by in Events

Heirloom Creations welcomed special guest, Alex Veronelli, the owner of Aurifil thread to Sioux Falls for two very special thread lectures. Though many guests did not know what they were in for, everyone walked away with a much better understanding of what it takes to make a spool of Aurifil thread.

Alex also sat down for a one on one video interview with Sara Snuggerud to answer some common questions people have about Aurifil thread. Watch what special thing he does for Sara at the end of the interview!Alex Veronelli adventure started two days before as he boarded a plane in Milan, Italy to fly direct to Sioux Falls, SD. Visiting South Dakota for his very first time, we become his 35th state he has visited. This stop in Sioux Falls was a pit stop on his way to the annual International Quilt Show in Houston, TX. Shaking off jet lag, Alex welcomed over 100 attendees with a sample thread pack for each person and a private look into the Aurifil thread factory in Italy.Then he graced us with two boxes of quilt samples made specially for this lectures by famous quilt designers like Tula Pink and Sarah Vedeler.

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The quilts showcased the variety of options the six different wights of Aurifil thread. The weights of thread are 12, 28, 40, 50 weights, a floss weight and a 12 weight in wool. This week Aurifil thread is introducing a new 80 weight of cotton thread for extra fine applique and stitch detailing. For more information on thread colors, please visit Aurifil’s website.

Aurifil thread starts from the purchasing of cotton from the cotton fields in Egypt earning its name of “long-stable Egyptian cotton”. Upon its arrival to the Aurifil thread factory, it will embark on a 15-step process before it becomes an actual spool of thread ready for sewing. One of the most commented on step of the Aurifil thread making process was the “singeing”. This is where the thread passes through a flame to singe off the hairs so the spool does not produce lint while running through a sewing machine, serger or embroidery machine.

Alex mentioned numerous times that to achieve the consistent quality of thread from year to year and from dye lot to dye lot, the factory does not rush. Yes, he could produce more thread if he speed up the twisting and winding machines, but the quality of the final product goes down and can not be constantly consistent.

We were most impressed with how many times a spool of thread to wound from one cone to another cone to complete a step. One length of thread will jump from one cone to another 9 times before it is finally wound to the spool of thread you purchase from Heirloom Creations.

Alex allowed us to see each of the quilts up close to better appreciate the detail of the designer’s stitching. The quilt below was completely MACHINE EMBROIDERED!!! with Aurifil thread. This was a surprise to many of our avid embroiderers.

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He than shared two quilts from his private collection of pictorial quilts of himself. Two different designers created quilts of Alex. Each quilt was from a picture approximately six years apart. He is wondering (a littler worried) how he will “look” in the next quilt!

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You can currently find both solid and variegated Aurifil 50 weight thread at Heirloom Creations along with popular thread box kits.

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COMING SOON!

We are excited to announce we will be stocking the 12 weight and 28 weight Aurifil cotton threads! Click the pictures below to learn more about each thread.

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