Category: Christa’s Quilts

Machine Quilting with Style: Facets Re-Imagined

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Today I’m excited to re-imagine my favorite quilt – Facets – from my book Machine Quilting with Style. It might be my favorite because it was the first quilt I designed for the book. Or maybe it’s because this was my first stab at improv piecing. The fabrics I used might have had something to do with it, too. And when I quilted it, I was really pushing myself to do something really eye catching. It was very validating when this quilt was also a favorite of judges’ at the AQS Paducah show earlier this year, nabbing a 2nd place in the modern category.

Facets Quilt

Facets 63″ x 70″ by Christa Watson

Facets was a huge favorite of several of my friends and followers in my Facebook Group, too! Here is just a sampling of some of the beautiful versions others have made. Notice how they changed it up to make it their own!

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Made by Katherine D – those icy blues are so gorgeous and the black adds drama.

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Leah H. chose pretty purples, made fewer blocks, and added extra solids Just stunning!

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Sharon S. alternated plain and pieced blocks to make this beautiful version.

To see more amazing variations, head over to my Facebook Group: Quilt with Christa and type “Facets” into the search bar. It’s chock full of inspiration!

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My Kona Cotton Designer Palette is available for a limited time only!

Giveaway Time!

I chose my Designer palette of 28 Kona Solids to make my version. Click here to grab a bundle if you’d like to make a quilt similar to mine. The fun thing about improv is that two quilts can look completely different even when using the same fabrics and pattern.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Machine Quilting with Style, one lucky winner will receive a precut bundle of my entire palette. Let me know which you prefer: a set of 40 precut 2 1/2″ strips, or 40 precut 10″ squares. To enter, leave a comment on this post letting me know if you’ve ever done any improv piecing. For a bonus entry, share a picture of it in my Facebook Group. I’d love to see!

Click here to purchase a signed copy of Machine Quilting with Style.
Click here to see all of the quilts from the book.

Machine Quilting with Style: Broken V Re-Imagined

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I’ve been having a great time recoloring all of the quilts from my book Machine Quilting with Style. I hope you’ve been getting inspired by all the possibilities. 🙂

Machine Quilting With Style

This week, I’m sharing about Broken V. First, here’s the original – a simple modern design made from half-square triangles. I love how the solids really show off the machine quilting, but it would look just as fabulous in prints!

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Broken V 60″ x 70″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane for Martingale.

Broken V Re-imagined

First of all, I thought it would be fun to change out the background to a dark navy while still pairing it up with bold solids:

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I design all of my quilts using Electric Quilt Software.

For the next re-coloring, I thought it would be fun to use Cozy Christmas prints from Lori Holt for a completely different look, perfect for the upcoming holidays:

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Click here to purchase Cozy Christmas precut bundles by Lori Holt.

Celebration Giveaway

Each week along with sharing new versions of each quilt, I’m also hosting  a giveaway. It’s like a 12 week-long birthday party, celebrating the joy that writing this book has brought into my life after just a year in print!

Last time Jean K. and Lillian K each won a four pack of my quilt patterns. This week I’m going to send one lucky winner a copy of The Quilter’s Planner, produced by my friend Stephanie Palmer of Late Night Quilter.

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I was excited to have my Feathered Chevrons quilt included along with 13 other fabulous projects shown below.

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And if that wasn’t exciting enough, Stephanie is also throwing in a fun bundle of Blueberry Park fabric for another lucky winner.

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How to Enter

Just leave a comment below letting me know how you usually plan out your days. Do you use a paper planner? A digital tool? The back of your hand??? 🙂

I’ll pick 2 US winners next Friday when I reveal the next recolored quilt!

More Inspiration & Where to Buy

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My book was published on my daughter’s birthday last year, so she got the first copy!

Machine Quilting with Style: Candy Pop Re-imagined

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Candy Pop is the 9th (out of 12) quilt patterned in my book Machine Quilting with Style. I was so happy to include a machine applique design. Truth be told, I really, really like machine applique and would love to one day do a book of modern machine applique designs. The problem? I can’t draw very well. But I can create easy geometric shapes like circles!

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Candy Pop 45″ x 45″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane for Martingale.

If you cut carefully while making this design, you’ll have several pieces leftover that you can throw on the back. I love making artful pieced backings whenever I can!

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I love it when you can see the machine quilting on the back of the quilt!

Not only does Machine Quilting with Style include 12 beautiful modern quilt patterns. It also includes step by step instructions on how to quilt them. I think it is so important to show all aspects of making a quilt, from start to finish!

Candy Pop Re-imagined

I think I could recolor every design I’ve ever made into black and white and be a happy camper! For some reason, this version of candy pop reminds me of Chinese lanterns:

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Candy Pop, recolored in black, white and red using EQ7 software.

View the Rest of the Quilts

Click here to see the rest of the quilts from the book, along with more optional colorways made by my friends!

Machine Quilting With Style

Click here to get your signed copy of Machine Quilting with Style.

Giveaway Time!

First congratulations to Sherry C. and Laura M. for winning some Hoffman Batik fat quarters.
This week, I’m giving away a 4 pack of my individual quilt patterns. These are written in the same helpful style as the patterns in my books, and they also include machine quilting suggestions!

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Christa Quilts Patterns are available in print or PDF.

I’ll choose 2 winners: one person in the US will receive a printed version of each pattern, and one international winner will receive PDF’s of all 4 quilts patterns. To enter, leave a comment letting me know your favorite way to quilt your quilts – by hand, sit-down machine, long-arm machine, or even by check!

No matter how you finish, I’d love for you to share your quilting progress with me in my Facebook group: Quilt with Christa.

**I have to give a huge thanks to those of you who continue to support me and my family by purchasing my products. This post contains affiliate links. XOXO**

 

Machine Quilting with Style: Lightning Re-Imagined + Quilt Market Giveaway

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Lightning, from my book Machine Quilting with Style is one of three examples in the book of “structured” improv: my method of using improv techniques to randomly sew pieces together, then assembling them into a recognizeable block.

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Lightning 72″ x 96″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane for Martingale.

The traditional rail fence was my starting point for Lightning. However, rather than using only the same 4-5 fabrics, I used a favorite colorscheme of scrappy black, white and gray, with pops of yellow and green to create the lightning streaks.

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I also created a secondary composition on the back with leftovers of many of the same fabrics I used in the top. My publisher, Martingale/That Patchwork Place was kind enough to create a free PDF download of the backing pattern.

Let’s play and see what happens when we substitute the yellow streaks with another popular color such as blue:

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Alternate colorway, designed in EQ7.

What if we use red for the flashpoints, and then choose only black and dark grays for the background:

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Alternate colorway, designed in EQ7.

As you can see, this is just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities!! Click here to see another version, made pretty in pink.

Quilt Market Giveaway!

Since I just returned from quilt market (more about that later), I thought it would be fun to share a little bit of swag with you. Hoffman fabrics gave me two of these fantastic fat quarter bundles from their Me + You batik collection. That means I get to select two winners this week!

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To enter, leave a comment letting me know if you’ve ever made a rail fence quilt before, and which bundle you would prefer to win – cool or warm. For a bonus entry, share your rail fence quilt in my Facebook group: Quilt with Christa. (US winners only, or willing to pay shipping if int’l.)

I’ll choose the winners next Thursday and share their names on next Friday’s post with the next re-imagined quilt from Machine Quilting with Style, and another giveaway! Lightning is the 8th quilt in the book, so that means there are only 4 more to recolor. I hope you are having as much fun seeing the alternate versions as I am!

Machine Quilting With Style

Click here to purchase a signed copy of Machine Quilting with Style.
Click here to see all of the quilts from the book.

Latest Finish – Nested Pinwheels Quilt and Podcast Interview

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Earlier in the year, my friend Becky from Patchwork Posse invited me to design a small project exclusively for her subscription based online quilt group.

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Nested Pinwheels 27″ x 27″ by Christa Watson

I came up with Nested Pinwheels, shown above. It’s a great design to practice one of my favorite walking foot quilting designs, the large continuous spiral. I teach how to do this design in both of my machine quilting books.

The trick is to mark the center spiral and then use your walking foot to quilt the entire thing – using the edge of the foot as your guide for consistent spacing.

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Your starting spiral doesn’t have to look perfect!

Along with this project, Becky interviewed me for about 20 minutes talking about my adventures in quilting. You all know that  machine quilting is my favorite part of making a quilt!

photo-3I use the integrated dual feed on my BERNINA – it does the same thing as a walking foot!

Click the link below to learn more about my Nested Pinwheel quilt, read my interview and to listen to the podcast. (You can listen to it directly from your computer, about halfway down the page.)

Click here to listen to the Patchwork Posse guest designer podcast.

 

It’s Quilt Market Time! My Schedule of Events for Fall 2016

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This week kicks off the “busy season” for the quilting industry. International Quilt Market, the semi-annual quilting industry trade show, will be held in Houston, Texas this coming Friday–Monday.

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Jason meeting with our Moda sales rep at Spring Market. What he ordered then is in stock now!

Jason and I will be attending together although we will have very different responsibilities. My job will be to promote my books, network with other industry professionals, and be on the lookout for future collaborations. His job is to scout out new products for The Precut Store and place orders with vendors for the next 6 months.

angela_christa_bookAngela Walters and I will be promoting our book this fall with a Live Quilting Demo!

Angela Walters and I will be reprising our role as “dueling quilters” to help promote our book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting. We’ll do two live quilting demos: on Saturday at 11 AM in the Handi Quilter booth and at 3 PM in the BERNINA booth. Angela is a spokesperson for Handi Quilter, and I’m a BERNINA ambassador, so it will be fun to each quilt on
the other company’s machines, as well as the ones we are used to!

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I will also be presenting a take and teach class on Saturday morning to Shop owners, sharing with them hands on machine quilting demos that they can use when teaching from my first book, Machine Quilting with Style. The class is full (which makes me super happy!) but there are plenty of classes taught by others that you can sign up for if you plan to attend.

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Angela and Christa at Schoolhouse, Spring 2016 Quilt Market

Quilt Market officially opens to buyers on Saturday, but the day before is spent in “Schoolhouse” – a series of 15-30 minute sessions where authors, makers and designers will be sharing their latest and greatest up close and personal.

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Leah Day and I first met in person at Quilt Market in 2014. She’s super fun and knowledgeable!

On Friday at 4:55 in Room 362 D, Leah Day, Stephanie Palmer and I have teamed up to present a session on book publishing for those interested in learning more about the process. Sponsored by Leah’s fabric company Island Batik, we’ll be sharing our varied experiences with both self-publishing and traditional publishing. It should be very informative!

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Stephanie will be sharing her experiences on self-publishing The Quilter’s Planner.

Throughout the rest of the show I’ll be walking the floor, networking with other industry professionals, and meeting with other companies in the industry to collaborate on future ideas. It will be quite a whirlwind of activity, but I know I’ll come home ready to start on the next big idea!! If you happen to be there, be sure to grab me to say hi – I’d love to see you and chat!

Machine Quilting with Style: Focal Point Re-Imagined + A Secret Revealed

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Focal Point was such a fun design to both piece and quilt! I made it specifically for my book Machine Quilting with Style as part of my quest to go more modern with my designs. I remember attending a lecture by Heather Grant at the very first QuiltCon in 2013. She gave us several great tips on how to go more modern. Two of my favorites used in this quilt are asymmetry and cropping your design. Later once I got to know Jacquie Gering, she reminded me to make sure my modern quilts always had a “focal point.”

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Christa with Focal Point at QuiltCon 2016. Quilt Measures 45″ x 45″.

I was thrilled to be able to share Focal Point at QuiltCon earlier this year and of course, I had to take the obligatory “here’s the quilt from my book pic!”

More Neutrals

I used Amy Ellis’ fabric to make the original version of the quilt. Her debut line was called Modern Neutrals which I thought was so appropriate for the quilt. When her next line, Chic Neutrals came out around the same time as the book I thought it would be fun to recolor it using those fabrics. (She’s since released a third line which I think would be just as fab!)

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Focal Point recolored in EQ7 with Chic Neutrals by Amy Ellis for Moda

For another color idea, I thought I’d take you behind the scenes a bit. Many times when I’m designing, I’ll go through tons of different color iterations until I find the one that’s just right. Focal point actually started out in this icy blue colorway, before I applied Amy’s fabrics to it:

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Focal point in classic blue and white.

I once heard it said that you know you have a good design on your hands when it can look good in any fabrics. Hopefully that’s how you all will feel when making the quilts from my books! 🙂

A Secret Revealed and a Giveaway!

It’s always fun to reveal secrets when sharing my books and patterns. Now I have another big announcement I can finally share. I’m an Aurifil thread designer! This week, Aurifil debuted my brand new line, The Piece and Quilt thread collection.

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It’s a line of 24 threads in 50 weight cotton: 12 Neutrals and 12 Colors. These are my favorite threads that I use for every part of  quilt making: piecing, quilting and binding! In fact, the light gray that I used to quilt Focal Point is included in the neutrals collection.

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To celebrate the one year birthday of my first book, and now my debut thread collection, you can win them before you can buy them!! To win a 12 pack of the neutrals, leave a comment here at my site, letting me know what your go-to thread colors are.

To win a 12 pack of the colors, head over to the Auribuzz blog and follow the intructions over there. Due to shipping limitations, this giveaway is open to all of my US friends. Be sure and ask for these by name at your favorite quilt shop – they’ll be arriving soon!

Last Week’s Winner

Last but not least, I’d like to congratulate Zina C. who won a copy of EQ Mini. I’m sure she’ll be able to put this software to good use!! Next week is quilt market so I won’t have another book post. But come back in 2 weeks for another winner and another re-imagined quilt!

Click here to purchase a signed copy of Machine Quilting with Style.
Click here to see all of the quilts from the book.

Machine Quilting with Style: Square in a Square Re-Imagined

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Square in a Square is my second favorite quilt from my book Machine Quilting with Style. (Click here to find out which one is my favorite.) I really tried to play with alternate grids and negative space when I designed this quilt. I combined two of my go-to motifs when quilting it: free-motion boxes and walking foot square spirals. I love that it includes a bit of both methods I teach in the book.

Square in a Square is currently being exhibited in the modern category of the Pacific International Quilt Festival and it hung at Road to California earlier in the year. I love entering my quilts into shows so they can be seen by a wider audience. 🙂

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Square in a Square 60″ x 60″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane for Martingale.

Imagine the Possibilities

My BQF (Best Quilting Friend) Stacy from Farm Road Quilts made this fun version which is is just perfect for Halloween! During the original blog hop a year ago, a bunch of my friends each remade one of the quilts from the book. Click here to see all of the variations – they are so fun!

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Square in a Square made by Stacy Cooper of Farm Road Quilts.

I design all of my quilts in EQ7 and I have embraced my inner control freak that needs to know exactly what it’s going to look like even before I begin, LOL!! So here are a couple more fun variations that I came up with, using Amanda Murphy’s playful Sewing Room collection for Benartex.

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I think using the light gray background is probably more my style, but I wanted to push the envelope and see how fun and it would look using the sewing machine fabric as the background combined with funky bright solids.

Click here to get some of this fun fabric!!

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Do you recognize what kind of sewing machine that is? Amanda is a BERNINA ambassador just like me, so I’m sure that influenced her artwork. Hmmm. maybe a smaller version of this would make a perfect sewing machine cover for my BERNINA!! 🙂

Giveaway Time! Win EQ Mini!!

Speaking of designing in EQ7, my good friends at The Electric Quilt Company recently released their latest software, EQ Mini. It’s a scaled down, less expensive version of EQ. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to get their feet wet designing their own quilts, but isn’t sure where to start.

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One winner will receive either a boxed physical copy or an email code to download directly from the website, so that means this giveaway is open to everyone! To enter, leave a comment letting me know if you’ve ever designed your own quilt. For a bonus entry, share a picture of it in my Facebook group at Quilt with Christa.

And now it’s time to congratulate last week’s winner’s, Bec B. and Sharon T. who each won a copy of 180 Doodle Quilting Designs. It’s been so fun to read all of your comments each week and see the quilts you are making!

Machine Quilting With Style

Click here to purchase a signed copy of Machine Quilting with Style.
Click here to see all of the quilts from the book.

Quilt As Desired Article 3: Filler Designs Add Texture

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Today I’m continuing to share the series of machine quilting articles that I originally wrote for the National Quilting association as part of my Quilt as Desired column. This article first appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of the Quilting Quarterly.

Click here to read the other machine quilting articles I’ve written.

Happy reading!

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Machine Quilting with Style: Static Re-Imagined

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Static is by far the simplest quilt to make from my book Machine Quilting with Style. It’s my tongue in cheek version of a pixelated quilt design because there’s nothing to see in the “static.” 🙂 Here’s the original version, created in a simple palette of pink, purple, and yellow. Although I used yardage for my version, it’s very jelly roll friendly since the blocks are all made from 2 1/2″ wide strips.

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Static 56″ x 64″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane.

Colorful Static

When it came time to recolor this graphic quilt, I decided to try out two extreme variations. The first is using Tula Pink’s True Colors, a line of basics meant to coordinate with her wilder print collections. The blocks are rotated haphazardly to give the random static-looking appearance as shown in the original pattern. I must say, I kind of like this version even better than the original; I’m a sucker for bright color!

Static Tula Pink

Colorful Static – Using Tula Pink’s True Colors for FreeSpirit

Black and White Static

No surprises here – I had to design a black and white version, too! For this one, I didn’t rotate the blocks and I like the subtle pattern it gives to the overall design. Now I must add this to my collection of black and white quilts! I used Thicket by Gingiber for Moda for this colorway.

Static Black and White

Black and White Static – Using Thicket by Gingiber for Moda

Isn’t it fun to play with extremes? You can find precut strips for both True Colors and Thicket (plus tons of other options) at my alter ego location: ThePrecutStore.com.

Celebration Giveaway

It’s been so fun choosing winners and giving away yummy prizes each week as we celebrate the one year birthday of my first book. So let’s first congratulate last week’s winner Elizabeth R. who won a 3 charm pack prize pack from The Precut Store.

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This week, two winners will each receive a copy of 180 Doodle Quilting Designs, (one physical copy, one e-copy) of which I’m pleased to be included along with 8 other contributors. Truth be told, after writing 2 books back to back, it’s been fun to participate in several compilation books with other fabulous designers. (Ahem – more about those coming soon!!)

To enter, leave a comment below telling me about the easiest quilt you’ve ever made. For a bonus entry, share a picture of it in my Facebook Group at Quilt with Christa.

View Even More Colorways

When I originally celebrated the release of Machine Quilting with Style, a dozen friends joined me by each remaking one of the quilts in the book in their choice of fabrics.

Click here to see them all!

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The original quilts from Machine Quilting with Style, pieced and quilted by yours truly.

And hey, it’s totally okay if you like a some of the alternate versions better. Shh don’t tell, but I do, too, LOL!!!