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!

Lovely Botanicals: The Academy of Appliqué 2019

How can a week possibly fly by so quickly?! When you are having an outstanding time, that's how! That was our experience last week in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the Academy of Appliqué. One minute, we were unpacking and setting up to teach, and in two stitches with our needles, we were packing to come home. Well, my home; Kara came here with me (Teri) for a few more days before heading back to Germany.

As always, we want to thank Barbara Blanton, left, for all her work in creating this spectacular venue where lovers of appliqué can gather to stitch, learn new skills, and catch up with stitching sisters from around the globe. It always amazes me that I can feel an instant kindred spirit when meeting another who shares a similar needle passion. That sense is almost indescribable to one who hasn't shared the experience. If you love to appliqué, we encourage you to put this week—or half-week—on your bucket list. You, too, will be amazed! We have made some dear friends over our years of attending the Academy.

Here are a few photo highlights of our week. I'm afraid we didn't get many general event photos, as we were pretty busy in our classroom, but hopefully, you will get a feel for the fun we had.

Kara demos the drizzle stitch in our first class.

 

The sweet pea bloom is easier to create with wired ribbon than it looks!

A lovely ombré ribbon leaf

Mastering stems, leaves, and petals

We have zinnias!

And tulips!

The beginnings of a stumpwork ladybug

Announcements at lunch

Our "chat" during one of our lunch sessions, sharing this year's project:
Lovely Botanicals

Hanging in our classroom

Marking our patterns on the background fabric in our second class

Using tools to mark the edges of the transfer paper—
what a great idea!

Rose-making demo

Working on those roses

     

Mastering the "gimping" for the center of the sunflower

Marking the wings on organza for the stumpwork bee

We have another bee!

     

    

On the last day, we laid out some of our off-block units to see how much progress we made on our Lovely Vases. Don't they look awesome?

We stitched, created, shared, laughed (and punned), shopped, and inspired each other. It was an all-around fabulous week. And we are already planning for next year! Those creative ideas just keep coming. 

We'd love to hear from you. What skills would entice you to join us in a class? Please tell us in the comments below. It would be such fun to stitch together!

Back in Maryland, doing inventory on our Painters Threads—
and maybe doing a bit of shopping. Such yummy threads!

A Few Teasers—Birds and Bees, Flowers and...

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you figured that instead of stitching, you would rather sit at the computer and fight the cyber world gremlins? Me neither, but that's what I (Teri) did for most of the week. Still, I'm happy to say that our website, which was abysmally out-of-date, is now pretty current. Web design is really NOT my thing, but I try to approach it with the mindset of "I'm designing a quilt." Sometimes that works, but not always... I applaud those who choose to do this for a job—it is an integral part of our world today—but I would much prefer to work with people. Or needles and thread.

We would love for you to take a minute or two to check out our humble little site  (www.needleseyestories.com) and see what is going on in our needle-world. Our list of class offerings in now updated, with lots of additional options for workshops. But enough about websites. On to some more fun news!

Over in our Facebook world, we celebrated reaching 2000 likes on our page with a little giveaway of some of our favorite things. It was such fun to read about everyone's favorite stitching spots. It appears that many of us stitch better with a little birdsong as background music. It sure works for me! Our Facebook page is a good way to follow our antics, and sometimes get a tip or two. To see what is going on there, you can click here.

My passport's packed and I'm ready to go...well, I guess I should wait until I have my bags packed. Where, you ask? I'm off to meet my partner in crime stitching! First, we will meet in Birmingham, England, to attend the Festival of Quilts Exhibition 2018. We may do a bit of English countryside exploring when we are not eyeing the quilts or visiting the vendors. Then we will have about a week, during which my tour guide, Kara, will take these tired bones everywhere we can pack into one week. Of course, we will be "working" the entire time—everything we see will be a source of inspiration, or at least an opportunity to talk about inspiration for new projects!

Fall is looking busy, with several local workshops and a trip to Long Island, NY. There is little better than meeting new people and sharing our stitching passion. To find out more detail about these classes, you can check our website!

 

The third block in the series I am teaching for the Baltimore Appliqué Society, based on Mildred Tahara's quilt, In Praise of Jane Austen, is Lyre Wreath in Bloom. Mildred's block is on the left, and my rendering is on the right. There will lots of options for embellishment in stitching this lovely block. (Pattern by Elly Sienkiewicz from Baltimore Elegance.)

I will be teaching this Flower Basket workshop again this fall, this time at Patches Quilting and Sewing, in Mt. Airy, Maryland. (Pattern by Elly Sienkiewicz from Spoken Without a Word.)

I am thrilled to be able to teach this block again. This elegant block is based on one from a quilt in the Lovely Lane Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. (Pattern by Elly Sienkiewicz from Spoken Without a Word.) The workshop will be held on Long Island, New York, with the Evening Star Quilters. I've met several of the guild members in classes at the Academy of Appliqué, and I'm looking forward to what I know will be a fun weekend.

The original block—you can read more about this quilt in our blogpost, Lovely Lane. 

Now, that brings us to our really exciting news—something we have been working on tirelessly for months. A new quilt! But what is most thrilling about this quilt is that we will be teaching it next March at the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, Virginia. It is always such an honor to be invited to teach in this special venue, surrounded by people who love what we love—appliqué and all things needle. The class catalog comes out on August 3: that is next Friday! Be sure to check it out. Registration opens on Labor Day, and classes can sell out pretty quickly, so you'll want to be ready.

We cannot divulge the whole scope of the wonders we will have in store for our students this coming year, but here are a couple of teasers to get you pondering. It would be our honor to meet you in class and stitch with you! 

      

If you know anything about the work we design, you can probably imagine what some of the other elements of our blocks will be. 😊

Be sure to check out the class catalog for the Academy of Appliqué next Friday,  August 3, to see the entire projects. We are planning a lot of fun!

Well, that's about all for now. The Flora and Fauna block for July may show up the first of August, but it is coming soon—promise. I am ready to close my computer and pick up a needle. Won't you join me?