Flora and Fauna: Fern and Brown Mushrooms

Fern

To round out the introduction to our new quilt, we are featuring two block, Fern and Brown Mushrooms. Both blocks are simple, but as elegant as their woodland counterparts. Basic embroidery stitches—the feather and fly—add the texture that bring these monochromatic blocks to life. 

Brown Mushrooms

And finally, the day is here! Our full quilt pattern for Flora and Fauna is now available in our web store. We offer both printed and digital formats from which to choose. The advantage to the digital format is that you can print as you stitch, and you will receive color photos of each block. The printed pattern is already printed for you for your convenience; however, only the front cover photo is in color. Consider what works best for you. To order, click HERE.

Flora and Fauna, by Through the Needle's Eye

And take note that Saturday begins our week-long celebration of Christmas in July! We are offering a 25% discount on select holiday patterns and kits: all stockings, Crazy Mittens, Christmas Potstickers, and Fairy Tale Ornaments. Time to get that gift-stitching started!

 

Flora and Fauna: Thistle

We hope you have enjoyed the first two blocks in our Flora and Fauna series. The whole quilt will be going to the long-armer on Tuesday and we are so excited! The Thistle block is one of the original designs and it really shows how the lowly straight stitch can bring a pattern to life.

These stitches are so easy peasy, that you will have this block finished in no time—a chain stitch for the stems and straight stitches for the bloom. Check out the original blog post for more details: Flora and Fauna: Thistle. 

If you haven't already, you can join our Hopeful Stitchers Facebook Group to get the previously released block patterns—Wild Strawberries and Dragonfly—and when you join, you will be able to purchase the pattern in either digital or printed form for the special member price. The exclusive member coupon code will be available and valid from July 21-22.

Have a great week stitching!

Flora and Fauna: Dragonfly

Today we are featuring the Dragonfly. He has fairly simple appliqué, but he simply sparkles when we add his embroidery. We used a combination of silk, cotton, and metallic braid threads for our little guy. The body is embroidered using a cretan stitch with two different threads and gauges, which gives the stitch a varied look. Isn't it fun to play with all those threads we've collected over the years? If you are unfamiliar with the cretan stitch, check out the Pintangle Stitch Dictionary's tutorial by clicking HERE.

Flora and Fauna, by Through the Needle's Eye

Have you joined our Hopeful Stitchers Facebook Group yet to get your free pre-released block patterns? Don't worry if you aren't on Facebook, the entire pattern will be released next Thursday, but those in the group have the benefit of getting a head start and offering each other support. Hope to see you over there!

Happy stitching!

 

Flora and Fauna

Almost 5 years ago, we started a project called Flora and Fauna of Germany. I (Kara) can't believe it has been that long! We began the project as a way to use up our scraps of wool and cotton with simple blocks inspired by the flora and fauna I would see on my walks in Germany with our two hounds. We released 16 blocks over the course of the next two years—one in cotton and one in wool—and loved being able to have the opportunity to bring nature to life with interesting threads, fabrics, and stitches. Once the project was finished, I put together the cotton blocks in a quilt with inked labels and hand-quilted it.

Meanwhile, the wool blocks were sitting on a shelf waiting to be assembled. A thought occurred to us that maybe we could add more blocks to create a larger quilt, and that is how our most recent pattern came about. 

Flora and Fauna is a 30-block quilt, made up of the original 16 blocks and 14 brand new blocks. We have also added an apple blossom border to finish the quilt. Whether it is a butterfly or a bloom, you will be able to stitch all sorts of things found in the forest or on a garden path. 

The pattern contains directions and templates for all thirty 6-inch (finished) blocks and the borders, as well as assembly directions. Embroidery directions and suggestions for thread selection are also included. This project is a perfect way to use up some of those small scraps of wool that we always save, as well as a way to try out some of those beautiful threads that we purchased just because they were pretty. The blocks can be put together quickly and before you know it you will have a lovely quilt.

Since it has been a while since we have had a Hopeful Stitchers project, we knew that Flora and Fauna would be just the thing for our Facebook group. The members of our Hopeful Stitchers group will be able to download the selected 5 patterns for free and have exclusive access to the discounted full pattern.

Each Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, we will offer one or two of the blocks digitally as a free pattern—only in our Hopeful Stitchers Facebook group. The pattern for the full quilt will be available for purchase on Thursday, July 21, in our web store. Group members will have access to a special discounted price for 2 days only: Thursday, July 21 and Friday July 22. What a deal—30 patterns plus assembly instructions, all for about a dollar a pattern or less! If you are a member of our Hopeful Stitchers group, you will receive five patterns free. (You must join the Facebook group to get the free patterns and the coupon code for the reduced price.)

The first free pattern is the Wild Strawberry Block

This block is brought to life with just a few simple stitches and a little bit of ribbon. The PDF of the pattern will be over in the Facebook group. If you haven't joined our Hopeful Stitchers Facebook group, you can do so by clicking on the link below. (Blocks will finish at 6")

We hope you love this quilt as much as we do, and as always, please post your progress on our Facebook group page as you complete these little wooly blocks inspired by the great outdoors!

Hopeful Stitchers Facebook Group