Blogger’s Quilt Fest Entry – Modern Trees (Home Machine Quilted)

May 16, 2014May 16, 201439 Comments

I’m excited to share another entry into the online Blogger’s Quilt Festival. It’s called Modern Trees. I finished it in December of 2013, and I’ve entered it into the Home Machine Quilted category.

You can view my other entry here.

Modern Trees, 43″ x 50″ by Christa Watson, Home Machine Quilted

Modern Trees was made as one of my free quilt alongs and you can still access all of the tutorials to make your own version of this quilt here.

Because I love to encourage and teach others how to free-motion quilt on their home machines, I’ll tell you a little bit more about the machine quilting on this quilt.

I think free-motion quilting on a domestic machine is super fun and relaxing!

I knew that I wanted to evoke the feeling of snow, but wanted to mix up the background quilting to make it a little more modern. I usually have better results if I plan out my quilting first. Rather than sticking with one motif, I roughly divided the quilt into 3 sections as shown in my diagram below:

The swirls in the top section represent the sky full of billowing clouds ready to burst! The middle section shows snowflakes and snow clusters gently falling to the ground; and the bottom section evokes snowdrifts piling up on the ground. I also decided to throw in a few words just for a touch of holiday whimsy – it’s fun to doodle!

I don’t always stick exactly to the plan, but sketching out my quilting designs gives me a rough guideline to follow.

As you can see, I used a washable blue marker to write the words, and to draw the larger snowflakes and the star. I quilted the rest of it without marking, adding lots of yummy texture and varying the size of the motifs for interest.

Quilting the swirls was definitely my favorite part – they are so fun and forgiving! It’s interesting to see how much “poof” is created when quilting so densely.

Another fun part of any quilt is picking out matching threads for each section. After a couple of years of trial and error and testing on numerous quilts, Aurifil has become my go-to thread for piecing and quilting.

I like to match my threads as closely as possible so you see the texture of the quilting rather than the thread. 🙂 I tried to quilt each tree with a different motif to “decorate” it.

Here’s a closeup of the quilting after the blue marks have been removed – so yummy! (Forgive the lighting – this was taken before I got better lighting in my sewing room!)

And one more, just for fun… (with more bad lighting….)

The quilting on this piece actually went very quickly. It took a total of 13 hours and I only worked on it for a couple of hours a day. I think that’s a reasonable amount of time, considering the density of the quilting and customization of the designs. Can’t you just imagine how tactile all this texture feels?

If you like Modern Trees, you can vote for it in the Home Machine Quilted category, starting May 23rd. Entries will appear randomly each time, so you may need to scroll through to find the picture of Modern Trees.

You can also click here to get all the free tutorials to make your own version! 🙂

Modern Trees by Christa Watson 43″ x 50″

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Linus Charity Drive and Free Quilt Tutorials

April 29, 2014April 28, 20149 Comments

I’d like to help spread the word about the the Project Linus Charity Drive being coordinated by Fave Quilts and Leisure Arts. They are requesting quilts and blankets to be donated to the Chicago, Illinois chapter of Project Linus.

If you are able to send in a quilt or blanket, they are giving away some pretty nice prize packs sponsored by Leisure Arts books. The drive runs through June 23rd, 2014. For complete details and where to send, please click here.

Fave Quilts has been very supportive of my efforts to share my love of quilting with as many people as possible. They routinely feature my free quilt alongs on their website, along with hundreds (possibly thousands) of other free patterns and tutorials. You can check out my profile here and literally spend hours on their site, combing through all the inspiration!

Baby Bricks Quilts by Christa Watson

For the charity drive, I’m sending them the Baby Boy Blue version of my Baby Bricks quilts shown above. I made two versions of Baby Bricks to illustrate how different a pattern can look, depending on the fabrics. I knew I wanted to donate them both, and I was able to give away the pink version to a brand new mom earlier this year. However, I held onto the blue one until just the right opportunity came along. Now I’m glad it’s going to the right place! 🙂

Here’s a full shot of just the blue version:

As you can see, I added more straight line quilting to the original quilt. Here’s a closeup so that you can see that straight lines don’t need to be perfectly straight or evenly spaced! The trick is to add enough lines so that your eye takes in the overall effect of the added texture.

When I quilted this quilt, I marked all of the original straight lines, about 2″ apart. Then I filled in the rows of quilting between the lines using the edge of my foot as a guide. It’s totally not perfect, but I love it and hope it will go to a good home. 🙂

Click here to get the free tutorials for Baby Bricks and whip up your own version for someone you love, or for someone in need!

And remember, pieced quilt backs are a great place to use up all those leftovers, whether they match perfectly or not. 🙂

I love the yummy crinkly texture all that straight line quilting provides!

Hugs ‘n Kisses Quilt Along (Reprise)

January 11, 2014July 1, 201510 Comments

Are you in the mood to create a sweet quilt for that special someone in time for Valentine’s Day? Then how about making my Hugs ‘N Kisses quilt? Just pick up a Jelly Roll of your favorite fabric line and some background fabric and you are good to go!

Since I don’t have any new quilt alongs scheduled for the next few months, I thought I would share this one with you. I’ve had so many new followers join my blog since last year (lots of hugs and thanks to you all!), that many are seeing this quilt for the first time.

Hugs ‘n Kisses Quilt Along by Christa Watson

Hugs and Kisses is an updated version of a previous quilt from 12+ years ago. I made the original quilt in spicy reds, oranges and yellows for my husband who is hot stuff! The newer version in soft pretty pinks (with all x blocks) was made for my sweet daughter.

Hugs ‘n Kisses by Christa Watson

Hugs ‘N Kisses Stats:

Finished Size: 48″ x 64″
Completed: April 2013
Pieced and Quilted: on my Bernina 1630
Fabrics: BasicGrey Kissing Booth and Kona Snow Jelly Rolls (plus scraps)
Piecing Thread: Superior Masterpiece, 50wt Cotton
Quilting Thread: Glide High Sheen Polyester, Cream
Batting: Legacy 100% Wool
Quilting Design: FMQ Flowers in the O’s with Serpentine Lines Quilted Across the X’s with a Walking Foot
Binding: By Hand
Total Sewing Time: 47 Hours

Quilt Along Tutorials – Click the Links Below for Each Step:

FMQ Flowers

Step 1 – Supply List
Step 2 – Fabric and Design
Step 3 – Making the Blocks
Step 4 – Sewing X’s and O’s
Step 5 – Finishing the Top
Step 6 – Piecing the Back
Step 7 – Pin Basting
Step 8 – Stitch in the Ditch
Step 9 – Decorative FMQ
Step 10 – Extra Quilting
Step 11 – Binding

Click here for an EQ7 download of this pattern.

More Modern Trees Finishes

December 18, 2013December 16, 201316 Comments

I just had to share a few more of my followers’ Modern Trees quilt along finishes and some detailed pictures of the quilting. The pictures below were all shared from my flickr group so be sure to hop on over there to see more!

Quilting Detail from NevaCanSew – Fabulous!

EllasCottage Finish – Love that background fabric!

Grammie Q’s finish – so pretty in pink!

JosiesSecret quilting detail – just stunning!

Gooses Bags and Gifts – way to make it “sew” unique!

By the way my MIL was so taken with my version that she’s asked me to make another one just for her. At first I thought I would try to finish it in time for Christmas this year, but on better reflection decided I’d better wait until next year.

So if you are just finding my modern trees tutorial and are inspired to make one of your own but have run out of holiday sewing time, it will still be there for you when you are ready to start!

New Block of the Month for 2014 – For the Love of Sewing

December 10, 2013December 5, 201310 Comments

Since I’m not planning any new quilt alongs for 2014, I thought it would be fun to share what my friends are doing instead! Alyssa from Pile O’ Fabric is hosting a fabulous new quilt along, “For the Love of Sewing” consisting of 15 blocks, finishing at 52″ x 56″.

I participated in Alyssa’s 2013 skillbuilder quilt along which was just fantastic! She covered many of the basics including piecing and quilting and it was a great chance to practice piecing modern blocks. Here are some of the blocks I made for the 2013 BOM:

And here are a couple of my quilted blocks from earlier in the year. Doesn’t this look fun?

Alyssa’s BOM’s are incredibly thorough and detailed. She’ll walk you through step by step on how to piece and quilt each block using quilt-as-you-go methods. New for this year, she’s set up an online “sewing room” platform consisting of video tutorials, downloadable PDFs and all the instruction you need to make this fabulous quilt.

She’s charging a nominal fee of $25 for the entire year which means you’ll have exclusive access to each monthly step! It’s quite a deal if I may say so myself. 🙂

Click here to join the fun and get ready for a terrific new quilt in 2014!

Machine Quilting Inspiration

November 13, 2013November 12, 201313 Comments

I love scheduling two weeks in between quilt along tutorials. That gives everyone time to work at their own pace. It also gives me a chance to highlight a few of the WIP’s that everyone is sharing on flickr and on their blogs.

Susan N – Desertsky Quilting

Today I especially wanted to give a shout out to a few gals who have already begun machine quilting their quilts. I’ll start off with Susan from Desertsky Quilting. She whipped up 4 blocks into this cute quickie table runner. She stitched a simple outline around her trees which shows up wonderfully on the back in the photo below:

Susan’s Quilting Detail

I love Susan’s can-do attitude with her quilt. She said, “The walking foot really helped me, and I don’t know if I’ll go beyond straight lines and wavy lines with that, but it was fun, and I loved how easy it was!” It tickles me when quilters like Susan realize that you really can add extra dimension to your quilts, even with simple quilting!

She made my day with her sweet comments when she said, “Your encouragement gave me the confidence I needed and I loved every minute of it. The quilting is my favorite part.” Me, too, Susan!!

Katie’s Straight Line Quilting

Katie A. did a fantastic job straight-line quilting this adorable baby quilt made from leftover blocks. Don’t you just love the texture her quilting adds? Fantastic!

Mara C’s Swirls

I adore the quilting that Mara (aka Simon Says Sew) is adding to the background of her trees. It looks like a blustery day in the forest, blowing up piles of snow drifts! I think Mara’s made at least 4 different Modern Tress so far. Can we say teacher’s pet? 🙂

Anne J. Loops and Swirls Quilting

Look at those fun loops and swirls that Anne J. has added to her background! Isn’t it great? She’s going for swirling snow and scattered snowflakes. I love it!

There are many more beautiful quilts that everyone is sharing. The fabric choices and color combinations are simply amazing. You can see more fabulous pics here on my flickr group.

My hope with this quilt along is that you will not be afraid to jump in and give machine quilting a try. (And don’t worry – if machine quilting’s not your thing you can still play with us and sew along!)

Background Quilting for Christa’s Modern Trees

Here’s a sneak peek of my FMQ progress. I’ll give some more in-depth tutorials on background fillers when I finish quilting Modern Trees next week!

Bar Graphs Pieced Backing Tutorial

November 4, 2013July 1, 201519 Comments

Bar Graphs is the name I gave to the design of the pieced back I made for Colorful Chevrons. I like my backs to be just as fun and colorful as the original quilt, and many times they end up being even more modern than the fronts!

Strips of Color Backing by Christa Watson

I really like the chunky “bars and graphs” look to this design, so I thought I would share a tutorial with you on how I pieced this backing. After all, it could stand on it’s own as an independent quilt design.

Bar Graphs 72″ x 88″

I started off with some basic measurements. Since my finished quilt size is approximately 64″ x 80″, I needed my backing to measure at least 4 inches larger on each side so that there would be “wiggle room” around the entire perimeter.

I also wanted to make sure that whatever design I chose would look okay once the top, bottom and sides were trimmed up. I designed the backing to be 72″ x 88″ with plenty of blank space on the top and bottom strips for trimming.

I started by sketching long colorful strips in a stair step design, filling in with dark blue solid for the negative space.

I used leftover Michael Miller Cotton Couture solids from the front of the quilt along with more of the dark navy.

The backing is basically a horizontal strippy quilt sewn together in rows. A list of yardage requirement and cutting dimensions are shown below:

Dark Blue Fabric – Approximately 4.5 yards. Cut (18) 8.5″ x 42″ strips. Piece them together to create the lengths shown in the above diagram

Colored Scraps – Approximately 1/4 yard of 9 different fabrics. Trim each piece to the lengths shown above. In some cases you can use a fat quarter where the pieces measure less than 22″ in length.

Bar Graphs Pieced Together – Ready to Baste!

Join together the rectangles with 1/4″ seams to create each strip. Then join the strips to create the backing (or new quilt top). I prefer to press my seams open and I starch the whole piece when sewn together. This is especially helpful if you are making a pieced backing. It will help the quilt glide more smoothly under the machine.

When I basted my quilt, I was careful to line up the strips as straight as I could. I knew that a lot of the blue would be trimmed up from the top and bottom strips and I’m pleased with how it turned out. I used the same dark navy for the binding as well.

Here are pictures of the finished quilt, both front and back:

Click here for detailed shots of the quilting and more about the front.

Whether you use it for the back or front of your quilt, please share pictures of your progress on my flickr group: Christa’s Quilt Along. Remember, you can make it yourself and make it your own. 🙂

I hope you enjoy making Bar Graphs. Click here for the EQ7 download and play around with different colorings, layouts and sizes.

More Modern Trees Inspiration

October 30, 2013October 29, 20136 Comments

While we are in between tutorials for my Modern Trees Quilt Along, I thought I would share some more fabulous WIP’s from Flickr. I’m very pleased to see how everyone’s really taking my pattern and making it their own. That makes me happy. 🙂

Mara C. (aka Simon Says Sew on flikr) is working on several versions including the two below. I love how she added a cute tree fabric for borders and made a table runner with some leftover blocks from another version.

Mara’s Modern Trees

Mara’s Table Runner

I love how desertskyquilts used a green background for her trees rather than cream. You can personalize this design however you like!

Use any background color you like! From desertskyquilts on flickr.

Carolyn (aka sweetboaterchick) chose a completely different layout, offsetting her rows of trees. Isn’t it fantastic?

Carolyn’s Sweet Trees

And who says they all have to line up? Make a forest of trees if you like, just like A. G. Lindsay did. (I was hoping someone would choose this layout!)

A.G. Lindays’ Layout

Want to make it bigger than my sample? Just add more rows and borders like Jody K. from New Jersey did.

Make it bigger with more rows and borders. Made by Jody K.

Or add a touch of whimsy with fun pieced borders, like Lindsey from Inspiring Creations.

Pieced borders by Lindsey.

I’m telling you, this is just a drop in the bucket of all the awesomeness that is being shared in my quilt along flickr group. Join the fun by posting your QAL WIP’s (say what?) or browse everyone else’s for some virtual inspiration. It’s never to late to start this project on your own schedule, sewing at your own pace.

I’ve started quilting my trees and can’t wait to share the machine quilting process with you next week! Yes, you really can quilt your own quilts. 🙂

Click here for the complete quilt along schedule for Modern Trees.

Modern Trees Quilt Along Inspiration

October 2, 2013September 30, 201312 Comments

Ok gals (and maybe a few guys). I am totally blown away by what you all are doing with your Modern Trees Quilt Along. I feel like I’ve lit a spark of creativity and you are turning it into a full-blown bonfire of inspiration. Yeah, maybe I’m not so good with the metaphors, but the blocks are really amazing to me.

Here are just few pics I pulled from my flickr group:

Joanna P’s Improv Blocks

Myrth McDonald’s Block

Lattegirl40 – lovin’ the scrappy!

Barbara P’s Layout

Check out this fun block that Melissa over at Happy Quilting came up with.

Paper Pieced Trees

It’s actually a different size, but is a good alternative for those who may want to make a bigger block, or who don’t have the tri-recs ruler used to make my version. Melissa’s block measures 10″ x 10″ finished and is paper pieced. She’s posted a blog tutorial on how to make it.

I’m thinking how fun it would be to combine larger and smaller blocks in the same quilt. Remember, this is your quilt so feel free to adapt it, innovate and truly make it your own!

The next Modern Trees QAL Tutorial will be posted next week.

Christa’s Year of Giveaways #21 – Exclusively for Quilt Along Followers

August 29, 2013August 29, 20137 Comments

For some time I have promised my quilt along followers a giveaway just for them and now here it is. It’s open to anyone who’s worked on any of my quilt alongs, finished or not. 🙂

Christa’s String of Pearls Quilt Along

To thank everyone who has worked on any of my quilt alongs thus far, I am awarding 4 winners each a set of these lovely charm packs from Andover (the same folks that brought you Pearl Bracelets). Each winner will receive a set of these 4 charm packs:

Textured Solids (25 squares)
Full Moon Lagoon by Mo Bedell (20 squares)
Annalee by Jane Dixon (22 squares)
Kitshenette by Claudine Hellmuth (19 squares)

Andover Charms 4 Pack

Now for the nitty gritty. This contest is open to anyone who has worked on any of my quilt alongs, past or present. Since my philosophy is for you to work at your own pace, you can share a picture of any stage of your quilt, finished or not. However, if you did manage to finish, you can link up twice for double your chances to win. 🙂

Here’s How to Enter:

Simply add your quilt along picture to the linkup below. You can linkup from a blog, flickr, or any other site that can host pictures and has a url that you can copy and paste.

If you are unable to do it yourself, you can email me your pictures to christa@christaquilts.com and I’ll post them for you (as a last resort). I want everyone to show off their hard work and inspire others!

I will select 4 winners at random from all the entries. This giveaway will stay open a little longer than my regular giveaways, just in case anyone wants to start one of my quilt alongs last-minute. (I try to be as accommodating and as inclusive as I can.)

If you have finished your quilt, you can link up twice – with two different pictures, one in-progress and one finished.

The linkup will close on Wednesday, September 11 at 6 PM PST. Please note that the linkup below will take you to a separate page to linkup. Due to the limitations of WordPress, it won’t show the pictures here in this post. 😦 But they are just a click away!

Linkup Below

Click here to enter your picture link and view everyone else’s amazing work! While you are there, be sure to give some comment love to those who have linked up. 🙂

Thanks for quilting along and be sure to check in next week for the announcement of my next quilt along (hint – think Modern Christmas)!

Last week’s winner: Congratulations to Vicky R. who won Angela Walters’ Craftsy Class, Dot to Dot Quilting!