Blogger’s Quilt Festival (Fall 2013) Begins This Week!

October 21, 2013May 15, 20148 Comments

The online Blogger’s Quilt Festival kicks off this week, on Friday, October 25th to be precise. Hosted by Amy Ellis, it’s an online quilt show open to anyone who loves to quilt and enjoys blogging about their creations.

Rather than stressing about making perfect quilts, it’s a chance to share and connect with others who share the same passion. There were over 600 entries in last spring’s show and it was like inspiration overload! My two entries from last spring’s festival are shown below:

Charming Chevrons, one of my early quilt along tutorials:

Charming Chevrons, awarded Viewer’s Choice Spring 2013

Roses for Katelyn, made for my sweet sister’s baby girl:

French Rose Buds Pattern, Blogger’s Quilt Festival Spring 2013

If you have a recent finish, I encourage you to enter. It’s a great way to find new blog followers and fantastic blogs to follow! Plus it’s pretty fun to get positive feedback on your quilts. And you might even win a prize, either for entering your own quilt, or nominating your favorites. You just can’t go wrong by participating in this fun event.

Here’s an idea – show off one of your quilt along quilts, or finish up a current WIP!

For complete details including the festival schedule and rules, be sure to visit the Blogger’s Quilt Festival Main Page.

Be sure to check out last spring’s winners. You may even recognize some of the quilts from people you know (wink, wink)!

Cover Girl!

October 15, 2013January 6, 2014150 Comments

I am over the moon about this. I am a cover girl. Well, really my quilt is, and it looks much better closely cropped than I do. 🙂 My Chevrons quilt is on the cover of the Nov./Dec. 2013 issue of Quilty Magazine.

I was beside myself when the folks at Quilty accepted my submission many months ago. I set to work diligently cutting and piecing this labor of love and giving little hints whenever I could. I was thrilled that someone wanted to publish it. Not that I don’t take pride in my work. It’s just that seeing it in print is somehow a validation of everything I work for.

I pieced it on my older Bernina 1630 and quilted it on my brand new Bernina 710 . (Buying a new machine mid-deadline can be a pretty stressful experience, LOL!)

I practiced on a bunch of scrap pieces before I was happy with the quilt design. I basted my quilt with lots of pins and anchored the rows by stitching in the ditch. I quilted straight lines about 1/4 away from the seams, using painter’s tape to help keep them straight.

Here’s a closeup of the back after all the rows were quilted. This is technically enough quilting for this quilt, but since I tend to go a little crazy when it comes to machine quilting, I decided to add quite a bit more.

I filled in all the Chevrons with straight lines using a blending thread. I added pebbles and echoed lines in the background, leaving some un-quilted areas to create a textural “relief”.

I was unsure how this would turn out, but once I flipped the quilt over to the back side, I was happy with how the texture was looking.

I’m still learning how to photograph my quilts so that the quilting can show, but it’s a work in progress. For some reason, I get better details when the quilt is flat on a table rather than a straight shot. I know it has something to do with the lighting.

The down side is that since I can’t get a straight on shot, you get to see my messy sewing room with ugly chairs, plastic bins, and cords sticking out everywhere, LOL!

Chevrons Front

It took me several years to get the quilting part down. It may be several more before my photography skills catch up to my quilting skills. Be sure to pick up your copy of Quilty so you can see it professionally patterned, styled, and photographed. 🙂

I almost forgot – I owe a huge thanks to the folks over at Micheal Miller who supplied their gorgeous Cotton Couture Solids to me to make this quilt. I simply adore solids!

Chevrons Back

Here’s a shot of the back. I’ve written up a separate tutorial on how to make your own colorful strippy backing here.

Shades of Grey – Pieced Backing Tutorial

July 16, 2013May 15, 201414 Comments

I love to make pieced backings and by popular request I’m sharing with you a tutorial on how to put one together. This goes with my String of Pearls Quilt Along.

Shades of Grey Pieced Quilt Back, 72″ x 72″

Before we start, there are a few things to consider. First of all, how big is your quilt top? You want to sketch out a backing design that leaves plenty of wiggle room around the sides. A good rule of thumb is to make your backing at least 6 inches larger than your quilt top.

String of Pearls Quilt Top 66″ x 66″

For example, my String of Pearls quilt finishes approximately 66″ x 66″. Therefore, I need to have a backing that measures about 72″ x 72″. That’s a nice measurement because 72 inches is the same as 2 yards, so you can visualize a backing roughly 2 yards wide by 2 yards long.

Backing, One Fabric, 72″ x 72″

The second thing to consider is, do you want to make your backing from all one fabric (most efficient), or would you like to make it a little more artistic (my favorite)?

The solid backing above requires 4 yards of fabric (two – 2 yard lengths). Join them with a seam down the middle making a rectangle of approximately 72″ x 80″. Trim off about 8″, making a 72 inch square and throw the excess into your scrap bucket.

Finally, you need to decide ahead of time if you will be quilting the quilt yourself, or hiring a longarmer to do it for you. When quilting yourself, you can get away with less extra around the sides.

When sending a quilt out for professional quilting, however, you may need more fabric around the edges for the longarmer to work with. She also may request that your seams need to run either horizontal or vertical depending on how she loads the quilt on the machine. Be sure to check ahead of time (or just quilt it yourself like I love to do!)

Leftover Pearls

When deciding on a pieced back, I like to incorporate leftover fabrics or blocks from the top to give it a little interest.

First, I lay the quilt top on the floor or a large table, then start randomly placing leftover pieces of fabric on top until it’s covered. I rearrange all my pieces as needed until I’m happy with the layout.

Next, I will trim up my pieces and start joining them together in sections until my backing is big enough to overlap the top on all sides by at least 3 inches. Remember, it will shrink up some with seam allowances, so be sure to add more if needed.

Pieced Backing Diagram

For your convenience, I have included cutting diagrams for my pieced back. The measurements include seam allowances. Note, the pieced Pearl Bracelets section is made from 12 (3.5″ x 4.5″) rectangles to create a 3.5″ x 36.5″ unit.

Voila! Time for basting!

For more inspiration on making a pieced backing, check out Elizabeth Hartman’s FREE online Craftsy class, “Creative Quilt Backs.”

You can also see how I made these pieced backs by clicking the links below the pictures:

Hugs ‘N Kisses Pieced Backing Tutorial
Sea of Squares Pieced Backing Tutorial
Charming Chevrons Pieced Backing Tutorial

A Few Words About Judged Quilts Part 3 – Don’t Hold Me Back!

June 24, 2013May 15, 201429 Comments

This is my 3rd and final post about having my quilts judged. You can read part 1 and part 2 here.

Once I realized I love showing and sharing my quilts, it was time to find my “voice” or quilting style that most appealed to me. Enter… modern quilting! Finally I found a way to merge what I loved – bold fabric colors and graphic designs with intense machine quilting. Although rooted in tradition, the modern quilting movement and the judging that went along with it have finally freed me to go my own way.

So here are a few more quilts I finished within the last year that I entered into competition. I’ve included the judges’ comments once again and my thoughts.

Baby Bricks in Pink and Green by Christa Watson, Desert Quilters of Nevada Show 2013 – Baby Quilt Category

I originally made Baby Bricks as part of my quilt along series, completing it in time to enter it into my local guild’s show. Though it didn’t win a ribbon, it was still gratifying to watch people ooh and ah over it at the show.

From the judge, “Good variety of pink and green fabrics. White sashing allows them to shine. Piecing techniques are good but there is some distortion of the top caused by machine quilting. Changes in quilting thread is effective.”

Jenna’s Hugs ‘n Kisses by Christa Watson, Desert Quilters of Nevada Show 2013 – Holiday Category

From the judge, “Gradation of fabric works well. Dense quilting in negative space seems to give fullness to the pieced blocks. Quilting should be evenly distributed throughout the quilt.”

The judge was right about the quilting for Hugs ‘n Kisses. I spent so much time machine quilting the flowers that I did not allow enough time to fully quilt the X blocks.

Instead of rushing to finish this quilt in order get it in the show, I should have taken more time to finish and then saved it for next year’s show.

But my daughter was still pleased with it and she was ready to have it NOW, so that’s ok, too. 🙂

One quilt that I did take my time with was Roses for Katelyn, based on the fabulous French Rose Buds pattern. My time well spent was rewarded with a second place ribbon.

Roses for Katelyn by Christa Watson, Desert Quilters of Nevada Show 2013 – 3rd Place, Applique

From the judge, “Soft color palette makes for a restful quilt. Raw edge applique is well handled. Straight lines and border are straight. Quilting stitch is good and quilting design adds texture.”

And then finally, my favorite quilt of the year and the one you guys are probably tired of me blogging about – Charming Chevrons. I included it because it was my first “real” modern quilt and it was the first time I took a leap of faith and sent a quilt out of state for judging.

Charming Chevrons by Christa Watson
Blogger’s Quilt Fest 2013, Machine Quilted Category, Viewer’s Choice
Desert Quilters of Nevada Show 2013, 2nd Place Modern Category
QuiltCon 2013, Modern Traditionalism Category

Charming Chevrons Backing

Here are the judges’ comments from QuiltCon:

“Quilting and quilt is beautifully made. Overall workmanship is excellent. Piecing is accurate. Quilt is straight and lies flat. Binding is well executed.

Areas for improvement – thread choice is distracting on the back, pebble quilting pattern feels unrelated. Would love to see this quilt with a more narrowly focused palette.”

Since I also entered this in my local guild’s show it was interesting to compare the judges’ comments.

From an NQA certified judge, “The soft grey is a good background for the bright solids. Quilt has great texture, quilting design choices are very good. Multi-colored pebbles are well done.”

The best thing I learned from entering this quilt in 2 different judged shows was that opinions vary widely and that’s perfectly ok!

In both cases they applauded my workmanship. However, I’ve learned that I need to go perhaps a little more bold and a touch more artistic with my designs. So look for more of that from me in the future!

A Few Words About Judged Quilts Part 2 – Starting to Get the Hang of It

June 17, 201316 Comments

This is the second part of my thoughts about entering quilts for competition. You can read part 1 here which explores the beginnings of my journey into showing and sharing my quilts.

Charlotte Warr Anderson Quilt
Road to California 2011

In 2011 I attended Road to California and was literally blown away by the caliber of quilts presented.

I knew these were the kinds of quilts I wanted to make! Now please don’t misunderstand, I love all types of quilts.

There was just something about these knock-your-socks off beauties that stirred something within my soul.

I took a fantastic machine quilting class from Charlotte Warr Anderson whose amazing award winning quilt is show at left.

I attended Road to California again in 2012 and this time decided that I had to improve the quality of my quiltmaking. Not just wanted to – had to! I mean look at the quilt below. When I saw this fabulous work of art, it literally made my heart sing!

American Woman made by Jo Ann Blade & Kim Diamond
Road to California 2012

So I began attending as many classes as I could, and I started entering my local show again (after an 8 year absence). My goals were very clear – how do I better my techniques so that I can make outstanding quilts that satisfy my need to create?

Here are a few of the quilts I entered into my traditional guild’s show (Desert Quilters of Nevada) between 2011-2012. They are a mix of commercial patterns mixed in with a little bit of my own design sense. They are not exactly show stoppers, but I am pretty proud of them and they are a step in the right direction. The judges’ comments are below.

USS Jason by Christa Watson
Desert Quilters of Nevada 2011
2nd Place, Juvenile Quilts

From the judge: Piecing techniques good, quilting is good with patterns well chosen and stitches regular. The recipient will love the quilting texture. Sashing and borders well chosen, binding close and tight. Corners are stitched closed.

Floral Applique by Christa Watson
Desert Quilters of Nevada 2011
2nd Place, Applique

From the judge: Button hole stitch applique well done. Echo quilting well handled. Border designs well chosen and metallic thread adds sparkle. Corners are well mitered with close tight stitching in borders. Quilting stitches are good with good tension.

And just so you don’t get the impression that I’m all about the ribbons – here a couple that did NOT get an award. But they were still fun to make and fun to show!

Batik Double Wedding Ring Quilt
By Christa Watson 2012

Judge’s comments: Traditional quilt with non traditional fabrics. Piecing is generally good. Machine quilting is well done. Use of variegated threads adds interest. Binding by machine well done. However, I would have chosen something different for the back of a wedding quilt.

The comment about the Day of the Dead backing fabric cracked me up, but my sis-in-law, for whom the quilt was made, absolutely loved it! This is totally her style, though definitely not the judge’s. 🙂

But seriously, I never take offense at a judge’s critiques. After all, I am the one who asked for their opinions!

Here’s my other sister- in-law’s wedding quilt, hung at the same show:

Wedding Hearts and Stars
Made by Christa Watson 2012

Judge’s comments: Your use of value has made the stars pop out. Piecing is well done but some slight distortion noted in the sashing. Machine quilting and binding are very well done.

Come back next Monday for part 3, the conclusion of this (gripping) tale! I will talk about what I’ve been able to accomplish in the last year and where I go from here. 🙂

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge Entry – Love Runner

June 12, 2013June 7, 201314 Comments

Here’s my entry for the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge hosted by Jennifer of Ellison Lane.

Love Table Runner, 12″ x 30″

It’s called Love, a valentine’s table runner that I made back in February in my quest to add a little holiday decor to my home. I put together a tutorial for it (step 1, step 2, step 3) if you’d like to make a similar one for yourself!

Love Quilting Detail

For this “mini” I challenged myself by working on improving my machine applique skills. I think machine applique is one area of modern quilting that needs more exploring….

Button Hole Stitch Applique

I used Pearl Bracelets in watermelon (my favorite color of the bunch) for the letters which was simply a computer font that I enlarged and ironed on using fusible web.

I’m pleased with how it turned out and am now ready to tackle some larger projects!

A Few Words About Judged Quilts Part 1 – The Beginning of a Journey

June 10, 2013June 17, 201316 Comments

I’ve had a few people ask me to go into detail about some of the comments I’ve received for quilts I’ve entered into quilt shows. I thought that would make a pretty good blog topic! It will take more than one post to explore this idea, so be sure to follow my blog for updates.

First, here’s a little background – I’ve been quilting off and on over the last 18 years, but up until this year have previously entered my quilts only in local shows. I have received my share of ribbons in this time and have earned a variety of critiques, most of which I never thought about keeping for “quilt posterity”.

Christa’s Quilt Ribbons – and one for Jenna!

I’m getting smarter now about keeping all the documentation relating to my work. I’ve also realized that if I want to enter my quilts in shows I’ve got to be able to take the heat, even if I don’t agree with a judge’s comments (but for the most part, good or bad, I do see their point!)

So here goes, I’ll start with some of my earliest competitive quilts and work my way forward. I don’t have the judge’s comments but I’ll share what I remember.

This mini quilt was the very first thing I ever entered, way back in 1997 – can you believe it? It was for a guild challenge and all that I remember was that we were supposed to use a a basket, a heart, and a flower.

It’s one of the very few hand quilted pieces I’ve done and my first attempt at mitering corners. Now I only use straight borders and I machine quilt all of my quilts. ‘Nuff said! But I did earn a second place from a vote of the members so that was my first taste of “competition”. I just ate it up!

Over the years I started getting better at my machine quilting and was pleased when my pieced heart quilt won a second place at my traditional guild’s annual show in 2002. I enjoyed adding lots of detailed quilting which has kind of set the stage for my style of quilting – more is more!

The big mistake that I made on this quilt was using too many busy prints, so that all my fabulous quilting was hard to notice! You just can’t see the gorgeous cabled border I quilted in metallic threads (really!) Hmm, maybe that’s why I’m so fond of solids now?

The 2002 quilt show was a banner year for me – nearly every thing I entered won a ribbon. I finally landed a first place with my original Hugs and Kisses. (I did a remake of this quilt recently for one of my quilt alongs). I remember only one written comment from the judge – “I love this quilt!” That made my day until I realized this quilt was the only one in it’s category.

This was the first year our guild started separating out professionally machine quilted quilts into their own category. Since I was definitely NOT a professional and I quilted this one myself, there was no competition in the home-machine quilted category, LOL!! But we’ve come a long way and more members are machine quilting their own quilts, for which I’m very proud! (And the organizers told me a judge won’t give it a blue ribbon unless the quilt deserves it – regardless of the number of entries).

Next, I got into my applique phase and won a couple of 1st place ribbons for these appliqued beauties. They were fun to make but since I followed a pattern, they weren’t exactly originals.

You can see I was definitely a traditionalist here but these quilts are where I realized my techniques – small machine button hole stitches with matching thread and lots of quilting. Now to translate these techniques into more modern quilt designs!

After this I kind of took a break for about 8 years where I didn’t enter hardly anything. Sure, I taught a lot of quilting classes, made tons of samples and got into stipple-overload. I also started my fabric business, but the competition side of me really waned. I also sold quilts at a local craft mall for several years. This threw me into mass-production mode which really stifled my artistic spirit!

Tune in next Monday for part 2 of this (breathtaking) saga!

The Holly Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt

June 4, 2013July 3, 2014291 Comments

The project I am featuring today is called the Jolly Jelly Roll quilt, using Kate Spain’s In From the Cold fabric line from Moda. I came up with this design last year for my very first Quilt Along, where I show how to make a complete quilt from start to finish.

In From the Cold Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt

This is such a quick and easy quilt to make, requiring just one jelly roll and a yard of solid fabric. I hope to finish this quilt in time for Christmas. Why don’t you join me and make one of your own?

In From the Cold Jelly Roll Strips

So far I’ve sewn together all of my jelly roll strips and have cut them into pieced squares. Aren’t they pretty? Be sure to follow my blog so you can see the updates as I work on this quilt. I’ll probably do a couple of tutorials as I work on it including how to quilt it. 🙂

In From the Cold Blocks

Click here for my free pattern and step by step tutorial instructions to make this quilt.

I Won a Viewers’ Choice Award – Thank You All So Much For Your Support!

June 2, 201330 Comments

I just found out the great news – my Charming Chevrons quilt won one of the viewer’s choice prizes from the Blogger’s Quit Festival for Spring 2013. Click below to enlarge:

Viewer’s Choice – Charming Chevrons

Charming Chevrons Backing

This is beyond surreal! Words cannot begin to express the appreciation I feel not only for all those who liked my quilt enough to vote for it, but the generous sponsors, Amy Ellis for organizing the event, and the hundreds of other fabulous bloggers who participated.

Viewer’s Choice – Together in a Friendship World
By Geta from Romania

There were a total of 3 viewer’s choice winners (out of nearly 700 total entries!) with some fabulous prizes. I won a $100 Gift Certificate to Shop Martingale! Just in time, too, as I need to stock up on some quilt books that are on my list!

Geta from Romania won a $75 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop for her gorgeous 3-D looking quilt above, Together in a Friendship World. Fabulous, indeed!

Viewers Choice
Daisy a Day by Di from Snippets ‘n Scraps

And Di who blogs at Snippets ‘n Scraps won a Stash Pack of hand-dyed fabrics from Vicki Welsh and a large pack of Mystyfuse. Isn’t her photography lovely, too?

Of course there were a total of 15 other winners who also won fabulous prizes from a variety of generous sponsors. You can see pictures of all of the winning quilts here.

I’m sending out virtual hugs to all who entered and all who were inspired by such lovely quilts!

Laura Wasilowski Workshops and a Craftsy Class Discount

May 21, 2013May 21, 201312 Comments

I had the pleasure of meeting quilt artist Laura Wasilowski this weekend. She came to teach a couple of workshops on applique for one of the quilting guilds I belong to, Desert Quilters of Nevada.

Christa and Laura Wasilowski During Class

Let me tell you, she was extremely entertaining. She told us her story of how she got into quilting and gave us the history of how she founded her “infamous” Chicago School of Fusing, complete with song and dance, literally!

Those who attended the workshops got to have a “graduation ceremony” where we ll became “iron – maidens” (get it??)

Fowl Play – Birds Wiith No Egrets Workshop

On Friday, we used one of her bird patterns to create a pictorial scene. Each of the students created a unique piece of art as we learned her methods of fusing and selecting designs.

On Saturday, Laura taught us how to combine shapes and free-form drawing to create our own zen-like quilts. This was definitely appealing to me and I’m going to try to develop a larger applique quilt based upon my fabric sketch I made.

My Zen-Doodle Quilt – “Modern Art”

Laura was so pleasant to be around and very inspiring with her encouraging attitude. She even gave me a special Craftsy offer to share with those of you who are interested in taking the online version of her workshop. Use this link to sign up for Hand-Stitched Collage Quilts and get 50% off the class registration fee. How cool is that??

Here are a few of the beautiful pieces from the rest of the class: