Aurifil's Whole Cloth challenge with Paintbrush Studio Fabrics

A few weeks ago Aurifil sent some of their Artisans a spool of thread and some fabric from Paintbrush Studio Fabrics Paintbox Palette.  The challenge was to use these two items to create a mini whole cloth quilt. About 20 of us took part in the challenge, and Aurifil will  blog about all of the results at the end of August.

Here's what I made:

It's a bright orange cushion / pillow that I hand quilted freehand.

The colour is actually "Goldenrod" which is one of Paintbrush Studio's Trend Palette colours for 2019. I have to admit that I didn't know what Goldenrod is, but a quick Google told me it's a plant with bright yellow flowers. Thank you Wikipedia.

The Artisans could specify which weight thread we wanted to receive, but we had no idea which colour fabric we would receive.

I requested 12wt thread because I knew I'd be hand quilting my whole cloth.  I received thread 4150 which is variegated and matches the fabric very well.

I decided I would try to quilt free hand - which is harder than it looks.  I took inspiration from this piece of Alison Glass fabric, and drew some outlines with my blue wash away pen.

Then I proceeded to fill in the gaps.  I kept drawing more lines to get the quilting denser.

I always use a hoop when I hand quilt, and my favourite needles are John James Chenille size 24.  They have a large eye for the thicker threads, but a very sharp point.  I also wear an open clover thimble on the third finger of my right hand (I'm right handed).  I use it to swivel the needle and push it through.  You can read more about hand quilting on the tab at the top of the page or by clicking here.  

As the idea to make a cushion / pillow started forming, I decided that I needed to border my whole cloth centre piece with something with pattern.  I dived into my Kaffe Fassett stash, and found Kite Tails which was just right.  I machine quilted strips onto my centre piece with Aurifil 2145 as shown above and below.

So there we are! A fun challenge successfully completed.  Thank you Aurifil and Paintbrush Studio Fabrics.  I've tried something new and I enjoyed it.

Aurifil will be putting up links to all the Artisan's whole cloths at the end of August.  You can follow their blog Auribuzz, or wait for their posts on Facebook or Instagram.