Our birthday bash winner is . . .

Many thanks to those who took the time to comment on our birthday blog. It meant a lot to us to hear from you about the posts you liked, and we were excited to read that some new readers found us. We're always thrilled when you share your thoughts with us.

Without further ado, the winner of the Marcia's Flowers pattern and kit is . . .

Eileen

Eileen's response: 

I've loved Colonial Williamsburg since my children were young. So much so that they probably will never go back!! Your first posts in 2015 about Christmas there and all the wreaths, crafts and people are my favorites. I have to admit, I only recently discovered your blog, but have gone back and read every post. You are both very talented writers. :)

Thank you, Eileen, for you kind words and encouragement! Here are links to the posts she mentioned:

A Colonial Christmas

Colonial Stitching in Williamsburg

Eileen, please contact us (click here to email us) before Saturday, April 8, to let us know which palette you prefer for you kit—warm or bright—and we will get your pattern and wool kit in the mail.

Hope you'll join us on Thursday, our regularly scheduled blog day, when we will visit QuiltWeek Lancaster. So many lovely quilts to see!! 'Til then . . . happy stitching!

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! 

Spring Wool "Egg"citement!

Well, at least in Maryland, spring seems to be determined to stay this time. Given typical Maryland weather, I (Kara) wouldn't bet my life on it, but my hope "springs" eternal. Winter always seems to hold on just a bit longer than we would like, but now the forsythia is beginning to come out (for the second time) and my hyacinths have deemed it safe to bloom. When I have had enough of winter but it is still sticking around, I like to put touches of spring inside the house—just to remind me that warmer weather and flowers will come eventually. That is why it seemed like a good time to come up with some new spring decorations. 

Our wool acorns last fall were so much fun, I thought I would adapt that process to make some wool eggs in happy, spring colors. I went through my wool stash and was able to find some scraps that would work perfectly. Once I picked the wool, it was time to choose the embroidery floss. I have really enjoyed working with Weeks Dye Works floss, so that was what I decided to use for this project.

The floss and wool colors are almost an "eggs"act match!

The first step was to cut out a pattern. I wanted to keep these eggs small so my egg shape was 7/8 of an inch at the widest part and 1.5" tall. 

Next, I traced my 3 egg pieces on the wool and then cut them out.

Using two strands of floss, I put two egg pieces together and starting from the bottom (the fatter part of the egg) I blanket stitched them together, stopping at the top.

The first two pieces ready to stitch

Blanket stitched from the bottom, stopping at the top

Two sides stitched together

When I got to the top, I added my third piece and blanket stitched to the bottom.

After the two sides were stitched, I added my embroidery embellishment using various stitches: stem, chevron, herringbone, lazy daisy and french knots. I started at one end and traveled across to the other. 

A few little straight stitches using two strands of floss

Herringbone and stem stitches

Once I was happy with the embellishment, I stitched the third side starting at the top and stopping about a 1/4 of an inch from the bottom center.

Stopping at this point leaves an opening just big enough for stuffing.

I unthreaded my needle at this point and put it aside, leaving the threads hanging. Then I used a toothpick to help me get the polyfill stuffing in the egg and I packed it pretty tightly.

This much stuffing actually fit into the egg.

Almost full, but needs a little bit more to round it out.

When the egg was full, I threaded my needle again and stitched the hole closed using a blanket stitch.

A finished egg!

As part of this project, I really wanted to create a nest using the sari silk that I used in the Secret Garden. My first attempt was to stitch the sari silk into a nest, but I quickly realized that sewing it was not going to work, mainly because I didn't have the patience for it. So I thought I would glue it together using some fabric glue and a pyrex dish as a mold. The glue I was using wasn't holding very well and it showed up on the outside. 

Attempt #2

Not loving the glue

Not what I was going for 

My next thought was to still use the pyrex cup as a mold, only this time use the inside. I soaked a length of sari silk in starch, layered it into the cup, and baked my nest for a couple of hours until it was dry. It worked to a certain degree, but the layers did not stick together very well. I think this process has potential, but I was tired of fussing with nests.

Starch soaked sari silk.

My nest before baking.

A loosely woven and somewhat crunchy nest.

The creative process has its ups and downs, and my nest-making efforts were mostly downs, but that is the way it works sometimes. I really wanted to have a nest for my eggs and remembered that I already had a pre-made nest from Michaels and decided it was just perfect!

My hyacinths provided a lovely photo backdrop for my nest full of eggs

Five tiny eggs all in a row

While my nest attempts didn't turn out, these eggs went together so quickly and turned out "eggs"actly as I had hoped. If you give them a try, let us know; we'd love to see your pictures! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section. Hopefully, spring will come to your neck of the woods soon. If she hasn't, make up some of these little eggs to remind you that she is on her way.

P.S. If you haven't already, go over to our post, Happy Birthday to Us! and leave a comment there, telling us which of our posts over the past two years is your favorite—and why. You could win a Marcia's Flowers pattern in the color palette of your choice! The giveaway closes on Sunday, April 2, at midnight.

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Happy Birthday...to us!

We can't believe we started this blog two years ago! Time certainly has flown, and we have come a long way in those two years. Here is a peek back at our humble beginnings:

Once upon a time, there were two friends who loved to quilt. They set out for a weekend away from their families to take some classes at a quilt show in Gettysburg, PA. Sadly, they waited too long to reserve a room, and upon check-in were a bit disgruntled with the accommodations. Not to be discouraged, they decided to stay in the humble lodging rather than return home to the kids. (Even though they loved them dearly.)

Kara, the perky one, got into her pajamas and leaped through the air onto her bed in excitement. Teri, the cautious one, was lifting the covers on her bed and closely examining the wrinkles and strange fibers on the sheets. 

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed," cried Teri.  

"What do you mean?!" chirped Kara.

"There are hairs in my bed, and they aren't mine!" Teri exclaimed.

"Really? Are you sure? ...Oh, ewww! Someone's been sleeping in my bed, too!"

Thus began our adventures stitching together. Suffice it to say that we got clean sheets, stayed the night, had a great weekend of quilting, AND learned to make our reservations early. It may not have been Goldilocks in our beds, but we have been blessed to combine our creative energies, and working together has been just right.

We have learned and experienced so much since our Gettysburg adventure. Here are a few of our highlights:

• Teaching at the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg
• Having our quilt, A Fairy Tale Album, accepted into the Houston International Quilt Festival
• Going to Houston to see the quilt and experiencing all that excitement
• Going to our first Market
• Meeting other quilters from all around the world
• Designing our first pattern (Marcia's Flowers)
• Lecturing at the Baltimore Appliqué Society and other guilds
• Teaching at the Baltimore Appliqué Society and various local quilt shops
• Having almost 90,000 views on our blog in our first two years
• Launching our website

Speaking of websites . . . we have been meaning to catch up on a few things that we had to put aside while preparing for the Academy. On the list of things to do was to add a few items to our website. If you pop on over there, you will see what is new in our shop. We started our store with the Marcia's Flowers wool patterns in two palettes, and now we have the wool kits to go with them. Each kit contains enough wool to complete the project, which you can then use to top a wooden box or turn into a pillow.

Marcia's Flowers Pattern bright palette

bright palette

warm palette

Marcia's Flowers warm palette

As we promised in our Pansies post, we now have pansy ribbon kits available. Each kit makes four, five-petal pansies, with a little bit left over to make a violet or two. The how-to directions are in our pansy post (linked above). Our students in Williamsburg were all amazed at how realistic these pansies are and how easy they are to make! You can buy the kit in two different sizes: 1" wide and 5/8" wide ribbon.

5/8" pansies

5/8" pansy ribbon kit

1" pansies

1" wide pansy ribbon kit

Also in our shop, we have a limited supply of kits for our Floral Wreath block and our Secret Garden block. The Floral Wreath kit comes with everything you need to create this beautiful and realistic wreath of flowers—even the background is included! In the kit you will find River Silks and Hanah silk ribbon, French ombré wired ribbon, Gentle Art threads, as well as detailed directions.

Floral Wreath

So many beautiful ribbons in this kit!

While you provide the background, the Secret Garden kit contains all the appliqué fabric, ribbon, and threads needed to create your own garden. There is River Silks, Hanah silk ribbon, French ombré wired ribbon, and sari silk for the wisteria tree not to mention all the threads needed for the embroidered garden. The kit also includes a comprehensive set of directions to help you as you complete this block inspired by children's novel, The Secret Garden.

Secret Garden block

Ribbon, sari silk, and threads—oh, my!

We couldn't have achieved our milestones without you, our readers, so what better way to celebrate our two-year birthday, then to have a GIVEAWAY! The winner will receive a Marcia's Flowers pattern and kit in their choice of colorway. All you need to do to be eligible for this giveaway is to leave a comment on the blog below telling us which of our posts over the past two years is your favorite—and why. That's it! (If you are reading this in email, hop over to the blog by clicking here.)

 Good luck!

We thank you all for traveling with us on this journey as we tell the stories of the many different ways we, and others, use a needle. Our love of stitching binds us together, and it has been our pleasure and honor to share these stories with you. Here's to many more years of stitching and storytelling!

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