Facets Quilt Wins 2nd Place Modern in Paducah 2016!

April 22, 2016April 22, 201648 Comments

This week has been crazy busy and exhilarating! I was packing up to teach at EQ Academy earlier in the week when I got the email notice that Facets had won an award at AQS Quilt Week in Paducah, Kentucky – the mother of all quilt shows! Knowing I wouldn’t be able to attend due to my prior teaching commitment, I lamented the fact that I’d miss the awards ceremony and hoped someone I knew would be able to take pictures for me and let me know how it did.

By the way, when you get these emails from quilt shows, they don’t notify you of placement – they just say you have won “an award.”

Facets Quilt

Facets, 2nd at AQS Quilt Week Paducah 2016 – photo courtesy of Cassandra Beaver.

Then when I heard that AQS would be broadcasting the awards ceremony live on You Tube I was so excited to watch! As I’ve said many times before, I don’t enter to win – I just want my modern quilts to be seen out there in the world wide web of quilters!

To start off the awards presentation, names of all of the Honorable Mentions were rattled off at once. When my name was not listed among this group, my heart skipped a beat and I thought, “OK, this is cool – I’m up a for another 3rd place finish.” After all, I had scored a distinctive yellow, pink, and green dogwood ribbon two years prior for Colorful Chevrons – the very first time Paducah debuted the modern category. At the time I considered it a fluke, thinking the only reason I got the award is that there wasn’t much competition.

AQS Awards Ceremony

Then they announced 3rd place and it wasn’t my name. Say what?? Anyone who’s ever entered or won at Paducah realizes that even a 3rd place finish awards more prize money than many 1st place finishes!! (Enough to pay for many more quilt show entries – the fees really add up fast.)

When my name was announced for 2nd place, I whipped out the iPhone, my hands shaking so badly that I barely managed to snap a dark picture on the computer screen before it disappeared from sight. I completely missed the first place finish because I was still in shock. (Thank goodness for social media so I was able to catch up later in the day).

Modern Quilts at Paducah

Paducah 2016 Modern Winners – From left to right: Facets (2nd), Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts by Cassandra Beaver (1st); Big Love by Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill (3rd).

This win is especially validating because I had entered Facets into AQS Phoenix earlier in the year, with a bittersweet story as the result. Although I wasn’t disappointed that it didn’t ribbon in Phoenix, I was pleased to learn that AQS wanted to feature the quilt in their 2018 wall calendar. However, my excitement was quickly dashed when they had to rescind the offer about 5 minutes later, after learning the quilt had already been published in my first book.

Quilt_montage

Machine Quilting with Style features 12 show-worthy quilt patterns, including Facets!

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with entering published quilts into quilt shows of course, but since AQS also publishes books, they didn’t want to feature a competing publisher’s quilt image, even though the pattern wouldn’t have been included.

The audible sigh on the other end of the phone line was followed by a meek, “well….. just let us know…. if you have anything else we can consider…..” (I promptly gave them my email so they could send me details on how to submit a calendar entry, but all I got back was crickets….)

Facets Quilt AQS Paducah

Pat Sloan at Paducah with Facets – I love this pic!!

So yes, getting a ribbon for Facets was extra meaningful to me!! And now the best part of this story comes full circle. The lovely and talented Pat Sloan first invited me to be a guest on American Patchwork and Quilting Podcast back in 2014, shortly after attracting her notice with my first Paducah ribbon. Since that chance encounter she’s become a great mentor and friend. After the news of my win, she sent me this adorable picture of herself standing next to the quilt.

Thanks to social media, I felt like part of the action! Maybe one day I’ll get to go to Paducah. 🙂

Facets Machine Quilting

Facets Quilting Detail – photo courtesy of Kathy Mathews.

The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting Available for Preorder

March 8, 2016March 8, 20167 Comments

Good news! Signed copies of my next book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting are now available for preorder! I’ve been hinting about this new book for awhile but wasn’t ready to pre-sell it until now – I wanted to make sure I had all of my ducks in a row first.

Ultimate_Guide_Cover

My fabulous co-author Angela Walters and I were pondering how we could both sell signed copies of the book directly to our fans, since we won’t be at any public events together until QuiltCon 2017 (and that’s too long for most of you to wait). Jennifer Keltner from Martingale was kind enough to send us labels which we both signed and will add to each of the copies that we sell ourselves. And of course I’m happy to include a personalized message or add your name upon request when you order. 🙂

Here’s another bonus when you buy directly from us – you’ll get the book first! The official release date is April 5th but Amazon’s release date isn’t until April 19th. Now don’t worry – I’m not offended in the least if you’d prefer to buy it somewhere else – do what works for you!! I’m just thrilled that this book was able to follow so quickly on the heels of my first one.

As it gets closer to publication date, I’ll start telling your more about The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting, how the concept came to be, and of course I’ll share projects from the book. For now, pop on over to the Martingale site for sneak peeks of what’s inside!

As always – thanks for your support!!

Facets Quilt Along Week 3 – Making the Triangle Blocks

February 12, 2016February 10, 20161 Comment

I can’t tell you how much fun it is to watch your Facets progress. So many people are sharing their progress on Instagram and in my Facebook group. It makes me giddy!! If you are just joining us, you can catch up and get started on the Facets Quilt Along here. Be sure to grab a copy of Machine Quilting With Style, if you don’t already have it. We will be following the instructions found on pages 92-94 from the book.

triangles

This week’s assignment is to cut your “made fabric” into triangle shapes using the Triangle Squared Ruler and Perfect Rectangle Ruler from Creative Grids. If you don’t have these rulers, you can cut your shapes from the full-sized templates given on pages 96-97 of the book. You can either make templates from plastic or draw them onto paper and tape the paper to a ruler that’s wide enough to accommodate them.

You need both Creative Grids rulers for this method to work.

How to use the Creative Grids rulers:

step1

First, make sure there is fabric completely underneath the triangle shape you are cutting. Next, align the Triangle Squared Ruler so that the blunted triangle corner is on the top of the strip, and the measurement you need lines up evenly with the bottom of the strip. Trim on both sides of the triangle. There will be a little bit of waste, but you can just throw that in the scrap pile for more improv piecing!

step2

Once you have cut the triangle with the blunted tip at the top, rotate the ruler to cut a triangle with the blunted tip at the bottom.

step3

Don’t forget to cut triangles from you accent fabric, too! Hint: if you are using directional prints, you may need additional fabric to accommodate cutting your triangles in one direction only.

accent

You will need to cut the background triangles using the Perfect Rectangle Ruler. Remember to keep your strip folded so that you get a half rectangle for each side of the triangle in a square.

backgrounds

Don’t forget to cut angled tips indicated by the blunted end of the ruler. These will help line up your units correctly for sewing.

Using the picture below as a guide, line up the background rectangles so that the blunted ends align with the center triangle. The pointed tips will stick out. Trim the tips once the units are sewn.

alignment

I borrowed this image from a previous project using the same method with a smaller sized unit.

Sew the triangle blocks into diamonds where indicated in the book on page 94.

Eye Candy Inspiration

The best part of any quilt along is seeing how others make it their own. Here’s a roundup of blocks being made by followers in my Facebook group: Quilt With Christa and on instagram: #facetsqal. Remember – you can jump in at any time and work at your own pace. Some people have just started and others are nearly finished (which gives me plenty of pics to share for future posts)!

gina

I love the pop of orange that Gina from Gina’s Custom Creations chose to include!

sherri

Sherri (@snugbear2 on IG) is laying out her pretty purple blocks and sewing them together!

paula

I love Paula’s pretty piles!

jocelyn

I know I’m not supposed to have favorites but I really love Jocelyn’s triangles!!

Next week we will sew the blocks together to complete the quilt top.

Click here for the start of Facets Quilt Along

Christa’s Quilts – Woven Ribbons

January 7, 2016April 8, 201619 Comments

Woven Ribbons and is quickly and easily made from just two Kona Solids Skinny Strips. I used the 2014 Kona Colors and Black, but it would look fantastic in your favorite solids or prints.

woven ribbons

Woven Ribbons by Christa Watson, 45″ x 63″

I created Woven Ribbons to go along with my profile feature in Issue 9 of Make Modern Magazine. I wanted to create a modern design with a very minimalist, graphic feel that was easy to make from precuts.

I quilted wavy lines (seaweed) with switchbacks. These are two free-motion designs from my book Machine Quilting With Style. It’s fun to combine designs together in other quilts!

Although I love to quilt the heck out of my quilts, I prefer to choose designs that are simple to execute, don’t need marking, and do NOT require perfection to look great!

wavy lines quilting

Tip for quilting with bright colorful fabrics – use a variegated thread!

I quilt all of my quilts with Aurifil cotton thread and chose 50 weight black #2962 and 50 weight Marrekesh #3817 for this quilt. These colors allowed the design to shine, without overpowering the quilt. I used a cotton/poly batting in black since it’s such a dark quilt.

woven ribbons

I love how the black background causes the other colors to pop!

Woven Ribbons Stats

Made by Christa Watson; designed in EQ7
Finished size 45″ x 64″; completed November 2015
Pieced and quilted on my BERNINA 770
Materials: Kona Skinny Strips – 2014 Colors and Black; Hobbs 80/20 black batting
Aurifil Thread: 50 weight #3817 Marrekesh and #4241 Very Dark Grey
Quilting design – Seaweed (wavy lines) and Switchbacks (back and forth curves)
Received 3rd place ribbon in Modern, Small category at DQN 2016 Quilt Show.

3rd place modern

You can find Woven Ribbons, along with 14 other fabulous projects in the current issue of Make Modern Magazine. It’s a digital download which means you can save it on your computer forever!

issue9_cover

This is my second pattern with Make Modern, and I’m sure it won’t be my last!

The Beehive Quilt Blocks – Update

December 24, 2015December 18, 20153 Comments

I just wanted to give you all a quick update on the Beehive quilt blocks. This is a series started by my good friend Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts. She invited 12 designer friends to each submit a free block of the month tutorial and she did 12 herself. So over the course of this year, she shared 24 different block patterns, all for free!

Just some of the beautiful blocks. Check instagram #doublestarblock for each maker’s credit.

I was recently skimming instagram #doublestarblock which was the block I shared back in April. I was blown away by the variety of beautiful quilt blocks that have been made! When I see amazing work like this, it validates what I do as a designer.

Here’s my original block design below. Click here for my Double Star Block Tutorial.

I really have a thing for black, white and grey!

My Christmas gift to you is sharing Alyce’s link to all of the blocks so those of you new to my blog can rediscover this amazing series.

Click here for the Beehive Block Tutorials

Why don’t you put this on your agenda to make for next year?

Pattern Writing Blog Series

December 15, 2015December 10, 20153 Comments

My friend Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs is creating a blog series on pattern writing which launches next January. She will walk you step-by-step through the pattern writing process, which can be approached a number of different ways.

pattern_writing_series

Topics to be covered will include: design, pattern basics, text, math, illustrations, testing, and finishing. Cheryl has asked several of her pattern writing friends (myself included) to join her in this journey and share a little bit more of our pattern writing process. I’m game!!

Click here for Cheryl’s Pattern Writing Blog Series landing page, and be sure to follow her blog so you don’t miss any of this important information!

Spiraling Out of Control Pattern Available in MQU Magazine

November 12, 2015January 27, 2016100 Comments

Here’s some great news for those of you who have been patiently waiting for the pattern for my quilt Spiraling Out of Control. It’s now available in the current issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine (Fall, 2015).

Here’s a quick back-story of the quilt. I originally made it for the MQG/Riley Blake fabric challenge in 2014 and was thrilled when it was selected as one of the 10 finalists out of hundreds of quilts. It then went on to hang at AQS in July 2014 nd then at QuiltCon in 2015 where it caught the eye of the Modern Quilts Unlimited editors. (In fact, they also fell in love with another of my quilts at the show which will be patterned in a future issue, so be sure to subscribe!)

I used EQ7 to design Spiraling Out of Control.

Jason jokingly refers to this issue as “my” issue because in addition to featuring the pattern, they’ve also given my book a nice review, and I’m in an EQ ad, too!

Seeing reviews of my book in national magazines makes me giddy!

Spiraling Out of Control is in the Fall Issue of MQU

MQWS Blog Hop Day 12 – Focal Point

September 26, 2015September 26, 20156 Comments

I can’t believe today is the last day for my Machine Quilting With Style blog tour! When I finished up the book earlier this year, I went into withdrawals for a day or two, not quite knowing what to do with myself. Now I feel the same way, what will I share next?!

On Monday, I will do a quick recap of the tour and announce the winners of my 2 giveaways. I’ll also announce the results of the Quilt Along Survey. Plus, I’ll have an exciting new announcement to share, so stay tuned!

Focal Point – The Background Story

Focal Point 45″ x 45″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane.

One of my modern quilting heroes, Jacquie Gering, gave me the best advice when I was trying to learn how to make my quilts look more modern. She told me I should always try and include a focal point in my quilts. So in a way, I named this quilt to honor her.

My continuous spiral is perfectly imperfect and adds just the right amount of texture to the quilt!

I love quilting large continuous spirals and think they look terrific on both modern and traditional quilts. They add incredible texture to a quilt. However, for many people, quilting a smooth center can be a little tricky. After a little bit of trial and error, I figured out a way to quilt the whole spiral with a walking foot, with a nicer looking center.

Just remember, don’t knock yourself out trying to achieve perfect quilting. Opt for perfectly imperfect quilting instead. Once you back away from your quilt, all you will notice is the allover texture, rather than the individual stitches!

A Bit More and a Bonus Giveaway

I took copious notes about what makes a quilt modern during a presentation from Heather Grant at QuiltCon 2013. It’s taken me a couple of years to let these design principles sink in, and I’m still discovering more of what I like about modern quilts. I remember Heather saying something along the lines of wanting to encourage more design that looks liked it’s been cropped from a larger piece. That’s sort of the look I was going for with this quilt, and I’m pleased with the results.

Focal point with swatches of Chic Neutrals by Amy Ellis for Moda

For my version of Focal Point, I used Amy Ellis’ Modern Neutrals fabric from Moda. Amy’s new line is called Chic Neutrals, so decided to play around in EQ7 and recolor it in the newer line. Isn’t it fun? Amy’s generously giving away a bundle of Chic Neutrals to make this quilt.

Pop on over to Amy’s Creative Side to see her fun things and enter to win!

Elements that make this quilt modern – neutral palette with high impact, hard edges that create high contrast between the pieces, off-center design, focal point, geometric quilting done with a walking foot.

Time for me to complete – 15 hours from start to finish.

More Inspiration from Amy garro!

Amy Garro from 13 Spools is another inspiring friend of mine. She recently wrote her first book, Paper Pieced Modern. It’s pretty awesome, and I’m so glad the timing of my book worked out for her to catch her breath, and then make another quilt! You’ve got to check out her version of Focal Point – it’s amazing. I always encourage everyone to change up my ideas to make it their own, and Amy did just that with her version. She includes lots of eye candy and some fun commentary so be sure to check it out!

Be sure to enter Amy’s giveaway to win an ebook of Machine Quilting With Style.

Giveaway from Pellon Products

Pellon was another great partner – they donated several battings for me to make some of the quilts in this book. One of the things I did was try to use a different batting for nearly every quilt, just to give them a try. My favorite? Hands down, it was the cotton/soy blend, which is the batting I chose to make Focal Point. The batting was soft and supple, drapes well, and hangs well with no creases after it’s been folded. It was easy to quilt through, and I’m going to be using this batting in a lot more of my quilts in the future.

Thanks to Pellon for sponsoring a generous giveaway for this hop. Head on over to the Pellon blog for your chance to win some of the same batting I used – I think you’ll love it!

Click here for the complete blog hop schedule.

Click here purchase your autographed copy of Machine Quilting With Style.

MQWS Blog Hop Day 11 – Facets

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015224 Comments

If you love the fabrics in Facets, be sure to sign up for my weekly email newsletter, and get a free pattern showing them in a different way. (Of course you can choose your own fabrics, too!)

Facets – The Background Story

Facets 63″ x 70″ by Christa Watson. Photo courtesy of Robert Kaufman.

I love coordinated scrappy quilts and improvisational piecing, yet I’m more of a “structured improv” kind of gal. I like to randomly sew together a bunch of scrappy goodness, then create order and structure from the chaos. For Facets, I chose 28 Kona Cottons in warm reds, oranges, and yellows, with some green thrown in for good measure. The palette reminds me of crisp juicy apples!

It was such fun to cut up these fabrics into smaller chunks to play with!

It was very liberating to create my own crazy-pieced fabric to work with:

Randomly sewing bits of fabric together is very therapeutic!

I really went to town with the machine quilting on this one. I used both walking-foot quilting and free-motion techniques when quilting Facets. Whenever I quilt, I like to think about the logical sequence of steps I take before starting. That way, it doesn’t seem too overwhelming.

Using my “scrunch and smoosh” method for dealing with the bulk while quilting. There’s an extra table under there which helps hold up the weight of the quilt.

I love quilting swirls, and combining them with switchbacks really creates a lot of movement.

Photography by Brent Kane.

A Bit More – and a Bonus Giveaway!

I was stoked when Robert Kaufman decided to add this grouping to their designer palette series this fall. Coming in October, you’ll be able to get your hands on the Christa Watson Designer Palette in fat quarters, ten squares, charm squares, and roll-ups! You can create a quilt just like mine, but of course it will still be different because of the improv element. 🙂

What makes this quilt modern – offset grid layout, improvisational piecing, geometric design with high contrast and graphic impact, exclusive use of flat solids, bold, bright color palette, design goes all the way to the edges, organically quilted machine quilting.

Time for me to complete – 47 hours from start to finish, including the improv piecing.

How would you like to get your hands on a fat quarter bundle of my designer palette?

The Christa Watson Designer Palette – available at quilts shops everywhere in October!

To enter the giveaway for a 28 piece fat quarter bundle of my favorite Kona colors, just comment letting me know whether you’ve ever tried improv piecing and what you think about it. I’ll draw a winner at the end of the day on Sunday and announce their name on Monday, Sept. 28th.

And remember, don’t forget to vote for your favorite quilt for my QAL in January! Since I know you are dying to ask – yes, Facets is MY favorite quilt from the book. 🙂

Quilting Inspiration from kristy daum

I think my favorite part of this blog hop is seeing all of the amazing quilts from my talented friends! Kristy Daum from St. Louis Victorian and I have been online friends for awhile and finally got to meet up at QuiltCon earlier this year. You may remember Kristy’s amazing pixelated quilts featuring David Tennant as Dr. Who and the lovely Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock.

Now Kristy has knocked it out of the park with her version of Facets. I really love it when others really take an idea and make it their own! It was fun watching her instagram sneek peaks, and her final reveal today will take your breath away.

Pop on over to Kristy’s blog to see her version of Facets.

Teri’s Take

The amazing Teri Lucas from Terificreations shared a sneak peak of some Facets blocks on the Generation Q website earlier in the week. She chose to use solid pieces of fabric and did some killer quilting on them! Like me, she prefers to quilt on a home-sewing machine and she is one talented lady!! She’s one of those that I can talk quilting with all day long!

So far we’ve only met in person once, and I can’t wait to see her again at the next event. She’s always so thoughtful and encouraging – just the type of quilty friend you want in your corner. Teri is offering a book giveaway on her site. While you are there, be sure to browse around, and check out her amazing quilting!!

Head over to Teri’s blog to enter her giveaway.

Visit The Quilting Gallery

Michele Foster is the brilliant name and voice behind the highly popular website the Quilting Gallery. We first met online when I was an advertiser on her site, many moons ago. We have turned that business relationship into a really great friendship and I hope someday soon that we can meet up in person. I mean, if you are like me, you can always use another BQF (best quilting friend), right?

Michele blogs and shares so much inspiration about what’s happening in the quilting community, and she’s has written very nice things about my book over on her blog today. She even scored extra points with me by saying that Facets is her favorite quilt, too! In addition to being a prolific quilter, Michele is an amazing designer and hosts lots of fun clubs on her site. As part of her stop, she’s generously including a fun giveaway of her own. 🙂

Visit the Quilting Gallery blog and enter to win a membership to Michele’s mini quilting club!

Click here for the complete blog hop schedule.

Click here purchase your autographed copy of Machine Quilting With Style.

MQWS Blog Hop Day 8 – Static

September 22, 2015September 22, 20153 Comments

On yesterday’s giveaway post I asked everyone which was their favorite quilt so far. It was so fun to read the responses! I was a little worried when I wrote the book, that not everyone would resonate with each pattern from Machine Quilting With Style. But I have been overwhelmed by the positive responses. There truly is something for everyone in this book, as evidenced by your answers – so thanks for your input!

Static – The Background Story

Pixelated quilts (those forming an image from tons of tiny squares) have been all the rage in modern quilting circles the last couple of years. Static is my tongue-in-cheek attempt to get in on this trend. Being the non-artist that I am, and not being able to come up with an amazingly complex design – I attempted to recreate “static” – a repeating block pattern that looks like nothing but chaos. I even posed the question – do you see an image in the static? 🙂

Static 56″ x 64″ by Christa Watson. Photography by Brent Kane.

I really did enjoy picking out the fabrics for this quilt, happy shades of pink, purple and yellow from the True Colors collection by Free Spirit. The quilt contains lots of small squares, but strip piecing made the blocks go together fairly quickly. Although the individual blocks look random, there’s actually a method to my madness when I pieced the quilt!

Some of my Static strips. I chose 16 different fabrics – such fun!

For the machine quilting, I really had to fight hard to overcome the urge to quilt this one to death! I wanted to have at least one quilt that a very beginner quilter could have immediate success with. It’s quilted completely with a walking foot and I use my favorite method of stitching “near the ditch” rather than in it. The job goes much quicker and is a lot more forgiving this way. I also like the wavy effect that the quilting gives to some of the blocks, even though they are all pieced totally straight.

Quilting “near” the ditch is so much easier than stitching “in” the ditch!

A Bit More

What makes this quilt modern: Although Static is a pretty traditional design, I still chose to incorporate a few modern elements: bold, geometric prints, sharp angles with hard edges, minimal design, walking foot quilting, no borders.

Time to complete: 26 hours from start to finish (mostly piecing and pressing).

A Fresh Quilt from Freshly Pieced

My friend Lee Heinrich from Freshly Pieced can put together fabulous color combinations like no one else! I adore the fabrics she chose for her version of Static, which makes a seemingly simple design come to life. Lee has an eye for color and she’s an amazing pattern designer, too!

I was so happy when Lee, Katie and Faith released their first book, Vintage Quilt Revival, with much success. Lee wrote me the kindest note ever after I participated in her blog hop. She said she’d return the favor when it was my turn for a book, and true to her word, she’s knocked it out of the park! I love the extra touch she added to the quilt, to truly make it her own!

Head on over to Freshly Pieced for tons of eye candy and quilty inspiration!

Eye Candy from Esch House Quilts and Gen Q Magazine

Another fabulous designer friend of mine is Debbie Grifka from Esch House Quilts. She’s been super involved in the modern movement almost from the beginning, was an instructor at the inaugural QuiltCon and is a prolific pattern designer, too!

Pop on over to Debbie’s blog for her thoughts on the book (we really do have similar tastes), and while you are there, you may want to look around for awhile. I mean just look at the sleek, modern quilts pictured in her website header above. Every time I see a quilt of Debbie’s, I’m so inspired to make more!

Generation Q is one of my favorite modern quilting magazines! It’s a bit edgy and fun and the designs they share in each issue always resonate with me. Plus, the magazine has tons of well-written articles, so there’s more to read and look at than just pretty pictures. I was honored when they chose me to represent “I am Gen Q” in their latest issue. Be sure to grab a subscription to Generation Q magazine and check it out!

I Am Gen Q is written by Scott Hansen, who was an earlier stop on the hop.

Scott (who was an earier stop on the hop) and Teri (who’s coming up later this week) both chose to remake some blocks from one of the quilts in the book. Be sure to pop on over to the Gen Q website to see which quilt they chose. You will be blown away by their versions – so completely different yet amazing in their own way. I love it when designs look great in any fabrics!

Be sure to enter the Generation Q giveaway!

Click here for the complete blog hop schedule.

Click here purchase your autographed copy of Machine Quilting With Style.