Blog Reviews – Fun Quilt Alongs and Challenges to Join

March 4, 2014March 2, 20144 Comments

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to a few of my blogger friends who are hosting some amazing events! Many of them have already started, but thanks to the convenience of the internet, you can join at any time and work at your own pace and on your own schedule!

First of all, Melissa from Happy Quilting has another fabulous quilt along called Star Light Star Bright. It features one of my favorite units – half square triangles, lovingly known as HST’s. Melissa is always sharing tons of cool video tutorials and plenty of inspiration on her blog so be sure to check it out! You won’t be disappointed.

Happy Quilting Quilt Along

Next, the super talented machine quilter, Amy from Amy’s Free Motion Quilting Adventures just launched a new quilt along which will run for the entire month of March. It’s called “McTavishing: a Free Motion Quilting Adventure” and she’ll include a giveaway to go along with the series. Fun stuff indeed!

Free Motion Quilting Adventures QAL

SewCalGal is hosting two year-long events that will really get your creative juices flowing. Her Handmade Christmas Challenge features monthly challenges throughout the year to share holiday projects you finish in 2014.

SewCalGal Christmas Challenge

She’s also hosting a Year of Red and White Quilt Challenges, inspired by the fabulous Red and White quilt exhibit held in New York back in 2011. As part of this year long event, there’s a special design competition running now through March 23rd. Be sure to read the full details here. It’s perfect for budding pattern designers and of course there will be fabulous prizes!

Red and White Challenge

Finally, I wanted to give another shout out to my good friend Alyssa from Pile O’ Fabric. She’s hosting another fabulous skillbuilding quilt as you go series. It’s called “For the Love of Sewing” and features all sorts of adorable sewing-themed blocks. This one has a small fee involved but trust me, it’s totally worth it as she puts in way more time than what she charges for!

I hope you will check out these fun events!

Podcast Review – The Quiltcast with Amy and April

February 26, 2014February 24, 20145 Comments

Today I’m excited to share with you another fun quilting podcast that I enjoy listening to. It’s called The Quiltcast and is hosted by Amy Ellis and April Rosenthal.

I first met Amy last year when I participated in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival that she hosts twice a year. I had the great opportunity of being one of the featured quilters and I thought Amy was such a wonderful person to get to know!

Our paths crossed again when I had the chance to review her third book with Martingale, titled Modern Neutrals. Later, when I found out about Amy’s idea for hosting a podcast about quilting, I simply had to become a regular listener!

The QuiltCast is a delightful 1/2 hour weekly radio show. As you listen, it feels as if you are involved in a fun conversation between friends. It’s inspiring to listen to Amy and April as they share what they are working on, plus fun little “behind the scenes” tidbits here and there and how they work quilting into their “regular” lives as moms. That’s how I found out Amy is on her fourth book and April just started writing her first. How cool is that?

I love how they keep it real and they let you know that no, it’s not all hearts and roses when running your own business, but yes, they love what they do!

April’s Bolster Pillow, Part of “The Pillow Collective”

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Amy via email about the show and wanted to share a little bit of that interview with you. My questions below are in bold and Amy’s responses are in italics.

What made you decide you wanted to start a podcast?

I’ve noticed that for many, online time is more mobile and less in front of a computer, and I was wanting a way to communicate with followers in a more personable way, and started looking into podcasting, and a co-host.

What is your ultimate goal for the podcast?

I really want to encourage everyone to follow their dreams, in life, quilting, wherever they might need encouragement. And give them the tools that are needed, to be the best that they can be. I hope that the sincerity is obvious in our conversations.

How do you and April decide on your topics for the week?

Our topics generally flow from our “conversations” through out the week. We are both on iMessage and chat back and forth quite a bit. Sometimes, I’ll have something specific in mind early in the week. Other times is the night before, and I’m struggling to find something great. Show topic ideas are always welcome!

With all that you manage to accomplish, how do you ever get any sleep? Just kidding on that one, but I’m sure inquiring minds want to know!

Lol – I get that question occasionally! I do sleep, but when I’m up, I’m busy! I like to set schedules and deadlines for myself so that I can always be working toward those goals. Even if they are little goals for each day – it makes a difference!

Anything else you’d like to add?

The Quiltcast is a lot of fun, and full of information about quilting. We are committed and fully entrenched in the quilting industry, and look forward to sharing our insights, along with personal projects and how we work to get so much done week to week. I hope you will try listening if you haven’t yet!

I echo Amy’s words and encourage you to check out the Quiltcast. It’s available via iTunes and Stitcher. There’s also a player in each of the Quiltcast blog posts along with notes from the show.

Friday Feature: Aurifil Thread

February 21, 2014February 20, 201434 Comments

If I had planned this out better, I should have written this post yesterday. Then I could have called it Thread Thursday. 🙂 Even though I’m enjoying writing my Fabric Friday series every other week, I can’t really neglect talking about the thread that goes along with making a beautiful, functional quilt.

Aurifil Simplify Collection by Camille Roskelley

I can unequivocally state that Aurifil cotton is my favorite thread and I’ll tell you why:

It comes in every color imaginable.
It’s very low lint for a cotton thread.
It’s strong and thin which is perfect for piecing, and it doesn’t break while quilting!

Over the last two years, I’ve tried out a variety of different threads and brands, knowing I would eventually want to carry them in my store. Since I only sell products that I would recommend and use myself, this took a bit of research and trial and error to find out which thread I wanted to invest in.

Quilters Essentials by Edyta Sitar

I call it an “investment” because unlike fabric where you can pick and choose what you want to carry, if a shop owner carries thread, he/she needs to have a wide variety! And I’ve done it for my own selfish reasons, too. It’s nice to have a shop full of thread to pick from when searching for the right colors for my quilts!

Aurifil Thread Colors Used on My Latest Finish

After a lot of trial and error, I’ve decided that cotton is easiest for me to use for both piecing and quilting. While I have nothing against all of the other beautiful synthetic threads that are available for machine quilting, they just aren’t made for piecing. Because I embrace simplicity, I just love the idea of using cotton thread for both piecing and quilting.

The large spools contain a lot of thread – 1422 yards (1300 meters) each.

Thread Pull for Another Project

I can usually quilt an entire throw-sized quilt with just two large spools of thread: one for the top and one for the bobbin. If I’m switching thread colors a lot to match the fabrics, one large spool of each color is usually enough. If there are specific colors I need in less prominent areas, the smaller spools seem to work well. Because it’s cotton, the leftover thread can then go into my next piecing project. How’s that for efficiency?

Small Thread Kit

So far I’ve only used the standard 50 weight cotton Aurifil. However, I do plan on trying out a few spools of the 40 weight for quilting. It’s slightly thicker so it would give a heavier look to the quilting, which is perfect when you really want your thread to show.

If I have success quilting with the 40 weight, then I’ll start offering that in my store, too. Have any of you tried it yet? If so, what do you think?

Podcast Review – American Patchwork and Quilting Radio with Pat Sloan

February 18, 2014February 18, 20144 Comments

I love quilting. I love reading about quilting and I love looking at quilts. I also love watching quilts on TV and I love listening to people talk about quilts. One of my most favorite ways to listen to quilting is via Pat Sloan’s podcast, “American Patchwork and Quilting Radio.” Seriously guys, it’s fantastic!

Pat serves up an inspiring hour-long show each week, usually featuring 3-4 guests, for about 15-30 minutes each. About 90% of the shows are live and Pat does a fantastic job rolling with the punches! The rest of the time she’ll throw in a few pre-recorded interviews such as when she travels out of town or attends fun events like quilt market. The quilt market episodes are some of my favorites because she’ll usually interview several exhibitors on the spot and it almost feels like being there!

In fact, not only do I enjoy listening to episodes while I quilt; I also enjoy listening while I run and workout at the gym. It really makes the time fly!

Listening to Quilting – While Quilting!

I recently asked Pat a few questions about the show and invited her to share some of her most memorable moments. One of her most unique guests was Astronaut Karen Nyberg. Karen actually sewed together a block in space! Be sure to click here to see more great space hair pics plus a video of Karen in space! She’s further proof that quilting really is out of this world!

Every episode is such joy to listen to! Pat’s warm and inviting manner is so contagious and she treats the guests like they are her best friends. It’s amazing how she and her guests can describe their quilts and quilting processes without the aid of video! I’ve found many a fun new artist to follow and her show is very well rounded. She features the who’s who in quilting whether it’s a modern blogger, or one of the best known traditional quilters in the industry.

One of my favorite episodes was from August 2012 when Pat went to the International Quilt Convention in Africa. It was so inspiring to listen to Pat interview local African quilters and shop owners to learn more about quilting from their perspective.

Pat’s been on the radio since January of 2010 and she joined forces with American Patchwork and Quilting in May of 2011. So far, I have gone back and listened to all of the episodes since APQ began sponsoring it, and it’s been fun to listen to the evolution of quilting during that time. When Pat told me she’d been on the radio for 5 years, I thought, “perfect – that gives me lots of time to listen to quilting, while quilting!”

Be sure to visit Pat’s website and follow her blog so you can keep up with the latest and greatest quilting news.

Link to all of Pat’s current shows:
http://www.creativetalknetwork.com/

The early years – her first 2 1/2 years:
http://toginet.com/podcasts/creativetalkradio/?s=creativetalkradio

How about you? What are some of your favorite podcasts, quilt-related or not?

Book Review and Blog Hop – Vintage Quilt Revival

January 15, 2014January 18, 20146 Comments

Today I would like to tell you about some fabulous friends of mine who put their brilliant minds together to create an amazing quilting book that actually has something to say!

Dinner in Austin, TX, 2013
From Left to Right: Katie, Christa, Faith, Holly, Lee

At QuiltCon last year, I got a chance to chat about quilting over dinner with Vintage Quilt Revival authors Katie Clark Blakesley, Lee Heinrich, and Faith Jones (plus their fantastic friend Holly who’s on the hop later in the week).

Even though I didn’t know they were writing their book at the time, their passion for modern quilting was quite contagious! In fact, when I arrived home from QuiltCon last February, I was ready to take on the modern quilting world, in part due to their enthusiasm for it!

So let me tell you a little bit about their book, Vintage Quilt Revival. In addition to an extremely well written volume that is beautifully illustrated, they have included mini history lessons for each block, plus design notes and tips throughout.

It’s a whopping 159 pages full of creative inspiration and instruction including sections on tools and techniques, new settings and color approaches, and re-imagined blocks that will take your breath away!

The book is organized block by block, with instructions on how to make each of the twenty 12″ finished blocks, followed by a full-sized project to make from each and every block.

Sugar Snow Quilt by Lee – one of my favorites from the book!

And this is where the creativity really comes in. Adapted projects include fun accessories like totes and pouches, to full sized quilts using a variety of settings. The icing on the cake is the included sampler quilts, made by each of the authors showcasing a different way to combine all of the blocks!

Faith’s Sampler Quilt – I absolutely love this setting!

Many of the blocks utilize paper piecing techniques, and the book comes with a CD so that you can print out as many full-sized foundation templates as you need. They’ve thought of everything!

I also give Katie, Lee, and Faith extra credit points for quilting a vast majority of the quilts themselves, including tidbits of inspiration on how they chose the quilting designs. I love it when authors show that it is possible to make amazing modern quilts yourself from start to finish. 🙂

Katie’s Cut Glass Baby Quilt – I got to recreate a couple of these amazing blocks!

Vintage Quilt Revival is worth reading and perusing as a coffee table book, even if you never make a block – but make a block I did! Each of the 20 bloggers on the hop got to construct a different block from the book using our own colors and fabric choices. Such fun! My block was the Classic Geometric Star Block – the one Katie chose to make her Cut Glass Baby Quilt, shown above.

My version of the Geometric Star Block

Even though this particular block was listed as an “advanced” skill level block. I had no problems following the clear-cut instructions to make my block.

Just for fun, I also made another block with the points going the opposite way and added a little sashing border around it, to demo how fun it can be to mix things up!

Geometric Star Variation, with Border

I’m very touched that the authors have chosen to incorporate all of our sample blocks into charity quilts which will be revealed at the end of the hop. It will be fun to see how they all come together.

Updated – See The Finished Charity Quilts!

I was so thrilled to see the three charity quilt finishes put together by Katie, Lee and Faith. I am impressed with how they were able to take all of the blocks and combine them into three cohesive quilt designs. Remember, the participants had free reign when it came to fabric and color choices. Aren’t they just wonderful?

Katie’s Charity Sampler

Lee’s Charity Sampler

Faith’s Charity Sampler

To see more Vintage Quilt Revival inspiration, be sure to check out the entire blog hop schedule below. I feel truly honored to be included among such talented people!

January 13th (Monday):
Crazy Mom Quilts – Amanda Jean
Don’t Call Me Betsy – Elizabeth
Film in the Fridge – Ashley
Happy Quilting – Melissa
Noodlehead – Anna

January 14th (Tuesday):
I’m A Ginger Monkey – Katy
Quilting Is My Therapy – Angela
A Quilting Life – Sherri
Sew Mama Sew – Kristin
Tall Grass Prairie Studio – Jacquie

January 15th (Wednesday):
Christa Quilts – Christa
Diary of a Quilter – Amy
Quilting Gallery – Michele
Sew Take a Hike – Penny
V and Co. – Vanessa
West Coast Crafty – Susan

January 16th (Thursday):
Bijou Lovely – Holly
Don’t You Know Who I Am – Sukie
Lily’s Quilts – Lynne
One Shabby Chick – Amber

January 17th (Friday):
Swim, Bike, Quilt – Katie
Freshly Pieced – Lee
Fresh Lemons Quilts – Faith

Video Review – Why Quilts Matter

January 13, 2014January 6, 20147 Comments

I am extremely pleased to review the DVD series, Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics presented by the Kentucky Quilt Project. I first heard about this series while reading designer Thomas Knauer’s blog and thought it was pretty serendipitous when the folks from Why Quilts Matter contacted me a few months later to share my thoughts about the series with you.

Originally produced by renowned quilt expert Shelly Zegart as a PBS television series, it’s now available as a 2 disc DVD set. This fabulous series has a total running time of just over 4 hours and is broken up into these nine episodes:

Quilts 101 – Antique and Contemporary Quilts
Quilts Bring History Alive
The Quilt Marketplace
What is Art?
Gee’s Bend: “The Most Famous Quilts in America?”
How Quilts have been Viewed and Collected
Empowering Women One Quilt at a Time
Quilt Nation: 20,000,000 and Counting!
Quilt Scholarship: Romance and Reality

This series will truly change the way you think about quilting! Each episode takes you on an amazing journey and gives you a feel for for the scope, depth and influence of American quilting culture.

It features video interviews with some of the most amazing quilting artists in the industry as well as museum curators and quilt collectors. It’s enlightening to listen to their take on the quilting industry as a whole and why they think quilts matter.

Click the video below to watch a preview of the series, and be sure to visit the WQM website for a host of other resources including discussion guides, summaries, and images of quilts from the series. It’s a lot of quilting “eye candy” to explore!

My favorite episode of the series was the one about Gee’s Bend quilts since they are considered one of the major influences of the modern quilting movement. I gained a lot of new respect for these quilts as well as plenty of inspiration to make one of my own!

Be sure to stop by my blog later in the week for your chance to win a copy of this fabulous series!

Craftsy Class Review – Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine

December 31, 2013December 31, 201319 Comments

Over 24,000 students have taken the online Craftsy class, Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine so I figured I may as well join them and tell you all about it. 🙂

Award winning quiltmaker Ann Petersen quilts her designs completely on her home machine (yay!) which is a Bernina (double yay!) and her class includes eight lessons which cover five different methods for quilting a big quilt. Total running time is approximately 4 1/2 hours and I enjoyed watching the class one or two sections at a time over the last week or so.

Reflections of a Rising Sun by Ann Petersen 2008 -40″ x 40″
Shared with Permission

I quilt a lot of big quilts on my home machine and try to share the love of machine quilting with as many people as I can. I think the number one issue domestic machine quilters deal with is how to handle the bulk of the quilt under the arm of the quilt. Ann covers this and more in her fabulous class.

I think my favorite section was when Ann demonstrated how she sandwiches her quilts using basting spray and an iron to heat set the adhesive. I’ve never tried this method of basting before, but after watching this class, I’m definitely willing to give it a try!

Curves Again!-35″ x 35″ by Ann Petersen
Shared with Permission

I thought it was very cool that during class, Ann actually demonstrates how to quilt using a real queen-sized quilt. You can see how she moves the large quilt under her little machine, and she shares a few hints on the order of her quilting. (She starts with stitching in the ditch on her borders first to keep them straight – genius!)

I learned a few new tips including why sharp (topstitch) needles are really preferred for machine quilting (rather than ball-point or universal needles). Ann confirmed my experience with polyester batting – it’s really too slippery to use when quilting on a home machine! I also appreciate that she validated another point that I love to teach – where possible, use a blending thread and match your top and bobbin colors to eliminate little “pokies” of thread showing through on either side of the quilt.

In addition to showing how she quilts a full quilt under the machine, Ann also covers several quilt as you go methods which I haven’t tried yet but have always wanted to. I was very intrigued by Ann’s “split-batting” and “split-quilt” methods to deal with the bulk.

Modern Baby Quilt, 39″ x 34″ by Ann Petersen
Shared with Permission

Other valuable tutorials she covers include properly setting up your machine space for quilting, choosing the appropriate threads, and thinking about the quilting designs you’ll use before you begin.

Ann includes downloadable extra course materials as part of this class such as her step-by-step tips for spray basting, favorite tools for marking and steps for blocking a quilt.

Sunshine & Shadow – 2012 – 20″ x 20″ by Ann Petersen
Shared with Permisssion

The questions that are asked during the class (listed on the sidebar while watching) are also very informative. There was a discussion on the best ways to handle quilting with clear polyester thread and I picked up quite a few tips from reading them.

The pictures above are just a few of Ann’s beautiful quilts, which she allowed me to share with you. To see more of her fabulous work and gain confidence with your machine quilting skills, I encourage you to register for Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine today. You’ll be glad you did. 🙂

Book Review – Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting by Natalia Bonner

December 17, 2013December 16, 201310 Comments

I’m back with another fun book review today. I recently finished reading Natalia Bonner’s Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting. I ordered it from Amazon a couple of months ago (yay free shipping!) and finally had some time this weekend to sit down and finish reading it!

First let me tell you something special about Natalia if you haven’t made it over to her blog Piece N Quilt yet. She’s an amazing long-arm quilter and she’s teaming up with some very smart organized people to put on the Small Town Quilt Show in Utah next June. I can’t wait!

But back to her book… It includes over 50 different visual tutorials to get you started, like this one shown below:

It’s extremely helpful for me to know where to start and stop stitching and how to form the shapes whenever I tackle a new quilting design. The back of the book is filled with pages of quilting motifs that you can use to copy the design onto your quilt with a water soluble marker (and a light box).

They are also wonderful to trace around with a pen or pencil to get a feel for the movement of the design. Once you’ve done that a few times, you can try quilting these motifs without marking. I personally enjoy collecting a library of machine quilting designs to try!

After you read though all the excellent information on the basics of free-motion quilting, the book includes 6 quilt projects to try. Each has a little bit of a modern flair and 5 of the 6 quilts feature machine applique (another one of my passions).

Quilts from Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting

The book also includes a few basics talking about batting, basting and some useful tools (which I recommend also). There are some helpful pictures on getting those pesky ending strips to line up while binding so that’s an added bonus. 🙂

No matter which type of machine someone quilts on, I get really excited when they encourage others to jump in and give it a try.

Click here to see my other reviews and start building up your quilting book library!

Some of My Favorite Machine Quilting Books

December 5, 2013December 4, 20134 Comments

I buy a lot of books about quilting! I love to read them, be inspired by the pictures and fantasize about the quilts I’d make if money and time were no object! From time to time publishers or authors will send me copies of their books to review which I absolutely love to do. On many other occasions, I’ll simply buy and review books just because I want to. 🙂

I have a back-log of books that I’d like to tell you about, but for today I’ll just give a few snippets about several of my favorite machine quilting books. (Each of these will eventually have their own in-depth review, too!) The money I spent on these books has been a fantastic investment, and my skills have dramatically improved because of them!

First, I’ll start off with Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters. This is definitely a must have if you have an affinity for modern quilts and machine quilting.

The thing I like most about this book is that Angela shows you the design process behind the machine quilting with plenty of detailed diagrams to follow along.

It doesn’t matter that Angela prefers to quilt on a long arm while I choose to use a domestic machine. Many of the design principles are applicable to both.

Angela has written a fantastic follow-up book, In the Studio with Angela Walters which of course I promptly purchased an autographed copy of at QuiltCon. She’s also written a Free-Motion Quilting Workbook which I’m anticipating this spring. I’ll review it as soon as I get my hot little hands on it!

I recently purchased First Steps to Free Motion Quilting by Christina Cameli. She takes you through the steps of machine quilting with smaller projects to practice your skills.

Though I’m pretty comfortable with FMQ techniques, I still picked up a few tips from her books as well as some new free-motion quilting design ideas.

In fact, my Modern Trees quilt incorporates one of her motifs into my quilting. Can you guess which one?

Next on my list of favorites is Guide to Machine Quilting by Diane Gaudynski.

Written in 2002, this book is still relevant because Diane walks you through everything you need to know to successfully quilt your home machine.

Diane been one of my quilting muses for quite a number of years and her beautiful, traditional designs will take your breath away!

Finally, Harriet Hargrave’s Heirloom Machine Quilting is an oldie, but a goodie.

I own the 3rd edition (from 1995) and the 4th edition (from 2004). It was from this book that I first learned how to bind my quilts properly.

Although Harriet’s focus is on detailed heirloom quilting, it’s all done on a domestic machine and there are numerous tips on basting and moving the bulk of the quilt under the machine.

Weekly Giveaway Winner!

Speaking of fabulous books, I’m pleased to announce this week’s winner of my weekly giveaway: Barbara W. has won a copy of Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley.

Be sure to check back here on Monday when I will participate in Sew Mama Sew’s huge Giveaway Day as part of my weekly giveaway series #35!

Book Review – Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley

November 26, 2013November 28, 201312 Comments

I’m excited to share another book review with you today: Simply Retro with Camille Roskelley – Fresh Quilts from Classic Blocks.

Building on the popularity of her amazing Swoon quilt, Camille has created 13 fabulous new quilts for this book, all based on traditional blocks with an updated twist.

Most of these delectable delights can be made from precuts (a favorite “treat” we both agree on), but Camille includes instructions for cutting from yardage, too!

In the book, Camille utilizes quick piecing methods such as chain piecing and she demos my favorite way of making HST’s (half-square triangles). She also scores bonus points from me for quilting a few of the quilts herself using Aurifil thread (my favorite).

My personal favorite quilt from Simply Retro is Baby Love – the large one block version shown below. Camille’s geometric chevron quilting is the perfect complement to such a bold modern design! (The pattern for a smaller block version is included, too!)

Baby Love by Camille Roskelley

Throughout the book there are plenty of detailed diagrams and yummy style shots to drool over. (Many times when I collect quilt books I don’t actually make the projects – I just love reading them and looking at the pictures for inspiration!)

One of the really fun things about this book is seeing Camille’s sense of style and color come through. Although she is an amazing fabric designer, she uses a wide variety of prints in the quilts presented in this book. She combines fabrics from her stash with prints from her lines as well as those of other designers for the most wonderful fabric combinations.

Dwell by Camille Roskelley. Aren’t the houses so sweet?

I love Camille’s philosophy of “making it fit”. She will often make several different versions of the same quilt, but each one is unique in its own way. Sometimes she’ll change up the block size, quilt size, or add or subtract borders. In Simply Retro, Camille walks you through the basics on how to adjust any quilt pattern to the size you want. She also includes steps on how to calculate quilt backings and bindings.

Camille includes quiltmaking basics at the end of the book and actually shows some ideas and process steps for machine quilting (yay!). If this book sounds interesting to you, it’s available for purchase on Amazon or your favorite local quilt shop. 🙂