An Old Finish and a New Start

August 26, 2013August 26, 201326 Comments

I recently finished hand piecing, yes hand piecing this Winding Ways quilt top I started about 16-17 years ago, soon after I began quilting.

Hand Pieced Winding Ways – Fabrics Circa Mid 1990’s

I remember cutting out plastic templates and joyously hunting through my local quilt shop’s fat quarter bin to find just the perfect fabrics. I had no stash at the time so I had to create my own “scraps.”

I forgot about it in a closet for a good 10 years at least. Then, when all these awesome modern quilters starting embracing hand-work, I decided it was high time to get it out and do a little hand stitching myself. You can definitely tell the difference in my stitch quality between then and now, but it has been relaxing to work on while watching TV with the family or going away on a family vacation.

You can see the hand-marked seam lines. Yes, that was a lot of work!

Now I’ve got to decide how to quilt it (by hand of course) and get it basted. Suggestions anyone?

While I wait for my Winding Ways quilt top to tell me how it wants to be quilted, I’ve decided to start on something a bit more modern. This is my version of an improv quilt.

I started with a sketch my hubby made on his ipad and started interpreting it in fabric. The improv part is that I’m not exactly sure how long to make the strips or how far apart to space them, but it will be a fun exploration. I’m really stretching myself with this quilt, but so far, I like what I see. 🙂

Sew and Tell – Traditional Guild Meeting Gets a Bit Modern

August 23, 2013August 20, 20139 Comments

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

Finishing Stitchers Circle, DQN Guild Mtg.

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

FMQ Demo – Practice Sketching

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

Binding Demo by Linda

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

A recent finish from a Laura Wasilowski Fusing Workshop.

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

A new member and her modern-inspired quilt.

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

Ann’s gorgeous piece.

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

Will Trade Fabric Scraps for Treats…

August 5, 2013August 3, 201318 Comments

I love it when my friends want to get into sewing! My buddy Lacey who I’ve been friends with for about 7 years now just took up sewing. We actually worked on a quilt together several years ago when her parents went on a mission. I told her back then I’d make a quilter out of her someday. 🙂

The Mission Quilt

She recently bought a new (used) Bernina a couple weeks after I got my dream machine and I think she’s been bitten by the sewing bug now. She didn’t have any fabrics or supplies so she offered to raid my fabric stash and scrap pile for a plate 0’treats, so how could I refuse?

Raiding the Stash

In fact I love to give her family most of my scraps anyway. Its her mom-in-law that I donate piles of fabric to for Project Linus when she comes in town for a visit.

Yummy Cake!

But back to Lacey. In just a few short weeks, she’s already put together a pillow case, a couple of bean bags and some crayon rolls her girls use to entertain themselves with at church. I told her she’s the epitome of a modern sewist – someone who just jumps in there and gives it a try without fear, looking up the occasional pinterest board or blog tutorial for inspiration.

Lacey’s New Trinkets and Treasures

I did get a little chuckle though when she recently told me she was in love with a “modem” fabric (she actually meant “Moda”). And she doesn’t mind if she needs to learn as she goes. She recently asked me what interfacing was for (I hardly use it myself), and she was grateful to learn what “sew right sides together” meant. 🙂

Lacey and Her New Machine

So yes, I will continue to accept her decadent treats in exchange for my fabric scraps. If I can get her really addicted to fabric, I know I’ll have another lifelong sewing buddy!

Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Show and Tell – July 2013

July 26, 2013July 26, 20138 Comments

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

Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Banner Finished

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

Marjorie’s Apron

Such Cute Fabric!

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

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

Valerie’s Grape Vine Embroidery/Colored Runner

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

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

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

X Plus Blocks for Charity Quilt

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

Reading with Rover Quilts

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

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

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

Angela Walters Textures Fabric and a Winning Quilt

July 8, 2013July 6, 20138 Comments

One of my quilting heroes, Angela Walters, recently launched her own line of fabulous fabrics modern fabrics. When I met her at QuiltCon I told her that I planned to carry them in my store.

Now that plan has become a reality. I just received the wonderful 10 piece collection of Textures, her debut line from Art Gallery Fabrics.

The modern textural look of these prints really appeals to me. I especially love the panel print which was recently featured in a contest sponsored by Art Gallery fabrics.

In fact, my friend Kelli from Seriously I Think it Needs Stitches won the contest with her fabulous Mod Geocruiser Quilt. Isn’t it great? You can read about her inspiration here.

Mod Geocruiser by Kelli Fannin
Make it Right Winner

I think Kelli did such a fabulous job with the textural quilting, too. 🙂 You can find more inspiration here to see how others creatively used the Right Angles Panel.

I’m way excited because I also preordered Angela Walters’ next collection, Legacy, due out later this fall. Here’s Angela’s Legacy Quilt, shown at market this past spring. Fabulous!

Angela Walters’ Legacy Quilt

Let’s Get Aquainted Blog Hop Hosted by Plum and June

July 5, 2013July 4, 201370 Comments

Hi all! Welcome to my stop on the blog hop tour hosted by Beth of Plum and June. I’m Christa and I have to say I’m committing modern quilt blasphemy by stating that I don’t like making hexagon quilts!

Oh, no! Why not, you say?? Well I have a good reason. Nearly 17 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child and experiencing horrible morning sickness, I tried to take my mind off things by cutting out hundreds of hexagons for a hand pieced grandmother’s flower garden quilt.

I ended up getting an aversion to hexagons and even had to throw away all the fabric I had used to cut them out or it would make me sick just looking at it. Now, whenever I even think about touching this shape, it reminds me of morning sickness. How unfair is that??I was able to make my son’s baby quilt shown above once I felt better. (He’s now 16 and just got his driver’s license – boy how time flies!)

This was one of my very early quilts and I learned a lot from it. I learned that I love applique – but not by hand! I also learned that I love tons of quilting on a quilt, though this one was all straight line quilted because that’s all I knew how to do at the time.

I’ve come a long way since then! I’ve recently celebrated a finish, only the back of which I can share now. For the full reveal, be sure to subscribe to Quilty magazine in time to receive the November/December issue. 🙂

I love tons of quilting on a quilt and this one took a whopping 38 hours just for the quilting. But machine quilting this baby was pure zen for me, every moment of it!

I really like the negative space on the back and may play around with this design a bit more for a future quilt… Sometimes the backs of my quilts are more interesting than the fronts, LOL!

I do all my own quilting and my machine of choice is a Bernina which I blogged about recently. My mom calls my new machine the “Klingon Battle Cruiser.” 🙂

This was about 5 hours into quilting and I knew I had bought the right machine for the job. I love all the extra throat space!

My current project is my String of Pearls Quilt. This just may be my favorite modern quilt. I love the strong bold colors and graphic design of modern quilting. I realized I’m not into embellishing or working with lots of tiny fussy pieces so modern quilting suits me to a “T”!

I usually try to host a quilt along when I want to make a new quilt because it forces me to plan ahead and keeps me on schedule. Plus it’s fun to see how everyone else interprets my design.

Coming up later this fall I plan on attending Sewing Summit so I look forward to getting to know more bloggers and making new friends. 🙂

Here are this week’s blog hop stops:

ChristaQuiltsBlog.com – You are here!

wonderlandbyalyce.blogspot.com

the-crooked-banana.blogspot.com

www.rachelboothhappilyeverafter.blogspot.com

quarterincher.blogspot.com

www.sassafras-lane.com

www.carolinescraftiness.blogspot.com

http://hilltophousecreativeworks.blogspot.com/

Happy hopping!

Click here for the complete blog hop schedule.

I Won a Viewers’ Choice Award – Thank You All So Much For Your Support!

June 2, 201330 Comments

I just found out the great news – my Charming Chevrons quilt won one of the viewer’s choice prizes from the Blogger’s Quit Festival for Spring 2013. Click below to enlarge:

Viewer’s Choice – Charming Chevrons

Charming Chevrons Backing

This is beyond surreal! Words cannot begin to express the appreciation I feel not only for all those who liked my quilt enough to vote for it, but the generous sponsors, Amy Ellis for organizing the event, and the hundreds of other fabulous bloggers who participated.

Viewer’s Choice – Together in a Friendship World
By Geta from Romania

There were a total of 3 viewer’s choice winners (out of nearly 700 total entries!) with some fabulous prizes. I won a $100 Gift Certificate to Shop Martingale! Just in time, too, as I need to stock up on some quilt books that are on my list!

Geta from Romania won a $75 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop for her gorgeous 3-D looking quilt above, Together in a Friendship World. Fabulous, indeed!

Viewers Choice
Daisy a Day by Di from Snippets ‘n Scraps

And Di who blogs at Snippets ‘n Scraps won a Stash Pack of hand-dyed fabrics from Vicki Welsh and a large pack of Mystyfuse. Isn’t her photography lovely, too?

Of course there were a total of 15 other winners who also won fabulous prizes from a variety of generous sponsors. You can see pictures of all of the winning quilts here.

I’m sending out virtual hugs to all who entered and all who were inspired by such lovely quilts!

Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Meeting – May 2013

May 31, 2013May 31, 20137 Comments

Last night I attended a meeting of the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild. I joined in February, as soon as I returned home from QuiltCon and was inspired to find my local group of modern quilters. I’m sure glad I did, because even though it’s a small group, they have quite a bit of fun! (You can read my previous blog entry about them here.)

Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild

To start off the evening we worked on a couple of charity projects. There’s a program called Reading for Rover which pairs up kids who need extra reading practice with a cuddly pup to read to. They sit on a quilt at a local library together for some quality reading and pet time.

Regina and Christa sewing a charity quilt top.

Here’s one of the member’s finished quilts that she made to donate to the cause. Isn’t it the cutest?

Reading for Rover Quilt

Another ongoing project the group is doing is making these adorable “Plus X” blocks which will be donated as a raffle quilt to the Candlelighter’s association. I took home a few extra block kits to work on myself. I love these colors! Patti, the organizer, found a wonderful pieced block tutorial from Amy Badskirt’s blog here.

Japanese Plus X Blocks

The group is also participating in a mug rug swap with the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild. Here are a few of our completed mug rugs. It will be fun to see what we receive in return!

Mug Rug Swap

Part of every meeting features fantastic show and tell. Sandy shared a colorful Jelly Roll quilt she made.

Jelly Roll Quilt Front

I like the backing just as much as the front. The quilting adds such great texture!

Jelly Roll Quilt Back

I met Nichol for the first time as she debuted this extra large colorful star quilt that she’s going to quilt on her long-arm. As we chatted, we found out that we are close in age and have a couple of boys the same age, too! (Minus the baby so she’s ahead of me there!!)

Nichol’s Star Top

I also met Carolina who’s recently joined the Art Gallery fat quarter gang (can we say – jealous)! She has a “squishable fabric blocks” tutorial up on the Art Gallery Blog that is terrific. I also love her Urban Sprawl quilt she’s working on right now:

Carolina’s Quilt

Here are a couple of other beauties that were shown last night. I love how everyone tried to hide behind their quilts for photos. 🙂 Now I better get crackin’ so I’ll have something to share for show and tell next month!

Hope and Strength back – I missed the front!

Patti’s Baby Girl Quilt

Pink and Black Rag Quilt

There were a few more lovelies that I missed getting pictures of, but the gals in charge will be sure to post more photos on the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Blog.

Charming Chevrons Nominated for Viewer’s Choice – Please Vote

May 29, 2013May 30, 20138 Comments

I just found out Charming Chevrons was nominated for viewer’s choice for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival!

Out of 670 entries, only 24 were selected as viewer’s choice finalists and voting ends May 30th!

You can vote for Viewer’s Choice here.

I am beyond excited for this unexpected honor.

Just entering was thrilling enough and all of the kind words from those who have participated so far have really given me a boost of confidence!

There are a total of 15 different categories in the festival and there will be a winner from each category along with 3 overall viewer’s choice winners.

You can also vote for both of my quilts in their respective categories here:

Charming Chevrons #7 in the Home Machine Category

Roses for Katelyn #3 in the Applique Category

Thanks to all of those that have voted so far. It’s been such a blast to participate myself and see all of the gorgeous inspiring quilts!

My Modern Crafty Friend – and a Fabulous Herringbone Quilt

May 28, 2013May 27, 201321 Comments

I just had to share some sew and tell today from my friend Alexis who blogs over at Persia Lou. (Pictures re-posted with permission.) She made these 2 lovely modern herringbone quilts for her kids’ room. Aren’t they fabulous?

She’s going with a vintage Disney theme for their room and the quilts will be a focal point.

I’m so proud of Alexis because she took the plunge and quilted them herself on her not-too fancy Singer sewing machine. If she can do it, so can you!

Here’s a great closeup diagram that Alexis made, detailing her stitching plan:

Alexis got some solid fabric from me and used my Charming Chevrons quilt along as a guide. She enlarged the design by cutting 8″ squares instead of 5″. By simplifying the color palette and tweaking the blocks a little, she really made them her own.