Sewing Summit 2013 – Day 1

September 21, 2013September 20, 201317 Comments

I’m having an awesome weekend at Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah! Here’s part 1 of 3 of my quilting retreat adventures.

I drove to Salt Lake on Thursday and stopped by Melissa Corry’s on the way up. We sat and chatted for a solid 2 hours about quilting, kids, life, etc. She gave me a tour of her home all decked out in quilts, and we took turns showing each other sneak peaks of our upcoming quilting projects and ideas. It’s so fun to speak with like-minded souls!

Love that room – and those fabric stacks!

I got to see her MIL again (who lives just two doors down) and their brand new long arm machine. Melissa’s MIL then showed her gorgeous version of Melissa’s Star Surround QAL and I was beginning to feel a bit tempted to jump in and make one myself!

Gigantic Star Surround – Isn’t it great?

When I arrived at Sewing Summit, I hooked up with my fabulous friend Denise Clason who’s a prolific quilter, crafter and blogger. She has authored several books on sewing and quilting during our nearly 20 year friendship and is now starting to mentor me on how to write one myself.

Christa and Denise – yeah, we both like orange!

I was in heaven when we walked into a room full of Berninas for open sewing! I found my exact model and got to work stitching the night away.

Just when I was about to call it a night, the lovely Heather Bailey popped in for a bit of chat. She will be our keynote speaker on Saturday night, and she gave me a little background into her sewing life and creative journey. She’s a great talker (and a night owl, too) so it made for a fun evening.

Heather Bailey – yes, she’s tall and has great taste in clothes and jewelry!

Whenever I attend a retreat or quilting event, I call them “go away and come back and be a better Mommy weekends!” I’ll post again on Monday with the second installment of Sewing Summit 2013!

Wip Wednesday – Fabric Stacks and Yummy Quilt Projects

September 18, 2013May 15, 201418 Comments

Yesterday I spent most of the day playing with fabric and it was quite delightful! I pulled and prepped (wash with color catchers, damp dry, iron with starch) all of my fabrics for several upcoming projects. First up is my Modern Trees QAL which starts next week.

Modern Trees Fabric Pull

I chose mostly Kona Solids with one Moda Bella Solids Aqua. I decided to go with a cream solid from Free Spirit as the background because I had several yards leftover after cutting out all the Turning Cartwheels kits. It’s a nice yellowy cream and looks great with the teals and greens.

Cut Squares for Double Chevrons Quilt

Next up, I cut and marked all the squares for the Double Chevron quilt I’m making for my son. I was having quite a zen moment getting lost in the calm repetitiveness of this task.

Finally, I pulled fabric for Angela Pingel’s curved mini class that I’ll be taking at Sewing Summit this weekend. I chose an older Amy Butler print from my stash along with a coordinating solid. (Surprising that I didn’t go with all solids – I know!)

Fabric for Curves Mini

The solid will be my focal point with the print as background. It will be a modern take on a drunkard’s path block so I hope my fabric choices will work well.

I’m bringing all of these projects with me this weekend to Sewing Summit in the hopes of getting quite a bit done. I am way excited that there is lots of open sewing time during the retreat. If you are looking for me – I’ll be the one under a pile of fabric trees and HST’s!

Prepping for Sewing Summit and a New Project Start

September 16, 2013May 15, 201425 Comments

I’m so excited that I’ll be leaving for Sewing Summit in Salt Lake in just a couple of days. I spent the weekend gathering my supplies and making a list of what to work on so I will be prepared for non-stop sewing fun!

First up on the agenda is this new chevron quilt that I’m going to make for my 13 year old son. It’s very similar in construction to my Charming Chevrons quilt, with different color placement and larger finished HST’s so it should be pretty simple to sew. I might tweak it a little to fit his twin-sized bed. I’ll probably end up calling it “Double Chevrons.”

We recently cleaned up my son’s room and put up new shelving as part of my sewing space redo. Since I moved his Legos out of my sewing loft, I had to give him more space to store his stuff! He has an electronic drum set that takes up most of his room (yes – I’m that kind of mom!) so we really need to cozy it up a little.

I decided he needs a new quilt that matched the color scheme of his room. He’s into Yugioh, drums, space, and Tron. Fortunately, the furniture and decor in his room blend together in a nice palette of black, blue, grey, and cheddar. I told him that I get to design the front, but he gets to choose the back.

Since I created the design in EQ7 I was able to print it off in color and pull matching Kona Solids to match (one of the perks of having a fabric store in the house).

I found this fabulous Yugioh sheet online for a song that I will use for the backing (thanks to a bit of google searching).

He was way excited about that. I get to make a fun quilt and he’s happy with the backing and colors so it’s a win-win!

Next up, I’m going to try my best to finish up my Sunday Sling bag that I started in a class over 2 years ago! Each time I go to a retreat or quilting event I’m so jealous of all the cute hand-made bags everyone is wearing. This is how far I’ve gotten in 2 years, LOL!

I’m just not into 3-D sewing – I’d rather make nice, flat quilts. But, I decided I better buckle down and finish this UFO so I have something to strut. And besides, if it turns out to be a disaster, I’m sure I can just buy one on etsy! 🙂

So wish me luck as I frantically try to get ready this week. I’ve posted a list of classes I’m taking here and I’ve already heard from a few other blogger friends who are going – it’s going to be great!

Craftsy Quilting Classes on Sale for Labor Day

August 31, 2013December 4, 20131 Comment

Just a quick note to let you all know about the email I received from Craftsy about their Labor Day Weekend Sale. (You probably got it too if you are on their email list). Many of the quilting classes are on sale so now is a great time to sign up!

Here are a couple of classes I recommend that are on sale now (be sure to click the links below to get the sale prices):

Camille Roskelley’s Pre-cut Piecing Made Simple is 25% off. I just enrolled in this one myself and will be doing a review as soon as I finish watching it.

Camille has a new class that launches in October which I’m excited about, too. I recently interviewed her for a magazine article I’m writing and she’s just as sweet as can be. (I’ll have more on that in a few months. 🙂 )

Cindy Needham’s Design It Quilt It is 25% off. I love this class and blogged about it a few weeks ago. You can read my Design It Quilt It review here. She’s coming to my guild in January and I can hardly wait!

If I remember correctly, they are on sale through Sept 2nd, though they usually add an extra day or two at the end. 🙂

Have a great weekend of sewing!

Sewing Summit 2013 – My Schedule of Classes

August 30, 2013August 30, 20133 Comments

I’m very excited for the 3rd Annual Sewing Summit which is coming up in just a few short weeks. 🙂 Already, I’ve heard from a few other bloggers I know that are planning on attending. It’s going to be such fun!

I thought I would post the classes I’ve signed up for below, in the hopes that any of you out there may be in my same classes. Plus, if I post my schedule here, I won’t lose it, LOL!

Friday, September 20th, 2013

9:00 – 10:15 Publishing a Book with Kate McKean
10:30 – 11:45 Getting Published in a Magazine with Ellen March
1:15 – 3:15 Curves Mini Quilt with Angela Pingel
3:30 – 5:30 HST Quilt Top with Amy Smart

Saturday, September 21st, 2013

9:00 – 10:15 Brands and Bloggers with Bernina
10:30 – 11:45 Social Media with Tauni Everett
1:15 – 3:15 Building your Creative Business with Alicia DiRago
3:30 – 5:30 Photography with Melissa Esplin

Let me know if you are attending and let’s get excited together!

Sew and Tell – Traditional Guild Meeting Gets a Bit Modern

August 23, 2013August 20, 20139 Comments

I currently am involved with two quilt guilds in my city – The Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild and Desert Quilters of Nevada. Both satisfy different parts of my quilting personality and I love to be involved with both.

Finishing Stitchers Circle, DQN Guild Mtg.

I recently attended a sewing circle of DQN – a smaller subset of the larger group that meets monthly. This “circle” is called Finishing Stitchers and they focus on, what else – finishing your quilts! It’s a fun group and is divided up about 50/50 between domestic quilters like myself and those who quilt using a long arm machine. (At first I tried to call them longarmers but that just didn’t come across well in print, LOL!)

FMQ Demo – Practice Sketching

I presented a little demo on how I practice my free motion quilting, drawing my designs first on paper then quilting lots of practice samples before I finish my quilt. It was basically a recap of my recent FMQ tutorial that I shared on my blog.

Binding Demo by Linda

We introduced new members, had a wonderful binding demonstration, and had a bit of show and tell.

A recent finish from a Laura Wasilowski Fusing Workshop.

It is fun to see how artistic and modern some of the gals are starting to become.

A new member and her modern-inspired quilt.

In fact, one of our members who helped found the guild more than 25 years ago is thinking of starting up a modern circle as part of the guild. I would join that in a heartbeat. 🙂

Ann’s gorgeous piece.

It just goes to show that if there are good ideas out there, quilters will embrace them, no matter what names you attach to them. 🙂

New Angela Walters Class on Craftsy – Dot to Dot Quilting

August 14, 2013August 13, 20134 Comments

I am so excited that Angela Walters just launched a new online Craftsy class. I can’t get enough of her quilting! Her class is called Dot to Dot Quilting and I’ve already signed up for it and have watched the intro. Once I finish it, I’ll give a more indepth review like I did with her Quilting Negative Space class.

For now, here are a few highlights:

Angela demos machine quilting on a domestic machine, even though she professionally quilts on a long arm. No matter what type of machine you have, this class will work for you – whoo hoo! 🙂
She looks really comfortable in front of the camera with this class. I think she’s really found her groove teaching these classes online. (3 under her belt so far…)
Dot to Dot Quilting is a way to quilt interesting designs on your quilt with little or no marking using points on the quilt as a guide. What an awesome concept!
In class she will cover starburst, diamond, and lattice designs, plus lots of free motion variations.
She includes a free pattern in the class materials so that you can quilt along with her.
Angela assumes you have some basic experience with free-motion quilting and know how your machine works. This class can enhance your quilting skills and help take them to the next level.
Her philosophy is that quilting should be FUN and her quilting motto is, “close enough is good enough.” I couldn’t agree more…

If this has piqued your interest, you can sign up for Dot to Dot Quilting on Craftsy. Now I’m off to watch the rest of the class videos. I can already tell it’s going to be fun!

Kansas Troubles Quilt Contest – Enter to Win

August 2, 2013August 1, 2013Leave a comment

You know I love a good contest! I just heard about a nifty quilting contest sponsored by Moda and The Old Country Store, featuring Kansas Troubles fabrics (one of the most popular Moda designers ever).

Since the Kansas Troubles Favorites collection is on clearance right now in my store, I thought this would be a good time for you to stock up if you want to participate!

Here are the details:

The deadline for entering is October 15, 2013. Click here to enter.
The entry must be made exclusively of KT fabrics.
Any KT collection or mix of KT goods is fine!)
Entries may NOT exceed 60” x 60” (think small wall quilts, not bed-size quilts!)
Entries must be submitted online at www.KansasTroubles.com (contest rules can also be found there).
There are two terrific prizes! ($500 cash, 50-yard Moda shopping spree, autographed KT books)
Prizes are awarded to the People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice winners. (Smaller prizes for the ten finalists.)
The two winning quilts (People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice) will hang in the 2014 Quilt Museum exhibit!

Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Show and Tell – July 2013

July 26, 2013July 26, 20138 Comments

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild, and it was so fun to meet face to face with like-minded gals and discuss quilts!

Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Banner Finished

I only joined a few months ago and it has been so great getting to know these terrific gals. We had some fun show and tell which is always inspiring…

Marjorie’s Apron

Such Cute Fabric!

Tracy E.’s Blue Quilt, Quilted by Linda N.

Valerie K.’s Hawaiian Quilt for Honokaa Hospital
Hand Appliqued & Hand Quited – Gorgeous!

Valerie’s Grape Vine Embroidery/Colored Runner

One of our founding members, Carolina, focused more on the “telling” part. She gave us a wrap up of an industry craft trade show she recently attended and handed out a few freebies that she picked up along the way.

Carolina the Crafter – speaking in front of some gorgeous modern quilt shop samples!

Carolina is quite a crafty blogger and you can see some of her clever crafty ideas on her blog 30 Minute Crafts. She’ll also be teaching at the Riley Blake Fabric Fest here in Vegas this fall. Too cool (well actually, still pretty darn hot)!

X Plus Blocks for Charity Quilt

Here are a few X Plus blocks I stitched up that will go into a charity quilt for the Candle Lighters in a couple of weeks. (Thanks to Patti for cutting and pre-sewing many of the pieces ahead of time and for coordinating the whole affair).

Reading with Rover Quilts

And finally, a few of the gals were able to finish off some more “Reading with Rover” quilts from leftover Madrona Road fabric. These will be given to a local program coordinated by one of our members that pairs up kids needing extra reading practice with dogs to sit and read to (and cuddle with I’m sure).

We also discussed a little bit about whether or not to become members of The Modern Quilt Guild now that they have “officially” opened up for national membership. Hopefully we’ll make a final decision about that by next month because my vote is definitely yes!!

You can read about the last LVMQG meeting I attended here. It was a fun night and I can’t wait for the next one!

Craftsy Class Review – Design It, Quilt It by Cindy Needham

July 22, 2013January 21, 20148 Comments

I just love taking as many quilting classes as I can. And when I can watch them over and over again, that’s like icing on the cake! I just finished watching Cindy Needham’s Design It, Quilt It: Free-Form Techniques on Craftsy and let me tell you, it was time well spent!

The entire class is composed of 11 lessons about 1/2 hour in length (give or take a few minutes). I like this format because I can watch one section at a time here and there when I have a few spare moments.

In addition to giving tons of machine quilting tips and explaining many tools of the trade, Cindy’s class includes an excellent basting tutorial, too. Here’s one of my recent quilts that I basted, after watching this segment of her class:

In Design It, Quilt It, Cindy covers such basics as threads and tension, plus many excellent techniques and tools. She’s really good at trouble-shooting so you can get the most out of your sewing machine.

Cindy focuses a lot on designing your own quilting motifs by combining stencils and other ideas. She distils her designs down to three basic shapes which are repetitive lines, circles and S curves. Plus she has an entire section of the class devoted to feathers and another covering backgrounds or “filler” quilting.

She also includes some wonderful instruction on making borders fit. Cindy does a great job of covering all the basics, and I walked away really feeling like I had the keys to machine quilting success.

Cindy also does an excellent job of answering my questions whenever I have them. Each Craftsy class has a forum where you can post questions and read questions and answers posted by other students, too. Plus, you can strut your stuff and upload pictures of your work for others too see and comment on.

I just found out Cindy will be coming to my local quilting guild to teach a series of classes later this year and I can’t wait! She’s one of my machine quilting heroes because she encourages others to try it and quilt it themselves. I agree with her – it’s not that hard once you try. 🙂