calm the storm of 2020!
Today I am sharing one of my favorite projects ever, my Stars and Stripes Quilt! Why is this my favorite project? Because it combines two of my favorite things: quilting and traveling with my family. We decided to take an EPIC road trip this summer. We traveled over 7,200 miles through 25 states. It was incredible! To top it off, we took my quilt with us and took pics of it everywhere!
Pieced with Aurifil Thread
Before I get into the epic journey of this quilt, let me tell you more about it. I recently got a new machine (yay!) and it only likes Aurifil thread (me too!) I am also an Aurifil Artisan! This month as Aurifil Artisans, we are sharing our favorite thread weight. My favorite thread weight is 50. Why? Because it is so versatile! I was able to piece, quilt and bind my Stars and Stripes quilt without changing thread (besides a bobbin or two…or twenty).
Binding time with Aurifil
Here’s a close up of the quilting and the binding before I sewed it on. This Aurifil is the best! It quilts through all three layers of backing, batting and the quilt top so beautifully. I quilted wavy lines with my walking foot. It reminded me of a flag flying in a summer breeze.
Aurifil Poll
I was curious what other quilters thought about thread weight so I made up a little poll. 89% said they prefer 50 weight thread! It is a winner! Now the quilt specs: the pattern is called Stars and Stripes and is designed by Camille Roskelley. I used my Bonnie and Camille fabric stash for the blocks. I then pieced and quilted it on my new Tula Pink Bernina with my favorite Aurifil Thread!
Home Sweet Home
On to our EPIC journey! We set a goal as a family to hit all 50 states. We were making some good progress and then the baby was born. And we decided we had to start over so she could visit all 50 as well. So here we go! 25 down, 25 more to go!
New York
We stopped at a number of places along our route. We stopped at State Lines to take some fun pics! We love New York and visit all the time!
Badlands National Park
I love National Parks! We also tried to visit as many as we could along the way. I had never been to Badlands National Park. It was amazing to see!
Badlands National Park
We couldn’t leave South Dakota without a stop at the infamous Mount Rushmore. It was HUGE! It was a surreal moment to see it. We loved every minute we were there! And took tons of pics!
We seriously couldn’t get enough of Mount Rushmore. It was such a fun place to have my Stars and Stripes Quilt.
Mount Rushmore
That wraps up the first segment of our traveling Stars and Stripes quilt. Stop by again to see where we took my quilt next! You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
