Porn for women...

Have you seen a little book (or email) called "Porn for women"?

It's been around on email so many times I don't feel bad about 'borrowing' this image (but if you're looking for a funny gift for a friend, go out and buy it! There, I've done my bit to counter copyright infringement). It's full of pictures like this, and predates the Ryan Gosling meme by YEARS.

I promise if you google it nothing rude will come up in image search. I jokingly call one of the fabric pusher supplier sites I frequent Fabricporn. I think I have a second love after fabric-porn though. It might just be the moment the fabric arrives, but there was an extra special parcel today.

Look closely.

 Thread porn. 

What could be better than an Italian man sending you free thread? Now that is what I call porn for women! (The street address it was posted from was Via Como, so it possibly passed George Clooney on its way too... I can pretend...) But it came direct from Senore Alex Veronelli at Aurifil - Grazie Senore!

 These are Aurifil monofilament thread. AKA invisible thread. I can't WAIT to try it. I'm just waiting on someone who has promised me setting tips for the Bernina 820 with monofil. (Apparently there's a trick to the setting. Given my luck lately with machines, I'm waiting for that email!)

Two reasons I love monofil:
1) It blends in with any colour. Got a multicoloured quilt top and want your thread to blend in? Monofil it.
2) It hides a multitude of sins. I did a lot of FMQing with monofil. A LOT. As it's 'invisible', imperfections are barely noticeable. So you think "gee, I'm doing quite well at this FMQ thing!" Then you swap to high contrast thread and think "HOLY CRAP, I'M TERRIBLE, IT MUST BE THE THREAD". And you swap back to invisible thread. You do some more and get better and better without noticing it, and all of a sudden, the contrast thread is not so much of a problem any more. Thank you invisible thread.


I am going to give the two small rolls, one smoke and one clear, away, to a lucky commenter. Leave a comment below telling me why you'd like to try Aurifil monofilament and I'll get Mr Random to choose a winner.

The big rolls have their own stocking to keep the unruly thread in line. If you don't have a thread stocking, one neat trick for keeping monofil inline and untangled is to pop it in a jam jar (that's jelly to you Yanks) - preferably an empty clean jam jar (I don't think sticky jam would do your machine's insides or your quilt that much good - put it behind your machine near the right hand side and then thread as normal from there. The jar keeps the thread contained but free to unravel as needed without getting caught on any of the top bits on your machine.

I also have five (yes, that's right FIVE) Aurifil thread sampler packs to give away at a later date. I've got to do some more testing before I can write a full review and launch the giveaway, but watch this space. I'll do one soon!

So comment away - why do you want to try Aurifil monofilament? What project would you use it on? Or, what is your best tip for using monofilament thread? One comment per person, except if you're doing the FMQAL and have linked in a FMQAL block on Thursday's post. Not that I'm bribing  you at all, it's just cos I love my FMQAL peeps and am getting such a buzz out of seeing the blocks! ;) Closing date - umm... let's say 10 March.