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August 1, 2023
Cottage escape on Free Motion Mavericks from Quilting & Learning

Hi and welcome to week 441 of Free Motion Mavericks. I hope that your summer is going well. It seems to zoom right by, doesn't it? This week I have a couple of things to share with you - including some oldies but goodies! 

Cutwork and Broderie Anglaise


My daughter and I went for an overnight trip to my brother's cottage. We had the place to ourselves and had a lovely, relaxing change of scenery. Of course I brought supplies to keep working on my whitework. I just can't seem to leave it

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February 17, 2023
So many projects on the go! from Quilting & Learning

Welcome! Have you ever felt like your quilting life is out of control? Since finishing Version 2.0 I have been working on more and more projects. Some are classes, others are my usual TextileArtist.org workshops and then there are those squirrel projects from who knows where.

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January 28, 2023
Going somewhere is Finished on Free Motion Mavericks from Quilting & Learning

Welcome to week 417 of Free Motion Mavericks! I hope that you've had a chance to play since I last posted. When I began this piece, I had no idea that it would end up being free motion quilted (FMQ). I think that the FMQ added a lot to it. I'll let you judge this for yourself.

"Going somewhere..."


This piece began, as many of them do, with a workshop on TextileArtists.org. I haven't had time to do as many workshops as I would like, but this one grabbed my attention. It took me a while ...

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August 8, 2022
Appliqué Academy: Woodland Reverie—Owls and Wood Roses from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye

It is that time of year again! The catalog of classes has now been published, and we can finally reveal what we will be teaching at the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, Virginia in 2023. Check out that catalog of wonderful offerings, and you will have a difficult time deciding what classes to enjoy: there are so many amazing instructors with a wide variety of techniques and skills presented. We do hope you will keep scrolling all the way to the end (p. 58) to see our classes, but we will show you a bit of detail here, too. 

In ...

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July 11, 2022
Flora and Fauna from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye




Almost 5 years ago, we started a project called Flora and Fauna of Germany. I (Kara) can't believe it has been that long! We began the project as a way to use up our scraps of wool and cotton with simple blocks inspired by the flora and fauna I would see on my walks in Germany with our two hounds. We released 16 blocks over the course of the next two years—one in cotton and one in wool—and loved being able to have the opportunity to bring nature to life with interesting threads, fabrics, and stitches. Once ...

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May 30, 2022
Let Them Flourish is finished! from Quilting & Learning

If you've been following me on Instagram, you've seen lots of images of the progress of this piece. Lately I've been adding a gazillion French Knots, finishing up the beading and then finally mounting it on a fabric-covered canvas.

Let Them Flourish - Ready for Exhibition

Let Them Flourish (aka Biodiversity)

In the Beginning

This piece started off as a fabric collage of images related to Biodiversity, the theme that was given to us as part of the February 2021 TextileArtist.org's Stitch Club workshop. Kate Tume, our instructor, had us exploring narrative potential with embellishment.

The ...

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March 10, 2022
Woodland Reverie at the Academy 2022 from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye

As always, we came home from the Academy of Appliqué exhausted and excited, ready to start new projects and jazzed by the inspiration of the many people we met and stitched with during the week. Our first session was these two blocks from our Woodland Reverie series: Butterfly and Trillium and Cascading Creek. The class was roughly divided in half, so we got to watch both blocks coming to life.
Kara is working the quilt on a black background, and Teri is using the neutral background. It is amazing to see the difference that even that change can make in ...

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November 1, 2021
Trying for something different and Free Motion Mavericks from Quilting & Learning

Welcome! I do have some free motion quilting (FMQ) to show you, but not on my son's quilt...my Jag is getting a long overdue tune-up and it could take a few weeks.

Creating an improv quilt during a playdate 

The Out of the Box Fibre Artist Group had a playdate which I attended, since at the last minute, I had decided to take the day off work. Our playdate host, one of our members, did a great job of introducing us to improv piecing and stripes. Who knew that there was anything to say about stripes other than ...

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October 28, 2021
Velvet, Anyone? from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye

Ahh, velvet . . . even the name has a warm, fuzzy feeling. As textures go, it is hard to beat, with its softness and shiny nap catching the light, making the color sing. Since we love to mix fibers and textures in our work, we were thrilled to discover this new product—a hand-dyed stretch velvet, by The Velvet Hook. We first tried this velvet a couple of years ago, when we began our Woodland Reverie series. We thought it would be perfect for our pussy willows and mushroom caps. And we were right! This unique fiber does not fray, so it ...

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October 12, 2021
Updates on Slow Stitching projects from Quilting & Learning

My Traveller's Blanket made it's way to North Bay for our Canadian Thanksgiving. It was the first time in years that I was able to go and it was great seeing all of the family again. I showed off the blanket and even got a little bit of stitching done at the hotel before we checked out. I also took some lovely pictures of Lake Nipissing - it's such a beautiful area, even when the sun is behind clouds.

Stitching up an eco-printed piece

I really wanted to see the effect of stitching on my eco-printed piece. It ...

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August 12, 2021
Academy 2022 Offerings —Part 1 from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye

It is hard to believe that it is that wonderful time of year when the Academy of Appliqué class catalog is ready to view, and are we excited about our classes! We will be teaching two classes next year, and this week and next, we will highlight the projects so that you can see more details of each. The first session will be two new Woodland Reverie blocks. You will be able to choose which block to work on in class or both. All the skills for each block will be taught, and some of them will overlap. 

The Cascading ...

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June 9, 2021
Snippet Exchange from Quilting & Learning

Exchanging Snippets
In mid-February I exchanged the background of my snippet with Dorothy, another member of the Out of the Box (OOTB) Fibre textile group. We had until May 17th to finish embellishing our partner's snippet background and exchange them for the final reveal during our monthly virtual meeting.

Snippet background

A snippet is a small piece of something. You've probably heard of a snippet of music or video. If you Google "snippet roll" you will find that they are generally narrow lengths of embellished fabric that are often rolled around a piece of wood, such as a ...

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April 22, 2021
Week 3 of #AtoZchallenge2021Quilt (Art) from Quilting & Learning

It's getting harder to keep up but I sort of did. I managed to forget to post on Friday (although I was sure that I had but didn't check...) Oh well, it's not really going to make any difference in anyone's life so I guess it's fine.

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March 18, 2021
Embroidery & Beads for Slow Sunday Stitching from Quilting & Learning

 We have another great workshop that got me totally inspired at the TextileArtist.org's Stitch Club. Kate Tume's workshop is about exploring narrative potential with embellishment.

Embellishing with embroidery and beads

We were supposed to make some sampling but I got inspired and just had to jump right in

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February 25, 2021
Hopeful Flowers Week 4 from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye

It has been nice focusing on flowers while many of us have had nothing but cold, snowy weather. Here in Germany, we are experiencing a bit of spring weather, and the snowdrops and crocuses are starting to show their faces. I (Kara) can't believe we are on our last flower in this stitch along!

This week's block is one of my favorites—mainly because it has the cast-on stitch as the center focal point. The cast-on stitch can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you can do so many things with it ...

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February 4, 2021
Tea and Blooms from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye


What a wonderful week this has been! We released our Potted Petals Mystery Stitch Along block (#4)—Tea and Blooms—to such an overwhelming response. Many thanks to all of you who have visited our website, downloaded the free digital pattern, and ordered kits or printed patterns. We are humbled and grateful.

If you haven't yet gotten your free pattern, it is not too late! The digital download will remain available for free throughout the stitch along. Click HERE to learn more.





I (Teri) thought I'd share a few photos of the steps I took as I stitched ...

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November 21, 2020
Creating a stitcher's journal with paper and fabric from Quilting & Learning

I'm back to making hand-stitched projects based on our latest workshop at TextileArtist.org's 2020 Stitch Club. This week's teacher is Ali Ferguson who showed us how to make a stitcher's sketchbook or journal with paper, and then to cover and embellish it with fabrics.

Making the Journal

This is the first workshop that I finished the project only a few days after it had started. I was hooked! I couldn't leave it. 

My new stitching journal

For my paper, I chose some printing paper (one with a gardening motif that I bought years ago ...

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November 4, 2020
a woven page keeper from Karen Ann Ruane

artist book, a woven cloth page keeper

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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October 18, 2020
sequins, lace cloth, memory from Karen Ann Ruane

a relaxing stitching memory

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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August 20, 2020
Hopeful Bluebird Extras! from Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye

Our Hopeful Bluebird project began at a time when we were all dealing with what it was like to stay home for our safety. We were thrilled that so many of you joined our Facebook group and created our small wall-hanging that would welcome our friends and family back into our homes after the lockdown. Since we had such a good time with the wall-hanging, we thought we should continue the fun with some other projects using our Hopeful Bluebird pattern. (You can read more about the original project by clicking on the links at the bottom of this page ...

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  • embellishment
  • Page 1 of 2 ( 33 posts )