News and Updates from Through the Needle's Eye

With summer (too quickly) drawing to a close, I (Teri) thought it might be good to pause and take a look at what our fall season has in store. As you likely know, Kara and I have both relocated—she is living in Germany for a few years, and I have moved a bit west to a new home, still in Maryland. We have both been getting settled and spending a lot of time texting and working via FaceTime. What would we do without technology?! It has indeed been our friend.

I have always loved the Peanuts gang, so what happier way to start than to share an image of some blanket love? (I imagine Linus gave his blanket so much love over the years that it ended up looking a bit like a patchwork quilt.) And isn't sharing a quilt with a friend the best kind of happiness?

So, now I shall get on with sharing our quilty news!

The Potts Palooza Continues

This past year, we taught embroidery embellishment at Patches Quilting and Sewing in Mt. Airy, MD, using the Margaret Potts Quilt pattern, by the Baltimore Appliqué Society. Our class enjoyed it so much that they wanted to continue. Our next six blocks will include ribbon embellishment. You can read more about the Margaret Potts quilt by reading our Potts Palooza posts. Since Kara is in Germany, she will be stitching up some of the models, but I will be teaching solo here in Maryland. We will surely miss her in class!

The first block for October is this one, right, with flowers created with wired ribbon and stems embroidered with silk ribbon by River Silks.

In the Garden

A BOM Series by Through the Needle’s Eye

We are excited to introduce our new Block of the Month, In the Garden. These blocks are primarily wool appliqué, embellished with embroidery and ribbonwork. Kara and I are planning to put the blocks together at the end of the year to create a garden-themed quilt. We are working on the patterns and models now. (An ocean between us doesn't stop our teamwork!) I will be teaching the class each month, beginning in October, at Primitive Homespuns Wool & Needleworks in Frederick, MD. After the class, I will blog about it, and then the pattern will be released for purchase. Ribbon needed to complete blocks will be included with the patterns, and wool and thread kits will be available for purchase through Primitive Homespuns. Our first block, below, is Cornflowers, or Bachelor Buttons. We hope you'll join us for some gardening fun!

Flora and Fauna of Germany

Just in case you don't have enough to stitch, we are also offering a FREE Block of the Month Stitch-Along, based on photos Kara has taken around her new home in Germany. If you missed the kick-off last week, get your first pattern here.

Can you tell we love gardens?







Registration for the Academy of Appliqué

To learn about our class offerings for the 2018 Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, VA, you can read about them in Fleurs and Blumen. Both of the blocks were European-inspired; one from a vintage French fabric panel, and the other from an old German botanical print. Registration for classes opens on Labor Day—this coming Monday, September 4, at 12:00 NOON. Don't delay! Classes fill fast!! We would so enjoy meeting you there. We, as in our partnership will be reunited for this gig. Even an ocean can't keep Kara away from the Academy! 😀

Zierblumen (Bouquet of Flowers)

Oiseau et Panier (Bird and Basket)

Website

Did you know we have a website? I am happy to announce that I have finally worked on updating it. Moving really threw me behind, but I am at last getting on top of things. We even have a store! It's pretty small right now, but promises to grow as our In the Garden BOM patterns are released. You can purchase our Marcia's Flowers patterns, patterns and kits for last year's Academy blocks, Floral Wreath and The Secret Garden, as well as ribbon to make pansies, described in our tutorial, Pansies.

More to Come

I have a series of workshops planned to teach for the Baltimore Appliqué Society, focusing on ribbon and embroidery embellishments. More information about that exciting project will be a future post. 

And finally, I am just now getting the chance to sit and read my new Quiltfolk magazine, left, which just arrived last week. Evidently, my issue got lost in the mail-forwarding process. I am looking forward to enjoying my reading "visit" with Hawaiian quilters. If you haven't checked out this magazine, you should. You won't be sorry! (To read previous posts, read Quiltfolk and The Quiltfolk Solution for Creative Inertia, where you can find a discount shopping code for a subscription.) More exciting news about Quiltfolk later, as well... (Cue suspenseful background music. 🎶)

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting; come back soon!

PS—Did you know this post is full of links for your convenience? If you see light teal words within the text, you can click on them to get more information. Enjoy!

Going Global!

Once upon a time, there were two friends who loved quilting so much that they decided to start a business. They were going to quilt, appliqué, and embroider stories together until their arthritic hands quit working. (Like forever...)

One day, Teri's husband said their house was too big. So they searched and searched until they found a new one that was just right. And it would only be about 45 minutes away from Kara. BUT, then Kara's husband shared that he had a job opportunity in Germany, which was much farther away than 45 minutes. They love adventure, and suddenly, Through the Needle's Eye was to become a global enterprise (of two)!

Teri's new house: we have a roof!

Kara's new house
Just kidding!! But it's not too far from her new house.

We are still brainstorming what that will look like, but in this day of technological "world-shrinking," we know that we will still be able to plan, design, and write together. And now, we have the opportunity to "divide and conquer," teaching and/or lecturing in twice the places, on different continents. Of course, we will plan to gather to do some teaching together: we will have to schedule our visits carefully. I (Teri) have always wanted a good excuse to visit Europe, and especially Germany, as many of my ancestors were German.

Next week, we will have our first practice opportunity of dividing and conquering. This weekend, I am joining the sisters that we met at Quilt Festival in Houston and going to the AQS QuiltWeek in Lancaster. And Kara leaves for their "Farewell Tour" to the midwest to visit family, which happens to coincide with Quilt Festival Chicago, where she will have the opportunity to visit our Fairy Tale Album, which will be in the exhibit. We are both a bit jealous of the other. We will have to get over that. Fast.

At Quilt Festival Houston in November 2016

So we will each be sharing quilty news and stories from different parts of the US. Soon, from different parts of the world. Who would have thought that we would become an international company?! 

We are excited about our future opportunities!