Here is one of the beautiful quilts that I saw at Road to California. I was intrigued by this quilt because it uses Paula Nadelstern’s Nuance fabric which I happen to carry. Each star on the front used a different kaleidoscope motif for the block centers.
Check out the quilt backing! This is a great place to use the large allover print. All of the quilts I saw were simply amazing! More pics to come…
Here’s a beautiful quilt made recently by another quilter friend of mine that moved away. Camey caught the quilting bug and had to move so that she could spread her quilting knowledge to others (or maybe it was because she got a great deal on a house on the other side of town??)
Camey used one fat quarter pack of Kyoto Gardens Asian prints from Hoffman for this gorgeous quilt. She cut out big chunks of fabric accented with black. Isn’t it stunning?
I love it when my “quilty” friends send me pictures of their projects. This one is from my friend and former neighbor Allison who recently moved Utah. Allison has always been very crafty – dabbling in sewing projects, needle arts, home decorating, cooking, other other wonderful creations. But of course it wasn’t until she moved away that her true quilting talent is beginning to shine! At least now we have something to email about!
Allison made this quilt from a mix of Heather Bailey prints and Sandi Henderson pieces that she got from me. Don’t they blend well together?
For the quilting, she made a template from one of the Heather Bailey fabric motifs. She used my favorite method of tracing the design onto the top of the quilt with water soluble ink. The quilting was done using her Bernina embroidery foot with the feed dogs off. Way to improvise, Allison!
And of course, she chose to showcase a little back art for the lining. I just love it when you can see all that gorgeous quilting on the back!
I love having crafty friends! My very dear friend Janice (the one whom I shared pastries with yesterday) made me this beautiful cross-stitched picture. It is perfect for my kids’ jungle themed bathroom. She painstakingly formed each stitch by hand with multiple thread variations and intricate shading. Her handy hubby made the decorative frame.
In exchange, I made her this intricately quilted and appliqued wall-hanging for her home. I machine blanket stitched around the edges of each applique piece with matching thread. Then I echo quilted the backgrounds with metallic thread and added a double cable quilting design to frame the border. Special friends deserve special quilts!
For 2011 I resolve NOT to make any new resolutions! I will however, try to sew more, hang with my kids more, and stress less.
Here are some pictures of a couple of quilts I finished recently using charm squares, embellished with some alphabet applique.
I made this quilt using very boyish plaids, tiny 1 inch setting squares and fusible applique for the letters. It’s about 36″ x 46″.
I just let the letters lie casually on each fabric square so I didn’t have to be too precise on placement.
I used my favorite moon stencil for the border – check out earlier posts for a closeup look using the same quilt design.
I used one Moda Charm Pack in girl colors for this cute quilt:
Just like the blue quilt above, I enlarged a computer font and made my own stencils for the lettering, placing them haphazardly on the background charms to give it a more whimsical look.
This quilt measures about 32″ x 36″ – perfect for a snuggly baby on the go!
My local quilting guild has encouraged its members to complete 12 projects this year – one for every month. These won’t count for 2011 but just looking at them is getting me excited to start my new projects. If I complete my goal, I’ll be rewarded with a gift certificate to a local quilt shop.
Hey – even though I run my own quilt store, it’s still fun to go shopping somewhere else!
With the release of Amy Butler’s newest line Soul Blossoms, I thought it would be fun to do a spotlight on this prolific designer. 
I first met her a few years ago at Quilt Market and was immediately impressed with her persona and her fabrics. (As well as the fact that she is a lot taller than me!!)
Here’s what Amy Butler has to say about Soul Blossoms, in her own words:
“I wanted to create a visual story to share my wonderful experiences while traveling to India. It’s impossible to spend time in such a soulful place and not be inspired by the culture, rich colors, amazing textiles, and ornate architecture.I was instantly consumed by the heartbeat of everyday life and smitten with the beautiful way people expressed themselves.”
Amy continues, “Soul Blossoms is my interpretation of an enchanted, modern passage through the floral delights of India. Dreamy jewel toned prints in multi-hued flowers and designs – uplifting and passionate – weave together my ethnic inspired story.”
“My three color collections; Passion, Joy and Bliss, work in a harmonious treasure box palette for endless exotic combinations. I hope you are as delighted as I am, and that you find your own inspirations to help your creative soul blossom!”
Thanks, Amy! My personal favorites from this line are the Cherry Laurel Dots and Bliss Peacock Feathers. I just have a thing for dots and brightly colored fabrics! The individual fabric pictures are courtesy of Westminster and I love how they display the closeup view in the corners.
Here are a few inspiration images of what you can do with this fabulous material, courtesy of Amy Butler.
Here are the cute Christmas stockings I made for my family. I used a simple stocking pattern and my mom embroidered the names for me.
I let everyone select their own fabric from my personal stash. My oldest son is more traditional while my younger son really loved the monster truck fabric. My daughter’s favorite color is pink so who says Christmas colors have to be limited to red and green?
Since we (sadly) don’t have a fireplace in our home, we hung them on a decorative shelf in our hall that has just the right number of hooks. And of course our little plush Christmas characters will protect them until it’s time for Santa to come fill them up!
I made this quilt for my friend Sabrina, in exchange for all the cute art caricatures she made of me doing “quilty” things like sewing and hoarding my fabric stash.
I used an older collection from Clothworks entitled Sunwashed that is now, sadly, out of print. I’m accumulating a large collection of floral stencils, one of which came in handy for the alternating blocks. I quilted around the flowers in the border with a few looping swirls to make a continuous design.
Fusible applique has become my favorite decorative quiltmaking style. I machine stitched around the edges with a buttonhole stitch in a blending thread color. Here’s a closeup of the blocks showing the background stippling:
This is now one of my favorite quilts. I’m so glad I could give it to such a good friend who appreciates it!
I spent most of my weekend washing and folding loads of fabric. I have been accumulating bits and pieces of leftovers from bolt ends and a yard or two here and there of prints I really like. It’s been sitting in a heap waiting for me to “process” so I finally decided to tackle the pile!
The first step is to sort the fabric into colors for washing. Then I throw in one load at a time. I like to wash it on a gentle cycle with little agitation so it doesn’t get tangled.
After the fabric is washed, I hang it to dry – there are fewer wrinkles this way and it cuts down on the ironing. Who needs a laundry line when you have a stair bannister?
Then I lovingly fold each piece and sort it into color groups. If I have enough room on the shelf I’ll make two stacks – one for tone-on-tones and the other for prints.
And finally, the new fabric is put away. After all that folding, I don’t want touch it!
Use the coupon code BLOGCQ on my website at ChristaQuilts.com to save 20% on any one fabric order. This is my way of inviting my website customers to take a look at my blog and reward them for doing so!
It’s also my way of saying thank you to my blog readers for venturing over to my website and exploring all I have to offer there.
Here’s the fine print: coupon code must be entered during checkout. Not valid on prior purchases and only one coupon per customer, please. Coupon expires at the end of the year on December 31st, 2010.
When you get a moment, read through my blog posts and add your comments if you feel so inclined. I welcome all visitors and friends!
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