Book Review – Urban and Amish by Myra Harder

October 25, 2014October 25, 20147 Comments

Since I’m away at Quilt Market this weekend, I thought it would be fun to share a book review with you! This is a tiny taste of what it’s like to be at market: checking out the new books, meeting some of the authors, and getting inspired to come home and sew. 🙂

Urban and Amish: Classic Quilts and Modern Updates is written by Myra Harder and published by Martingale/That Patchwork Place. (Yes, I’m a little bit biased towards Martingale since they are my publisher, too, so expect to see me sharing more of their awesome quilting books!)

All images are courtesy of Martingale. The beautiful photography is by Brent Kane.

The premise of the book is that the author starts with 8 traditional Amish designs and reinterprets them into a modern urban aesthetic, resulting in a total of 16 designs you will love to make. Here is just a sampling:

Ocean Waves, 71 1/2″ x 71 1/2″ – the Amish Version

South Pacific, 88 1/2″ x 96 1/2″ – a Fresh Interpretation

In the two quilts above, I love how the block design is the same, yet the borders and choices of fabrics create a dramatically different result!

In the two quilts below, Myra has chosen to reinterpret one of the most traditional and beloved blocks into something a little more urban.

Amish Nine Patch, 54 1/2″ x 65 1/2″

Southern Comfort, 86″ x 107″

I think my favorite paring from the book is the classic trip around the world and a re-imagined trip to New York. The quilts are dramatically different, yet they share similar construction techniques.

Trip Around the World, 60 1/2″ x 72 1/2″

Trip to New York, 50 1/2″ x 71 1/2″

I think the possibilities with these quilts can go even further. I can just imagine making the “Amish” versions in print fabrics, and the “Urban” ones in more traditional colors. As with any Martingale book, Urban and Amish includes clear, concise directions with plenty of color diagrams to keep you organized.

Myra has even included a section about Amish vs. urban fabrics, plus snippets of inspiration for each quilt and a section on finishing in the back of the book. Urban and Amish runs a total of 80 pages and can be found on line from Amazon or Martingale, and hopefully at your favorite local quilt shop. Enjoy the eye candy!

Save 50% on Angela Walter’s Machine Quilting Craftsy Class

September 29, 2014September 24, 20145 Comments

One of the perks I love about partnering with Craftsy is getting to pick and choose which Craftsy classes I get to watch, and then sharing information about those classes with you. But what I’m also super excited about is getting to offer exclusive discounts just for my blog readers! Whoo hoo!

For one week only, you guys can save 50% off of Angela Walters’ latest craftsy class, Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know how much I love machine quilting. I also love how well Angela’s designs work on nearly any quilt, no matter what type of machine you use to quilt them.

Meeting Angela at QuiltCon in 2013 – I’m a huge fan of her work and teaching style!

I’ll tell you a quick story then get onto the review. When I met Angela for the first time at QuiltCon in 2013, I told her how much I loved the design aspect of her quilting and how I would enjoy incorporating some of her techniques into my domestic quilting. She responded by saying, “You get it! The type of machine you use doesn’t matter – it’s the design that counts.” Ever since then, I’ve been a big fan-girl. 🙂

The fact that Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety is demonstrated on a sit-down domestic machine is just icing on the cake!

Angela at QuiltCon – she can rock a feather like no other!!

Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety focuses on six basic quilting designs that anyone can learn:

pebbles
swirls
squares
feathers
clamshells
ribbon candy

By applying small changes to these “staple” designs, you really can creative a big variety of unique quilting textures. Each of the six lessons runs about 20-25 minutes each, which is the perfect amount of time for me to watch a segment while taking a break from work and eating my lunch. 🙂

I also enjoy the format of this particular class in that each of the lessons is independent of the others, so you can watch them in any order. Say for example, you want to skip pebbles for now, and get straight into watching the section on feathers or ribbon candy; you can totally do that and you won’t be behind!

One of my favorite techniques that Angela encourages is the idea of combining designs. I’ve done that before when I quilted pebbles and swirls into the background spaces of my String of Pearls quilt:

I call this combination of designs, “Swirls and Pearls” – it’s so effective!

Although I love being a teacher myself, I also enjoy being a student, especially when I can learn from such a warm and friendly person as Angela Walters. She’s very engaging and is also quick to respond to questions and comments during the class.

In fact, the interactive platform is one of the things I love best about Craftsy classes. The first thing I usually do when watching a class is read through all of the comments and questions that others have left before I begin each section. It gives me a good idea of what is coming up, and I can easily add to the discussion if I feel so inclined.

Detail of gorgeous quilting posted by one of the students from class, Dana R.

After watching Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety, I’m sure you will be inspired to add all sorts of small changes to your quilting that will result in a big variety of textures and designs! Just imagine the endless possibilities. 🙂

Oh, and be sure to click on the “projects” section of the class to see what your fellow students are making. It’s full of delicious eye candy!

Remember, the 50% class discount is only valid for the next 7 days, so sign up now, before you miss it!

Craftsy Class Review and a Free Class – Creative Quilt Backs

September 22, 2014September 22, 20146 Comments

I’m so excited to partner with Craftsy and kick off my fall roundup of online classes to share with you. For starters, why don’t we start with a free class? As of this writing, I counted 35 free “mini” classes offered by Craftsy and my favorite has to be Creative Quilt Backs by Elizabeth Hartman.

This class was the first one I watched when I first discovered all that Craftsy has to offer and I became a huge Craftsy fan right away!

In Creative Quilt Backs, Elizabeth walks you through the basics of how to calculate the size needed for various types of pieced backings. She includes very detailed step by step directions that help you get comfortable with the dreaded “quilt math!”

She also gives great tips on how to use large scale prints, and how to use up those leftovers by making a secondary composition on the back. I love making scrappy back art, and here are just a few of the fun quilt backs I’ve made since watching this class:

The Back of Modern Logs

The back of Colorful Chevrons

The back of String of Pearls

Craftsy’s free mini classes are very similar to the regular paid classes with well produced step-by-step videos from some of your favorite teachers. They are just a tad shorter and don’t include the back and forth teacher communication, but they are a great way to check out the Craftsy Platform.

Be sure to check out Creative Quilt Backs with Elizabeth Hartman and jazz up your finishes!

Book Review – A Quilter’s Mixology by Angela Pingel

June 28, 2014June 28, 20145 Comments

I just finished reading Angela Pingel’s book, A Quilter’s Mixology, so now it’s time to share it with you guys! I first met Angela when I took a curved piecing class from her at Sewing Summit last year. I love that she is so enamored with curved piecing that she’s been able to put a fresh spin on a classic technique.

My version of Angela’s curves – she is a great teacher!

During class, I made this block which I think is way more interesting than a classic Drunkard’s path block (thought Angela is pretty good about teaching that method, too). The trick is in trimming up the pieces in such a way as to make part of the seams disappear, leading to a sleeker smoother look which I instantly fell in love with.

Angela’s book is chock full of fresh and fun quilts to make. She includes extra sections on choosing colors and fabrics, step-by-step curved piecing instructions with nicely illustrated diagrams, and tons of fabulous photography throughout.

Loosely Curved Wallhanging by Angela Pingel. Photo courtesy of Interweave.

Hands down, her Loosely Curved Wallhanging is my favorite quilt in the book. I love the graphic design, the bold colors, and the fact that she even quilted it herself. 🙂 I still haven’t tried the super-popular woodgrain machine quilting design, but it sure looks great on this quilt!

Flower Power Quilt by Angela Pingel. Photo courtesy of Interweave.

I love Angela’s Flower Power quilt for much the same reason. I’m drawn to quilts with a lot of negative space and blocks shown in different scales. I think the allover stippling complements the art-deco vibe of this quilt without over-powering it.

I can recommend this book for those who are into curved piecing as well as those that aren’t. There’s plenty of eye-candy in the way of color combinations and quilting designs that are sure to delight.

Detail Shot of Orange Twist Quilt, Courtesy of Angela Pingel. Quilted by Krista Withers.

A Quilter’s Mixology includes a total of 16 projects spread over 143 pages, complete with full-size templates. I’m pretty sure you can also use die cut machines for several projects, too!

What other quilting books are on your summer reading list?

A Sizzix Product Review, WIP, and a Giveaway!

June 13, 2014June 11, 201432 Comments

Today I want to give a quick plug for a new toy I just got – the Sizzix Fabi cutter. This came to me courtesy of Sizzix and FaveQuilts.com. They gave me a startup kit in exhange for a review of the product which you can read here.

They didn’t ask me to post about it on my own blog, but I had so much fun playing with it that I couldn’t help but share what I’m currently doing with it!

The Giveaway

But first things first – the folks over at FaveQuilts are giving away a starter kit which includes the cutter and 3 flower templates. The other dies shown in the picture above are available separately. They sent me a few extras to play around with. 🙂

Click here to enter.

The deadline to enter is June 15th at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on their website, not mine.

My WIP

I chose to design a modern wall quilt based on the circle die they sent. (I may turn this into a quilt along in the fall once I finish up my summer sewing deadlines – so stay tuned!)

Abacus by Christa Watson, designed in EQ7

I’m happy to cut squares and rectangles the old fashioned way, but the Fabi die cutter sliced through circles like they were nothing! They were super fast and accurate, too!

I was able to back each piece of fabric with fusible adhesive and run it through the machine with no problems. The cuttings are even fun, too!

Here are my precut circles pinned to my design wall. The paper backed adhesive doesn’t stick to flannel, so I had to use pins to hang them up. This is my first experience ever with a die cutter, but so far I’m loving what I’m seeing!

How about you? Have you ever used a die cutter before? What do you think of them? I’d love to know!

Craftsy Review – Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot

June 4, 2014February 12, 201718 Comments

Can I just tell you how awesome Jacquie Gering’s newest Craftsy class is? It’s called Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot and is truly one of the best classes I’ve watched.

Jacquie’s class is chock full of good tips and tricks for using your walking foot to achieve amazing machine quilted results. One of my favorite tongue-in-cheek reminders she offered is that it’s a walking foot, not a running foot! So going slow is the key to walking foot quilting success. 🙂

I’ve met Jacquie in person a few times and am currently working with her on some behind-the-scenes QuiltCon show prep. She is probably one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever met, and she really cares about those to whom she teaches. In this class, she’s all about sharing what she knows in such an easy-going conversational way, that you can’t help but enjoy every minute of the class.

Sinking Sun by Jacquie Gering – one of my all-time favorites! Image courtesy of Jacquie.

In Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot, Jacquie makes the comparison of quilting to a good paint job: more time may be spent prepping your work than you think, but good preparation is another key to good quilting success. She echoes my sentiments that proper basting and good tools help eliminate puckers and tucks. She prefers spray basting and flat battings (hear, hear!) and one tip I picked up was that you can iron your cotton batting to help get it nice and smooth. Now why didn’t I think of that??

One of my favorite “modern” quilting textures is matchstick quilting where you literally quilt every 1/4″ to 1/8″ over the surface of your quilt. I love Jacquie’s method for achieving precise lines that add such amazing texture to her quilts! If nothing else, this class is worth it for that demo alone!

Jacquie’s amazing matchstick quilting – one of my favorite techniques!

The Class runs for approximately 3 1/2 hours, broken up into 8 easily digestible lessons. Topics covered include walking foot basics, decorative stitches, quilting curves & text, and more! It ends with a section on quilting strategies which is super helpful for you to learn how to manage the bulk of a large quilt under the machine.

Jacquie validates many of the techniques that I like to employ in my walking foot quilting, such as using the edge of your foot as a guide and counting stitches when figuring out when to turn your work for echo quilting.

jacquie_hidden_gems

Jacquie shows how to quilt wonderfully straight lines as shown in Hidden Gems, above.

I love how Jacquie is not afraid to shy away from quilting large quilts and she doesn’t even quilt with a super-sized machine, either. She introduces several ways to add gentle curves to your quilts, and she offers tips on how to start and stop, along with what to do when you run out of thread.

I personally get excited when others finally understand just how fun quilting your own quilts can be. With this class, you can learn how to quilt all those quilts (modern or not) without feeling like free-motion quilting is your only option to achieve amazing results.

jacquie_2

Jacquie’s hexagon quilt – all done on her home machine. Image courtesy of Jacquie.

I highly recommend Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot. In fact, I think I’ll go watch it again, just to pick up more tips that I may have missed the first time around!

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Book Review – Fabulously Fast Quilts by Amy Smart

May 20, 2014May 14, 20145 Comments

I want to give a quick thanks to Amy Smart and Martingale for giving me a review copy of Fabulously Fast Quilts so I can tell you all about it. First – a quick background: I got to know Amy when I used to sponsor blogs to advertise my online store (before I decided to switch hats from store owner to pattern designer).

I love Amy’s blog style, the content she shares, and her genuinely friendly manner. I finally got to meet her in person at Sewing Summit last year and appreciate how down to earth and “real” she is!

All images courtesy of Martingale. Photography by Brent Kane.

When I found out Amy was writing a book, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it because I knew it would be chock full of quilty goodness! Let me tell you – it does not disappoint!

Fabulously Fast Quilts is an easily digestible 48 page book full of 12 fresh and fun patterns, all designed by Amy. The designs are simple, yet striking, and I can honestly say I would enjoy making each one!

Crossing Guard, shown above is my favorite design from the book. It’s very clean looking and modern. Plus it includes one of my favorite color combinations – green and yellow! I also really like the scrappy goodness of Fast Four Patch, shown below.

I love how Amy is able to add depth and dimension in a relatively low volume quilt, as shown in Floating Shoefly, below. That pop of orange really sparkles against all the scrappy neutrals, and the border treatment makes for a very effective design.

The number one thing I’ve been learning about what makes a successful pattern designer is being able to create effective, interesting combinations with enough contrast to really make the design pop. Amy has nailed that with her book!

Although it’s a quick read (yes, I do enjoy “reading” patterns, LOL!), there is enough introductory information in the book to get you started on making these fabulous quilts in a hurry. The book is divided up into four sections: Strip Piecing, Quick Corners, Slick Slicing, and Stack, Slice & Shuffle. Each section gives patterns for 3 different quilts showing you how to utilize each of these techniques.

Butterfly Effect, shown below, is an example of using Slick Slicing to make an exciting scrappy quilt. Just think of how you can plow through your stash with this one!

Throughout the book, Amy has included tips and tricks for quicker cutting, piecing, and assembly. She’s even included size options on several of the quilts, which is always nice to have. I appreciate well-written instructions with good illustrations and this book has plenty of those, too.

So be sure to pick up your copy of Fabulously Fast Quilts by Amy Smart. You’ll be glad you did!

Craftsy Class Review – Elizabeth Dackson’s Start Free-Motion Quilting

April 12, 2014April 11, 20148 Comments

I’m excited to review another fantastic Craftsy class with you today! It’s Elizabeth Dackson’s “Start Free-Motion Quilting” and I love it on so many levels! Although machine quilting is one of my favorite subjects to teach, I cannot get enough free-motion quilting education myself. 🙂

Everyone has their own different ways of teaching which is why I highly recommend taking as many classes as you can from as many different instructors as you can. When it comes to free-motion quilting, it really helps to learn those techniques over and over again so they really sink in.

Elizabeth’s class is broken down into a series of 9 easily digestible lessons for a total of just over 3 hours of class time. After traveling far and wide to take classes from well-known instructors, I think this class is quite a bargain indeed. 🙂

Specific quilting motifs taught in class include stipple patterns, loopy flowers, woodgrain, circuit board, wishbones, mock clamshells and more. Once you get the hang of how these designs are formed, you’ll be adding them to your quilts in no time!

All images courtesy of Elizabeth Dackson and Craftsy; shared with permission.

Elizabeth prefers many of the same tools and supplies that I do: she encourages the use of quilting gloves (on larger sized quilts), enjoys quilting with an open-toe free-motion foot for visibility, and enjoys machine quilting with Aurifil thread.

I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel great as a quilter knowing that I’m doing at least a few things right, LOL!! I really like Elizabeth’s “golden rules of quilting” which I think everyone should have posted in their sewing rooms.

The Golden Rules of Quilting

Practice, practice, practice!
Give yourself permission for things not to be perfect right away.
Walk away and take a break if you feel that you’re getting frustrated.

Throughout the lessons, Elizabeth sprinkles in other techniques for you to learn such as how to start and stop, burying your threads, tips on batting, and how to baste. Rather than hitting you over the head with all of the material at one time, it’s presented in smaller snippets that are easier to understand and remember.

To keep it real, Elizabeth shows images her first very first quilt. It’s quite amazing to see how far she’s come by simply diving in there and quilting her own quilts. She’s great at encouraging beginners that they’ll get better in time. 🙂

Elizabeth’s first quilt – isn’t it great? Check out the class for quilting closeups.

My favorite part of any Craftsy class is reading through the questions that are asked by students, along with the instructor’s responses. Usually when I’m watching a lesson, I’ll read through all the questions first, then go on and watch the lesson. It makes me feel like I haven’t missed anything and it helps give me a really thorough understanding of the material presented.

One of my favorite tips that I read in the Q&A is Elizabeth’s emphasis on experimentation as a great way to find out what settings and tools work best for your particular machine.

I hope that this gives you just a taste of Start Free-Motion Quilting. Whether you are an absolute beginner or more experienced with free-motion quilting, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have!

Podcast Review – Modern Sewciety

April 8, 2014April 8, 20145 Comments

Today I’m pleased to share the newest quilting podcast I just started listening to. It’s called Modern Sewciety and is hosted by Stephanie Kendron. I first heard about this delightful show during a previous podcast review when one of you shared a list of quilting podcasts you listen to. So thanks for that!

Modern Sewciety podcast. All images courtesy of Stephanie Kendron.

Modern Sewciety is all about sharing what other modern creative bloggers are up to. Stephanie interviews a different talented blogger each week from the world of sewing, quilting and crafting. Many of them are names I recognize, while several of her guests have been new to me (but are on my list to follow now!)

Stephanie’s sweet southern drawl combined with her positive attitude makes for a pleasant listening experience! I think her show is unique in that she doesn’t follow an outline or a script as she talks to her guests. Instead, she lets the conversation happen naturally and the show sounds more like a lively chat than a formal interview.

April Rhodes was recently on the show, chatting it up about her new fabric line and all kinds of fun sewing inspiration!

Stephanie really knows her priorities and strikes me as one of those people that knows how to makes things happen. On her podcast, she’s mentioned how she just puts herself out there, emails people to come on the show, and for the most part, they say yes.

One of my favorite recent episodes was when she had Carolyn Friedlander on the show. The banter between the two of them was genuine and so refreshing to listen to. Stephanie seems to put all of her guests at ease, whether she’s known them for a long time, or has just barely met them.

I was also delighted to hear Amy Ellis come on the show. I’m a big fan of Amy’s podcast as well, so it was really fun to listen to her being the interview-ee as well as an interview-er. 🙂 I’m telling you guys, for those of you who may not have a vibrant (modern) quilting community nearby, this show really makes you feel like you are a part of that community!

Another unique aspect of the show is the inclusion of the Downton Abbey dish, co-hosted by the ever adorable Jennifer Mathis (of Ellison Lane and Sew South)! There are 7 “dish” episodes this year and they plan to do it again next season when the show returns.

I recently asked Jennifer for her take on it and she said, “Stephanie and I found we could chat forever about DA and all the characters. Really it was just a great excuse for us to watch it carefully and analyze it further. It was a lot of fun!” Each Downton Abbey podcast is clearly marked so you can listen (or skip) at your leisure!

When I asked Stephanie her reasons for deciding to host a podcast all about the “Modern Sewciety” she had this to say:

“My goal is to allow others to hear those they admire so much in this community speak about their passions, their projects, their love for creating. I hope to spark creativity in those listening. I feel like so often we think everyone is doing so many things and creating all of the time when in reality they are just like us. They have doubts and fears too. I really hope the podcast helps connect and inspire our community.”

Stephanie Kendron, host of Modern Sewciety

I think she’s nailed it! Modern Sewciety runs an average of 45 minutes to an hour, and new episodes are posted weekly, usually on Wednesday or Thursday. You can subscribe via your usual podcast stations like Itunes, Stitcher etc. Or you can listen to them right on Stephanie’s blog at Modern Sewciety. I hope you listen and enjoy. I can’t wait for the next one!

Book Review – Quilting With a Modern Slant

March 18, 2014March 17, 20145 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a book review but I’m excited to tell you about a new book I recently got my hands on. It’s titled, “Quilting With a Modern Slant” by Rachel May, and it includes interviews, summaries or patterns from over 70 modern quilters! Many of those profiled in the book are familiar names, while several of those featured are new to me.

To sum up, this book is one huge dose of inspiration! I love reading quilting books and spent several trips to the park and weekend vacations pouring over this book in detail.

At over 200 pages in length, with literally hundreds of fabulous pictures to look at, this book is quite a bargain! Here are just a few of my favorite quilt images from the book:

Quilt (1995) by Anna Williams, 76″ x 61″

Cartwheels by Lee Heinrich 48″ x 54″

Spin Cycle by Debbie Grifka, 63″ x 79″

Seattle Star pieced by Katie Pedersen, machine quilted by Krista Withers, 60″ x 60″

Dropping a Stone by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, 54″ x 54″

And these are just a few of the beauties shown in this fabulous book! Quilting With a Modern Slant is like your own little personal modern quilt show, and I think it’s a fabulous reference for anyone and everyone who appreciates modern quilts.

I will leave you with a quote from author Rachel May, “It’s my hope that the book functions as an exploration of the connections between all quilters and the stories we have to tell through what we make.

“No matter how we define ourselves, quilters forge powerful communities, in which we rely on each other for friendship, feedback, and inspiration. I’m excited about that sense of community, and what we can accomplish together.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself!