About 

Moira

Ellen and I grew up in Corning, NY, and learned to sew at an early age. When we were children together, one of our favorite pastimes was dressing our little stuffed animals. With needle and thread we would hand sew scraps of fabric together to make clothes for weasels, hedgehogs, beavers and frogs.

 

Our first embroidery project was a pair of bibs for our brother, who was born when we were 7 and 8 years old. We learned to follow the stamped designs with Stem Stitch, Cross Stitch, Running Stitch and Lazy Daisy.

 

As young teenagers we learned machine sewing at the local Singer store, so now we could make garments for ourselves. Mom would take us to The Fabric Center on Market Street and
let us pick out material for skirts, tops and dresses. After cutting out clothing patterns on the ping pong table, we sewed them together on Mom’s Singer Featherweight.

 

We grew up and moved away from home. Although we lived far apart from each other we both continued to love sewing, by hand and by machine.

 

When I was a young woman raising my children, I saved money (and my sanity!) with sewing. After the kids were in bed I would stay up late making clothes for myself and my children, and curtains for the many windows in our Victorian house. I found this utility sewing very satisfying, but I found myself longing to expand my hand embroidery skills beyond the basics I had learned as a child. Then I found The Stitches of Creative Embroidery by Jacqueline Enthoven, and this wonderful book changed my life! As I worked my way through the chapters I taught myself dozens of new stitches. I joined the local chapter of the Embroiderer’s Guild of America and eventually earned a Master Craftsman certification in Crewel Embroidery from EGA. At the needlework shop I’d opened I taught classes and sold supplies for all types of hand embroidery.

 

Of course I still loved machine sewing, so I added quilt making to my repertoire. Soon I learned appliqué and quilting by hand and by machine, and I discovered the wonderful world of wool. By combining wool appliqué with hand embroidery and then machine quilting the finished piece, I could have it all. And in my spare time I started sewing little felt ornaments and creatures with patterns I had downloaded from Etsy. Now I think I have enough hobbies!

 

 

Ellen

As a toddler sitting on my mother’s lap, I reached out, wrapped my little fingers around an object captivating my interest, and said my first word, “button.” It was an early sign of a lifelong love of dimensional adornment. That interest has taken me in

many directions, from making my own clothing to making costumes for the theater to quilting. I have ventured into making art dolls, mix media pieces, and cartonnage (box making). I find there are so many things that call for surface embellishment.

My quilt making “phase” started in 1976 when I saw the many bicentennial exhibits featuring the great American craft of quilt making. When I was supposed to be studying for final exams, I had my books on the floor and my sewing machine on the desk, working on my first quilt. I began with pieced quilts from cotton because that is what I saw first. Later, while looking for new
books and fabrics to sell in the quilt shop I had bought, my eyes were opened to the world of appliqué and working with wool. The strength, durability, flexibility, and beautiful look of wool provide the perfect surface to add the hand embroidery and embellishments I love. Adding embroidery to wool appliqué gives me a time of quiet enjoyment that I cherish every day. I never run out of inspiration or of new ways to try my favorite stitches!

 

Today Moira and I both live in Charlottesville, Virginia, where we continue to pursue our love of embroidery, quilting, and related crafts. A childhood of dressing our toy animals has led to a
second childhood of crafting (and dressing) small animals, for the younger members of our family...and for ourselves. We have had a lot of great teachers over the years, and we enjoy
passing on what we have learned. Now we are creating our own designs, which we use for teaching others wool appliqué and hand embroidery.