Last Call for Fabric Clearance – We’re Shutting Down the Old Site!

June 24, 2014June 25, 20145 Comments

But first, I need to announce my charm pack winners. Congratulations to Peg H. who won the Moda charm pack blog giveaway, and @fedewala who won the instagram bundle. Thanks so much for your input on my newsletters, too. Monday was the preferred day, so I’ll take a week off and start sending them again on a regular schedule. That works better for me, too. 🙂

Just in case you missed it, you can sign up for my weekly newsletter here.

Now for the bigger news, we are downsizing and shutting down the old website at the end of the day tomorrow, Wednesday, June 25th and everything remaining is now 50% off.

This is so we can concentrate our efforts on our new leaner (but in no way meaner) precut store where we sell fat quarter bundles, charm packs, jelly rolls, layer cakes, and just about any precut you can think of from all the major manufacturers. We also carry a large selection of Aurifil thread by the spool or by the bundle. It’s been so fun to seek out new precuts and new ways to use them!

And thanks to those of you who listened and cheered me on during my interview on Pat Show’s quilting podcast yesterday. I was super nervous to go on, but she instantly put me right at ease. What a fun lady and a great host! If you missed it live, you can listen to all of Pat’s archived podcasts here, and you can subscribe to the show via Itunes (search for American Patchwork and Quilting Radio).

Listen to My Interview Today on American Patchwork and Quilting Radio

June 23, 2014June 17, 20147 Comments

Today’s the day!

I will interviewed live on Pat Sloan’s American Patchwork and Quilting Radio podcast today at 4PM Eastern Time. Wish me luck and be sure to tune in! 🙂

Click here to listen live at 4PM Eastern time. It should be fun! You can also listen to past episodes of the show and subscribe via Itunes (search American Patchwork & Quilting).

Time for a Giveaway – Win 8 Moda Charm Packs!

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014624 Comments

Just for some random fun – how about another giveaway? One lucky follower will win this bundle of 8 Moda Charm Packs!

8 Moda Charm Packs by Some of Your Favorite Fabric Designers

Win Them Before You Can Buy Them

The generous folks at Moda sent me a box full of charm packs from their upcoming collections so I could pick and choose fabrics for some future projects. How nice. 🙂 Now that I’ve made my selections, I have a bundle of charm packs to give away to one of you!

These are so new that they aren’t even available yet in my precut store.

Here’s How to Enter:

Leave your comment below letting me know your opinion on my weekly newsletter – would you rather receive it on Mondays or on Fridays?
If you aren’t currently a newsletter subscriber, you can join here.
Giveaway will run through the end of the day on Monday, June 23rd.
I will contact the winner via email and will post their name on my blog on Tuesday.
Giveaway is open to everyone worldwide. International winner is responsible for shipping costs.

A Bonus Instagram Giveaway, Too!

Now that I’ve joined the online community of Instagram, I’ve decided to spread the love over there, too. Just go to my feed @christaquilts for details on how to win an additional bundle over there! It’s a different set of 8 Moda charm packs. 🙂

Fun Features – Sew Mama Sew, NQA, American Patchwork & Quilting Radio

June 18, 2014June 17, 201412 Comments

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks as I’ve been preparing not only more quilts for publication and more samples for teaching, but I’ve been invited to share a little bit more about myself and my quilts in a few different places. Here’s a list of what’s currently happening along with what’s coming up. 🙂

20140601_favorite_quilt

This week my Modern Logs quilt was featured on Sew Mama Sew as part of their month-long series, “My Favorite Quilt” curated by Jessica Skultety from Quilty Habit. And yes, for those of you who asked, I do have the pattern available here.

Modern Logs is now available as a PDF pattern through my Craftsy store.

Jessica asked me a series of really thought-provoking questions about my quilt which was fun to think about and answer. Plus she wrote a really nice intro which made me blush (thank goodness you can’t see that online)! My favorite part of the whole series, in addition to the fabulous quilts that are being shared, is the chance for you to participate!

Sew Mama Sew is running a month-long linkup where you can share your favorite quilts, too! Just write a new blog post and answer the same set of questions I did, then click here and scroll to the end of the page to add your link. There’s even a giveaway as part of the series, so how cool is that?

I’m also in the member spotlight on the National Quilting Association’s website for the entire month of June. It includes a little background of my quilting, a picture (that’s a little too large for my tastes, LOL!!), as well as 17 pictures of my recent finishes, all done in the last couple of years. So I invite you to pop on over and take a look. Most of you who have followed me for awhile may have seen all or most of the quilts already, but it was fun to share them all in one place. 🙂

And finally – pinch me please – the always lovely and talented Pat Sloan has invited me to be a guest on her podcast, American Patchwork and Quilting Radio, next Monday June 23rd at 4PM Eastern Time. We will be chatting about quilting (of course) and go a little more indepth into how my own quilting has changed over time. It should be fun!

Click here to listen to the podcast live as it happens.

You can also listen to past episodes of the show or subscribe via Itunes.

Christa’s Soap Box – I Love Teaching Quilting!

June 16, 2014June 16, 20149 Comments

I love teaching quilting. I mean, I really, really love it! I just wrapped up a couple of modern quilting classes last week at Quiltique and I am feeling such a sense of satisfaction that teaching is a regular part of my life once again.

A couple of my samples were on display during class preview day at Quiltique.

I first began teaching quilting about 17 years ago when my oldest was just 7 months old! My mom, whom I taught to quilt, had walked into a local shop at the time (which is now out of business) and the owner asked her if she had any suggestions for quilting teachers. Mom recommended me and the rest as they say is history. 🙂

Like mother, like daughter – we both love to sew!

The fact that I could get paid for sharing something that I would gladly do for free was just icing on the cake! I developed a series of beginner’s basics classes and outlined methods for teaching how to make an entire quilt from start to finish. As the local shop was beginning to go out of business, I moved my teaching to a nearby Joann’s where I quickly developed a loyal following.

I would get a new set of students each summer and most of them would take classes from me all year long until I cycled through my entire curriculum. It was such fun to see them not only grow as quilters, but to watch as they developed friendships with other students in the class. They were with me through the births of my last 2 children and we would joke about how I liked to sew barefoot (and pregnant).

My daughter’s baby quilt, made by former students in 2003. She still uses it!

I had just started my online fabric shop in 2003 right before I had my daughter (who is now nearly 11) and I knew then that I would have to take a break from regular weekly teaching. On the last night of class, my students surprised with an impromptu baby shower complete with a quilt for my daughter. I was so touched it made me cry. No one had ever made me a quilt before!

Over the last 11 years I’ve kept up my teaching skills by sharing with friends, developing tutorials online, and offering occasional classes through my guild and at retreats. However, I’ve missed the interaction that regularly scheduled classes affords. Now that I’m back, it feels like old times! 🙂

A former student of mine, Ofelia with her first quilt – a traditional log cabin!

A highlight of my most recent class is that one of my original students (whom I hadn’t seen in about 14 years) came to join us. When she heard I was teaching again, she quickly signed up for my Modern Logs class. Just for fun, she brought in her first quilt that I had taught her to make all those years ago. And guess what – it was a log cabin. 🙂

Sara is showing off her fussy cut centers – aren’t they just adorable?

Although my methods have changed over the years along with my style, what hasn’t changed is the sense of satisfaction I get from interacting with my students. Seeing the smiles on their faces, and feeling their pride with a job well done is just priceless.

I don’t plan to take a break from teaching anytime soon. In fact, I’m expanding my reach and have already started booking traveling gigs for next year. It’s just too much fun to pass up! (And for those of you that are interested, I do sell my Modern Logs pattern here.)

Barb is excited to baste and quilt her version of Modern Logs.

What’s the most fun class you’ve ever taken?

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!

Thread Thursday – New Aurifil Collections

June 12, 2014June 7, 20146 Comments

This week instead of Fabric Friday, I am going to share Thread Thursday with you today! Aurifil has released many new 50 weight thread kits and we are busy stocking them all!

Aurifil Best Selection kit – includes small spools of the 45 most popular colors!

I love that machine quilting with beautifully colored threads has become a large part of the modern quilting movement, and I will do my part to further the cause. 🙂

Many designers, such as Carolyn Friedlander have designed their own collections in beautiful hues to match their fabric lines. The Botanics set comes in a large thread kit as well as a smaller boxed set – choose which size best fits your budget!

Alison Glass’ booth was a favorite at quilt market, with her colorful fabrics and beautiful threads. Hew new thread set, Alison Glass Essentials also comes in both large and small spool versions.

I usually stock up on the large spools when I know I will use those colors for piecing or to machine quilt. I round out my color selection with the smaller spools which are perfect to have on hand for machine applique, embroidery details, or matching binding.

Edyta Sitar has just released a 4-spool set of Winter Essentials – darker neutrals that go along with original release of Quilters Essentials – lighter neutrals that are perfect for piecing and blending.

I love that so many modern and traditional designers are curating their collections with Aurifil. Additional designers’ offerings include sets by Tula Pink, Pat Bravo, Darlene Zimmerman, Minick and Simpson, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Zen Chic, Me & My Sister, Pat Sloan, Vanessa Christensen, Camille Roskelley and many others.

Click here to see them all.

Fresh, Modern & Timeless by Victoria Findlay Wolfe – Small Set Available Now.

Many more collections were previewed at this spring’s quilt market, which will be available in the fall, and you know I will carry those, too! Thanks for supporting my thread addiction. I hope I’m feeding yours as well! 🙂

How to Make Quilting Your Business #10 – Monetizing Your Blog

June 11, 2014June 11, 201411 Comments

Wow! It’s hard to believe this is my 10th post in the series on How to make Quilting your Business. You can get links to the other 9 posts here. Today’s topic is Monetizing Your Blog. This can be a somewhat controversial topic but still, I think it’s an important one to cover. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

Paid Sponsorships

Most often, paid sponsorships are those square buttons to other shops and products that show up, usually on the right (or left) column of a blog. Though I have never had paid sponsorships on my own blog, I have paid other bloggers to advertise when I was doing the online quilt shop thing full time. Here’s what my button looked like:

If you think of going this route, my best advice would be to put together a media kit with your advertising rates and exactly what you will offer in exchange. For me personally, I loved bloggers who would offer a discount for booking several month’s advertising up front. That encouraged me to sponsor them for a longer period of time. I don’t currently advertise on blogs anymore since I’ve taken my business in a new direction, but it was fun to interact with the bloggers when I did. 🙂

Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are links to products, services, or stores where bloggers get a commission when someone clicks on their link, goes to the linked website, and makes a purchase. I think these can be very effective as long as they are not too “in your face” and as long as what’s being talked about in the blog post does not sound like a commercial.

The most effective links are when a blogger links to a product or service that he/she actually uses. Then it’s more like a helpful lead, rather than a blatant promotion. Some of the more popular affiliate links are to Amazon and Craftsy, but most larger business offer them, so it’s worth checking into if that’s something you are interested in. Some companies also offer affiliate links embedded with photos, but I personally think that’s pushing it a little too far.

Product Reviews

Many times companies like to reach out to bloggers by sending them free products like fabric, tools and supplies for them to use and review. While I have never received monetary compensation for any product review I’ve written, I’ve received a few fun freebies on occasion (though most of my reviews are non-sponsored – they are just for fun!) For me personally, I would never review a product that isn’t related to quilting, or anything I’m not actually interested in.

A fun freebie I received in exchange for a product review on another company’s website.

Don’t be shy about contacting the company whose products you are interested in. I’ve gotten many a free quilting book by reaching out to the publisher and offering an honest review in exchange for a copy of the book. I think that’s been a fun, fair trade. 🙂 Plus it gives me more fun things to share on my blog!

Paid Posts

In my experience, I’ve never received any money for any posts I have written directly on my own blog. However, as many of you know, I blog for Craftsy and I do receive a small fee for each post that’s published on their blog, so that’s kind of fun.

I also have a couple of friends who have been successful writing for larger crafting and sewing blogs on a pay for post basis. If that’s something that appeals to you, start contacting these companies and letting them know you are interested. They are always looking for fresh, new content to share and it’s also a way for you to gain more exposure.

These are just a few ways I know about to monetize your blog. I did a quick google search for “monetizing your blog” and found several articles that delve into this topic in more detail. Here are a few (non-sponsored!!) links you can try for further reading:

http://www.blogmarketingacademy.com/top-10-blog-monetization-strategies-ranked

http://monetizepros.com/blog/2014/50-blog-and-content-monetization-strategies

http://wow-womenonwriting.com/34-20questions-MonetizeWebsite.html

Click here for the start of this series.

My Son, The Aspiring Anime Artist

June 9, 2014June 7, 201432 Comments

We love to encourage creativity around here. So it makes me happy when I see my kids exploring their artistic sides. My 14 year old son has really taken to the Japanese style of cartoon drawing, usually called Manga or Anime.

It’s fun to see him sketch and watch the pictures develop as he draws. He sketches with pencil, draws the outline in ink, then colors and shades with professional markers.

It started off with his fascination with Yugioh, an animated Japanese cartoon and card game. He would make up his own cards and draw detailed diagrams of the game playing equipment.

Several months ago, he got a drawing book from the craft store and he’s been going to town with his drawings ever since, enjoying the coloring and shading just as much as sketching the outlines of the characters. He’s studied proportions in detail and isn’t afraid to draw a line and erase, over and over again, until he gets it just right.

Ryan’s Drawing of a Character from Legend of Zelda

Being the supportive mom that I am, I wanted to incorporate some of his favorite things into a quilt I’m making for him. I’ve recently finished a quilt top that matches the colors in his bedroom. The double chevron design is purely for my own aesthetic pleasure.

I then let him pick out the backing, which I’m sure will get displayed more than the front! The sheet we are using isn’t quite wide enough so I will add some extra fabric to the sides.

As I have been working on his quilt, he has been improving his drawing skills and learning all about the best tools and supplies to use for the job (wonder where he gets that from?)

He has a healthy collection of Copic markers, which are not cheap! I’ve been very proud of him though – he works for us, and uses the money he earns to buy his own supplies.

Each hobby has its own set of tools and supplies!

In this drawing, I love how he added a swatch chart, so he knows which colors he’s using when adding ink to his drawings.

I really like this one, too. It’s a character from another show he watches (in Japanese with English subtitles), called Naruto. Just look at all that detail and expression! I really don’t mind that he enjoys TV and plays video games for inspiration (in moderation of course), especially when it leads to such creativity!

He’s very good at adding details and shading to make the characters really come alive. He’s also becoming fascinated with Japanese culture and even longs to go there on his church mission when he gets older (though of course you don’t really get to pick).

A current WIP – we all have them!

Although he’s never really said he wants to do this as a career when he gets older, he’s always had a knack for drawing detailed diagrams and schematics, and he’s really good with math. So who knows – maybe he has a future as an architect or an engineer some day. Whatever path he chooses, we know from experience that the joy is in the journey. 🙂

Sew and Tell – A Class with J. Michelle Watts

June 6, 2014June 5, 20143 Comments

A few weeks ago, my traditional guild brought in guest speaker J. Michelle Watts to lecture and present a series of classes. I was fortunate enough to take a super fun day-long applique class with her.

Quilting students watching J. Michelle Watts’ machine applique demo.

Michelle’s focus is on machine applique with a southwest theme and it was very interesting to me how many Southwest designs have a little bit of a geometric modern vibe to them.

Some of Michelle’s beautiful class samples.

As any well prepared teacher would do, Michelle offered kits available for our class and many of the students took her up on that offer. The medallion piece was a great exercise to practice stitching angular shapes, sharp points, and tight curves.

My friend Cory stitched her practice sample on a striking black background.

Of course, I had to go my own way and try something completely different! 🙂 I may not actually do anything with this piece, but it was fun to try out the teacher’s methods and pick up a few tips and tricks along the way.

My version – it’s such fun to play!

No matter how much I think I know about a particular subject, I always learn something new whenever I take a class. The best tip I picked up from Michelle’s class was to use a dotted outline when tracing shapes for fusible applique. It’s much quicker than drawing the whole line!

Drawing dotted lines rather than a full outline of the shape is much faster!