We are thankful!

At this time of year, we like to pause and be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. As a small company, Through the Needle's Eye has so many things that fill us with gratitude. Our cornucopia overflows with thanksgiving! 

THANK YOU TO . . . 

Our many blog readers. Since we began our blog in 2015, it has received over 321,000 page views. We have over 1500 readers who receive our blog by email, and we aren't sure how many more through Bloglovin', Quilters Blogs, other blog sites, social media, or other means. But we are so grateful for the support of all of our readers, especially those who leave comments or send us emails. Stitching is our passion, and we love to share it with you!

Our social media followers. Did you know that you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest? Some weeks we are more active than others, but it is a fun way to interact and see what we are stitching. Check us out if you are on any of those sites! You can click the link in the captions below.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/needleseyestories/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/needleseyestories/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/needlese/

Our local quilt shops. There is no place like home, unless it is a quilt shop—a home away from home for anyone who loves to work with fibers. We are thankful that Jackie, the owner of Patches Quilting and Sewing in Mt. Airy, MD, took a chance on us five years ago and helped us to get into our teaching groove. We are also thrilled to be able to work with Kathy, the owner of Primitive Homespuns Wool and Needleworks in Frederick, MD; we teach classes there, and Kathy kits many of our wool patterns. We love our shops!!

Patches: https://patchesquilting.com

Primitive Homespuns Wool & Needleworks: https://www.phwoolandneedle.com/
And we are grateful to have our designs featured on the shop's homepage! 😊

The Baltimore Appliqué Society. Our first lecture was scheduled with BAS, at the very beginning of our partnership. The encouragement of the members of this group went a long way in giving us the confidence to move forward with our business. We have taught several workshops for them, primarily focusing on embellishing appliqué blocks. What a fabulous organization, promoting the history of appliqué quilts and acquisition of skills as well. 

BAS: https://baltimoreapplique.com/

Past workshops taught for BAS

Future BAS workshop, to be taught in June 2020
Patterns in this series taught with permission of Elly Sienkiewicz, from Baltimore Elegance

The Academy of Appliqué. When we first decided to start our business, it was a dream to be able to teach at a venue like the Academy. It has been a humbling honor to be able to be a part of this magnificent experience, and we are indebted to Barbara for inviting and supporting us. And of course, those who have enrolled in our classes—who have stitched and laughed with us—have proven to us that dreams do come true. March of 2020 will mark our fourth year teaching there, and we have loved every moment of our adventures in Williamsburg. We might have a seat or two still open. We hope to meet you there!  

The Academy of Appliqué: http://www.academyofapplique.com/

Our class in March 2020 is from our new quilt, Woodland Reverie, with an option to choose a spring or fall block, or both.

Baltimore on the Prairie. Another venue on our teaching bucket list has been this appliqué conference in Nebraska, so we were delighted when Tresa invited us to teach our wool and ribbon designs next September! The conference comes highly recommended, and we are looking forward to being part of the faculty there next year. We are so grateful to have this opportunity. Thank you, Tresa, and thank you to all who have already enrolled in our sessions. If you haven't yet decided, we hope you might join us!

Baltimore on the Prairie: https://www.baltimoreontheprairie.com/

 

Our Baltimore Fraktur class, in two colorways 

We are currently designing a couple of settings for this center medallion.

Our Floral Elegance class expands on our mix of fibers, combining wool appliqué and ribbon flower techniques.

Quilt guilds, near and far. It is always a pleasure to receive an invitation to speak at a guild and share the stories of our quilts with fellow stitchers. We have lectured in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York—and Germany. Every quilt has a story, and we love to share the tales of our quilts, and often to hear some of your stories, as well. Thank you to those who have reached out to us and invited us. Someday, perhaps, we might pay you a visit!

You! The best way to learn something is to teach it. We have both become better needle artists because of the opportunities we have had to teach you, whether it be at a class, Academy, conference, lecture, or writing our blog. You make us better stitchers, and you are the reason we love what we do. 

So THANK YOU!

A Quilt Shop Stop and the Inspirational English Countryside

As a child, I (Kara) lived in England while my father was stationed there with the Air Force. Our family had a bright, orange Volkswagon van that carried us to the many wonderful places throughout the island for our holidays. Ever since that time, I have always loved Britain—the cities, the countryside, and especially the people.

My husband often has to travel there for work, and anytime I can tag along, I will. On one of our previous visits, I visited the shop Bee Crafty and met some wonderful ladies (you can read about that here), so I decided to visit another quilt shop on this trip. This time I went a lovely shop called the Poppy Patch, located in Great Doddington, Northamptonshire. This friendly shop is located in a converted barn in a quiet little village. The owners, Mary and Sam, couldn't have been more welcoming! The store may not be large, but it is well stocked with some amazing and tempting things, and there is an open, well-lit space upstairs for classes and workshops.

The delightful owners, Mary and Sam

Glorious fabrics to tempt anyone

Liberty quilting cotton tempted me to break
the bank!

In addition to fabric, Mary and Sam stock a wonderful variety of embroidery and quilt patterns and also exclusively carry a lovely selection of hand dyed flosses from the Australian company, Cottage Garden Threads. Sam gave me one to try, and I am looking forward to using it, as the color is divine.

Some of the many embroidery and quilt kits

I really should have taken more pictures of the shop, but I was busy spending time upstairs for one of their Social Sewing days. There are three during the week, and I happened to be there for one of them. Again, I was warmly welcomed and enjoyed spending time with the lovely and fun ladies there. 

It was wonderful day spent with new friends

Lots of laughter and fun!

My stitching for the day—our Marcia's Flowers pattern.

Of course, I didn't leave the shop empty handed. I had to restrain myself as I only had so much space in the suitcase, but I did bring home some wonderful fabric from a couple of the many Australian fabric designers the Poppy Patch carries. This bird kit also found some space in my suitcase:

I am a sucker for birds of all kinds, and this kit was no exception.

I can't wait to dive into this!

I love to meet quilters from other countries and especially visit the local quilt shops. It is so important that we support our local quilt stores, as so many are having to shut their doors. There is no online substitute for seeing beautiful fabrics right in front of you and choosing just the right ones for what you need—or maybe just want! I wish I could have spent more time in the shop, but I certainly hope to return and maybe teach a little wool appliqué. Thank you to Mary, Sam, and the lovely ladies at the Social Sewing day for a warm welcome!

After my visit to the quilt shop, my husband and I traveled to the beautiful, Devon coast. The southwest part of England offered up some beautiful sights that were so inspirational—I may even make a landscape quilt or two! Please enjoy some of the beauty of the English country and coast.

The harbor in Clovelly, Devon

The top of this planter made me think of quilt border

Carved wood door front in Clovelly but made in Oberramagau, Germany

Embroidered postcards from Oundle, Northamptonshire

A hidden cottage in the Salisbury countryside

I love birds, but mushrooms are a close second—this stone one was amazing!

Not an inspirational country scene, but one of my favorite things in England—Sticky Toffee Pudding!

One of our stops this trip was to the American Museum in Bath. The Kaffe Fassett exhibit there was amazing and deserves its own post, but that will have to wait for a week or two. Here is a little tease:

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip to Britain and a glimpse into a splendid quilt shop. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see some outstanding quilts both old and new!

Teri's Travels: A Quilt Shop Mecca!

During our cross-country road trip in July, we spent almost a week in the St. George area of Utah. The landforms of the state are absolutely stunning, and much different than what this Maryland girl is accustomed to seeing. Whether we were in Zion or Bryce National Parks, or just driving around the area, I marveled at the colorful mountains.

Zion National Park

Bryce National Park

Having been to the Grand Canyon, I had anticipated how thrilling the landscape would be. What I hadn't contemplated when we decided to land in St. George for five days was that there could be enough quilt shops to fill an entire day! My husband was on his own, while I explored the quilt shop mecca.

 

My first stop was Scrap Apple Quilts. I was warmly greeted upon entering the store, by both people and bolts of fabulous fabric. I thoroughly enjoyed wandering in the shop, admiring the project samples and fondling the fabrics, trying to decide what I might "need."

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The next stop was a bit of a surprise. Superior Threads and Fabrics surpassed my expectations, even when I realized it was the Superior Threads warehouse. It was actually two shops in one: fabric upstairs and thread downstairs. Yes, two full floors. With a surprise on the lower level...

 

Mother Superior's Fab Fabrics houses over 8000 bolt of fabrics, beautifully arranged by color. I may have found the perfect fabrics for my mushroom cap and fall oak leaves for our 2020 Academy of Appliqué autumn wreath block. It would be hard not to find a few greens with shelves packed like these—so many choices!   

Having made my purchases, I headed downstairs with thread on my mind. I passed the kimonos—a cheerful welcome. I easily got lost in the thread selections: any and every kind of thread imaginable. I even found some silk ribbons, always a great addition to my collections. But the surprise was the gallery of quilts, like a mini quilt show, showcasing various Superior threads. Such inspiration!

Quilts by Natalia Bonner

Quilts by Marilyn Badger

Quilts by Linda Brown

Pharoah's Offering, by Sandra Leichner

Jingle Bells, by Kathy McNeil

 

The quilting adds such life and detail to the horses. Just look at that face. And that eye! Wow. (Yes, the lashes are dimensional.)

      

Emily Milne created this masterpiece, based on Van Gogh's Starry Night, using (of course) MasterPiece thread. To read more about this exquisite piece, click here. 

I could have drooled admired these works of art for hours, but I had a few more shops on my list to visit.

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Unfortunately, my next stop was closed. The day I was shop hopping was Utah's Pioneer Day, and this shop was closed for the holiday. Who knows what trouble I may have found in here?! 

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Quilted Works met me with a challenge: to celebrate Pioneer Day, they had all red, white, and blue fabrics on sale. Now, I'm not one to pass up a good sale, and I love red, so the search was on. It was almost a dare; okay, I made that up... I was daring myself not to walk out of that shop without any red, white, or blue fabric. And I won! In fact, I found some fabric in all three colors—no surprise!

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My final stop for the day was at Clover Patch Quilt Shop. I knew before I crossed the threshold that I would enjoy this visit, just based on this sign. You have to love a sense of humor! The inside of the shop did not disappoint: rooms of fabric, lovely displays, and fun projects abounded. 

 

 

And I found the perfect panel to commemorate my visit to Utah!

What a wonderful day, exploring a new area with spectacular views both outside and in—inside all those quilt shops, that is! Not only did I find some great fabrics, but I also met some delightfully friendly and helpful people. In each shop, I was welcomed and shared conversation as if I were a longtime friend. That is the beauty of our little quilt world—we are all friends, with the passion for fiber as the thread that binds us together. 

We loved our visit to Utah, which took us across the state to Moab. The landscapes, the people, and the quilt shops all made for a memorable visit. We just may have to go back again!

Some desert flower stitching inspiration