Through the Needle's Eye
Dimensional Cotton and Wool Appliqué Designs
Free Shipping over $75!
What's Happening?
We are excited to share our news and upcoming events with you.
We are working to keep this page updated frequently,
so you can see what is happening through our needles' eyes!
Please check the dropdown menu under News and Events for more
specific information about our ongoing projects.
We would love to hear from you and perhaps plan a visit for 2024 or 2025.
Coming soon: a new mystery stitch-along with our Woolie Friends!
Whispers of Fall
We are most excited to again be joining the faculty of Baltimore on the Prairie in Nebraska in 2024! We have a lot of fun planned for our Prairie appliqué classes next year. Registration for this event is now open, and if you have never attended, it is one to put on your bucket list. Lovely surroundings, fabulous people, and stitching galore! You will want to be there!!
Class, Session A—
Vintage Belle
Baltimore on the Prairie
Lied Lodge and Convention Center
Nebraska City, NE
Session A:
Wed., Sept. 4–Thurs., Sept. 5, 2024
TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE!
Do you have a drawer full of vintage linens and lady’s handkerchiefs that you don’t want to throw away, but you don’t know what to do with them? Well, pull that drawer open, as we have the perfect project! Vintage hankies are used to create these graceful ladies holding a bouquet of embroidered flowers. In class, we will learn how to manipulate the handkerchief into a beautiful skirt, with enough left over to create a bodice and/or bonnet—or you can create your own dress combination with other fabrics for the bodice. There will be lots of design choices based on one beautiful hanky. As an added bonus, we will also learn how to play with doilies and lace trims to create a beautiful frame around your design. You may decide to make multiple ladies and turn them into a quilt. These gals are addicting to make, and you might not be able to stop at just one! There is no kit fee, but we will have a few hanky/background combinations available for sale.
Class, Session B—
Zierblumen
Baltimore on the Prairie
Lied Lodge and Convention Center
Nebraska City, NE
Session B:
Fri., Sept. 6–Sat., Sept. 7, 2024
TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE!
Ribbon comes to life as beautiful blooms in this lovely bouquet. We were inspired by an antique chromolithograph print from Germany entitled “Zierblumen,” dated 1894. In this class, we will learn a variety of techniques for transforming ribbon into roses, carnations, fuchsia, pansies, geraniums, and forget-me-nots. We will use back-basting appliqué for most of the foliage, though we will create some leaves using ultrasuede and wired ribbon. Of course, if you have a favorite appliqué method, you are free to use it. You might even wish to create your greenery with wool appliqué. Basic embroidery stitches will add the finishing touches. Required kit includes all ribbon and special materials needed to complete the block. Come and join the fun!
Lecture
The Texture Lecture
Quilters Unlimited
Vienna Chapter
Virtual Via ZOOM
February 18, 2025
7:00 PM Eastern Time
Adding texture to our quilts adds a wonderful, new dimension to them whether they are appliquéd or pieced. In this lecture, we will share the many different ways to add texture through embroidery, fibers, and embellishment. We invite you to join us as we explore techniques to bring your quilts to life with texture.
The Academy of Appliqué will be held in Williamsburg, Virginia, March 3–8, 2025. The Class Catalog is now posted for you to peruse in August 2024, and registration opens on Labor Day. We are excited to share our class offerings, and we hope you might join us next spring!
Class: Session 1
Woodland Reverie—
Fox and Berries or Dragonfly
Academy of Appliqué
Kingsmill Resort
1010 Kingsmill Rd.
Williamsburg, VA 23185
March 3–5, 2025
For more information,
Our woodland journey continues with two new blocks from our Woodland Reverie quilt. Both of these dimensional blocks are filled with many different fibers and stitching techniques. The Fox and Berries include a handsome fox flanked by foxglove, sitting in a woven wreath of silk flowers and lifelike luscious berries. The Dragonfly lights in the center of lovely papercut-style greenery with dainty wired-ribbon blooms. All skills for both blocks will be covered in this class—and some will overlap—so you will be able to increase your appliqué and embellishment skills. Multiple methods of appliqué will be taught, along with ribbon work and embroidery. We will explore back-basting and reverse appliqué, stumpwork, and even some wool needle-felting.
Which block will you choose? Or perhaps you will venture into our Woodland Reverie and choose both! Click here to see more of our Woodland Reverie quilt.
Fox and Berries on a light or dark background; what will you choose?
We will do some needle-felting
to embellish Mr. Fox.
You can choose red raspberries and purple asters or black raspberries and golden asters.
Foxglove in yellow or purple
Dragonfly on a light or dark background
Silk dragonfly wings are free to fly, and his body gleams with shimmering thread and beads.
Simple gathered wired ribbon flowers grace the corners of this leafy papercut design.
Class: Session 2
Filigree Fiesta
Academy of Appliqué
Kingsmill Resort
1010 Kingsmill Rd.
Williamsburg, VA 23185
March 6–8, 2025
For more information,
Filigree Fiesta is a vibrant block reminiscent of Mexican embroidery, and it contains a plethora of skills that you may not have tried before. Have you ever wondered if there were ways you could approach appliqué that are “out of the box” from what you already know? Could you use more than one method in your design? This class will explore multiple appliqué techniques, tips, and tricks that will help you select the best method for each element in your design. While appliqué is going to be an important part of this class, we will also cover how to enhance that appliqué with simple embroidery stitches that are not only beautiful but functional as well. All these techniques taught in a relaxed, no-pressure setting will give you the tools in a medallion block that is bright and full of life and visual interest.
The design size is 24” square.
Filigree Fiesta
Simple embroidery stitches that look complicated. (We promise, they are not!)
Blanket-stitch magic
We will learn a variety of appliqué techniques, including prepared edge, fusing, back-basting, and even some broderie perse.
This is a great class to try some new methods and develop your own favorite way to appliqué.