Hi all! Welcome to my stop on the blog hop tour hosted by Beth of Plum and June. I’m Christa and I have to say I’m committing modern quilt blasphemy by stating that I don’t like making hexagon quilts!
Oh, no! Why not, you say?? Well I have a good reason. Nearly 17 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child and experiencing horrible morning sickness, I tried to take my mind off things by cutting out hundreds of hexagons for a hand pieced grandmother’s flower garden quilt.
I ended up getting an aversion to hexagons and even had to throw away all the fabric I had used to cut them out or it would make me sick just looking at it. Now, whenever I even think about touching this shape, it reminds me of morning sickness. How unfair is that??
I was able to make my son’s baby quilt shown above once I felt better. (He’s now 16 and just got his driver’s license – boy how time flies!)
This was one of my very early quilts and I learned a lot from it. I learned that I love applique – but not by hand! I also learned that I love tons of quilting on a quilt, though this one was all straight line quilted because that’s all I knew how to do at the time.
I’ve come a long way since then! I’ve recently celebrated a finish, only the back of which I can share now. For the full reveal, be sure to subscribe to Quilty magazine in time to receive the November/December issue. 🙂
I love tons of quilting on a quilt and this one took a whopping 38 hours just for the quilting. But machine quilting this baby was pure zen for me, every moment of it!
I really like the negative space on the back and may play around with this design a bit more for a future quilt… Sometimes the backs of my quilts are more interesting than the fronts, LOL!
I do all my own quilting and my machine of choice is a Bernina which I blogged about recently. My mom calls my new machine the “Klingon Battle Cruiser.” 🙂
This was about 5 hours into quilting and I knew I had bought the right machine for the job. I love all the extra throat space!
My current project is my String of Pearls Quilt. This just may be my favorite modern quilt. I love the strong bold colors and graphic design of modern quilting. I realized I’m not into embellishing or working with lots of tiny fussy pieces so modern quilting suits me to a “T”!
I usually try to host a quilt along when I want to make a new quilt because it forces me to plan ahead and keeps me on schedule. Plus it’s fun to see how everyone else interprets my design.
Coming up later this fall I plan on attending Sewing Summit so I look forward to getting to know more bloggers and making new friends. 🙂
Here are this week’s blog hop stops:
ChristaQuiltsBlog.com – You are here!
wonderlandbyalyce.blogspot.com
the-crooked-banana.blogspot.com
www.rachelboothhappilyeverafter.blogspot.com
www.carolinescraftiness.blogspot.com
http://hilltophousecreativeworks.blogspot.com/
Happy hopping!
Christa Quilts 
Love the teddy quilt! And I can understand how you feel about hexes. I am trying, but don’t feel the love that so many others seem to have with them! Looking forward to seeing your pattern in Quilty!
Wow, those are some serious quilting hours!! It definitely looks beautiful. Congrats on being published too, how exciting:)
Totally dig your string of pearls! I’ve got to make one of those. Found you via the Blog Hop and glad to be a new follower.
Congratulations on your quilt being published in Quilty!! That’s very exciting–I’ll be on the lookout for the issue. I’ve been to your shop many times, and I’m looking forward to taking a look around your blog!
Congrats on your submission to Quilty! It’s my very favorite magazine-I can’t wait to see it!!
Congrats on being in Quilty – that’s awesome! Looking forward to seeing the front!
So nice to learn so much about you. I have been following you for awhile and love your work. Nice to hear I’m not the only one who spends so much time on the quilting. I like the idea of a timer – it’s so easy to get lost in the hum of the machine!
It’s wonderful to get to read more about you Christa! Your quilts are gorgeous! I have to say that I agree with you in your aversion to hexies, although it’s because I avoid hand sewing at all costs.
🙂 Kelly
Christa, that string of pearls quilt is beautiful and I love the quilting you did on that mysterious quilt! I’m looking forward to getting a chance to see the front when the magazine comes out. My cousin Amanda and I (we blog together) are both heading down to this years’ Sewing Summit too. Hopefully we’ll bump into you there!
Love the quilting! Do you use a walking foot or a FMQ for the zig-zag lines? Just curious. I am working on getting better, but wonder if I can get such straight lines with FMQfoot. Love the String of Pearls!!!
I used the built-in Bernina even feed for the straight lines, though I have used FMQ to do it before, too 🙂
Great post! I love your string of pearls quilt and your quilting is amazing. I look forward to seeing the other side of it in Quilty!
Love the back of that quilt! I thought I was all alone in not having made a hexagon quilt!
Nice to meet you Christa! 38 hours of quilting – far out, that’s a lot!
I’ve been seeing your shop all over the internet so it is nice to finally meet you through the Hop! Your machine quilting is lovely and I quite like the String of Pearls quilt. Thanks for sharing with us!
I’ve already been around before, but it’s nice to “meet” you a bit more! I have a Bernina too and love it 🙂 They ARE Klingon battleships 🙂
Lovely to meet the woman behind the logo 😉 I admire your patience to spend nearly a full workweek quilting the Quilty quilt!
Don’t feel bad. I don’t like hexagons either. In fact, I had an aversion to anything with point, but slowly I am getting used to half square triangles and my favoite block is now the hourglass block. Great post!
Hi Christa,
Nice to meet you and read about your quilting journey. I have Bernina 440 QE and its been a great machine so far. Maybe someday I will trade it up for a bigger machine.
Hey Christa, it’s lovely to meet you and learn about your quilt journey. Your quilting is amazing, so intricate and detailed. What a shame you can’t sew hexagons anymore! And it’s fab you are going to be in Quilty Magazine, I read it for the first time last month (it’s very difficult to get hold of here in Jersey) and it’s such a great magazine. I’m going to try and get the latest copy when I’m in London – fingers crossed!
Your teddy bear quilt is adorable. I love the material you chose! I made one for my first granddaughter. It’s sad, but it hasn’t been used. I think it’s because of the size. So sad. Your backing is splendiferous!
Sew happy for you regarding the new machine. How exciting! I had been following you for quite a while now, but it is nice to ‘meet’ you through the new blogger hop, Christa. Thanks for sharing your oldest and your newest quilts with us today!
Lorna:)
http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com
Thanks for the warning! I promise I won’t use the H word 🙂 BTW, you may want to stay away from my blog, that’s all I talk about 🙂 …. for your machine, I would stick with the Klingon name. I like it! Thanks for sharing!
Oh I so sympathise with the morning sickness memories! I gave up on a project (in my crocheted pre-quilting days!) and threw it out for the exact same reason. Just not fair.
I love the zig zag quilting – gorgeous!
Hi Christa! So nice to meet you – so sad to hear of your hexagon aversion – the hexagon bug has not bitten me yet, so I don’t know what we’re missing! Quilty magazine happens to be my fave – yay for having a quilt in an upcoming issue, congrats on that for sure!!! I also too loooove densely quilted quilts, I don’t care how long it takes me cause it’s my very favourite part – I just think it looks awesome when complete.
Wow! Imagine, hexagons making one feel sick. I haven’t tried them yet but they are on my “to do” list. I got step one – cutting – finished for my “String of Pearls” done yesterday. 🙂
Oh no! How sad to have hexagons permanently associated with wanting to vomit! String of Pearls is so cool – love it! Off to explore some more of your site….
The back of your quilt is amazing – both piecing and quilting! I can’t wait to see the front in Quilty. Whoop whoop!!
Gorgeous quilting, I also have an aversion to hexagons! I love your quilts and I have to say that my experience with having a quilt in Quilty was a wonderful one. Great job!!! I will watch for your quilt!!
I love the back you did Christa. I like a lot of quilting too but not sure how much I will do when I am working on a piece. If I get tired and it is a struggle ( my Bernina is only a 550 and not near enough throat area…sigh) then I call it good.
String of pearls looks great.
Great post for the Blog along. I like your shop too and have ordered from you before. I don’t know how you get it all done.
Cant wait to see your quilt- the quilting looks amazing!
I really like the back of your quilt and am looking forward to seeing it in the Quilty magazine. I love that magazine. Mary Fons is coming to our guilds quilt show this year in October and doing 4 different lectures. Can’t wait to meet her. Love the quilting you did on this one also.
How exciting – I’m jealous!
Hello, shame about the hexagons, but I am in the middle of making a mini with them and i am over them too! The matching black lines in the pearl quilt are very impressive – I would never get them to match like that.
That’s just sad (but totally understandable) about the hexagons!
I wanted to send you a link to the quilt I made using your charming chevron tute ~ thanks fro sharing!! http://pursuingjoy.blogspot.com/2013/07/colorful-chevrons-and-painted-rocks.html
I am so glad you shared the link of your completed Chevrons quilt. You did an excellent job with it, including the quilting. Yay for you 🙂
Great post! I haven’t personally tried hexagons yet, but how sad! Being reminded of morning sickness is a serious aversion, though. Yuck! Love that zig zag quilting- fabulous job!
38 hours! I start to get antsy at the 5-6 hour mark 🙂 But I agree that the finished result is always worth it 🙂
The trick for me is to only quilt a couple hours at a time. Any more than that per day and it gets a bit tedious. So I’m learning to give myself plenty of time to finish my quilts now so I can do them justice.
Klingon Battle Cruiser! That’s hilarious (and awesome, too)!
I agree with you on the hexis–yuck! I also made a grandmother flower garden pattern, by hand, about 20 years ago. Maybe it was the size/color I used, but I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. I must say, I love the look of a vintage look quilt made with GFG.
LOL – I can understand your aversion to the hexagon after hearing that story – what a shame! o:) I made that exact same bear quilt for my grandson years ago! He just turned 15 (gulp) yesterday – you are right, where DOES the time go??? You and your new Bernina did an amazing job on that quilting! o:)
Yep – that cute bear pattern came out in Quilter Maker I think at just about the right time 🙂
Some people meditate on mountaintops, and then there’s us who find solace in the hum of a sewing machine. Who wants to be stranded on a mountain anyway? There’s no electricity up there!
I love your quilt back! The quilting is amazing and I can’t wait to see the front.
Morning Christa. I have been following you for some time now and always enjoy your posts. Your projects and quilting are always wonderful and inspiring.
So about those hexies. I am JUST starting to warm up to them. I made a few grandmas flower garden blocks many years ago and well..never really liked them. I am going to be traveling next week, so I have a some cut and ready to see if the “hex” kicks in.
I love the quilting of your new quilt, it is amazing. I don’t know if I would be able to finish it….my attention span may not have coped, so very impressive.
That is terrible about the morning sickness and hexagons. Bummer. It is nice getting to know everyone in the hop 🙂 Michelle
OMG Christa . I just love the back of your quilt.. I see or two blog articles.
1. Quilting by Home Machine: Techniques and Tips
2. Quilt Backs : Designs and Patterns
I would enjoy learning how you do both design the piecd back and the quilting pa5tern. I was wondering if it was just my eyes or did you actually do trapunto in the quilting? Just love thi.
Funny you should say that – that’s exactly what I have in mind in the future! I achieve a “faux” trapunto look by using 2 layers of batting – cotton on the bottom and wool on the top.
Hi Christa, nice to meet you through the blog hop. I look forward to reading more.
I don’t get into the hexies either. They just aren’t me. I love the quilting on the blue back and can’t wait to see the front of it.
I love the string of pearls quilt and I admire how much time you spend quilting 🙂
I have found it’s my favorite part of making a quilt. I just pop in my headphones, put on an audio book and I’m good to for a few hours at a time 🙂 It’s a great way to block out the world, LOL!
Your quilting is awesome plus those teddy bears are cute!
I really like all the quilting on the the back of your quilt. Can’t wait to see the front! Very nice to meet you. I am a new follower.
jan@http://sewandsowfarm.blogspot.com/
Wow Christa, 38 hours quilting one quilt? You are persistent and very zen at the moment, I believe! I love FMQ “as meditation” too!
Esther
I started setting a timer when I machine quilt so I could really see how long it takes. Now it makes the piecing part seem to take hardly any time at all compared to the quilting, and I believe the quilting makes a big impact.
Hello Christa! So nice to meet you…. I do enjoy your work. The quilting is wonderful! Really like your ‘string of pearls’ quilt! I am with you, the contrast and intensity is great!
Thanks Vicki. I like that one so much I’m doing a low-volume version now 🙂