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I’ve had so much fun creating some new optical illusion quilt patterns. You can see them below or for more information, you can visit my webpage, located here.
Ice Crystals is an amazing optical illusion and beautiful design! I love how it looks in my sewing studio! Perfect for the intermediate quilter, someone who has taken my Patchwork Illusions class or is comfortable with piecing diamonds.
A beautiful quilt of illusion, so simple to make, once you know how. You can select your 3 favorite colors in light, medium and dark values to create this stunning quilt!
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For years, well, ever since EQ came out, I’ve used it and loved it!
What is EQ? It is a software called Electric Quilt, EQ for short. It is from The Electric Quilt Company and is an amazing software that allows you to design virtual quilts. I’ve used it to create many of my patterns and when writing my books, such as Celtic Pieced Illusions.
The software allowed me to quickly create different layouts, try different blocks, rotate blocks, add different colors and fabrics. All at the click of a mouse button!
I’m so honored to be featured in a series of upcoming ads by The Electric Quilt Company.
Soon, these ads will be in the following magazines:
- American Patchwork & Quilting October issue (available 8/4/15)
- McCalls Quilting Sept/Oct issue (available 7/15/15)
- Modern Quilts Summer issue (available 8/1/15)
- Quiltmaker Sept/Oct issue (available 7/22/15)
Thanks to The Electric Quilt Company for some amazing software and thank you for the beautiful ads!
I couldn’t be more delighted to introduce my new Craftsy class, NEW DIRECTIONS IN TUMBLING BLOCKS with all of you!! It has been fun to share sneak peeks and hints on Facebook and my blog these past few weeks.
You can see the class trailer here: http://www.craftsy.com/video/course?courseId=5040
For those of you who have commented or shared the posts with your friends, I can’t thank you enough! There were so great guesses! Well now, I can share more information and photos with you!
Simply put, my new CRAFTSY class features fast, fun techniques for creating
fantastic quilts of illusion. You won’t believe how easy it is to create beautiful optical illusions!
I have so much to share with you in this class! Often tumbling blocks can appear intimidating. However, you won’t believe how easy it is, once you know how!
We will start learning all the tricks of fabric selection, cutting and piecing Tumbling Blocks by creating a lovely Tumbling Blocks runner.
But the fun only begins with the Tumbling Block runner! Next, and here’s the real magic, we will take tumbling block into a brand new direction!
With all the tricks and tips I’ve shared in class, you can create stunning 3-D quilts. Let me show you how to put different colors together to create areas that pop out or areas that appear in shadow. I will show you how to create intriguing designs with a simply flip of a patchwork piece, yes, it is really that easy!
During the class, I will show you how to create different amazing designs, all with a 3-D look. You will have fun, learn a lot, and I will be guiding you every step of the way.
Need to see a step over again? It’s simple! Each Craftsy class allows you has a 30 second video repeat and allows you to make video notes. You can watch me demo a step as many times as you wish!
Your Craftsy class is yours to keep – watch any time and as many times as you like! The class is filmed in high-definition, so you can see all the details I’m showing. . . as if you are standing right next to me, watching every step.
So what are you waiting for????
Maybe a sweet discount?
Alrighty, you’ve got it! Click HERE for a GREAT discount for this brand new class, NEW DIRECTIONS IN TUMBLING BLOCKS!
Please feel free to share this blog post (and sweet discount) with all your friends and guild members. I would appreciate that so much!
We had so much fun while filming!
No lunch break until some of the crew lay out a 3-D Cube!
They did it!!!! First try!!
Here’s Marshall (camera man extraordinaire!), getting that perfect shot! (Yes, while he was filming my hands, I do have my reading glasses on. . . so I can see perfectly what I’m doing!)
Take ONE!
I have so much to show you! We will simply have a blast creating these amazing quilts.
Please consider yourself personally invited to join me in my new CRAFTSY class: NEW DIMENSIONS IN TUMBLING BLOCKS.
And I’ll see YOU on the CRAFTSY platform!
I love using my Serendipity gradated fabric line to create intriguing quilts of illusions.
I also love seeing quilts other quilters have made using Serendipity. One of my favorite designs is Cheryl Phillips from Phillips Fiber Arts. She is such a lovely person and I just love her rulers and her patterns!
Recently, at Quilt Market, we discussed the Serendipity fabric line. She also fell in love with it. She has been using it to create some amazing quilts!
Here is one stunning design, Split Ten Sunshine, using two colors of Serendipity and using her uses the Two Piece Ten degree tool.
Here’s a link to the quilt is here.
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Here’s another quilt using Serendipity, perfect for February or a beautiful spring table runner.
Link is here.
One of my favorite patterns is Cheryl’s Bargello ColorWheel quilt. In the quilt below, she uses four colors of Serendipity to create a simply stunning quilt.
I’m thrilled to have been invited to be part of EQ’S (The Electric Quilt Company) Christmas Countdown! For 15 days for free projects designed by EQ Artists. Below, you will find a link that will take you to the my “String of Ornaments” project that you can directly download into your EQ Software.
Click the calendar for the FREE EQ7 project download!
A note from Karen:
“I designed a fun optical illusion, perfect for the holidays! Blink and you see strings of Christmas ornaments, blink again and you see a transparent Attic Window design!” -Karen Combs
It’s here! Serendipity, is my newest fabric collection for Troy’s Riverwoods Collection!
SERENDIPITY is inspired by my love for color gradations, beautiful textures and lovely colors. This collection features 22 colorways, that gradate from light to dark and back to light. The gradation layout can be seen above and in the ad below.
Each value is 14″, allowing for multiple cuts. Some of the colors include rich sapphire blue, pumpkin, meadow, sage, olive, lapis, pool, amber and petal.
Serendipity is NOW available on our webstore! Click here to visit the webstore.
As a bonus, we have several free projects available for my Serendipity collection.
The first quilt has an intriguing illusion of depth using an easy to piece technique. You will love how fast this quilt is to make and how beautiful it is!
It is pictured below, features three colorways of Serendipity and each block is outlined in a Midnight Blue fabric. The result is stunning!
Click here for the cover sheet of the pattern:
Click here for the project sheet:
Wish you could make a larger size? Here it is! Click here for the project sheet for a double/queen size:
Serendipity projects sheet (double/queen size)
I love creating Celtic designs in my quilts. My book, Celtic Pieced Illusions was the result of that love.
Several days ago, I had an exciting phone call from Andi Reynolds, editor at AQS. . . Celtic Pieced Illusions is going into another printing. I’m so happy and thankful to hear this news!
Love the quilt design above? Well, believe it or not, all my quilts in my Celtic Pieced Illusions book are done with only two blocks, a Connector Block and a Nine-Patch Block!
Connector Block
Nine-Patch
How’s it done?
I started by laying out the Nine-Patch blocks into a grid.
The magic happens when the Connector Blocks are added.
Twisting the connector blocks around can create different designs.
The possibilities are endless and oh, so easy! Just two examples below, believe it or not, still using only the two blocks.
We’ve put together a video about the book(and neat pinning trick), it is located here, on my webpage:
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, until you see video tips.
You can see details about the book here, on the AQS website or here, on my website.
Karen Combs Studio Blog 