Naughty or nice? A little bit of both

I'm so sorry for the silence. That puts me in the naughty category I guess! I just seem to have lost my blogging energy over the past few months but I have been sewing, teaching and doing trunk shows. Thank you to everyone who dropped me a line to make sure all is well. That was very nice and very much appreciated. All is indeed well with me.

This is one of the quilts I've been working on. The quilt is made of hexagons that are just over 1/2". I folded it up and put it on my sewing machine. Every rosette is fussy cut and I'm thrilled with how it looks. My plan is to add pieced borders to this quilt. Jinx decided this would be a great place to roost. Definitely naughty but I have to admit that he looks nice on the quilt!

In February I'll be doing a trunk show for the Region of York Quilters' Guild. February is Pieceful Quilters' Guild and April is Twisted Stitchers (what a nice name for quilt makers). Trunk shows are nice and I do enjoy sharing my work with others! I've been teaching at Country Clothesline / Spark Fabrics in Toronto (very nice). I know that registration is open if you are interested. There are two different workshops so far. The first is an introduction to English Paper Piecing and I call it "It's Not Your Grandmother's Flower Garden". The workshop is on Sunday, February 5. I designed two quilts for this workshop and patterns for both are included in the registration fee. The first one needs a border but the English paper piecing is done. It is called "What The Hexagon". This quilt was a great way to use up leftover scraps and that always feels nice.

The second quilt is called "Cotton Candy" because of the juicy candy colours! This isn't my usual colour palette but it is nice!

The second workshop is Fussy Cutting for English Paper Piecing and it builds on the first class. The quilt that Jinx is sitting on is one of the quilts that I will show at the workshop. It is scheduled for Monday, February 13. You will find more info here.

I've also been working on another project - very naughty when there is so much to do! I do love hexagons so here I go with yet another hexagon quilt. I saw an old quilt on Pinterest. It was made of rosettes surrounded by hexagons made of polka dot fabric and the path was made from a chintz print. I managed to find some polka dot fabric. Actually what I found were two different polka dots so I bought them both and mixed them together.

The white background was not nice (too stark) so I boiled a pot of tea and in went the fabric. Well actually, in went the pieced blocks that I had made so far, paper and all! I soaked them for a bit and then rinsed them in cool water and the result was very pleasing to my eye....nice! So I tossed the rest of the dot fabric before cutting it up for piecing. I'm really happy with how these hexagons are looking and can't wait to make more. This quilt will be all about the colour and print with no fussy cutting at all! Can you see the naughty fluffy toes in the upper right hand corner of the picture. He figures that he is being helpful but I have a different point of view!

I didn't have a suitable chintz but came across a new line of fabric, Pumpkin Pie by Moda. I had received a free pack of charm squares and the toffee colour background print worked perfectly with the blocks I had made. I received a 20% coupon from an online quilt shop that carried this line so I ordered the fabric for the path. I think this quilt is going to be very nice when done! I haven't decided how the edges will be finished but am mulling over a number of ideas all of which are nice.

So there you have it - a little bit of naughty and a little bit of nice. I'll try to be more regular in my posting. Until the next time, happy sewing!
Karen H

A student's work and new patterns are coming

As many of you may know I've started teaching English paper piecing (EPP). My workshop is called Easier Than Pie & Beyond because my methods and techniques make EPP easier than pie! It is fun and exciting for me to see others get excited about the possibilities using my basic techniques combined with "made" fabric methods. It takes EPP beyond the basics and launches it to the next level. I've been using EPP to make quilts for 35+ years and developed my "beyond" methods in the late 1990s.  These are my class samples that demonstrate the techniques that I teach.

At the workshops I also sell booklets which each contain seven designs for English paper piecing. They are a big hit with students and I will soon be selling them in my Craftsy Store! I recently heard from one of my students, Lorna. She had made a medallion based on my class samples and then she applied what she learned along with some of my patterns that I sell at workshops and created her own masterpiece. Lorna tells me that she used some Christmas fabric that she had on hand to make this medallion. She plans to turn it into a wall hanging. Well done Lorna - I can't tell you how impressed I am and my hope is that you are as thrilled with what you've done as I am!

I hope to launch my patterns early next week and to kick it off I'll have a giveaway. There are five books, each of which includes seven designs so how about five giveaways? Check back next week to see my designs and to get details of my giveaway!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

A cornucopia of blocks

Did you miss me? I know I've been quiet but it is because I've been busy helping my Mom (Anne H) with her latest African quilt, working on my quilt The Meadery, making class samples for my workshops and working on assorted other projects.

I thought I would start by sharing a few more blocks in my Mom's current Africa quilt. These are original designs and she is beyond thrilled with how her quilt is coming along. I can't get the background fabric to photograph accurately. It is in fact a deep gold colour. Hopefully I can get a few pictures outdoors and the colours will be better.

Notice the dress on the little girl. Mom has difficulty appliqueing dresses so she actually makes little dresses off the quilt and then sews them to the child. You can see that the skirt is actually gathered!

Mom loves making blocks with Masai and she told me that this is one of her favourites.

Mom often has a grandma with her grandchildren in her blocks and this is an example.

How cute is this little boy trying to climb a tree to get at the redwing blackbird? There is an abundance of them here in Canada but I'm not sure that there are any in Africa. We love the redwing blackbird song. To us it sounds like they are saying "sweet marieeeeeee"!

I've completed two more Road 66 blocks. The Road 66 quilt is featured in Di Ford's book Primarily Quilts. This first block reminds me of an antique sandwich plate. I bought the lavender print many years ago. I liked it because it was a serpentine print and then can be hard to find. I think that this type of print adds so much visual interest to a block.

I really like this block. The circle fabric in the middle adds a little pizzazz and the striped fabric in the outer round seems to glow.

I've made two samples for my workshops this Autumn and this is the first one. They have been sent to the Guild that is hosting the workshop. I hope the Guild members like what they see and are inspired to sign up for my course. I think what makes this piece work is the fabrics I've used. I'll have to write a post soon about how I selected the fabrics for this project and also how I buy fabrics to build my stash.

I've recently discovered that there are books available on making pieced hexagons but I've been making them since the late 1990s. I had planned on making a fussy cut hexagon quilt (Stars in the Loft) but couldn't find fabrics that I needed nor could I afford to buy the quantities I would need for fussy cutting so I developed my methods to "make" the fabric and designs needed for my quilt. Once I got started the design ideas flowed!  My techniques and methods are constantly evolving, changing, streamlining and simplifying. My friends used to tell me I should write a book and I suppose I should have but that train has long since left the station. The reason I tell you all of this is because I don't want anyone to think that I am copying or profiting from another person's work. My pieced hexagons are my own idea and I've been developing and refining my techniques for more than 15 years.

We've had falcons and hawks nesting in the neighbourhood. The young are very noisy begging their parents to feed them. Yesterday there was constant whistle so I went out to see what it was and it was a young red tail hawk! He was a big fellow and he sat atop the trees for a very long time.

I'm linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Be Social and Esther's WOW.  If you are looking for inspiration head on over for a look see at what others are doing.

Time for me to get my day started so until I post again, happy sewing.

Karen H