Book Review – On the Go Bags

January 9, 2016January 8, 201611 Comments

I accumulated a bunch of fun sewing and quilting books over the holidays and I’m excited to share them with you over the next few days. My hope is that you’ll find something that resonates with you and add it to your crafty library!

Today I’ll start with On The Go Bags by Lindsay Connor and Janelle MacKay.

onthego_bags_cover

On the Go Bags by Lindsay Conner and Janelle MacKay

First off, this is a great book for people like me, who want to get over their fear of 3-D sewing!! It contains sewing patterns for a total of 15 projects including purses, totes, organizers and more.

onthego_laptopkeeper

For sure, I need to make this laptop keeper and I love the fact that it’s one of the easiest projects in the book! In fact, I appreciate how each project includes the difficulty level right at the start of the instructions. On the Go Bags includes 5 easy projects, 6 intermediate projects and 5 advanced projects. There’s something for everyone in this book!

Here’s a pic of the table of contents so you can get a feel for the range of projects included.

toc

I love all of the great sewing designers they included, too. I’m not as involved in the sewing community as I am in the quilting community. However, there are several names I recognize and I can attest that the quality of their patterns in this book is just as good as the material that they produce individually.

Here’s another project I want to make, again from the easy section:

purse_pockets
I need lots and lots of purse and tote pockets!!

For those like me that haven’t sewn too many functional items besides quilts, I really enjoyed the beginning sections of the book which includes things like how to work with interfacings, and how to make bag straps. There’s even a section on bias binding and piping (which could be applied to making quilts).

I think On the Go Bags is a great book to add to your sewing library!

I’m curious, what kinds of non-quilty items do you like to sew?

The Upcycled T-Shirt Blog Tour (and your chance to save the planet)

January 5, 2016January 4, 20163 Comments

I first heard Jenelle Montilone of (TrashN2Tees) speak on episode 5 of the Crafty Planner podcast. I was intrigued when I learned that she was into re-purposing T-shirts to keep them out of landfills. Then I really wanted to become her BFF (Best Fabric Friend) when I met her in person at the BERNINA ambassador reunion last month. Her passion and energy are contagious, and her talent for making cool stuff from T-Shirts really knocked my socks off.

HiRes_BookCover-page-001

Jenelle recently wrote her first book, The Upcycled T-Shirt where she covers tips and techniques for creative ways to re-imagine unwanted or worn out t-shirts.

Check out a few of these fun and unique ideas, all made from T-shirts:

summer_dress

A scrappy summer dress would be so fun to make!

earrings

I would totally wear these earrings!

circlepillow

Who knew you could update your decor with old T-shirts??

yarn

Create T-shirt yarn and knit it into other projects like throws and seat cushions!

Speaking of T-shirt yarn, Jenelle is going to try and set the world record for making the largest ball of t-shirt yarn, and she needs your help! To participate, simply follow the directions shared in the video below to cut your T-shirts into yarn:

yarn_ball

Balls of T-shirt yarn just ready to be made into something fun!

Then, mail your length of yarn with your name written on it by October 1, 2016 to:

Jenelle Montilone

T-shirt Yarn Ball Record

PO Box 754 Bloomsbury, NJ 08804

Later in 2016 a group of volunteers are going to wrap the t-shirt ball in a public & celebrated event where it will be judged by the Guinness Book of World Records. The World Record will be held by everyone who participates.

worldrecord

After the world record is obtained, the largest Ball of T-shirt Yarn will go on a book tour with Jenelle and will then be displayed publicly. Finally, she will host a second challenge to anyone who signs up to participate- returning large balls of t-shirt yarn to bloggers, school clubs, and organizations to see what they will make or come up with. Doesn’t that sound like fun??

To find out more about Jenelle’s fabulous book, be sure to follow all of these stops on the tour:

January 4 Jenelle Montilone // trashn2tees.com
January 5 Amy Johnson // makermama.com
January 5 Christa Watson // christaquilts.com (You are Here!)
January 6 Sandi Hazelwood // craftyplanner.com
January 6 Mandy Leins // mandalei.com
January 7 Julia Vidile // titesmains.com
January 8 Christopher Thompson // thetattooedquilter.com
January 8 Andrea Davis // sewtofit.com

Be sure to pick up your copy of The Upcycled T-Shirt today!

Free-Motion Quilting Idea Blog Hop

November 10, 2015October 31, 2015150 Comments

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You all know I’m a sucker for machine quilting and I love it when others helps spread the message, that yes, you CAN quilt your own quilts! 🙂 Prolific quilter and author Amanda Murphy has just released her latest project, The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book.

It’s chock full of ideas on how you can apply specific motifs to actual blocks. It includes over 150 step-by-step designs that are sure to jump start your creativity! Just take a look at these two ideas from the book:

I love it that the book is organized so that you can look up the motifs by quilt element or design family. But what makes the book extra special is that you can apply these ideas to your quilts whether you are a stand up long arm quilter, or a sit-down machine quilter. Amanda started off as a domestic machine quilter (like me) and she’s now the spokesperson for the new BERNINA long arm, so of course I think she has great taste in machines!

Here’s Amanda, in her own words, describing why she wrote The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book:

“I wanted to write an idea book to help people figure out how to quilt their quilts by breaking them down into a series of steps. Each quilt element featured in the book has multiple designs but all are based on the same basic allover designs featured in the front of the book – so it is easy to create a cohesive look. For instance, there are several designs for quilting flying geese, and they work well with other designs that feature the same families. There are also coordinating borders, sashing, and stand alone designs. There is a simple table runner design included to get you started.”

As an added bonus, Amanda and her publisher have teamed up to offer a companion to The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book. It’s called the Free-Motion Quilting Idea Sampler and is available as a PDF download which gives you loads of block patterns to piece and practice on!

Sampler Quilt for Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book

Giveaway

Leave a comment telling me your favorite free-motion quilting motif. (Mine is swirls!) Contest is open to everyone through the end of the week. US winners will receive a hard copy of the book; international winners will receive an e-copy.

Blog Tour

Check out the rest of the stops on the hop for more inspiration, and your chance to win a copy of The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book:

Monday 11/2: C&T Publishing
Tuesday 11/3: Generation Q Magazine
Wednesday 11/4: A Quilting Life
Thursday 11/5: Pat Sloan’s Blog
Friday 11/6: Mandy Leins
Monday 11/9: Sew Sweetness
Tuesday 11/10: Christa Quilts You are here!
Wednesday, 11/11: Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio
Thursday 11/12: Amanda Murphy

Book Recommendation – Sew Adorkable

November 6, 2015October 31, 20152 Comments

I get to wrap up this week by telling you about the adorable and hilariously funny Samarra Khaja who recently wrote the book Sew Adorkable. I mean, the tongue-in-cheek title really says it all!

Samarra first came to my notice when she became known as “The QuiltCon Artist” – photoshopping herself into other people’s QuiltCon pictures and then posting them on Instagram, when she couldn’t attend the event herself. (Just go to instagram and search #quiltconartist to see what I mean.)

Now I normally don’t do 3-D sewing (clothes, bags, accessories, etc.) but if I did, I would for sure pick one of Samara’s projects to make. They are just so fun! Just check out some of these adorable (or adorkable) ideas (all photography courtesy of C&T). I think my favorite is the “Pencil Skirt” shown on the cover. Get it? (Get it??)

Masculine Tooth Fairy Pillows

Stapler Pillow

“Trawzers”

Typewriter Tissue Box – Everyone needs one of these!

Samarra also included some delightful quilt patterns in her book. Take a look at these:

Odd Socks – That’s where they went to!!

8 Bit Birds

Braille Alphabet Quilt

Candy Dots – Love those added illustrations!

One of the most delightful things about Sew Adorkable is Samarra’s illustrations which are included throughout the book, like in the photos above. Her sense of playfulness is really evident throughout the book.

So if you are looking for that unique gift this holiday season, pick up your copy of Sew Adorkable and stitch up one of 15 fun projects!

But Wait There’s More!

PS – if you like her illustration style, Samarra also has her very own coloring book! It’s called Off the Bookshelf and it just released this week!

Book Recommendation – Wanderlust Quilts

November 4, 2015November 3, 201581 Comments

I recently learned the most important thing about Amanda Leins (aka Mandy or Mandalei Quilts). You pronounce her last name like LIONS. Got it? Good! 🙂 The second most important thing about Mandy is that she’s just written an amazing book with the incredibly appropriate title of Wanderlust Quilts.

So what are Wanderlust Quilts you ask? They are quilts inspired by the art, architecture, and history of ancient civilizations and the objects made by human hands that remain behind, made to gain a fuller understanding of the people who lived in that time and place.

In her book, Amanda presents 10 beautifully original patterns, along with photographs of the places and events that inspired those designs. Her background is in archaeology, so it’s a natural fit that she’s inspired by her previous work and life experiences.

My Favorite Quilt

Eggs and Darts, pieced by Sue Bishop and Quilted by Amanda Leins, won first place in the Modern Category at NQA Quilt Show in Little Rock, AR earlier this year.

My favorite quilt from the book is Eggs and Darts. The quilt design is stunning and I love the expansive negative space which allows for copious amounts of machine quilting. I had the pleasure of viewing this stunning quilt close and in person earlier this year at the NQA quilt show.

I’d award a Best in Show ribbon to Wanderlust Quilts if I could.

In fact, I love going to quilt shows because they inspire me so much. I’m such a big advocate of showing your work, not for the glory or ribbons, but simply to share your artistry with the viewer. I never really understood the phrase “art moves me” until I began viewing quilts as art when hung in quilt shows. I can stare at them for hours and imagine all of the possibilities if I were to make this quilt my own.

Here’s a better view of the luscious detail quilting of Eggs and Darts:

In addition to being an amazing pattern designer, Mandy’s quilting will knock your socks off, too. (Photo by Nissa Brehmer)

Egg and Dart detail – photography courtesy of C&T.

I also love that along with beautiful quilt photography, each quilt includes a photograph of the architectural details that inspired it. Here’s a closeup of a facade of the Pantheon, showing a small egg and dart row. I learned this fun fact from Mandy’s book: historically, the egg and dart motif was used as a very small detail on a temple, or as a bit of a border between features.

Wanderlust Quilts Giveaway

Mandy’s publisher, C&T is very generously giving away a book to one person at each stop along the blog hop. To enter, please leave your comment below telling me where you would love to travel to find your quilting inspiration. I’ll keep the comments open until November 15th, the last day of the hop.

Aquaducts, another favorite of mine. Photography by Nissa Brehmer.

Be sure to visit Mandy’s blog for the full blog hop schedule so that you too can be taken along an imaginary journey into far off places.

I have to end this post with this fun little image I noticed when looking for Mandy’s book on Amazon. It made me smile. 🙂

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Book Recommendation – Stitches to Savor by Sue Spargo

November 3, 2015November 2, 20153 Comments

Yay for book week! The next book on my list that I get to share with you is Stitches to Savor: A Celebration of Designs by Sue Spargo.

It’s a coffee table book which means it’s full of gorgeous photography for you to pour through. It’s 144 pages worth of full color images – eye candy for any quilter!

If you enjoy wool applique or handwork, the intricate details are sure to inspire you!

The book has very few words, just page after page of exquisite closeups and finished projects.

Order your copy of Stitches to Savor today! 🙂

Book Review – Splash of Color by Jackie Kunkel

October 5, 2015October 4, 201518 Comments

Today I’m excited to tell you about Jackie Kunkel’s brand new book, Splash of Color! Both Jackie and I chose Martingale/That Patchwork Place as our publisher (because they are the best) and our books both released at about the same time. So we thought it would be fun to tell our readers about each other’s books this week. (Check out her blog on Wednesday for her review of my book.)

Splash of Color by Jackie Kunkel, Hip to Be Square on the Cover

First a quick background if you haven’t met Jackie yet. She runs the super awesome online store Canton Village Quilt Works, is a certified Judy Niemeyer Instructor, and she’s also a pilot. Isn’t that cool?

Jackie Kunkel standing in front of Lava Lamps – such an awesome quilt!

Jackie’s Book, Splash of Color really hits home with me because of its graphic combinations of black and white prints with color. In fact, I love the book’s subtitle: A Rainbow of Brilliant Black and White Quilts. I love high contrast, geometric quilts and this book is just full of them. To see what I mean, check out these gorgeous images (photography by Brent Kane):

Seeing Spots

My favorite quote from Jackie is in the introduction to this book: “When I combine black and white with bright fabrics, something magical happens. My heart begins to sing. It’s like eating candy – I want more. I hope the projects in this book will affect you the same way.”

Yes, Jackie, they do affect me in the same way. I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Jumpin’ Jax

In her book, Jackie successfully teaches you how to combine a splash of color with black and white prints without it all looking jumbled up or too busy. She also includes several techniques that are a must have for every quilter: paper foundation piecing, curved piecing, strip piecing, and applique.

Twirling

The book includes a total of 12 fantastic quilt patterns and most of them include alternate versions for inspiration, so you can really see how versatile Jackie’s designs are. I think the alternate version of Proud Mary, shown below is my favorite quilt from the book, but really they are all fantastic!

Proud Mary

I also like that Jackie mentions it took time to collect her large stash of blacks, whites and brights. I love it when designs are versatile enough to use any prints so you can recreate them even if you don’t have the same exact fabrics.

Crossroads

Be sure to add Splash of Color to your book library, you’ll be glad you did. And now I want to know – have you ever made a black and white quilt?

DIY Block Design By Alyce Blyth

October 2, 2015October 1, 20154 Comments

Ready to go on another blog hop? My friend Alyce (pronounced Elise, not Alice), from Blossom Heart Quilts has just released her first e-book – hooray!! It’s called DIY Block Design and is all about teaching you some of the math principles that go into designing your own quilt blocks from basic geometric units. What a fun concept, right?

Alyce includes some handy charts and exercises that will walk you through the steps of block design including learning how to break down a block design into its basic grid structure.

For the hop, Alyce has rounded up several designer friends and a few designer newbies who will share some of their tricks and tips of their design process. For me, I always start with a basic block. I draw my designs in EQ7 but you can use simple graph paper, too!

My #1 Tip

When I’m dealing with design I don’t worry about the math until the end. For example, I’ll finalize my block design, then set it into a layout. Once I’m happy with the way everything looks, I’ll tweak the size of the block until it’s the size I need for the quilt I want to create. In DIY Block Design, Alyce shows you how easy it is to resize the block you want into the size you need.

As part of the fun, Alyce will also be hosting an Instagram challenge where participants will be able to share their design progress each week this month and enter to win prizes! The book is not required to participate in the weekly instagram giveaways, but it will help with your design process. Enter your blocks and be inspired by everyone else’s with the hashtag: #mydiyblockdesign. And here’s a bonus – you can get DIY Block Design at an introductory price until October 7th!

Be sure to check out all of the stops on the hop below for more fun and inspiration! And then get started designing your own quilt blocks!

October 2
Heidi @ Fabric Mutt
Christa @ ChristaQuilts You are here!
Angie @ Gnome Angel

Week 1: Inspiration

October 7
Ros @ Sew Delicious
Leanne @ Sewn By Leanne
Amy @ And Sew We Craft

October 9
Jennie @ Clover & Violet
Jane @ QuiltJane
Melissa @ My Fabric Relish

Week 2: Sketches

October 14
Jen @ Faith And Fabric
Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts

October 16
Sandi @ Crafty Planner
Anne @ Play Crafts
Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts

Week 3: Making

October 21
Joy @ Quilty Joy Joy
Linden @ Vine Lines Quilting
Cassie @ Cassandra Madge

October 23
Keera @ Live Love Sew
Janice @ Better Off Thread
Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts

Week 4: Finishes

October 28
Kelly @ A Place Of My Own
Abby @ Color Bar Quilts

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.