SARIELLA

Meet SARIELLA — the beautifully brilliant and vibrant thread collection debut by design duo Sarah Thomas (of Sariditty) & Nicole Young (of lillyella) — collaboratively known as Sariella. This box is like a ray of sunshine; a brightness & feeling of warmth that brings an immediate smile. We first met Sarah at QuiltCon earlier this year and were instantly enamored with her energy and her killer quilty style. She even created a stunning quilt for showcase at our booth at Spring Market (learn more here). It came as no surprise that Nicole is equally talented, with a keen eye for color and design. Honestly, we’ve got a bit of a quilty crush!

We are so thrilled to have this chance to partner with them on this perfectly curated collection of our 50wt Thread + one spool of clear monofilament. The collection was inspired by their signature Saki Butterfly pattern, also their logo, and while the threads are everything that you’d need to make your own butterfly, they are bright and lovely and versatile and will perfectly complement so many fabulous projects. We’re super excited to see what you all make with this collection!

THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
SARIELLA
11 Large Spools Cotton 50wt (1422yds/spool)
1 Large Spools Clear Monofilament (1094yds/spool)
Colors included:
2435 – 2535 – 2277 – 1133 – 1135 – 1231
2884 – 4662 – 2810 – 5006 – 2021 – Clear Monofilament

For more information on this collection, please visit our website or contact your favorite local quilt shop!

INTERVIEW
What first drew you to to the world of sewing and quilting?
As soon as we met via the quilty social media world in May 2015, we became fast friends and seemed to always be asking each other for input, advice, and suggestions on our own personal projects. About a year later, we simply decided that Sariditty and Lillyella needed to join forces to become SARIELLA for some collaborative projects, tutorials, and patterns.

Sarah has been quilting for 3 years, which came about serendipitously. After marrying an Air Force man, Sarah “retired” from her career as a commercial pilot and took on the dutiful spouse role that also meant moving bases often. After moving from South Carolina to southwest Oklahoma, she was visiting her parents in New Mexico where she and her mother attended the Rusty Barn Quilt Show, where she stood at the controls of a longarm for the first time. It was a natural fit for her, and that’s when she took the plunge to purchase a longarm and start quilting. With so many mothers on the Air Force base who wanted to preserve their children’s clothing, making keepsake quilts was the first step to Sarah’s quilting business, and the rest is history!

Nicole began quilting in 2013, also after a military move. She had sewn casually most of her life, but had always wanted to learn how to do it correctly and how to quilt. She finally had some space to set up her machine after moving with husband to Southern Colorado and found a local shop offering classes. She was instantly hooked and hasn’t looked back!

Who or what has been your greatest creative inspiration?
As far as finding inspiration from textiles, we both adore Me+You/Hoffman Fabrics. The modern twist of the Indah Batiks are refreshing and a great change to traditional batiks often seen. We also both love AGF, especially The Denim Studio collection. Sarah is a big fan of Alison Glass, Carolyn Friedlander, and Kate Spain as well. Some of Nicole’s personal favorites are Tula Pink, Anna Maria Horner and Sarah Watts. We both live on quite a bit of acreage that needs upkeep, as well as having animals that need frequent exercise and care. Any time we encounter a creative block, we have our land and animals to occupy our time and brains, which gives us a much-needed reprieve from thinking too hard on any one pattern or project. Usually a stroke of genius hits us while tending to our chores or, quite often, while we’re asleep. We use our day-to-day happenings to lend inspiration and direction to an idea, and collaboratively we make that idea explode! We also recommend looking to your surroundings for inspiration. There are so many amazing patterns and color palettes within nature and the structures around us. Look at things a little different and suddenly that floor you’re walking on isn’t just tile, but a quilt waiting to happen.

Tell us about the Saki Butterfly Quilt and what inspired its creation.
Saki Butterfly came to be as a combination of pattern and technique for which we’re known. Nicole created the Take Wing Pattern – a foundation paper piecing pattern of a full butterfly, which is depicted by the right wing of Saki. Sarah has doodled most of her life and is best recognized for her free motion style she calls Sketchbook Quilting. The left half of Saki is Sarah’s interpretation of a doodle complimenting Nicole’s original Take Wing Pattern. We had the butterfly combination, knew it was a perfect logo, and now needed a name – Our nicknames are Sari and Nikki…hence Sa+ki…Saki!

Over the summer of 2016, Sarah was part of the RJR What Shade Are U? Blog Tour. She instantly knew that an enlarged version of Saki would make the perfect quilt. The quilt was such a hit across the board that we are now offering weekend workshops for this specific pattern, which focuses on foundation paper piecing, appliqué, and finishing techniques.

What do you love most about putting a project together and do you have tips for those just giving it a try? 
Measure once, measure twice, measure three times then cut and sew. And be cognizant of using consistent seam allowances throughout a project to ensure proper point alignment. Never be afraid to ask questions if you’re unsure of something. Knowing when the perfect time is to use 50wt versus monofilament thread, for instance. Sarah also often says to her quilting students, “Find 10-15 minutes every day to doodle in a sketchbook. Practice, practice, practice the doodles to create muscle memory. It’s no different than taking piano lessons…you have to practice to get better.”

Most of Nicole’s quilting tips are quite the opposite of time savers, because, as a perfectionist, she doesn’t fall in line with the popular quote that “finished is better than perfect”, but believes that taking your time and paying attention to the small details is what makes a great project. She recommends matching your thread to your fabric when piecing, especially when paper piecing bulky seams where it is more likely to show, even if this means changing your thread color two or three times along a single seam. She guarantees the results are worth it!

When did you first discover Aurifil threads and what do you love most about them?
From the very beginning of being involved in the quilt world, Aurifil spools are everywhere! Whether it’s online purchases, a visit to a local quilt shop, or even other people’s social media photos, the recognizable Aurifil spool can’t go unnoticed. Sarah was quick to try out a spool of 50 weight with her piecing and loved it. Quality thread is mandatory when working with quality fabrics – there’s just no way around it. That goes for piecing and quilting. Nicole soon followed by trying out Aurifil once Sarah couldn’t stop talking about it. We love the vast range of thread weights available for our long list of projects and their needs. Everything from 80wt down to embroidery floss…we love each and every one, not to mention the color selection! And the thread collection boxes…they’re just so attractive!!

How did you go about selecting colors for SARIELLA and what excites you most about releasing the collection to the world? 
We’re sure it’s no surprise that our debut collection is based on our fluttering friend, Saki the Butterfly! We’ve curated 11 vibrant spools of 50wt thread that will mix and match with Saki’s coloring and many other colorful projects, and one spool of clear monofilament (which is a favorite of ours!).

This collection is sure to take you through all walks of stitchery fun — from machine and hand piecing to top stitching, appliqué, and quilting. Designing the box art was so enjoyable – mixing Saki Butterfly line art with colorful hexagons, and we’re already plotting and planning how we’ll be using our empty collection boxes because they’re so fun and pretty! We hope you love this collection as much as we do, and we can’t wait to see how you use your collections, both thread and boxes.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL + GIVEAWAY
Check out Sariella’s blog today for another look at this fabulous collection and don’t miss the amazing giveaway they’ve got going on over on their Instagram account!

SARIELLA is the quilty love child of Sarah Thomas of Sariditty and Nicole Young of lillyella stitchery. Both are military wives, mommas to big dogs, donut aficionados, and have hyperactive creative drives. They make the nearly 1500 miles and two time zones between them seem effortless with constant video chats, emails, and text messages. The best of their two minds comes to life through unique patterns, fun tutorials, and miscellaneous crafty goodness.

Follow Sariella: Website — Facebook — Instagram
Follow Sariditty: Website — Facebook — Instagram
Follow lillyella: Website — Facebook — Instagram

** All images and most text courtesy of Sarah Thomas & Nicole Young (Sariella) **