WIP – Choosing Thread

November 19, 201210 Comments

I spent a lot of time this weekend choosing thread for my current project, my Charming Chevrons quilt. I wanted to go with a neutral palette of grey or silver so I bought a bunch of different brands, weight and types to see which I like best.

I am still on the search for my favorite thread and figured the only way I would find it is by making lots of quilts and trying out different threads.

To see which thread would blend, I spread out a bunch of different colors over the top. I tried some Cotton Masterpiece, Isacord, Superior Sew Fine #50, and Superior Highlights in shades of taupe, silver and grey to see which I liked best.

It’s hard to tell from the photo above, but there was quite a variety in the neutrals! My original plan was to quilt straight lines in the chevrons with a darker blending thread and then do some pebbling in the background with silver. I narrowed down my choices and stitched them out on a practice scrap.

All of the thread choices looked great on the the Ash Grey fabric but I couldn’t find a thread that would blend well enough with the solid colors. Also I prefer the look of the pebbling on the colors rather than straight lines. So I’m going to switch my plan – I’ll quilt straight lines on the background and then pebble the solid colors. That way the thread that shows will be a lot more interesting!

I will write about which threads I finally ended up using once I start the actual quilting!

On my last finished project I began taking notes of which threads I used and how I like them.

The easiest way for me to record this was by writing it down on the label on the quilt.

I always have good results when quilting with cotton but I want to have success using polyesters, too.

For my Pink Baby Bricks quilt I used Isacord in the cream areas and was happy with the results.

I had no breaks, no snags and I could really see the quilting.

No wonder Leah Day recommends it so highly!

Because I love quilts with tons of quilting all over the surface, I am also learning how to estimate how much thread I will use so I know how much to buy. For my Busy Hands quilt (throw size) It took a full 1600 yard spool of thread for each of the top and bobbin quilting. I prefer to use the same thread in top and bottom because I get better results that way.

I really wanted to the quilting to stand out, not the thread, so I chose a very thin thread, Superior’s 60 weight Bottom Line for all of that quilting. The stitching looked great and it even blended it on the colored fabrics. However, I had a huge amount of thread breaks because the thread just wasn’t strong enough for my high speed free-motion quilting.

I love all of the different quilting styles out there and the quilters promoting them. Leah Day likes to be very artistic with her quilting and really show off her awesome designs. Angela Walters prefers her thread choices to blend into the background. Deb Karasik is happy to change thread colors hundreds of times on the same quilt. Cindy Needham is a Superior Threads spokesperson and has her own distinctive heirloom style.

Whether you love tons of quilting or prefer simpler designs, I think it’s important to try out a bunch of different threads and styles of quilting so you can find your own “voice”. Happy quilting!

Sew and Tell – Designing Quilts in EQ7

November 16, 20123 Comments

I have been busy playing around with my computer design program this week. It’s long been a dream of mine to take my original quilt ideas and turn them into published patterns.

Here’s one of the first quilts I designed in EQ7, my Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt, which later became my first quilt-along tutorial series featuring quilts from precuts.

I was happy with it but during the tutorial I slightly modified the borders, and used different fabrics for the actual quilt.

However, until recently, I didn’t know how to change my digital design to reflect the pattern updates.

I finally had an “a-ha” moment when I realized I could take image files of my fabrics, upload them to the program and then use them to design quilts with current fabrics. Now fabric choices are limitless!

This is what I’ve come up with now – quilt designs that reflect the actual sewing pattern, using Jelly Rolls that I currently have on hand. I went a little crazy and designed 4 of them in one day. I could have kept going with other ideas except that I had to stop to eat and sleep!

I am offering these as quilt kits in my store until they sell out. Then I’ll design some more!

Working on my do-it-yourself-quilt tutorials has definitely helped me grow as a designer. By blogging about my quilts on a weekly basis, I can take a large project and break it down into smaller steps and actually feel like I’m accomplishing something.

Now I’m off to design my next tutorial. (This is almost as much fun as the actual sewing!)

Just in case you’re interested, here are links to the three full tutorials I’ve done so far:

Feel free to quilt-along with me any time!

Holy Cow I Finished!

November 12, 2012March 19, 201317 Comments

I finished quilting my Busy Hands quilt this weekend. I feel like it was quite an accomplishment because I quilted the heck out of it! This quilt is my first official “Modern Quilt” and I have to say, I enjoyed it immensely.

(My poor little chevron blocks are just piled up in the corner, patiently waiting their turn on the design wall so they can get turned into my next modern quilt.)

I tend to be a little more “organized” with my piecing rather than embracing the “wonkiness” that is also a hallmark of this quilt genre. But I love modern quilts because of their bright, clear colors, bold geometric shapes and clean lines, with lots of negative space for machine quilting.

My favorite part about this quilt is all of the different free-motion designs that I tried. I originally was going to stick to one background fill but after quilting a few blocks I got bored very quickly.

One of the things I love about modern quilting is that there are no hard and fast rules, so I was free to switch up the designs whenever I felt like it. I can’t tell you how liberating that was! I didn’t plan them ahead of time but quilted them serendipitously. I counted a total of 53 different quilting designs when all was said and done!

I still have to soak the quilt to remove all of the blue lines around the hands, then block it and bind it. I’m really toying around with the idea of trying to enter it at QuiltCon if I can complete these final steps in time. It’s a juried show and they are accepting entries through November 30th. I’ve never entered a quilt in a “big show” before so I don’t even know if it would get in, but what the heck – I might as well try. It can’t hurt, right??

Sew and Tell – Jelly Roll Quilts Among Friends

November 9, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I am happy to share pictures of Linda and Martha’s completed Jelly Roll quilts. The two friends love to make quilts from precuts and are part of a “strip club” of their local quilt guild. (You better not take that one out of context, LOL!)

They had a blast putting together 3 quilts between the two of them following my Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt Along. They finally finished their third quilt and are ready now for my next Do-It-Yourself Quilt project!

Isn’t it beautiful? The thing I love about having my blog is that everyone can work at their own pace and make one of my tutorial quilts at any time!

Here are pictures of the other two finished Jelly Roll quilts that these lovely ladies made.

Here’s my original version that I made back in August, plus a computer generated picture of a Jelly Roll Quilt Kit I put together using Lily Ashbury material.

Isn’t it fun to see how different fabrics change the look of the same quilt design? I think I may make another one sometime using solids.

Jason and I plan on taking some better photographs of the quilts I’m blogging about and then eventually turn them into published quilt patterns. Just think – those of you that are quilting along with me are helping by being my “pattern testers!” Thank you all very much!

I do love to see pictures of projects you’ve made – whether it’s from fabric purchased from me, a quilt-along quilt, or both. Email your pictures to christa@christaquilts.com.

Let’s Get Acquainted!

November 6, 2012November 6, 201215 Comments

Beth from Plum and June has put together a fun blog hop so that new bloggers can get to know each other better, and those more experienced can find new ideas to make unique quilty projects!

I myself have only been blogging for a short while and am having a blast finding all sorts of interesting things to read. In fact, I just started a weekly blog post summarizing my web hopping, called Christa’s Quilt Links.

It’s my week to introduce myself during her hop so here goes:

Earlier Quilt

I have been quilting for almost 19 years but it feels like I’ve barely just begun. I started by tying quilts for charity and thought that was the most fun thing ever.Then a friend introduced me to machine quilting and I’ve never looked back!

In between raising kids, I’ve sold some of my quilts, have taught numerous quilting classes and have been an active member of my quilting guild.

I’m still searching for my “niche” but I am attracted to bright clear colors and bold geometric shapes. The clean lines and intense “negative space” of the Modern Quilting aesthetic suits me to a “tee!”

Current Project

About 6 years ago, my husband Jason quilt his job as a CPA to join me in making our on-line quilt shop our full-time business.

Charming Chevrons

It was started about 9 years ago on a whim when a former student of mine suggested I sell my extra fabrics on eBay. I’m glad I took her up on that!

Currently, my blog allows me to put together simple tutorials that I eventually hope to publish as patterns.

You can quilt along with me right now and make your own version of my “Charming Chevrons” quilt now in progress.

You can also make either of my previous Do-It-Yourself quilt projects: The Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt and Baby Bricks.

Baby Bricks

Every 6-8 weeks I demonstrate the entire process of making a quilt from cutting and piecing to machine quilting, basting and binding.

Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt

Thanks for visiting!

Here are a few more blogs you can visit on your journey. Happy blog hopping!

Gertie from Quilting for England

Pat from Color Me Quilty

Cathy from Cut it Straight

Charming Chevrons Followup #2

November 1, 2012March 19, 20132 Comments

Here are a this week’s questions I received about my Charming Chevrons quilt tutorial.

Ivy asked if I was sitting down while rotary cutting.

Yes, for part of the time I was, when trimming all of those triangle squares! I keep a medium sized mat next to my sewing machine while piecing so that I can trim as necessary. (Then I just move it out of the way when I’m machine quilting or need more sewing surface area.)

Medium Mat

Large Mat

For smaller pieces like the triangle squares I can comfortably trim while sitting. However, for larger chunks of fabric, or for rotary cutting lots of individual units, I will stand to cut. I have a larger rotary cutting mat that I keep on my large utility tables (which are the same tables I use for basting – with the emphasis on the word UTILITY!)

Aggie & Kathie are both making their quilts with double the amount of squares cut from Layer Cakes. They need to know the new dimensions.

Their layout will use almost twice as many triangles squares, a total of 320 to be exact (with 16 leftover). This size quilt will finish at 64″ x 80″ and the setting will be 16 triangle squares across by 20 triangles squares down. But we are getting ahead of ourselves since that will be part of next week’s homework! See last Thursday’s follow-up post for another way to use a Layer Cake for this quilt.

Layer Cake Chevrons

I enjoy answering your questions while making this quilt, so keep them coming! You can either post them here on my blog or email me directly at christa@christaquilts.com. I’ll respond with updates each week.

If you are just now joining us – this quilt is super fun and simple to make. It just requires 2 charm packs of color or print and 2 charm packs of background. Kits are available, too.

Be sure to email me pictures of your progress so I can share them during sew and tell!

UFO Weekend

October 29, 2012March 19, 20136 Comments

This weekend was the first time in awhile that I didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything but sew! (And take care of the kids and do laundry and clean the house and cook and work…)

I didn’t finish anything, but I worked a little bit on a bunch of projects I have going on right now so I feel very accomplished!

I finished a couple more paper-pieced units from my Deb Karasik workshop:

I sewed together all of my half-square triangles for my Charming Chevrons quilt tutorial later this week:

I hand-sewed (yes-by hand!) another chunk of my Winding Ways quilt:

And I machine quilted a couple more squares of my Busy Hands quilt.

All in all, it was a productive weekend!

Sew and Tell – Holiday Projects

October 26, 2012March 19, 20132 Comments

Are you looking for a couple of quick and easy ideas for the holidays? Well thanks to a couple of my blog readers I have just thing to inspire you!

I know that Halloween is just a few days away, but my friend Stacy whipped up a couple of “Spooktacular” strippy skirts for her girls using just one Monster Bash Jelly Roll. She got them done in record time, too!

Aren’t they just adorable? (And the girls are cute, too!!) Stacy found a pattern for her skirts over at the Moda Bakeshop. She’s planning on making a Christmas version next. I think she should also make one for herself and they should all go caroling together this winter!!

Moving onto Christmas projects, Wendy S. took my Baby Bricks quilt and scaled down the design so it was suitable for a set of holiday placemats.

She cut her bricks into 4 1/4″ x 2 1/4″ rectangles and used a thin 1 1/2″ strip of black. I think this makes the sparkling Christmas prints really pop!

Thanks for sharing, gals. These ideas would make super fun holiday gifts and are much quicker to sew than making a quilt!

American Warriors Quilt Tutorial – American Rails Quilt

October 23, 2012January 24, 20208 Comments

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Darlene S. posted a question on my blog asking about a pattern for my Wounded Warriors Quilt that a few of us gals from church made. So I decided to post a few more of the step-by-step pictures along with some simple instructions.

This quilt is JELLY ROLL friendly!

The quilt is basically a modified rail fence version with 3 strips of color instead of 4. Since it’s made from red, white, and blue strips with the white strip in the middle, the design forms sort of a woven look. It would make a perfect signature quilt, too!

So easy peasy, here you go:

Step 1 – Our lap size quilt finished at 60″ x 72″ and consisted of 120 blocks set 10 x 12. Each block finished 6 inches square. So you would need about a 1.5 yards of each color. Use scraps for variety, or your favorite jelly roll. I used several prints of each color. Cut each fabric into 20 – 2.5″ strips.

Subcut those into 120 rectangles each of red, white and blue, measuring 2 1/2″ by 6 1/2″.

Step 2 – Sew all of the rectangles into sets of three with the same red-white-blue color orientation. For best variety, mix up the pieces while sewing as much as you can.

Step 3 – The tricky part – lay out all of your blocks so that they form an interesting zig-zag pattern. This was probably the hardest part of making the whole quilt and keeping the colors going the right way! If you look closely at the picture you will see continuous streaks of red and blue on either side. Constantly refer to your layout to keep it going the right way.

Step 4 – When all of the blocks are laid out in the correct orientation, you can join the blocks into rows. Then join all of the rows to make your top. We tied our quilt, but it would look great quilted in the ditch with a decorative stitch!

If you are wanting to make a signature quilt you can either piece all of the blocks and have people sign them ahead of time. Or finish the quilt and bring it to your party or wedding reception and have the guests sign directly on the quilt!

Updated: This quilt has now been featured as a favorite on FaveQuilts.com. They renamed it American Rails. That makes my day. 🙂

Click here to see my other FaveQuilts featured tutorials.

Free Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern

Want to make another quick and easy jelly roll quilt? Click here to sign up for Friendly Threads, My weekly email newsletter and get the PDF pattern for Puzzle Box emailed to you.

Wounded Warrior Quilts

October 15, 20128 Comments

My friend Suzanne’s parents are currently serving as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As part of their service, they are collecting Americana themed quilts for Wounded Warriors in California. Each of the Wounded Warriors comes to the hospital without any personal belongings and are given a minimal amount of clothing, personal items and a handmade quilt.

Suzanne was able to share this project locally with a me and a bunch our our friends from church here in Las Vegas last weekend. We joined forces and quickly pieced a bunch of rail-fence blocks in red, white and blue. We literally made a quilt in a day!

My friends pitched in to get this project done in a hurry. Brooke and Emily (left) joined me for the morning sewing shift. Tamara, Suzanne, and her daughter came over for the afternoon shift. Later that evening, we got a larger crowd together for tying.

It was such a fun way for a bunch of us (who are a little younger than the traditional quilting bee crowd) to get together for good food, company, and fun!

Here are more quilts that some of the other wards (congregations) in our area made:

This quilt below was made by a bunch of 8-11 year old girls from Suzanne’s parents ward in San Diego. I think it’s so great to get them started sewing so young!

And finally, Suzanne’s dad is delivering a stack of quilts to the Armed Services YMCA at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California (near where her parents are serving).

If you are interested in making a Wounded Warrior quilt, you can check to see if there is a group in your area. Or you can email Judi Pett (Suzanne’s mom) if you would like to donate a quilt. She can be reached at Judipett@gmail.com.