Through the Needle's Eye
Dimensional Cotton and Wool Appliqué Designs
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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.
Our year is busy, and 2023 is full!
We would love to hear from you and perhaps plan a visit for 2024 or 2025.
Irises is one of our trio of botanical panels is based on the book of hours, Les Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne, which was commissioned by Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, and illuminated by Jean Bourdichon between 1503 and 1508. The Renaissance-styled illustrations throughout the book are typically of one plant. We combined several of the designs to create each of our wool appliqué panels, including several flowers and a few critters, as well. In this class, we will cover the skills and embroidery stitches for the Irises block, including several techniques for adding dimension to your work. Your class enrollment will include the detailed pattern for Irises. An optional, but recommended, kit will be available for purchase, which will include all the wool, thread, and ribbon needed to do all three blocks in the series, as well as the other two patterns.
Workshop
Irises: A Fleurs d'Anne Pattern
Primitive Homespuns Wool & Needleworks
303 East Patrick Street
Frederick, MD 21701
(240) 608-2136
phwoolandneedle@gmail.com
Saturday, October 28, 2023
9:30 PM—4:00 PM
Workshop
Petite Floral Wreath
Antietam Quilt Guild
Meeting at Seventh Day Adventist Church
Hagerstown, MD
Monday, November 6, 2023
9:00 AM—4:00 PM
A walk through the garden is the perfect inspiration for this lovely wreath of flowers. Clematis, pansies, and roses welcome warm thoughts of springtime. Silk ribbon and embroidery add dimension, bringing these blooms to life. In this class, we will explore a number of techniques, including back-basting appliqué, gathered ribbon flowers, and ribbon work. You’ll learn the embroidery stitches—using a variety of fibers—that will add realism to your flora.
We are honored to be a part of the illustrious faculty of the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, Virginia in March, 2024! We are excited about our class offerings and hope you will be as well. The Class Catalog is now available for you to peruse, and registration opened on Labor Day. There are so many wonderful choices of classes from which to select. We hope to see you there!
Class, Session 1—
Love's Journey
Academy of Appliqué
Kingsmill Resort
1010 Kingsmill Rd.
Williamsburg, VA 23185
March 4–6, 2024
TO SEE CATALOG, CLICK HERE!
Love’s Journey was originally inspired by the lyrics of the song “Windmills of my Heart,” telling a particular story with its imagery, but it can easily be personalized to the stitcher so that you can create your own story. In class, we will construct the center medallion, which is filled with a plethora of skills—including our favorite technique for large-scale appliqué and reverse appliqué, a variety of silk ribbon-embroidered flowers, and some creative ways to embroider leaves. We will focus on honing the skills you have, while giving you an opportunity to try new techniques in appliqué and embroidery. If a windmill is not your thing, then we will have a few alternate images available for you to choose from, or you can bring an image of your own to make the quilt unique to you. While we won’t be making the fan border in class, we will talk about how the fans were done and how you can personalize them. Perhaps you might want to use some old ties or vintage fabrics you’ve been collecting to create a border to honor a special someone. We will also have a model of the quilt available in wool appliqué along with instructions for anyone who might want to use wool. The possibilities for stitching your own story into this small quilt are endless!
Love's Journey exhibited in Nantes, France, in April 2023.
Embroidery close-ups: ribbon flowers and embroidered leaves
Choose your own central motif and color palette.
Class, Session 2—
Woodland Reverie:
Frogs and Lily Pads OR
Woodland Bouquet
Academy of Appliqué
Kingsmill Resort
1010 Kingsmill Rd.
Williamsburg, VA 23185
March 7–9, 2024
TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE!
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 Frogs and Lily Pads surround a wired-ribbon water lily, bordered by pickerel weed and dimensional silk and velvet cattails. The beautiful Woodland Bouquet includes a variety of creatively stitched stems with embroidered, appliquéd, and dimensional ribbon flowers tied with a lovely stitched bow. 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, off-block appliqué, and even a bit of broderie perse. Traditional materials worked in new ways will add dimension and interest to our appliqué.
Which block will you choose? Or perhaps you will venture into our Woodland Reverie and choose both!
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!
