A Woodland Walk to the Academy of Appliqué

We are always so excited when the Academy of Appliqué class catalog comes out, and this year is no exception. What is the Academy of Appliqué, you might ask? Well, it is one wonderful week in March, where many come not just to learn new skills, but they come from around the world to spend time with others who love this art form. It is a place where life-long friendships are formed, though one might only see that friend once a year at this special event. I (Kara) have even seen one of these friends while walking on the streets of Beaune, France! It is a small world, but the Academy brings that world together.

The conception of this year's projects has been in the making for quite a while, and the two blocks we will be teaching are only two of the thirteen in our Woodland Reverie quilt. This quilt will be a wander through the forest with a little bit of whimsy and fantasy thrown in. Our class will focus on techniques, along with an emphasis on using new fibers creatively. Our students will be able to choose one or both of the two blocks to work on in class, on their way to ultimately finishing the whole quilt! Each block can be done in either a light or dark background and many of the skills for both blocks will overlap. Without further ado, here are the blocks we will be teaching in detail. 

The Spring Block

A sweet robin tends to its eggs while surrounded by springtime, flowery, dogwood swags—there are even velvet pussy willows to evoke that essence of spring.

Light colorway

Dark colorway

A combination of six different fibers were used to create this realistic nest.

A slightly different look with the light background

Embroidery helps bring the robin to life.

Springtime flowers are the focus of the corner swags.

We will learn to make all these flowers with various types of ribbon.

You can learn to make perfect little pussy willows!

Autumn Block

A walk through the forest in autumn might give you a glimpse of the woodland treasures that garnish this woven wreath. 

The Fly Agaric takes center stage in this block!

Velvet mushrooms rest upon a felted, wool patch of moss.

Bias strips and tea-dyed sari silk yarn are woven together to create the wreath.

Some of the techniques learned will be stumpwork acorns, wired ribbon flowers, and split leaves.

A little sparkle with beads adds to the fantasy element in this block.

Embroidery gives dimension to this butterfly!

No matter which block you choose to make (maybe both!), you will learn a multitude of skills to put in your appliqué toolbox. So, how can you attend the Academy of Appliqué? Simply click on this link: Academy of Appliqué. This will take you directly to the website where you can find out all the information you will need to sign up. The catalog of classes is available now, and sign up for the classes opens on September 2nd. The classes fill up fast, so it is a good idea to make sure you are ready with your first choices as soon as registration opens. 

We hope you will choose to join us this year as we make these woodland blocks. Our class is usually full of laughter, fun, and chocolate—and not necessarily in that order! Stay tuned throughout the year as we will gradually reveal more blocks from Woodland Reverie!

Block of the Month 15—Acorns

Thank you for your interest in our Flora and Fauna blocks! They are no longer free but will be part of a future quilt pattern.

This post was almost called "Throwback Thursday" as the acorn is such an autumnal symbol, but technically it is still fall. The weather here in Germany has certainly become winter-like, but there are still a few days until the official start of winter, therefore the acorn is still in season. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

This acorn picture was taken early in the season, as you can tell from the green leaves. I (Kara) loved the yellow-orange color of acorn that was just beginning to change colors. I pass a couple of beautiful oak trees on our walks, and I was able to snap pictures of them at different times during the season. I also was brought to my knees (literally) by the acorns, as there were so many; it was a little dangerous walking on them, thus the mighty acorn had to be included in our block of the month.

Early Fall

Now

Mid Fall

 Cotton Block

Once the block was traced onto the back using transfer paper, I was able to get started on the appliqué.

Transfer paper (shiny side up), background, and pattern.
The order from the bottom up.

Traced image on the back of the background.

I began by appliquéing the leaf, then the branch, and then the acorn bottoms. Once those were finished, I could start on the acorn caps. These are a bit small to appliqué, but by turning under just a little bit at a time, they were manageable. When appliquéing small pieces, I like to switch to a smaller needle—usually a size 10 or 11 between.

Just one acorn cap left to do

My basting stitches are smaller because of the little piece.

Starting on the straightest side.

The curve of my nail helps guide me
as I turn under the curve.

Once all the appliqué was finished, I decided to test out my brand new Inktense Pencils by Derwent. I had heard about these pencils that allow you to get a watercolor-type finish and could be used on fabric. After watching a few videos on the internet about them (this one was very helpful), I thought I would give them a go. There will be a post in the future that goes more in-depth about these tools, but this acorn was the first time I tried them. Once I had practiced a bit, I used a light tan to do some shading on the bottoms of the acorns. It's very subtle, but I really liked the effect. The only embroidery on this block is some stem stitched veins on the leaf, some woven straight stitches for the acorn cap and a few chain stitches for the stems.

Stem stitched veins with pearl cotton

A little shading at the bottom and a woven acorn cap.

The finished block

Stitches and Threads Used (Cotton Block)

Leaf—Valdani #12 pearl, O539, stem stitch

Acorn caps—Green linen embroidery thread, woven straight stitches

Little stems—Valdani #12 pearl, P12, chain stitch

Wool Block

One of the things I love about wool is how quickly a project can go together—especially after needle turning the cotton block. Also, the look of wool is so completely different from that of cotton but Teri and I love both! I was able to find all the colors I needed in my scrap drawer. Do you save your wool scraps? They sure come in handy. I whip stitched all the pieces down except the branch and for that I used an angled blanket stitch, creating a V shape down the center of the branch.

Pieces stapled and ready to stitch.
I am starting an angled blanket stitch on the branch.

The finished branch.

Once the pieces were all stitched down, I used the same stitches for the leaf and the acorn cap as I did for the cotton block. The leaf was done in a #12 pearl cotton, as was the acorn cap, but by two different manufacturers—the leaf by Valdani and the cap by House of Embroidery. They may be the same size, but they definitely have a different look from each other. All the more reason to collect ALL the threads!

Valdani thread and stem stitch.

Beginning to weave the stitches.

A finished acorn cap

The finished block

Stitches and Threads Used (Cotton Block)

Leaf—Valdani #12 pearl, H201, stem stitch

Acorn caps—House of Embroidery, pearl #12, woven straight stitches

Branch—Valdani #12 pearl, P12

Little stems—Valdani #12 pearl, H202, chain stitch

There we have it! A last, little remembrance of fall before winter settles in. Hopefully you will enjoy stitching these acorns, in addition to the other blocks in this series. All the links for the past blocks are below. Next month will be the last block before we put it all together. If you have made any of the blocks, we would love to see them. You can share them on our Facebook page!

The Great Garden Giveaway!

Kara and I have been having such a wonderful time on our journey together with you, telling stories through our needles' eyes. We are amazed by the number of subscribers to our blog, as well as those who follow us on social media. What a community we quilters are! There is no better way to learn than to share, and we have heard many inspiring ideas from you over these past few years. Almost three, already! Wow.

We thought it might be fun to do a bit of celebrating over on our Facebook page. Just click the link and hop on over to our page to leave a comment for a chance to win the first four patterns of our In the Garden BOM series. Yes—all four patterns, with ribbon needed to make the flowers—will be given to one random winner!

The four patterns thus far are Cornflowers, Oak Leaves and Acorns, Violets, and Cardinals and Holly. All are pictured with a detail below.

Cornflowers detail 

Cornflowers

Acorn detail

Oak Leaves and Acorns 

Violets detail

Violets

Cardinals and Holly detail

Cardinals and Holly

Our In the Garden patterns are wool appliqué patterns, embellished with embroidery, ribbon, and beads. What could be more fun? We are just a week or so away from our fifth block, which will be a perfect garden block for Valentine's Day! I'm sure you can guess...

So help us celebrate by joining the party over on Facebook. Like our page (if you haven't yet), and leave a comment telling us what garden flower or critter you might like to see stitched, and you'll be entered for our giveaway package. Tag a friend or share our page, and you'll get an extra entry! Easy peasy!!

We will announce the winner next week on Facebook...and right here. See you over on our page! (Click here to get to our Facebook page, Through the Needle's Eye.) We are having a garden party!

"In the Garden"—Oak Leaves and Acorns

I (Teri) was afraid that the only autumnal color we were going to get this year would be that which I stitched. Here in Maryland, the days stayed warm and the temperatures didn't drop as much at night much later than normal, resulting in an October of primarily green trees. In the past few weeks, we have finally been seeing some color, though it was sadly short-lived, as many of the leaves have already begun falling.

While I love green, the autumn palette is my favorite, so it was with great pleasure that I stitched this month's block in our In the Garden Block of the Month series, Oak Leaves and Acorns. If you missed our first block, it is available on our website. You can read about Cornflowers by clicking here.

November block: Oak Leaves and Acorns

Our BOM class was held at Primitive Homespuns Wool & Needleworks on Sunday afternoon. We had a delightful time—lots of stitching and lots of laughing. As you can see in the photograph, there were moments of nearly silent concentration, with only the sound of needles pulling thread through our wool. And then the conversation would begin, as we got to know new stitching friends. This quaint shop offers such a charming setting for our classes!

We began by stapling our leaves and stem in place onto the background. Around each leaf, we blanket stitched with The Gentle Art Simply Wool™ thread, which blended into the wool beautifully, giving the leaves a crisp edge. Variegated Valdani Pearl Cotton 12 gave the veins a bit of pop and sheen.

I have been intrigued by the new Rustic Wool Moire™100% wool threads. I had bought several spools but hadn't tried them yet. The branch seemed to be the perfect opportunity, as I had a color that blended with the wool I used precisely. It was a little fussy to work with, needing gentle handling and a short stitching piece, but I loved the way it worked with the wool. The natural slubs in the thread give the branch a little texture, but it sinks right into the the wool fabric. I didn't, however, choose the wool for the acorn caps. 

To make the acorns, I cut out a piece of gold the shape of the entire acorn. I blanket stitched around about 3/4 of the acorn, and then I stuffed it with polyester fluff. You could as easily use batting scraps or shredded scraps of wool for stuffing. Then I finished blanket stitching the acorn. For the cap, I choose Weeks Dye Works™ Pearl Cotton 8, but you could use size 5 if you want bigger and fewer knots. I first outlined the cap with knots and then filled it in—with hundreds of knots. I use a pillow when I do knots, so that after I wrap the thread around the needle, I can stick it straight into the pillow, and pull the wraps tautly, as in the photo above. I then pick up my work, holding the thread at the base of the knot with my thumb, and I gently pull the needle through from the back, keeping my thumb at the knot. Easy, uniform knots!

So many knots! You can use French or Colonial knots.

Pick a great movie or TV show to binge-watch, and knot away! They give such a realistic textured effect to the acorn caps.

I also met with the Margaret Potts quilt BOM group this past weekend. We are embellishing the blocks with ribbon and embroidery. To read about the ribbon flowers we learned last month, read the post "Potts" of Ribbon Flowers. Several people brought their blocks in to share what they had accomplished thus far. We had some lovely and creative flower centers! Not only are the flowers centers different, but each block has a different kind of veins in the leaf. It is such fun to see the modifications that are made to reflect the makers' own tastes and styles. 

A circle of knots and one of seed beads

Filled with knots to complement the color of the vase

A mixture of French and bullion knots

This month, we used River Silks ribbon to embellish our flowers, playing with several stitches—a straight stitch and the ribbon stitch. The buds were made with folded wired ribbon, and the thorny stem was created using the wheat ear stitch. I can't wait to see how these flowers look on all the blocks next month! 

What a fun-filled, stitching weekend! The only thing that could be more fun than two stitching classes would be to end the weekend with a birthday party for a two-year-old princess. Which I did! I know this grandma is a bit biased, but I think she is a darling little princess!

Admiring herself in her princess gown 

But I digress! If you haven't ordered your Cornflowers pattern, they are available on our website (click here). And our new pattern, Oak Leaves and Acorns is now available as well! We'd love to have you join us In the Garden!