Karen Desparois

courtepointière / quiltmaker

Mod Organics pillow – Improv

Posted on May 8, 2012 by karen

Featuring tiny irregular patches meticulously sashed in white and bordered in a soft grey. Cool retro prints by Birch Fabrics Organics make beautiful music with Robert Kaufman Pure Organic Solids in this modern quilted pillow. The extraordinarily soft cottons are GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified, produced without pesticides and coloured with low impact dyes.

size : 18” x 18”

materials : top 100% organic cotton, Poly-Fil 100% organic cotton batting, lining 100% cotton, pieced with Coates 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior Threads 100% polyester So-Fine thread, envelope back 55% linen / 45% rayon

techniques : piecing and free-motion quilting by machine, parallel lines motif

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Mod Organics pillow – Gridwork

Posted on May 8, 2012 by karen

225 tiny squares are meticulously stitched together for this pillow. Cool retro prints by Birch Fabrics Organics make beautiful music with Robert Kaufman Pure Organic Solids. The extraordinarily soft cottons are GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified, produced without pesticides and coloured with low impact dyes.

size : 20” x 20”

materials : top 100% organic cotton, Poly-Fil 100% organic cotton batting, 100% cotton lining, envelope back 55% linen /45% rayon, pieced with Coates 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior Threads 100% polyester So-Fine thread

techniques : squares fused to light-weight 100% polyester stabiliser; piecing and free-motion quilting by machine, continuous curve motif

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Early Bird

Posted on May 7, 2012 by karen

Cool retro prints by Birch Fabrics Organics make beautiful music with Robert Kaufman Pure Organic solids in this wonky log cabin quilt. The extraordinarily soft cottons are GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified, produced without pesticides and coloured with low impact dyes. And don’t even try to resist the luxurious drape of the silk, bamboo, cotton and Tencel® blend batting! Tencel® is made from eucalyptus wood pulp derived from sustainable tree farms. This new fiber is exceptionally strong, soft, resilient and resistant to wrinkles, perfect with these awesome fabrics. Lovely for napping, and reversible too!

size : 51” x 62”

materials : top, back and binding 100% organic cotton, Quilters Dream Orient blend silk, bamboo, cotton and Tencel® batting, pieced with Coates 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior Threads 100% polyester So-Fine thread

techniques : pieced and quilted by machine, free-motion quilting (large white pebbles on white, red ¼” parallel lines on red, invisible thread SID), double-fold binding attached by machine and meticulously stitched by hand to the back for a smooth finish

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The Ties That Bind pillows

Posted on February 29, 2012 by karen

Companion pillows for “The Ties That Bind” memory quilt

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The Ties That Bind

Posted on February 29, 2012 by karen

This memory quilt was commissioned to honor Martin. The top displays his extensive collection of beautiful silk ties in nine meticulously pieced patchwork blocks sashed with silk pocket handkerchiefs. The blocks are connected by quilted swirling feathers and different textures and motifs are stitched around them to make the feathers stand out. Each block contains a meaningful message (words, dates, symbols) quilted in a golden metallic thread. The back is made of shirt fabrics and features a phoenix image transferred to one block. The binding was also made from the silk tie collection.

size : 54” x 74”

materials : top is 100% silk with 100% polyester stabilizer on 100% bamboo, Quilters Dream Orient blend silk, bamboo, cotton and Tencel batting, 100% cotton backing, binding 100% silk; assembled with Gütermann 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior Thread “So-Fine” 100% polyester thread, hand stitching on binding with YLI 100% silk thread

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Shrek Quilt

Posted on February 29, 2012 by karen

This donation quilt turned out so cute I just had to show it off. The panel was donated to our guild’s Outreach with a bit of Michael Miller’s adorable castle print and a solid green. I added ivory cotton sateen, then some puffy polyester batting behind the Shrek and Donkey characters. The dense pebble quilting around the trapunto makes the characters pop for an awesome 3D effect.

size : 40″ x 48″

materials : top, back and binding 100% cotton, Hobbs 80% cotton/20% polyester batting, assembled with Gütermann 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior Threads 100% polyester So-Fine thread

techniques : machine trapunto with water soluble thread, pieced by machine, free-motion quilted by machine with swirls, pebbles and outline quilting, double-fold binding stitched on by machine

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Ode to Entropy

Posted on February 29, 2012 by karen

size : 48″ x 35″

materials : 100% cotton top, back and binding, Quilters Dream 100% cotton batting, assembled with Gütermann 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior “So-Fine” 100% polyester threads; black plastic buttons

techniques : rust dyeing on cotton muslin; machine pieced and free-motion quilted by machine, feathers and 1/4″ horizontal parallel lines motifs; double-fold binding attached by machine

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Silken Pleasures 2

Posted on October 22, 2011 by karen

Lovely golden tones are framed by purest white in this luxuriously soft quilt. The white panels on the reverse side are joined by a column of pieced reds with grey accents.

size : 64” x 74”

materials : 100% shantung silk patches on top with 100% dupioni silk border and binding, back is 100% dupioni silk with a few 100% shantung silk patches, 100% wool batting, assembled with Gütermann 100% cotton thread, quilted in Madeira 100% polyester thread, binding hand-stitched to back with Gütermann 100% silk thread

techniques : free-motion quilted by machine, feathers motif, double-fold binding meticulously hand-stitched to the back for a smooth, tailored finish

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Neapolitan Ice Cream

Posted on September 19, 2011 by karen

The perfect napping quilt! Moda’s Basic Gray “Blush” layer cake shines in classic Cathedral Window blocks. This updated block technique features a lovely 3D frame around each curved cross-hatching inset in soft ivory. Densely textured quilting gives the other side traditional whole cloth appeal.

size : 57″ x 68″

materials : top, back and binding 100% cotton, Warm & White cotton batting, assembled with Gütermann 100% cotton thread, quilted with Superior Threads 100% polyester So-Fine thread

techniques : pieced and quilted by machine, free-motion quilting with feathers, ¼” curved cross-hatching and swirls motifs; double-fold binding attached by machine and meticulously stitched by hand to the back for a smooth finish

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Stendhal

Posted on September 19, 2011 by karen

Red and black Bali batiks are at the heart of this strippy quilt, another “Jelly Roll 1600 Quilt” pattern by Heirloom Creations. The reverse side is a minimalist contrast in an elegant linen weave of black and white threads that read grey, embellished with a pieced strip of fabrics from the front.

size : 65” x 85”

materials : top 100% cotton, back 55% linen / 45% cotton with pieced strip of 100% cotton, binding 100% cotton, Quilters Dream 100% wool batting, Gütermann 100% cotton thread

techniques : pieced and quilted by machine, motif “Sticky Buns” by Anne Bright, double-fold binding attached by machine and meticulously stitched by hand to the back for a smooth finish

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