Hi, I’m Elizabeth, the person behind Dueling Threads.
I’ve always been a maker. Sewing, embroidery, quilting, crocheting, and whatever new craft catches my attention have all found their way into my creative life. I’m also a manufacturing engineer, so I naturally tend to ask, “How could I make that?” or “How could I make this better?”
How Dueling Threads Began
The idea for Dueling Threads came to me during a long airport layover (not very dramatic, I know) while I was heading home from a trip. I was trying to come up with a name for a new blog where I could share the things I was making—more from a journaling perspective than with any bigger dream at the time.
The name combines two very different interests, along with a little play on words for blogging: threads, as in words and conversations, sewing, and fencing. I’ve enjoyed fencing occasionally over the years, although my hands have since convinced me that it may be better left in my past!
I envisioned crossed sewing needles, like crossed fencing swords, for the logo. A parent of one of my daughter’s elementary-school classmates happened to be a graphic designer and turned that idea into the logo that became the identity of Dueling Threads. I love the design to this day!
What started as a blog to document projects and share them with friends in the sewing community has gradually grew into something bigger.
Quilting, Making & Experimenting
My love of sewing and quilting started long before Dueling Threads. My grandmother introduced me to quilting by hand, while my mother—who had worked as a tailor—sewed beautiful clothes for me when I was growing up. Between the two of them, I learned early that fabric and thread could be used to create something beautiful, something uniquely your own, and that both the process and the finished result could bring joy to you and to those you make for.
Quilting has remained at the center of my creative journey for years. I’ve been longarm quilting since 2014 and have continued to build my skills through experience, classes, and training with Handi Quilter educators in Utah and Kansas City.
My quilts have also taken me into the world of competition, including 3rd Place at an MQX Home Machine Quilting & Sewing Show, Honorable Mention at Quilt Odyssey in 2016, and participation in the 2017 Spring Paducah Quilt Festival. I’ve also participated in local guild shows, competitions, and challenges, including the Starlight Quilters Guild and Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild.
But quilting is only part of what I make.
My engineering background has always pushed me toward the technical side of creativity. I love combining quilting with digital design, embroidery, laser technology, and 3D printing. My interest in using lasers as a quilter’s tool began at the local library in 2017, and today I use them in my studio to create templates, rulers, appliqué pieces, organizational tools, personalized products, and more.
A lot of my products start with a simple question: “How could I make this process more efficient?” If I see an opportunity to simplify a process, customize something, or solve a problem, I enjoy figuring out how to turn that idea into a useful tool or product.
Kansas City & the Quilting Community
The wonderful people I’ve met through quilting have been even more important than the things I’ve made. I’m a current member of the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, and I’ve been fortunate to be part of the Starlight Quilters Guild and participate in retreats, guild projects and challenges, local shows, and the broader Kansas City quilting community over the years.
What Dueling Threads Is Becoming
For years, Dueling Threads was primarily a place to share projects, techniques, and experiments. Now I’m building it into a business that brings all of those interests together. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way and continues to support me as I build this next chapter of Dueling Threads!
Through Dueling Threads, I offer longarm quilting, tools and templates, patterns, laser-engraved and laser-cut creations, 3D-printed products, and other custom creations for quilters and makers.
My goal isn’t simply to make more things. I want to create beautiful products that are useful, thoughtfully designed, and fun to use—often inspired by the problems and possibilities I encounter in my own studio.
The name may have started with an airport layover, but Dueling Threads has grown into a reflection of what I love most: making, experimenting, solving problems, and finding new ways to combine creativity with technology.