GROW YOUR BLOG & a Giveaway!!!!

January 25 is GROW YOUR BLOG day. A big thanks to Vicki of 2 Bags Full (and her band of volunteers) for organizing the event. You will find a complete listing of participating blogs in Vicki's January 25 post. It is a wonderful way to meet new people and to discover new and interesting blogs many of which have giveaways. I have a giveaway so keep reading to find out more!

My name is Karen H and I am a Canadian quilt maker. I blog because I want to share what I do an how I do it. I try to keep my blog posts informative and have set up several pages that contain tutorials, instructions on English paper piecing and free patterns! One of the patterns is Cherry Blossom!

Cherry Blossom by Karen H 2013

I love all sorts of quilting styles and techniques. I've made traditional, applique,modern and improv quilts. To get an idea of what I do you can visit my Quilt Gallery to see some of my quilts. I think what makes my quilts different is that I like to add little details. For example a little bit of fussy cutting goes a long way! Take this block ....it is very pretty but it needs a little something just to spice it up a little!

I cut some circles from a print and appliqued them to the bases of the fleurs de lis and while it is a small thing I think it has a big impact!

Here's a close-up!

My quilt Flora and Fauna, Parts of The Garden is another example of what I do! I've combined broderie perse with embroidery to create one of my favourite small quilts. It was made during a Guild Challenge; I was given three fabrics and I was permitted to add another six. You can read about my quilt and see more close-ups here.

Flora and Fauna Parts of The Garden by Karen H 2008

The technique that I keep coming back to over and over again is English paper piecing and my favourite shape to work with is a hexagon. If you love hexagons you've come to the right place! You will find complete instructions under the tab English Paper Piecing Instructions and Hexagon Fun at the top of the page. You will also find tutorials for a technique I developed more than 15 years ago. It is a fast and easy way to make spectacular hexagon blocks. I've published many posts and tutorials about this technique and you will find them under the tab English Paper Piecing Instructions and Hexagon Fun.

My quilt There's a Snail in Grandma's Flower Garden combines my love of hexagons and fussy cutting with embroidered details!

There's a Snail in Grandma's Flower Garden by Karen H 2004

In the past year I've worked on and completed several projects including my Value Proposition Quilt Along. The focus was on value (the relative lightness or darkness of a fabric when compare to another). The quilt is made of 18 full blocks and 4 half blocks. You will find links to all of the free patterns under the tab Quilt Alongs by Karen H. This quilt is still needing its border so that project is on my "to do" list!

Value Proposition by Karen H 2014

I recently finished piecing my quilt Lozagons. It is a reproduction of an antique quilt that I saw on a Lorraine's blog Granny Loz. You can see the original quilt here. I ran out of turquoise fabric and that colour was discontinued so I had to use a second which is slightly different. You can see it in the middle of the top and bottom edges of the quilt. I've ordered more of the darker blue and plan to add a nice wide border all around the quilt.

Lozagons by Karen H 2015

I was asked to test a pattern for Missie Carpenter of Traditional Primitives. It is her interpretation of the King George II coverlet. Missie's pattern is called Gardens of a King and it is now available for sale on her site. It was a very interesting experience testing the pattern. This is my version of her pattern.

Gardens of a King by Karen H 2014

The 6" blocks are made using English paper piecing. It makes for perfect points on even the tiniest of pieces!

I also enjoy other techniques including traditional piecing. I've posted pictures of some of my finished quilts in my Gallery of Completed Quilts. You will also find some free patterns under the tab Patterns by Karen H. One of the free patterns is for this quilt which I call 81 The Giant Monstrosity (it turned out much bigger than I had expected)!

81 The Giant Monstrosity by Karen H 2014

And now for the giveaway! This pile of goodies will go to one lucky person. The package includes 3 fat quarters, 3 spools of cotton thread in neutral colours, marking tape and a scissor fob pincushion made by yours truly!

To enter the draw simply leave a comment. I reply to every comment so if you don't hear back from me it means you are a no-reply blogger and I cannot enter you in the draw because I have no way to contact you (unless you provide your email address in the comment). I will draw the name of the lucky winner on February 15! Good luck people!

Thanks for dropping by for a visit! Until I post again, happy sewing!

Karen H