**Don’t miss out on information on Tiled Parquet – my debut design for Quilt Theory – and its associated giveaway!** The giveaway is now closed.
I finally gave in and ordered my first cone of Aurifil thread. You guys, it is awesome!
Since I needed to re-order a large spool of thread (I am using up a lot of thread as I quilt these days), I went ahead and ordered a cone of 2600, Dove, which I pretty much always use for piecing. Seeing the two side by side is impressive! I ordered both from Hawthorne Threads, and the Large Spool pricing comes down to $0.008 per yard and the cone is $0.007 per yard. What is super impressive is that the Large Spool has 1421 yards (0.8 miles) of thread and the cone has over 4.5 times as much with 6452 yards (3.66 miles)!
I was also the lucky winner of a Quilt Alliance Giveaway hosted by Jess @Quilty Habit, and the giveaway package arrived this week. I never know what to do with mini charm packs. Does anyone have good suggestions? I’m also pondering if I should put some thought into a design to use them…

Shadow Block Blog Hop Giveaway Winner – from Jen @A Dream and A Stitch
I was also the lucky giveaway winner selected by Jen @A Dream and A Stitch for her shadow block blog hop giveaway. I received the delightful thread catcher and pin cushion this week. I just love the colors!
Snowflake Shimmer QAL Final Linkup Giveaway Winners!
I also want to thank everyone who quilted along with me during the Snowflake Shimmer QAL. The final link up closed on Friday, and there were 26 beautiful quilts and quilt tops shared, I hope you had a chance to see them all! The winners of the final giveaways are:
Congratulations to Florence (number 7 in the linkup) who won the Little Ruby 10 small spool thread collection from Aurifil!
Congratulations to Lisa (number 14 in the linkup) who won her choice of two PDF patterns from Meadow Mist Designs!
Congratulations to Izzy (number 6 in the linkup) who won the Rural Squirrel pattern from Sew Fresh Quilts!
Congratulations to Susan (number 17 in the linkup) who won a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop!
Congratulations to Patty (number 1 in the linkup) who won a Smart Iron from Oliso!
Congratulations to Jenn T. (number 15 in the linkup) who won a Crafted Applique from Lara @BuzzinBumble!
Congratulations to Kelly (number 9 in the linkup) who won her choice of two PDF patterns from Quilting Jetgirl!
Whew! Winners have all been notified via email. 🙂
Linking up with Sunday Stash.
Lucky, lucky you! It’s so much fun to be a winner! You had several lucky winners today, too! Congratulations to them all. I’ve seen some beautiful Snowflake Shimmer quilts being posted across the online quilting community. Well done! I’ve also just ordered my first Aurifil cone, too. I live in a relatively remote location and there’s nothing worse than running out of thread. Enjoy your day!
Congratulations on your win- the charm packs are very pretty. I use these a lot, for reverse applique bits or sometimes just to add little accents of something different to a top, but I’d love to see what you could come up with by way of a pattern.
Well done to all the winners snd well done to everybody just for linking up . This was a lot of fun
Congrats on your win and to everyone who was able to link up and finish their Snowflake shimmers they are all beautiful, congrats to all the winners of those lovely prizes as well!
Isn’t that great that you won all that blue goodness. I really enjoyed the quilt along Yvonne. It went at a good pace , the instructions were very clear and the resulting quilt is really beautiful. I’m excited for my prize!
That is a big difference in thread spool size. In this case bigger is better. Does it fit on the sewing machine okay or does it need special consideration? I really enjoy the charm packs to really get a large variety of fabric in a project. There are lots of books now that specifically give ideas for precuts, but I usually just throw them into whatever project I am working on.
Congrats on your wins! Did you buy a thread cone holder for your new cone? I have wanted to try a cone but have been unsure which holder I should try.
You’ve been lucky! Congrats on the wins! I really should buy a cone of thread too! I did one time and thought I would never get through it…of course I did! Its a very smart buy I think!
Congrats! I sew charms together into a one-patch top, add a border, then use the Lil Twister to make a really interesting “twist” on it. If you come up with an idea, share!
Wow your wins look very nice. Always a treat to have something unexpected come in the mail. Can’t wait to see what you do with the mini charms. I’ve been cutting my scraps to 2.5″ for someday, something.
Wow, so much winning! Enjoy your new thread mileage ; )
Looks like the cone is the way to go and that IS a great color! Congrats on your wins and to all the winners!
Congratulations on your winnings! It is always fun to receive surprises in the mail. I have used mini charm packs in mini quilts, doll quilts, and placemats. I have a table runner started for my daughter. She brought a mini pack and asked me to make something. I’m “sprinkling” mini hexagons on a coordinating solid and want to use it for a “quilting sampler”. The thread cone is AWESOME! Since I started using Aurifil, I began throwing my empty spools in a jar, and I am amazed at how many I have emptied on my little machine. I am partial to Dove as well as 2310, an ivory.
Congratulations to the Snowflake Shimmer winners!!!
Congrats winners! I am collecting mini charms. Once my collection gets big enough I will put them in a very scrappy pattern of simple squares in a quilt. I might also make half square triangles and have a quilt full of scrappy hst’s.
Congratulations to all the winners! Charm packs are tough, I always find myself with one somehow. I use them as part of my stash for the Bee swaps I’m participating in, there’s always a chance to use them in some of the blocks. You could make a bunch of HSTs and do something with those.
Congratulations on winning all those wonderful prizes. Doesn’t it seem like Christmas sometimes. Also I watched your quilt along with pleasure and have seen so many wonderful quilts at the end. Great job and wonderful prizes for the winners….though they were all winners because they completed beautiful quilts.
Congrats Yvonne and to all of your winners! I’ve loved seeing all the different version of the QAL on IG and blogland. I like doing EEP with mini charm packs, or just sewing them up in color order for small mini quilts.
I was also wondering what to do with a couple of mini charm packs that I have. Which is funny, because I have no problem using scraps of that size. I think the little packs are so cute that I just have trouble breaking them up. 🙂
Congrats to all of your winners!
what fun to read comparison mileage! LeeAnna
Great winnings! I’m with you on mini charm packs, sometimes I just split them open and put in my ‘scraps’ bin!
Congrats on the win! I tend to go to pillows or runners with mini charms. Or keep collecting from the same designer.
You are a busy lady these days!
My mini charm packs always become hexagons or clamshells, but you do not want to go there … do you? It involves a whole world of hand sewing.
I have seen some gorgeous simple cushions using mini charms. Look up Crazy Mom Quilts’s contact print cushion: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/contact-print-pillow-tutorial.html.
congrats on your win! I love sewing with the large cones of this thread. It makes it so much easier and cost efficient. I love this thread.
congrats to everyone. I know I am quite excited to have won. Thanks for such a fun QAL~
I didn’t realize how much bigger the cone is until this picture. I’m thinking I might need to go that route and invest in one. Congrats on your stroke of good luck! I do love charm packs, but unless I stumble unto a pattern they always decorate my shelf.
I have thought abut ordering a cone, but I just realized my piecing machine really likes the spools. I had tension problems when trying to use big cones on a stand next to the machine. Have fun with your thread. I love the statistics you mentioned.
I love my aurifil cone! It just makes so much more sense for piecing and when you have a neutral color, you rarely need to switch thread! (and sorry if I’ve somehow commented twice – I did it once on the road from my phone, but maybe it didn’t go through).
I have a collection of mini charm packs that I haven’t figured out what to do with, so I’m hoping you decide to go for a pattern!
Thanks for sharing this – I saw it on FB the day you posted and ordered some for me! I haven’t gone cone size but I am looking forward to trying it.