Modern Crewelwork Aurifil Thread Collection

I am so excited to announce that I have a new Aurifil Thread Collection!  This is my third collection box and this time I’m concentrating on their gorgeous 12wt wool threads.

It will be officially launched at Festival of Quilts next week but we actually already have stock available to purchase right now at our store in Edinburgh and online here. But hang on a minute before you rush off and buy one as I have a discount code for all my blog readers to share at the bottom of this post!

But first let’s have a look at the threads and the inspiration behind them.

Here’s a close up of the beautiful texture and colours.

I started using the wool threads on my Pomegranate embroidery earlier this year.  I realised that if you doubled the strands the weight was very similar to crewel wool. This got me thinking about new ways to use crewelwork stitches.

Crewelwork is just embroidery using wool but it has a particularl look that can seem a little old fashioned and so I’ve been thinking about ways to modernise it.

I started to create what has become my Pebbles Sampler.  I drew pebble shapes of different sizes so that they locked together. I was really thinking of a pebbles FMQ pattern here (I like to mix elements of both quilting and embroidery together if possible). Then I began to fill each pebble with different stitches in a different shade of Aurifil.  I had picked out 10 gorgeous colours from Aurifil’s fabulous range before I began, mainly solids but with a few variegated too. I also used coordinating wool felt to fill some large areas.

Despite my hubby’s indifference (he just doesn’t get this piece!) the WIP photos that I shared on Instagram got a wonderful response and I thought I might be on to something.

When I had finished the embroidery I immediately put a workshop on for the Autumn at myBearpaw. It sold out within hours! I will certainly be repeating it in the winter term so don’t worry if you missed out.

Using the wool threads I’d selected for a new collection box inspired by Modern Crewelwork seemed the natural next step. Aurifil love to have some new products from their UK designers to launch at Festival of Quilts. This year there will also be new collections from Karen Lewis, Sheena Norquay, Sarah Ashford and Nicholas Ball, it’s going to be an exciting stand to be involved with! We actually have a very small stock of Sarah’s new collection available in the shop here.

As usual I will be demoing on the Aurifil FOQ stand during the show. I’m not sure of the exact date and time at present but I’ll be showing how to do some of the embroidery stitches I used for the Pebbles Sampler. This is usually filmed for Facebook Live and I will be sure to include a link here in my FOQ report post.

I’ll also have something new I am working on that will be hand quilted with the wool threads. I love using them for hand quilting too, they have such a wonderful soft, matte texture, and it will be good to show their versatility.

The newest issue of Stitch magazine is just out and inside you will find an offer for the new collection. If you bring the magazine along to the Aurifil stand you can get a 10% discount off my thread box. They’ll also be selling copies of the magazine on the Aurifil stand. In this latest issue I will also be telling you how you can make your own Pebbles Sampler along with all the stitches I used.  You can order a copy of Stitch magazine here, or buy one from W H Smiths.

Or if you can’t make it to FOQ you can order a collection box from our website here or form the Edinburgh store. Get a 10% discount in both places by using the code pebbles10 at checkout!

You can also view and buy both my previous Aurifil collections here too!

I hope I have tempted you to give the 12wt wool threads a try for yourself in this post and I do hope you like the shades I have chosen.

I am so looking forward to experimenting more with modern crewelwork and I have so many ideas! Just never quite enough time…