New Work in Progress – Feathered Chevrons

July 29, 2015July 25, 201510 Comments

I’m super excited to start working with my Kona Cotton designer palette from Robert Kaufman. I’m revisiting my Charming Chevrons design in a new way, something that has been on my to-do list for awhile.

Christa Watson designer palette plus Kona solids in Coal

I’m going to turn the precuts above into the quilt below and I can’t wait to get started! I’m using 4 charm packs of my designer palette along with 4 charm packs of Kona Coal to make a nice throw-sized quilt measuring 64″ x 80″.

Feathered Chevrons Layout from my Charming Chevrons Pattern.

I just love how the bright citrus colors pop against the dark grey background – don’t you? My designer palette will be available this October in quilt shops everywhere. 🙂

Introducing My Very Own Kona Designer Palette

July 24, 2015July 24, 201529 Comments

I have exciting news to share today! I’ve been working with Robert Kaufman to curate my very own Kona Cotton designer palette in my favorite shades of red, orange, yellow and green.

Christa Watson Designer Palette – Kona Solid Precuts Coming Soon!

I chose these fabrics for the Facets quilt from my book Machine Quilting With Style. You can see a sneak peek of the quilt in the photo above.

I never thought I would see my name on precuts – such a dream come true!!

My precut palette will include 5″ charm squares, 10″ ten squares, 2 1/2″ wide roll ups and a 28 piece fat quarter bundle. They will be available for purchase in quilt shops everywhere this fall, including my precut store.

Probably one of the best things about having my own precut bundle is being able to explore the possibilities. I already have two additional quilts I will be making, and I will share my progress with you – so stay tuned!

Fabric Friday – The Patriotic Edition

July 3, 2015July 2, 20152 Comments

With all of the Independence Day celebrations this weekend, I thought it would be fun to showcase precuts in patriotic colors of red, white and blue!

Here’s a lovely grouping from Sandy Gervais called Red, White and Free. Don’t you just love the clever title? At last check I only had a couple of the fat quarter bundles left which includes one of each of the prints, plus the oversized panels (which would make a great quickie quilt!) I also have it in layer cakes and jelly rolls.

Red, White and Free bundle by Sandy Gervais for Moda

Fabri-Quilt’s version of Jelly Rolls are called Snack Packs. Isn’t that cute? Enjoy a high fiber-zero calorie “treat” when you try out this lovely color bundle below, aptly titled “Flags Forever.” I love the fact that the colors together are patriotic yet the individual fabric designs are very universal.

Flags Forever – Bella Casa Snack Pack from Fabri-Quilt.

Red is a great color any time of year, and Moda knows that! I love that they have put together several Bella Solids that are duplicates of the same solid color fabric. The gorgeous red below is 9900-16. Naturally the solids are also available in white and blue.

Bella solids in red from Moda

What are your holiday plans?

I’ll be sewing like crazy all weekend! Oh yeah, and shooting off some fireworks, too!

Fabric Friday (New Kona Solids) and a Thank You

June 19, 2015June 13, 20157 Comments

Before I dive into some new fabrics, I want to give you all a big thanks and a huge hug for supporting our online shop. I’ve been running it now for almost 12 years and Jason’s been with me full-time for the last 8 years. Our switch to selling only precuts and thread (and now my own patterns) was an exciting but scary change. However, our niche focus has given me much more time to design, write, and teach, which I love doing. So big smooches to all of you!

New arrivals – Kona Solids

Robert Kaufman has recently organized all 303 of their Kona Cotton Solids into a plethora of new color ways and we have them all (at least… I think we do!) The color assortments are available as charm squares (42 – 5″ squares), ten squares (42 – 10″ squares), and roll ups (40 – 2 1/2″ strips). There are at least 2 dozen different groupings, not to mention the single color-precuts! Check out a few of them below:

Cherry wood

Gray Area

Lush Lagoon

Mustard Seed

Powder Room

Yucca Tree

These are a few of my favorite colors – what are yours?

Click here to view all Kona Solid Charm Squares

Click here to view all Kona Solid Ten Squares

Click here to view all Kona Solid Roll Ups

Fabric Friday – Free Spirit Style

May 15, 2015May 9, 20159 Comments

Here are some new fabrics I have been crushing on!

Franklin by Denyse Schmidt is available in full-size design rolls, 10 squares, and coming soon – fat quarter bundles! I love how the precut collections include an assortment of solids to go with the prints. Personally, I hope Free Spirit continues with the full size precuts, rather than the smaller bundles. 🙂

Franklin by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit

Folk Song by Anna Maria Horner is a colorful array of cheerful florals mixed with a few bright geometrics. It’s a nod to her earlier collection Good Folks from several years ago.

Folk Song by Anna Maria Horner

Clementine, Heather Bailey’s newest line mixes well with her other collection and features the same fresh mix of pink, aqua, and orange. I especially love the butterfly prints!

Clementine by Heather Bailey

Finally, you can’t go wrong with anything from Tula Pink! Moonshine is still available (until it sells out). Her designs and unique color palettes are so popular, it’s hard to keep them in stock!

Moonshine by Tula Pink

I hope these delicious looking bundles can tide you over until I return from Quilt Market with a full report on the latest and greatest coming you way!

Do you have a favorite fabric brand? If so, which one?

Fabric Friday – Riley Blake’s New Penny Rose Brand

April 17, 2015April 12, 20154 Comments

Have you seen Riley Blake’s newest brand of fabrics? It’s called Penny Rose and features reproduction fabrics like 30’s and traditional Civil War prints. For Penny Rose, what’s old is new again!

Here are some of the latest Penny Rose collections, now available in our precut store:

Paper Dolls by Sibling Arts Studio

Aesop’s Fable by Erin Turner

Milk, Sugar, and Flower by Elea Lutz

Aren’t these so sweet? What do you think of the new brand?

Fabric Friday – Sharing the Moda Love

April 3, 2015April 3, 20157 Comments

I try to balance my Fabric Fridays by sharing new arrivals from all of the different manufacturers we carry in our precut store. Sometimes I can’t help but go a little overboard with a certain company from time to time. Moda is definitely the top dog when it comes to precut offerings. They are our top-selling brand, I think because they have done such a fantastic job offering so many choices and getting the word out about their fabulous designers. So without further ado, I will share a little Moda precut love today:

Poems from Pebbles by fabulous designer (and new friend) Malka Dubrawsky

I’ve been a fan of Malka’s amazing geometrics even before I met her in person at quilt market last fall. We immediately hit it off and then were able to reconnect at QuiltCon earlier this year. Her style is so great and I’m actually working on a scrappy quilt now, incorporating some of her bright cheerful precuts. I just love them!

Malka Dubrawsky in her colorful booth at QuiltCon 2015.

Speaking of geometrics, I can’t get enough of Quattro! It comes in all the standard precuts we carry: charm packs, layer cakes, jelly rolls and fat quarter bundles. Isn’t it just heavenly?

Quattro – in 2 sizes by Studio M for Moda.

Another modern line I’m dyring to try out is Mixologie, also by Studio M. In addition to regular cotton, it also comes in a linen fat quarter bundle, shown below. I still have yet to try linen, but I just love the texture!!

Mixologie in linen – don’t you just love it?

Finally, take a look at Moxi. It’s the perfect springtime combination of reds, pinks, yellows, teals and greens! MMM that puts me in the mood for yummy Easter candy…..

Moxi by Studio M.

I don’t know what you have planned for the weekend, but I’m ready to sew (and maybe indulge in some sugary sweet treats)!

QuiltCon Swag Winner and a Quick Update

March 7, 2015March 7, 20156 Comments

I owe you guys some winners! Congratulations to Karen W. who won the copy of QuiltCon Magazine and to Elizabeth B. who won the Charm Pack.

I’ve had a busy catch up week! After getting home and settled from QuiltCon it was time to quickly finish a quilt for an upcoming magazine deadline, and then pack and get ready for my week-long class at the Folkschool coming up. What a fun kind of busy right?

Sneak peek of what’s been keeping me so busy this week!

I love teaching so much that I’ve been booking more workshops for the spring and summer (see my updated teaching schedule here). I’ve even had a few inquiries for next year, so that’s pretty cool, too. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still like getting asked out. 🙂

I got some fun new “quilty” luggage just for the trip!

I’ll be posting plenty of real-time Instagram updates (follow me @christaquilts) and I’ll try to sneak in a blog update or two while I’m gone. Part of my workflow involves getting my weekly newsletters ready ahead of time, so be sure sign up for my email list so you don’t miss a thing!

I will leave you with a little bit of novelty eye candy, newly arrived precuts from our store….

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Fat Quarters – aren’t these fun??

Star Wars bundle – you know you want it!!

Spiderman – need I say more??

Thank goodness Jason and the kids can hold down the fort while I’m away!

Fabric Friday – The Great Destash of 2015

February 13, 2015February 12, 201537 Comments

Do you guys remember when I did the great fabric destash of 2013? Well guess what? It’s time to do it again in 2015!!

I spent last weekend clearing off my entire shelf of novelty fabrics. I finally realized that as much as I love a good novelty print, I just don’t use them in my quilts. I’d rather sell them to you super cheap than let them languish on my shelves, unused. So here’s the deal:

I have a total of 12 flat rate boxes, crammed full of novelty prints that I’m offering for just $50 each, shipped to the US ($75 to Canada and $95 international). The boxes have at least 15 yards in them and probably even more. So that makes them under $3.50 per yard – shipped!!

Here’s the fine print: these are all quilt-shop quality fabrics that have been prewashed. Some may have edges that are a little raggedy and some may be a little wrinkled. A piece may have been cut out here and there. They are all in excellent condition and sizes range from about 1/8 to 1/4 yard all the way up to 2-3 yard pieces.

Each box will be randomly stuffed with a variety of novelty prints, most of which are shown here. Each box with be different and will include some fabrics from each group of pictures shown, plus a few more that didn’t make it into the pictures.

To claim your mystery box, just leave a comment below indicating how many boxes you want. I will select the first 12 buyers and payment will be via paypal. When you comment, It shows me your email address (but no one else can see it), so I will contact you that way to send you an invoice. So no need to share personal info here online.

I’m sorry, but I can’t accommodate requests for specific fabrics or smaller amounts. It’s all going to be random, but that will be half the fun of getting your box, right?? These prints are perfect for eye-spy quilts, charity projects and fun pieced backings!

To recap: leave a comment to claim your box for $50 shipped to the US. It will be a random assortment and all boxes will be stuffed with a good variety of novelty themed prints.

Thank You!

Fabric Friday – New Tonga Treats Batiks

February 6, 2015January 30, 20157 Comments

One of the hottest sellers in my precut store are Timeless Treasures Tonga Treats.

Although I don’t personally use batiks very much (which I hope to improve on), my customers can’t get enough of the luscious vibrant colors. Tonga Treats come in all of the usual varieties: strips, charms, fat quarters, and 10″ squares. Plus they have created an exclusive precut called 6-packs – precut strips that are 6″ wide by the width of fabric.