Aurifil Artisan Project: Earth Views

The April Aurifil Artisan project is all about Earth. We worked with Earth Views fabrics, designed by Dr. Karen Nyberg for Robert Kaufman fabrics. Dr. Nyberg is an engineer, astronaut, and artist. During her time on the International Space Station, sewists from around the world joined Karen Nyberg in making a quilt block and contributing to an epic project that resulted in the creation of dozens of quilts.

I decided to use sustainability as my focus for this project, inspired by our Earth Day release date. I used four fat quarters of Earth Views fabric – Seaglass, Limestone, Lagoon, and Pool – and a small spool of Aurifil 50wt 2715, a light blue that coordinated perfectly with these fabrics.

My family has been making an effort to eliminate paper products from our daily life as much as possible. Fabric napkins are one great way to do this. I used two fat quarters for each napkin, and finished them with some functional and decorative stitching.

I’ve been wanting to purchase some sets of silverware for travel to eliminate the use of disposable eating utensils and straws. This project was a great excuse to do that. I made a small, simple zipper pouch to carry a to-go kit.

I added some 45° strips to a rectangle of Alison Glass white Kaleidoscope fabric. I quilted both exterior panels, added a bit of zipper by the yard, a lining with more Dr. Karen Nyberg fabrics, and done! The pouch is the perfect size to hold a napkin, silverware set, and straw. It will fit in my purse, and wash up easily, which is perfect! It will be clean when I grab it and I won’t mind putting my used silverware in it once I’m done eating.

Earth Views fabrics are Greenstyle, eco-friendly fabrics that are beautiful, versatile, and feel great to work with. What would you make with these fabrics and thread?

Aurifil Artisan Project: Night Fancy Fabrics

I had the opportunity to make something with Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s new fabric lime for Free Spirit Fabrics, Night Fancy. These fabrics feature floral and geometric prints in a range of soft and bright Spring colors.

I was sent three fat quarters of Night Fancy prints, one beautiful lime green solid, and a large spool of coordinating Aurifil 50wt thread. I decided that EPP would best highlight the potential for meticulous cutting of these fabrics. I combined the papers from two sets of 1 1/2” 60° Party Pack from Paper Pieces EPP and got to work.

One of my favorite EPP notions is pink embroidery tape, pictured above. It has such a strong grip and hold the pieces together while I sew them together with the flat backstitch. I get my tape here.

Once I finished sewing my pieces together (tip: I think I’ll try using matching thread next time. Stitches show through and that’s okay, but I’d love to try and make them disappear if I can), I quilted the mini quilt with a 60° grid using Aurifil 2692, black thread.

Headphones are an integral part of my sewing practice, as you can see. I love to listen to a familiar show or podcast while I work.

These fabrics are not my typical aesthetic, but I’m really happy with what I made. I found a way to use the prints, and the lime green solid and black quilting thread bring it all together.