Category: Publishing

QuiltCon Together Begins Feb 18, 2021 – See My Schedule of Events!

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I’m very excited about QuiltCon Together, the annual event presented by The Modern Quilt Guild. So far, I’ve been to every show and I’ve had a quilt in every show, too. Even though this year’s event is virtual, I still wouldn’t miss it. Here’s where you can find me – and my quilts – online from February 18-22, 2021.

QuiltCon Together 2021

My Workshops

Carefree Walking Foot Quilting (On Demand) – Sold Out
Carefree Free-Motion Quilting (On Demand) – Click here to register for DSMQ009

My Walking foot quilting class is completely sold out. However, as of this writing I still have room in my Carefree Free-Motion Quilting workshop. These classes are the next best thing to being live in person. They’ve been pre-recorded and you’ll have access to them the entire length of the show. That means you can view them on your schedule and then pause to do the “homework” given in each class.

There’s an “enhanced” option meaning that students have the option of meeting with me live online in a small group setting to get additional help on anything they need from in class.

Free Motion Quilting

Click here to register for my Free Motion Quilting class at Quiltcon Together.

My Lectures

BERNINA 770QE

#1 BERNINA LIVE 2/18 at 10:30 – FREE for QuiltCon participants
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE SHOW

I’m kicking off the event first thing on Thursday morning, February, 18th at 10:30 AM Central time with a live presentation sponsored by BERNINA. It will be about 30 minutes of me chatting about my favorite machine feet for quilting. Following that, I’ll stick around for about an hour to chat with everyone and answer any questions you may have. Best of all, this event is FREE for all QuiltCon attendees. So be sure to pop over to the vitrual BERNINA booth that morning and join the fun!!

#2 Quilt Perspectives Panel 2/20 at 11:00
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR LE17

Join me and industry experts Riane Menardi Morrison, Sandra Johnson and Tia Curtis as we chat about all things machine quilting. This will be another live event that you can register for separately, or as part of an all access lecture pass.

#3 How Do I Quilt It Lecture 2/21 at 5 PM
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR LE29

I’m excited to be presenting my ever popular lecture “How Do I Quilt It” at QuiltCon Together. It will be shown on Sunday, February 21 at 5 PM Central Time. It also includes a Q&A live chat so that you can better understand the material presented. Through the magic of technology I’ll also be answering your questions live during the pre-recorded presentation.

My Quilts In the Show

I’m thrilled to have 2 quilts in the virtual show this year. The first one is a brand new design called “Pixie Stix” that in included in this year’s version of QuiltCon Magazine.

Pixie Stix by Christa Quiltss

Click here to get QuiltCon Magazine 2021 for the Pixie Stix Quilt Pattern

Pixe Stix is made from a fat quarter bundle of my Good Vibes low volume fabric plus the Bedazzled print in dark gray for the background and binding.

Good Vibes by Christa Watson

Click here to get my Good Vibes Low Volume prints.

It was fun to design and make this quilt and there’s a bonus article in the magazine all about my design process and different versions I came up with until I settled on the final layout.

Pixie Stix QuiltCon Magazine

My other quilt in the show is called “Interlinked” which was patterned in Make Modern Magazine isue #34 last year. This is one of those “try, try again” situations. I actually submitted it to QuiltCon last year and it didn’t get in. But this year it did – so you just never know how things will turn out!

Interlinked Quilt by Christa Watson

Click here to get issue #34 of Make Modern Magazine for the Interlinked Quilt Pattern

I’m currently in the process of updating the Interlinked pattern with more information and hope to release the PDF version along with some kits, soon. So be on the lookout for that in a few weeks!

My Newest Book is Now Available: 99 Machine Quilting Designs!

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I’m thrilled that my 4th book has now officially been released and I have a signed copy waiting for you! Take a look at my newest pride and joy called 99 Machine Quilting Designs from Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

99 Machine Quilting Designs

Click here to get your signed copy of 99 Machine Quilting Designs

As an author, it’s been great fun to open up boxes and boxes of my brand new book and get it out into the world.

99 Machine Quilting Designs includes a detailed photo, illustrated diagram, and step-by-step instructions on how to quilt 99 different machine quilting motifs, using walking foot AND free-motion techniques. I wrote the book from the perspective of a domestic machine quilter, but most of the designs will translate well to longarm quilting, too!

Here’s an example of one of the walking-foot designs from the book:

99 Machine Quilting Designs by Christa Watson

And here’s an example of just one of the dozens of free motion ideas in the book:

99 Machine Quilting Designs by Christa Watson

Each of the 99 designs also includes a variation to try, so it’s really like 198 designs in all! Plus there’s space on each page for you to practice your doodles and take notes right in the book! My hope is for you to get better at machine quilting by practicing as often as you can.

Here’s a video sneak peek of the book:

To make things even more fun, I created a bunch of cute buttons to promote the book, and I’m including one with each order, along with a signed message from me.

Machine Quilting buttons

Click here to get your  bonus button + signed copy of the book!

So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t already snagged your copy, you can click here to order 99 Machine Quilting Designs. Leave a note with your order if you’d like it personalized with your name, or as a gift for a friend. I PROMISE it will make you a better machine quilter!!

99 machine quilting designs

As always, thanks for your support, and happy machine quilting!!

Pre-Order My New Book: 99 Machine-Quilting Designs

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I am beyond excited to introduce my new book today! I’m really proud of 99 Machine-Quilting Designs. It’s full of ideas and options for walking-foot and free-motion quilting!

99 Machine Quilting Designs

Click here to pre-order your signed copy of 99 Machine Quilting Deigns 

This book is for you if:

  • You want to try machine quilting
  • You’re afraid to try machine quilting
  • You want to expand your skill set
  • You know quite a bit but you want fresh ideas

Pre-orders open today with early bird bonuses!


Order my new book by Oct. 10 to a free mystery fat quarter and other bonus items!

I’m super excited to offer special bonus premiums to people who place orders now. If you pre-order 99 Machine-Quilting Designs directly from me now through Oct. 10, you’ll get it at the lowest price of  just $25.95 plus FREE US SHIPPING with no coupon required on your end.

After that date, the free shipping offer goes away.

The early bird gets the worm, so here’s the list of bonuses that will also be included in your package when it ships early next year:

Free Surprise Pattern with Purchase for a Limited Time

Christa Quilts Patterns

One of my paper quilt patterns will be included as a bonus when you pre-order
99 Machine Quilting Designs.

That’s three bonus items, a reduced price, AND free shipping when you pre-order by Oct. 10.  Oh yeah, it also includes a signed copy  the book, LOL!!! The books have gone to print now and are slated to arrive February 1st. It will be here before you know it!!  

You’ll be able to start practicing new machine quilting skills as soon as the book arrives because we’ll have special events planned at that time.

Free Mystery FQ with Purchase for a Limited Time

Order 99 Machine-Quilting Designs by Oct. 10 to get a free fat quarter and other bonus items!

extra Bonuses are for a Limited Time Only

Here’s the fun part: This first 10 days of pre-orders is the only time free US shipping is included as a bonus. And we all love free shipping! (For my international friends, the shipping has been reduced for you for a limited time).

I will be offering pre-order bonuses for a limited time.  Every 10 days, one of the freebies will go away, and the price of the book will increase, so act now for the lowest price with the highest level of perks!!

Click here to pre-order 99 Machine-Quilting Designs and get all of the bonus items. The pre-order price is $25.95 through Oct. 10.

99 Machine Quilting Designs

Click here to pre-order 99 Machine Quilting Deigns and claim your bonus freebies!!

If you are still on the fence about pre-ordering my new book, Here’s a video so you can see how I make machine quilting accessible to anyone with a sewing machine. Watch for more indepth quilting videos next year after the book arrives!!

Get the whole set!!

While you are waiting for book #4 to arrive, be sure to stock up on my three previous machine quilting books while supplies last. If you’re looking to round out your machine quilting library, this is the perfect time to grab them at a reduced price of just $19.95 each!

Machine Quilting Books by Christa Watson
Click here to get my current books on sale for just $19.95 each.

I can’t wait to tell you more about 99 Machine-Quilting Designs! It’s the best one yet!

99 Machine Quilting Designs

Click here to pre-order 99 Machine-Quilting Designs for $25.95 and get all the bonuses.

Pre-order My New Fall Patterns

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I release quilt patters twice a year now, in conjunction with my new fabric lines. (More about the fabric later…) So today I’m happy to introduce 4 new patterns which will be released on November 16, but you can get them at a discount when you preorder now!

Christa Quilts Patterns

All four of my new patterns are available as print or PDF. Print versions will be shipped to you approximately November 16th. When you order the PDF version through my Craftsy shop, you’ll be able to download the cover now, and then the pattern itself will be emailed as an update on November 16th.

Use coupon code SAVE10 to get 10% off the price of the print version. The PDF version is automatically on sale through November 16th. (The code and sale applies to all current patterns in stock, too!) Here’s what’s new:

Pieced Primrose

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

Pieced Primrose Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

Geese in the Garden

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

Geese in the Garden Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

Blooming Wallflowers

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

Blooming Wallflowers Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

LatticeWork

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

LatticeWork Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

Wholesale Inquiries

These patterns will be available from most major distributors. Or email me christa@christaquilts.com for order info.

I hope you’ll enjoy making these quilts as much as I did!

My Quilt in American Patchwork and Quilting – Featuring Fandangle

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Today I’m happy to introduce you to my quilt “Out of the Box” that can be found in the December Issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. It’s made from one fat quarter bundle of Fandangle and 4 yards of white background fabric.

Out of the Box by Christa Watson

Image shared with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Look closely and you’ll see that I used leftover fabrics to make a scrappy binding. It’s one of my favorite ways to use up leftovers from a fat quarter bundle without having to purchase any more fabric.

Fandangle Fabric + Color Tip

All it takes is one 20 piece fat quarter bundle and a contrasting background to make this quilt. Here’s a tip when working with fabric bundles: pair them with a very light or very dark background, and you’ve got a winning combo, no matter which fabrics you choose!

Click here to purchase a 20 piece fat quarter bundle of Fandangle, while supplies last!

Fandangle fabrics

Fandangle is my second fabric with Benartex Contempo Studio.

Here’s what the cover of the December issue looks like which I believe goes on sale tomorrow. I’ve already received my contributor copy and am in love with several projects in the issue. This is by far one of my favorite magazines because they feature such a wide variety of techniques and styles. (And they pay designers very well for their patterns, too!)

American Patchwork and Quilting DecemberImage shared with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Quilting Plan

Here’s the quilting plan I created for Out of the Box, a simple wavy grid. It’s one of my go-to quilting designs that’s fast and easy to do with your walking foot or dual feed. I use the pieced seams of the quilt as a guideline for how far apart to space my lines so I can quilt the entire design without any marking!

Wavy Grid quilting plan.

I always make a quilting plan for my quilts before I quilt them.

Although the pattern includes instructions for the piecing, you can learn how to machine quilt the wavy grid motif in my Craftsy class, the Quilter’s Path, and also in my third book, Piece and Quilt with Precuts. It’s my go-to design when I’m in a hurry, and it looks great on any quilt!

machine quilting detail by christa watsonMachine quilting detail – click the image to enlarge.

Here’s another view of the quilt where you can really see the quilting. My hubby Jason has been helping me photograph quilts in order to showcase the fast, fun, and easy machine quilting designs that I love to teach! For me it’s all about texture over perfection.

machine quilting detail

Learn how to quilt this walking foot design from my book Piece and Quilt with Precuts,
and also in my Craftsy class, The Quilter’s Path.

I really enjoyed making this quilt to showcase my fabrics and the best news is, it will be on display in the American Patchwork and Quilting booth at International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas next month!

When you make this quilt, be sure and tag me @christaquilts on social media so I can see what you’re doing. You can also share pics of your progress with this quilt (and anything else you make from my books, patterns and fabric) in my ChristaQuilts group on facebook!

Out of the Box by Christa Watson for American Patchwork and Quilting using Fandangle fabricOut of the box by Christa Watson, Made from Fandangle Fabric

Quick Links to Items Mentioned Above

American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine
Fandangle Fat Quarters
Online Video Class – The Quilter’s Path
My book Piece and Quilt with Precuts

Writing Book 4 – Part 2: Contract Accepted, Work Begins

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If you are new to my blog, I’ve begun documenting my progress as I write a book from start to finish. In my last post, I discussed the book proposal process, so be sure to check that out! I’m currently working on my fourth book, and kinda maybe sorta know more about what I’m doing this time around. Just kidding about the “sorta” part, but it’s always a learning process, for sure!!

Christa Watson Books

I’ve written 3 books on my own and have been featured in numerous collaborations with my publisher Martingale/That Patchwork Place, a few of which are shown here.

So here’s what’s happened so far. After I submitted my proposal back in April of this year, I met with my publisher in person in May at Spring Quilt Market 2018 in Portland, OR. I had an in-depth meeting with the acquisitions editor and content editor to nail down the specifics of what the new book will be about (machine quilting – duh!!)

I had originally wanted to go in one direction with the book, but when they pointed out that some of the content I wanted to include was already covered in my first three books, they helped me narrow down my focus and solidify the overall direction for this new book.

Martingale Collaboration Books

Two new Martingale titles that debuted at Spring Quilt Market include Fat Quarter Favorites, featuring my quilt on the cover, and Lunch Hour Patchwork which includes my modern mini.

A couple of months after our meeting at market, Martingale offered me the formal contract in writing, which of course I accepted, and I made myself a time line/to do list of all the steps I’ll need to finish on time.

The first section of the book isn’t due until the next February and the final manuscript, instructions, and samples are due by the end of summer 2019. I’m thrilled because this will give me plenty of time to create the book along with other new and exciting projects I have in the works.

The most wonderful part about working with a publisher is that although I create all of the content, including “placeholder” photos and illustrations, Martingale has a team of professionals who photograph and illustrate everything based on my images. I love it when they take what I create and make it look even more beautiful!

Publishing Agreement for my Next Book

Happy mail! Getting the contract in the mail is always an exciting day!

Book 4 (as I will be calling it until the cover art is finalized) is slated to be 96 pages which is the same length as my most recent book Piece and Quilt with Precuts. Of course that can change depending on final editing, and it’s due to be published in September of 2020 (also subject to change). I have a working title for the book, but even that can be tweaked.

As an example, for my first three books, the publisher named the first two while I titled the third. I have a feeling that the title for Book 4 is something we both are in agreement on! (Sorry for all the teases, but I’m giving away only as much as I can at this point.)

I can’t say enough about how excited I am to work on this new book. It’s actually something that many of my students have been asking for, so I love being able to meet their needs. And the best thing about machine quilting is that it’s timeless: the ideas I create now will be just as relevant in two years when the book is available for sale. Even though that seems like a long way off right now, I know that time is going to fly!

Christa at Quilt Market 2015

Doing a demo for my first book at quilt market in 2015

While I can’t discuss the specifics of my contract, I can tell you that royalties are based on the wholesale price of the book, and I will also have the opportunity to purchase them wholesale myself. In fact, most authors who sell their own books make more from direct sales of their books than they do in royalties, so it’s something to keep in mind if you are considering writing a book, or purchasing a book directly from the author.

Now the real work begins. The toughest part for me is balancing out my workdays so that I work on my book a little each week, rather than trying to cram in everything right before the deadline. I’m currently planning in detail everything that needs to be done, and my publisher was fabulous to work with on the timing, since I let them know I wouldn’t really be able to start on it in earnest until after Fall Market later this year.

Machine Quilting Demo

Machine quilting demo to promote my latest fabric and book at Spring Quilt Market 2018. I will be doing lots and lots and lots of quilting over the next few months. I can’t wait!

I have to be honest and say it’s been nice to have a two year break from book writing, since work on my previous book was completed in 2016, a full year before the publish date. But now I feel refreshed, re-energized, and excited to dive into the new work! I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my progress, and will share a few sneak peeks as I can, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you have questions about the book writing process, please ask away in the comments below. If there’s enough interest, I’ll be glad to do a separate blog post devoted to answering your questions about anything I haven’t covered so far. I love sharing what I know and inspiring others to reach their goals, no matter how big or small!

Introducing Tic-Tac-Toe on the Cover of Fat Quarter Favorites

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I love it when I get to reveal a quilt that I worked on many moons ago! Meet Tic-Tac-Toe, a fat quarter quilt featured on the cover of Fat Quarter Favorites – a new collaboration book from my publisher Martingale/That Patchwork Place that releases today!

Fat-Quarter-Favorites

This was one of those “secret sewing” projects that I worked on last year. I shared a few sneek peeks on my Instagram account while making it so if you scroll back through a year’s worth of posts, you can see some of it in progress, LOL!!

The book features 13 original designs by a dozen different designers all based on fat quarters (plus additional background fabric where needed).

I was in such a hurry to make this quilt that I forgot to take many in-progress pics, but here’s a shot of me “scrunching and smooshing” the quilt through the machine as I quilt:

Scrunching and smooshing to machine quilt

It helps to have a wider throat space on my BERINA so there’s more room for the quilt!

I only saved on detail pic where you can see the quilting while I added and pressed the binding. I quilted it with a dense allover free-motion square spiral design – one of my favorite “modern machine quilting” designs! (It’s similar to “boxes” – another fave design but you go round and round a couple times to get the spirals.)

square spiral design machine quilting

For the pieced design, I played around with the idea of combining blocks that look like X’s and O’s. It took several tries to adjust the proportions so they felt right. The O blocks came pretty quickly, but it took awhile until I was happy with the X blocks. I originally started with bigger center stars and they evolved into the design shown here. I extended the gray lines all the way to the borders to give it a bit more movement and overall I’m pleased with how well it turned out!

Tic Tac Toe by Christa Watson from Fat Quarter Favorites

Tic-Tac-Toe by Christa Watson, 76″ x 76″

Once I have the basic design in place it also takes me a bit to refine the sizes so the fabric yardage is used more efficiently. That’s why a lot of times, you’ll see me do scrappy bindings, so I can use up a bit more of the fun prints in the quilt!

If you like my design click here to see images of all 13 quilts from the book – I’m sure there’s something for everyone!

Writing Book 4 – Part 1: The Book Proposal

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Guess what? I’ll soon be writing another machine quilting book! I thought it would be fun to take you behind the scenes of book creation from start to finish because I get a lot of questions about what it takes to write one. I figured the best way to answer that was to document my process in real time as it happens. My only caveat is you’ll have to be patient as I blog about my journey because it can take a long time from concept to publish date. But sharing this journey with you in real time will definitely make the months (and years) pass more quickly.
Books by Christa Watson

The 3 books I’ve written will be joined by a 4th (but not till 2020)!!

The first step is to submit a very thorough book proposal. Book publishers have their proposal submission forms on their website and most are very similar: they want to know the gist of the book, what makes it special or different, why it will sell (and how you plan to market it) along with what you envision the book to look like.

If it’s a project based book, they’ll want to see sketches of all the proposed projects including the fabrics you plan to use. They may request to see one or more finished quilts and a sample chapter from the book so they know that you can write and express yourself clearly.

They’ll also want a timeline of how long it will take you to complete the manuscript and make all the projects so they can assign it a production team and release date. FYI, most books take about 1 1/2 to 2 years to produce from the initial spark of an idea to publication.

Before a publisher is ready to give the thumbs up, they’ll do a thorough review, usually with an acquisitions committee. They’ll conduct a cost projection & market analysis to make sure that producing the book will be profitable. A publisher spends a lot of time and resources on any one book including a whole team of people to copy edit, tech edit, photograph, lay out, illustrate, and of course market it. To get an idea, open up any book you have from a major publisher and count the list of names that were involved in producing it.

Editing Machine Quilting with Style

Editing my first book, Machine Quilting with Style, back in 2015

The proposal for my first book, Machine Quilting with Style, took about 5 months to solidify my idea and then another 4 months to actually write the proposal which was over 40 pages in length. I first thought about the idea in February of 2013 after returning home from QuiltCon but didn’t submit the proposal until November of 2013. I completed the quilts and manuscript in August of 2014, and it was published in September of 2015, nearly 2 years later after I proposed it.

My current proposal was about 30 pages and took me 3 months to thoroughly think through my ideas – then another month to design the content and create the structure, outline and table of contents. Even after writing multiple books, getting the green light for the next one is never a guarantee and I had to complete a thorough submission each time.

Angela Walters and Christa Watson at Quilt Market

Promoting my 2nd book The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting with Angela Walters at Quilt Market in 2016. (Check out long my hair grew out in a year from writing to publication!)

I submitted the proposal for my 4th book to Martingale/That Patchwork Place in early April of this year, and just received the unofficial word that they want to go forward with my idea, after a bit of tweaking. (I waited to start writing this series in the off chance that they weren’t interested because then there’d be nothing to document, LOL!!)

Once my publisher received my submission, they discussed it at their monthly submission meeting, and came back with a “yes we want to publish it, but let’s tweak it a bit more before we give the official approval.” I’m always open to suggestions, and one of the keys to getting your book successfully published is flexibility.

I originally had two ideas for book #4 and pre-pitched them on both before I submitted the complete proposal, to make sure they were interested in seeing them. Although I incorporated both ideas into the current proposal, I emphasized that I wanted to go in one direction with it more than the other. However, my publisher felt that the second direction I had offered had a better chance of being successful, so I’m heeding their advice. After all, they know the market and their customers better than I do!

Box of Books - Piece and Quilt with Precuts by Christa Watson

It was such an exciting day when copies of my 3rd book, Piece and Quilt with Precuts arrived!

So the next step is to edit the proposal by emphasizing idea 2 over idea 1 and present the changes to them in person when we meet up at Spring Quilt Market. Because we are working as a team here, they’ll help me craft it in such a way that it will get the official approval when the committee meets again next month. We just need to get the final concept that we both agreed on written down into words and graphics that will illustrate exactly what the book will be about.

We also discussed timing. At first I thought I wanted it to come out in fall of 2019 but in order to do that, everything would have to be in turned in this August (of 2018) and with my current travel schedule, there’s no way I could manage that. So we are tentatively looking at Spring of 2020 which will give me the time I need to actually get everything done. Although that seems like a long way off from now, it will be here before we know it!!

Although I won’t really be able to discuss the specific content of the book, I’ll gladly take you along my journey as I write the manuscript and create the content. I’ll write another update once I get the official word, so stay tuned!

The Making of Surplus Strips Part 1 – the Blocks

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I sure have enjoyed documenting more of my real-time progress as I create quilts to help promote my patterns, books and fabric. It’s so much more enjoyable to write about my process as I go, rather than trying to recapture the excitement months later!

Surplus Strips Quilt Pattern by Christa Watson

Click here to pre-order my Surplus Strips Quilt Pattern.

I’m currently making two versions of Surplus Strips – both in warm and cool colorways of my newest fabric line, Fandangle, which will be shown at Spring Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon, May 18-20. The pattern cover art above is shown using my digitally created images from EQ8 as a placeholder until the quilts are finished and photographed.

Once that’s done, I’ll send it off to the printer and release a PDF pattern, too. For now, you are welcome to preorder the print version which will ship on or before June 1, 2018.

Fandangle Fabrics Cool Colorway

Fandangle Fabric in the Cool Colorway

Although my timeline is tight, I’m still going through the regular process I use to create a well-made quilt. I like to prewash and starch all of my fabrics for two reasons: (1) it gets rid of the excess dye so there’s no chance of bleeding or ruining the quilt and (2) the starch makes the fabric stiffer so there’s less stretch while piecing.

My number 1 starching tip is to spray starch on one side of the fabric, then flip it over and iron the other side. Then repeat – starch the side you just ironed, flip it over again and press from the other side. The prevents the iron from burning the starch so you don’t get flakes! Starching and pressing both sides makes the fabric more crisp so it’s easier to work with. Also – I just use cheap starch from the grocery store and I’ve never had a problem with it.

Fandangle Fabrics Warm Colorway

Fandangle Fabric in the Warm Colorway

My Surplus Strips pattern is written for either precut 2 1/2″ strips or yardage. You can go super scrappy with a single jellyroll + background, or do a color blocked quilt like I’m doing. For yardage, It takes about 1/3 yard of 9 different fabrics plus 4 3/4 yards background + binding.

Surplus Strips Quilt Warm Colorway of Fandangle

I like stacking my pieces so they look pretty!

I paired up the darker gray confetti crosshatch print with the warm colorway of Fandangle, and the lighter gray with the cool colorway. If you are interested in using the same fabrics as me, you can preorder 1/2 yard bundles of Fandangle + 5 yards of either gray and you’ll be set, with a little leftover fabric.

Seams Pressed Open

Pressing seams open ensures flat blocks, and a flat quilt top.

I started cutting out the fabrics for both quilts while I was away on my last teaching trip. When I returned home, I finished cutting all of the pieces for the warm colorway and made all of the blocks in about two days. I used a shorter stitch length for piecing (1.8 instead of the default 2.0) and pressed all of my seams open (with a dry iron, no steam). This will allow the blocks to lie flat for domestic machine quilting.

Surplus Strips Quilt Block Warm Colorway of Fandangle

Surplus Strips Blocks in the Warm Colorway of Fandangle

After piecing the blocks in the warm colorway, I jumped into making the blocks in the cool colorway. I like making two quilts at a time, so I can assembly line the process as much as possible.

Surplus Strips Fandangle Fabric Cool

Units are cut and stacked and ready to sew!

Here are a couple more piecing tips that make the blocks go together smoothly and stay square: when sewing, I pieced with the gray units on top to ensure that I switched sewing directions each time I joined the units. When you join two seams in opposite directions, it helps prevent block distortion. It’s not a huge deal on smaller units, but if you are sewing long strips together, it can be more noticeable.

Lining up block seams

Step 1 for proper alignment – match up the fabric seams.

Also, in order to get the top and bottom of each plus block to line up correctly, I placed the top unit right sides together on top of the partially sewn block to see exactly where things needed to line up to keep the seams in alignment. The pressed open seams really help me see this part.

Aligning units for quilt blocks

Step 2 for proper alignment – fold back to make sure lines are straight.

Then, I folded it back up partially to make sure it’s in the proper position before sewing. I didn’t actually need to use any pins because the blocks were small enough and I used my fingers to keep the edges lined up at all times.

Surplus Strips Blocks Fandangle Fabric cool colorway

Click here to preorder bundles of Fandangle fabric by colorway + background fabric.
Click here to preorder the Surplus Strips quilt Pattern.

The blocks went together even faster this time around and I love the color distribution! Now it’s time to sew the blocks together and finish up the quilt top. I’ll make both tops and then have a little basting party to make that chore a little less painful, lol!! I’ll be using my spray basting method that you can read about here (wall basting) or here (table basting).

Stay tuned for the next update!

My Quilts from Modern Quilts: Designs of a New Century – Modern X and HST

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Today I’m pleased to be a part of the blog tour for the brand new book published by The Modern Quilt Guild and C&T Publishing, Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century. 

It’s a beautiful coffee table book presented in hard cover with images of over 200 modern quilts.

Modern Quilts Book

Click here to pick up your copy of Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century.

I always like to give a little behind the scenes backstory about how I end up being featured in collaborations such as this one. Sometimes it’s luck, other times it’s tenacity, and most of the time, it’s a bit of both!

When I attended the first QuiltCon in 2013, I knew right away that the time had finally come to start getting published and raise my professional quilting profile. One of the lectures I attended was on publishing a book, given by the editor of C&T, with panelists such as Angela Walters, among others. I came home from the show on fire and ready to get to work! Although I ultimately went with a different publisher for my own books, I’ve always been impressed with the quality of books published by C&T (and will be a small part of another book of theirs coming up in 2018 – so stay tuned).

An early “profile” image of me with Modern X back in 2014.

As soon as I could, I starting participating in Modern Quilt Guild events, submitting quilts to their shows each year, teaching at QuiltCon, giving webinars, and being one of their designers of the month (back in 2014-the first year they launched that program.) In other words, I got involved!!

When the MQG had a call for entries for this book, I eagerly applied. They looked through images of all the quilts that were submitted along with entries into all previous QuiltCons and I was pleased to end up with two quilts in the book!

Modern X

Modern X Quitling Detail

Check out #modernxquilt on instagram to see many amazing versions of this quilt!

Click here to get the PDF version of Modern X quilt pattern.
Click here to get the print version of Modern X quilt pattern.

Modern X was featured as one of the quilt patterns of the month created by and for MQG members. Here’s a fun fact: It was my suggestion that the MQG feature the quilts of the month as a special exhibit at QuiltCon which they’ve done every year since 2015!

Modern X at QuiltCon with Bill Volckening

Modern X on display during the “special exhibits tour” given by Bill Volckening at QuiltCon 2015

This quilt has gone on to win an award at a local quilt show and has been in a couple of traveling exhibitions of modern quilts. This is also the quilt I talk about when I share the importance of batting and basting in my lectures. (Originally I used a polyester batting for Modern X which created all kinds of puckers because it’s so slippery. I un-quilted, re-basted, and re-quilted this quilt using a cotton blend batting and was much happier with the results!)

HST (The Original)

HST Quilt

The original HST quilt. My photography isn’t great since this was taken before we got good equipment. However the photos in the book are top notch!

HST (Half -Square Triangle) was originally patterned way back in issue 5 of Make Modern Magazine. When I originally made the quilt in 2015 I knew I had created a special design and wanted to enter it into QuiltCon for 2016. However, when I went to wash the quilt, I used a “gentle” wash powder that ended up bleaching parts of the quilt!

bleach stain on HST quilt

The quilt now has random bleach stains throughout. 😦

Needless to say I was devastated. Since I’m always one to try and turn lemons into lemonade, I was pleased when this quilt was still able to be selected for the book. With some clever photoshop editing, you can’t see the bleach stains in the book photography and I’m glad it was able to be included.

Machine Quilting HST

Quilting Detail on HST

Since I love making functional quilts, I still use the quilt every day and it’s nice and warm because I used super thick cotton batting. I quilted HST with a lot of straight line quilting, and I created a woven texture in the background by alternating the direction of the lines. I threw in a few random spirals in the lighter gray blocks.

HST pieced backing

HST Backing – I love making pieced backs from leftovers!

The only thing I wasn’t happy about HST (besides the bleach stains) is that doesn’t hang well because I used a woven textured background fabric. Because of the looser weave, the background ended up stretching too much as I quilted it.

So even thought it was painful to accidentally “ruin” a quilt, I decided that if I remade the quilt, I’d be able to create an even better version and try out some different quilting ideas.

HST Remix

HST Remix by Christa Watson

I was pleased to sneak in a little of my Modern Marks fabric for the binding!

And now there’s another happy ending to this story. Because I loved this design so much, I knew I had to remake it and submit it for QuiltCon 2018. I almost cried when I received my acceptance that it made it into the show!

The background of the HST remix is all pieced from regular cotton solids so they were nice and stable and didn’t stretch. In both versions, the negative space is made from individually pieced background squares to add a bit more dimension rather than using large chunks of fabric.

HST's in progress

Improv-pieced HST’s

There are some slight differences from the first version. Because I ran out of fabric, I had to do some improv piecing to get enough triangles. I also decided to make them slightly bigger so that it would fit my bed. I also kept the idea of random pops of yellow and lighter gray but tried not to duplicate the layout exactly.

Quilting Plan

Quilting plan for HST

A draft “quilting plan” for HST remix. I obviously went in a different direction, but kept some of the elements in my final version. It often takes me many tries until I get a design I like.

The hardest part was deciding how to quilt it! I went through dozens of iterations of quilting plans until I could find something I liked. To make a quilting plan, I’ll print a copy of the design from EQ8 and will try sketching out different ideas until I’m pleased with how it looks. (You can do something similar by printing a photo of the quilt top.)

Although this takes time, it saves me hours of time ripping out a quilted design that looks great in my head, but doesn’t actually work on the quilt!

quilting plan for hst remix

Another quilting plan in progress – it’s getting closer to what I actually did!

Machine Quilting on HST RemixClick the image above to see closeup details.

I think my favorite part of the quilting was quilting some irregular chevron designs in each of the HST blocks and adding a bit of  “embellishment” by randomly quilting a different free-motion design in a few of the blocks.

HST remix quilting detail

I gave a nod to the original HST with a touch of straight line quilting and modern spirals.

Overall, I’m happy with how it turned out and I’m pleased that the original HST is preserved in the book, and folks will get to see HST remix “in the cloth” at QuiltCon next year!

More detail of HST remix

I loved using Alison Glass handcrafted batiks for this quilt!

Click here for a list of all the stops on the Modern Quilts blog hop, and to see more of the beautiful quilts in the book! There are no patterns in the book, just hundreds of pages of beautiful modern quilts for you to explore. I highly recommend this volume for anyone interested in modern quilts!