About Karen

I am a fiber artist and art quilter residing in North Carolina.

SEW the SEEDS

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Karen

westVirginia

I’m so excited that I’ve completed my Sew the Seeds star for West Virginia.
After seeing several stars created by some of my favorite embroiderers on Instagram, I looked up the hashtag #esasosflag and #craftism. What were they all doing? Could I be a part of this project? I emailed the project creator and I asked if I could help and if she would accept an art quilt star. She said yes and I got to work.

So, what is the “Sew the Seeds” star project?
“It’s basically a very large US flag with 50 stars for 50 states and 50 species that are somehow linked to the Endangered Species Act.” Each star created by a textile artist represents a state. NC was taken so I chose West Virginia and it’s monarch butterfly. The stripes of the flag will eventually be made up of embroidered quotes about the importance and beauty of nature.

Interested in creating a star?
Go to http://www.sewtheseeds.org/ for more info.

IQA Auction

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Karen

KP-ScentOfTheSouth

I’m excited that I finally finished my piece for IQA auction. It measures 15.5″x14″. Although this doesn’t show it, the magnolia is much warmer and more yellow in person. I’ve titled it “scent of the south” because nothing reminds me more of my home in NC and my neighborhood than the sweet smell of magnolias. It seems like everyone in my neighborhood has a huge magnolia tree in their front yard.

Here are a couple of pics while the piece was in the painting progress. It was so much fun painting white and pushing them toward the very dark yet they still read as a white petal.

If you are in Houston during the IQA show I hope you will bid on this piece.
Keep stitching!

Scrap Block – Rainy Day Sewing

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Karen

final On this extremely rainy day in NC I thought I’d share directions for a fun scrap block that I keep making and can’t stop making.

This is a stitch and flip method that I really love. I like to use a stabilizing fabric. Or in my case I use my “used” bounce dryer sheets. (A thin muslin would also work.) I trim sheet to 6 x 6.

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I turn the bounce square on point. Then, using my long scrap strips I stitch from top point to bottom point. Note: Be careful stitching commercial fabrics. They have a right & wrong side. I use lots of batiks and this doesn’t matter.

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Next, I flip and press.

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I repeat until the entire bounce block is complete. Don’t worry if strips are not perfectly even in size. This makes the block more interesting.

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When the block is full/complete flip over and trim with your rotary cutter.

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Voila!

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Have fun and stay safe!

And she’s off….

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Karen

MissDixie Off to Houston, that is! I am thrilled to bits that “Miss Dixie” (14×19) has been accepted in the miniature category. I hope that I can attend this year. I went in 2013 when Princess Daphne was included and I had the very best time.

The backstory on Miss Dixie the quilt. I met Dixie last year when I was invited to teach and give a lecture to the Charleston Quilt Guild. I stayed with a guild member after my lecture and had the privilege of meeting Dixie. She was adopted a couple months earlier and loved her new home and family very much. Dixie had so much personality I had to take a few pics of her. I fell in love with this pic of her and thought I’d try my hand at a doggie portrait! I had so much fun painting her but I must confess the nose and eyes were very difficult. I had to do lots of research but in the end I’m very happy with how it turned out. I think another doggie portrait will be in my future!

Sacred Threads Exhibit

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Karen

I’m so excited, honored and thrilled to be part of the 2015 Sacred Threads Exhibit. My piece “A Poppy for Mother” was accepted into the show.

My quilt, “A Poppy for Mother” is much more than a pretty flower. It contains all the feelings and emotions I was going thru during this time in my life. While I was working on this piece my life was out of control. My days were chaotic. It was only late at night that I found peace, quiet and solitude. For me stitching is meditative and very therapeutic. Stitching really does mend the soul. The process of making this quilt helped me deal with my grief.

A little bit about the show…..
For the exhibit, quilts are divided into categories based on theme. These are Expressions of Joy, Spirituality, Inspiration, Grief, Healing and Peace/Brotherhood. The artwork themes provide thought-provoking insights, encouragement, inspiration and healing responses to grief and human hardships. It has attracted a wide array of visitors and has proved appropriate for all ages from young teens to seniors. The exhibit is a positive influence on the human spirit, giving joy as well as addressing concerns of the soul and mind.

The show does not emphasize any particular religion or theology but conveys the spirituality, healing and inspirational messages that transcend all people.

Several locations have already enthusiastically agreed to host the 40 piece travel exhibit and other venues are still in the works. My piece will be part of the traveling exhibit. The dates and locations committed so far are:

September 2015 – Flint Festival of Quilts, Flint Presbyterian Church, Flint MI
November 2015 – Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta GA
February 2016 – Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena CA
May 2016 – Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Hayesville NC

Hope you can take in the show. Below is a link to the travel book. My piece is on page 19.

http://www.sacredthreadsquilts.com/STTravelFlip/STTravelBook.html

Improv Piecing Anyone?

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Karen

Friday is a great day to do a little scrap Improv Piecing. I take my favorite scraps and start stitching! Well, there’s a little bit more to it than that.

I started here and kept building. I’ll be teaching these techniques at Mary Jo’s on Friday, July 10th from 10am-1pm. I hope you can join me, I’d love to have you in class. Go to this link for more information http://bit.ly/1L7pLXd

Here is a green version I did a few weeks ago. So much fun and a great way to use up scraps.

Quilting Arts Magazine

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Karen

2015 is off to a GREAT start. My article “Free Yourself from Perfection: Tips to improve your machine quilting” is in the Feb/March issue of Quilting Arts.

In this article, I talk about how free motion quilting is supposed to be fun and not stressful. But if you are like me, a perfectionist, every stitch can be stressful. I share tips that helped me over come perfection and enjoy free-motion quilting. I hope you enjoy the article and learn some new tips.

This is truly a dream come true for me. I’m so thrilled and excited. I can’t wait to see the hard copy of the magazine. Isn’t the cover art gorgeous! It’s by one of my mixed media/quilting idols Jane LaFazio.

Magazines will be on newsstands January 27th or you can purchase online at http://bit.ly/1y8BUXR

Coloring with crayons

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Karen

Yes, I was born when the Beatles came over (you do the math) and I’m still playing with crayons. Some things never change. I’ve been working on several styles of portraits. One portrait style with fabric, another with paint and this one with crayon. Yes, these are crayola crayons….no fancy artist crayons here. They are acid free, so they won’t damage fabric. Heat setting with an iron will make them permanent. Be sure to sandwich the image between a paper towel when heat setting. The iron will melt the wax and leave the pigment.

I’m pretty happy with the results. There are a few things I would change. Like, begin with the eyes and make sure the crayon is sharp.

Done!

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Karen

I’m so excited! I finally finished my latest quilt “Just Peachy.” I think I’ve been working on it for over a year. I took the long Thanksgiving weekend to crop it, do the binding and make the quilt sleeve.

I saw this peach colored rose one Sunday afternoon after visiting my sister Patty in Tega Cay. I stopped at the small rose garden on Gold Hill Road to take some pictures. It was late spring and the roses were in full bloom. There were so many beautiful roses in all colors but this peach rose jumped at me. It was STUNNING! I’ve never made a applique rose quilt before and I was up for the challenge. And, what a challenge it was. I don’t think I could ever have enough peachy / orange fabric for this flower. I did the best I could and of course I had to include purple….purple should be in all quilts!

I’ve also completed another rose however this one was wholecloth painted with textile paints and then thread painted with a variety of rayon threads. I also got carried away with the background quilting but it was so much fun!

Happy Quilting!

Sunflower & Butterfly

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Karen

Another quilt completed! Hurrah!!!!

Casey, a good friend of mine, is a wonderful photographer. Everyday she posts her beautiful nature photos on Facebook and asks, “What will you see today? Celebrate the beauty!” She commissioned me to create a quilt using one of her photos. She loves sunflowers, I love sunflowers, it was a no-brainer. I took one look at this image and I knew this was the image I wanted to use. The sunflower & butterfly photo is one of her best.

It was a long time in the making but I think it turned out very nice. I’m particularly happy with the butterfly. I used acrylic textile paint on PFD fabric and lots and lots of thread.

Thanks for this opportunity Casey!