wonderful wonderful aurifil...

 i am a big fan of Aurifil are you?

if so read on as there may be a little giveaway at the end of this post...

Aurifil 50wt (the orange one) has been my go to thread of choice ever since i was first introduced to it...particularly number 2600...the perfect shade of grey that goes with everything. 

i hadn't tried the other wts but was lucky enough to be sent a few recently to try.

now it would be fair to say that i am a little swayed by how things look. i like to be surrounded by pretty things...what's wrong with that? but they do need to have something to back up the looks and aurifil ticks all those boxes.

first of all not only are the coloured bobbins so bright and fun but they are indeed practical too...easy to grab what you are after without having small print to contend with and believe me at my age, being visually challenged, that is a huge plus.

on testing, 40wt - the green one - proved to be equally delightful and i particularly like the effect of how the slightly heavier thread shows up in quilting stitches.

the grey 28wt is a lovely thread to use for hand piecing. i am a bit heavy handed with hand piecing but no worries about snapping the thread with this one. it also works beautifully for machine quilting, a lovely bold finish.

then there are the threads for sashiko and hand embroidery...

12 wt - the red one - has a lovely feel and pretty sheen (you can see the stitches i did at the top).

and then of course the aurifloss, a 6 strand embroidery floss. 

this is one of those times that you can't ignore the prettiness...have you seen the wooden bobbins they are wound on??

but they do stitch like a dream too...

5 different types of thread, over 250 colours, they are the kona of the thread world. you really need to give them a try if you haven't already.

and to help one of you on your way i am giving away this set below of the 4 main threads and i will throw in one of the aurifloss too because they are way too pretty not to share and i am nice like that.

just leave a comment to be with a chance of winning. if you use aurifil already just tell me what your favourite colour is, which weight you prefer or something about it that you like. if you have never tried it just tell me that!

please leave an email where i can contact you if you are a no reply commmenter, should you win.

Good Luck!

:: wildwood ::

 i am setting myself up for a bit of a fall here now with 2 posts in 2 days...

don't worry i am sure it will be as many weeks before you hear from me again.

this week i have been working on a few pieces for dashwood studios with their most recent collection wildwood.

this collection is a case in point where things look so much better in real life. 

if you looked at this collection you would think it definitely wasn't me. it is more twee and busier than i would ordinarily go for.

having said that the thing that stops it being overly twee is the colour scheme. the rustic colours (that orange is much more rusty red in real life...i'm not sure what my camera was playing at) are just spot on and make it quite a sophisticated whimsical collection.

i am totally in love with mr fox. placing the taupe toadstools with it is genius making it a really versatile fabric.

i really enjoyed making a small quilt with the collection. i based the design on one of the first quilts i ever made way back in 2007. simple piecing was called for and i think this does allow all the detail in these wonderful fabrics to be shown off.

making the economy block cushion with solid outer sections had the same effect too...pops of colour but no clashing distraction.

i think my final piece for dashwood is going to involve some wonky star blocks with mr foxy positioned in the starring role of each one.

he is rather handsome don't you think?