Katrina Hadjimichael's Blog: Aurifil Artisan 2022: First Challenge

I am delighted to have been chosen as an Aurifil Artisan for 2022/23, one of forty creative people from around the world!

I have been using Aurifil’s beautiful threads for many years and now I have a chance to explore, experiment and educate about this fabulous product.

My first challenge was to create a project using some of the threads received in my welcome Artisan box. My selection included two green spools (40 weight thread) in a stunning medium and dark blue. Having recently purchased a colour graduated stack of blue fabrics that caught my eye, I was ready for the challenge.

A little blue ceramic coaster was my inspiration to play with a symmetrical design featuring floral elements and a hint of fleur-de-lis. I chose to use fusible raw edge applique for this design as the pieces were two small and intricate for turned edge applique.

I traced each design element onto fusible webbing and cut outside the lines. Then each shape was fused to the wrong side of the chosen fabric. Every shape was then cut out accurately on the drawn lines with a sharp pair of scissors.

The pattern sheet was placed under a square of off-white linen and all shapes were fused in place.

Now for the stitching. I used the two spools of 40 weight cotton thread on most of the blue pieces, balancing the same thread weight and colour in the bobbin. The colours were #1128 (Light blue violet) and #1158 (medium grey). I like to use a small single buttonhole stitch on my Bernina for this type of applique. It produces a very neat finish which does not overpower the design. For the very light blue shapes, I used an Aurifil 50 weight that I had on hand, #2710 (light robins egg).

I also always use a light stabiliser behind my machine applique. It makes the stitching much more even and does not pucker or shrink the background fabric.

Once the applique was complete, I removed all the stabiliser, trimmed my block and added a row of blue squares around the applique centre. Then a thin border of the linen was added to accentuate the blues.

I like to use medium weight fusible pellon behind my small projects and then the most relaxing part: hand quilting! I used the #2021 (natural white) in the 12 weight thread from my pack to echo quilt around every shape and in the ditch of the squares border. For the echo quilting inside the squares, I hand quilted using #2847 (bright grey blue). I love to use my quarter inch wide quilters masking tape to guide me in quilting straight lines.

Lastly, I backed the cushion in a gorgeous soft blue and cream floral with three large coconut shell buttons for the closure. A formal finish to the cushion was achieved by sewing a blue binding around the edge.