About Karen
Karen began her journey in bobbin lace, getting to grips with the likes of Torchon, Bruge, and Milanese. She later achieved her City & Guilds in Embroidery, her first love.
In 2017, Karen established her business, Sunflowerstitches, where she tutors and sells fabric. Her passion is teaching complete beginners and guiding them in their crafting journey.
Karen enjoys face-to-face instruction in her studio, at crafting shows, and at justhands-on.tv weekend retreats! She seamlessly transitioned to Zoom classes during the pandemic, keeping her community connected with regular weekly sewing sessions.
Karen designs her own quilts, including the popular and very personal Sugar & Spice, which showcases her signature technique of combining the textural feel of embroidery with the creativity of patchwork blocks.
Learn how to make Karen’s popular Sugar and Spice quilt in this 11 part workshop series.
Click here to watch an interview with Karen.
Signature Technique
Combining patchwork and embroidery
Top Tips
- When drawing a line on fabric, always start from the middle and work your way out to avoid rucking the edges.
- Use fabric glue to hold small pieces of fabric together for sewing. Much easier and less bulky than pins.
- Take a photo to help with working out your best block assembly.
- The easiest way to remove Bondaweb backing paper is to gently score the paper, then use a pin under the paper and lift away. Don’t pick at the corners because it will fray your fabric.
- The rule of thumb for embroidery thread length is from the tip of your finger to your elbow. Any longer and you’ll spend all of your time in a thread tangle!
- Make your gift quilt special by adding in very specific and personal items such as fabrics, embroidered images and quotes.
Videos
Patterns
Posts
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