About Me

Hello and welcome, I'm Karen. I love to create and enjoy nature - often with a camera in my hand. However I love my family even more, which leaves me little time for much else. My days are filled with homeschooling and meeting the needs of others. My husband has chronic health issues, yet we are blessed with eight wonderful children - six girls, including twins, and two boys, aged 12-28.

Our wonderful eight at Grace's wedding September 2019

In my single days I was a school teacher and later worked as a missions volunteer (in India and Brisbane, Australia), which is where I met the man who became my husband.

We now live on the beautiful North Coast of NSW, Australia. Our summers are hot and the winters are mild - it never snows in our coastal region.

‘Pieces of Contentment' is my little place to share as I focus on finding beauty, joy and contentment in my everyday life. Having some creative endeavour, often quilting, adds to that beauty, joy and contentment.

Quilting and Sewing
Creating with fabric and thread has been an satisfying constant in my life. My mother started teaching me the joys of sewing when I was three years old and in the decades following I have explored many different fields within textiles and paper crafts. 
It wasn't until 2009 that my quilting adventures began. You can learn about this quilt and process here - a new passion was added to my life. You will find photos of each of my quilts and links to their details under the 'Completed Quilts' tab.

I enjoy creating a variety of quilt styles and trying different techniques.  English Paper Piecing, sewn entirely by hand, is one of my favourite quilting techniques. I also love to experiment with using different fabrics and threads. 

Towards the end of 2014 I learnt some staggering facts about conventional cotton - it accounts for 25% of all insecticides and over 10% of the pesticides used in the world each year. The impact of this heavy chemical usage on the cotton farmers (most live in India and China), their families, the environment and the consumer is far reaching. Many more damaging chemicals are also used in the dying and finishing of conventional cotton fabrics. 

Nearly all my sewing projects since then have utilised organic fabric, batting and thread - or fabrics which were already in my stash. You can read more in the 'Why Use Organic Cotton/Fabric/Thread' tab under my blog header. 

It's a pleasure to offer a selection of my organic quilts, fabric and gifts for sale on Etsy.

Photography

Capturing beauty to appreciate and share has been a delight 
since I owned my first camera as a child. I'm often amazed at how photography helps me to slow down, be mindful and discover extraordinary details in ordinary places. 

Instagram is another of my favourite places to share and enjoy contact with others. Some of my favourite photos are available for purchase at RedBubble.

You can contact me at piecesofcontentment at gmail dot com.

Thanks for stopping by,
Karen