Christa’s Soap Box – A Drop in the Bucket

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Sometimes I feel like I’m not getting anywhere fast; the daily routines just seem like a drop in the bucket of what I’m trying to accomplish. However, I know that in time, those drops will add up and my bucket will be not only be full, it will overflow. (Hopefully this will occur sometime before I actually kick the bucket!!)

Trail Run

Me, Jason and his sister at the start of a very wet and rainy trail race!

Jason and I ran a trail race this past Saturday and it was literally raining buckets! We’ve decided that we want to run a half-marathon trail race next spring, so training begins now.

I took up running many years ago as a way to get fit after having children. I’ve run two marathons and several half-marathons over the last few years, but it was during a period of time where I wasn’t sewing very much.

Once I rekindled my desire to quilt (all the time), running fell by the wayside (and I gained a few pounds…) Now I’m learning to find balance with both hobbies I love – quilting and running.

Trail Terrain

Peaceful view from the trail. I was trying to catch the next person up ahead in front of me. (I did!)

Even though I yearn to run at the speeds and distances I used to, I know it will take time to once again build up my endurance. Each daily run is another drop in the bucket towards my goal.

I think this is very similar to my goals for quilting, both personally and professionally. Sometimes it seems like it will take forever to design and make all the quilts I desire, and even longer to get them in front of the people who I most want to see them. However, each stitch I take and each quilt I make is another drop in this bucket, too.

Trail Finish

Jason at the finish – you got to ring a bell at the end! How cool!

Most of all I’m learning patience. I’m the sort of person that wants it all done now, but I’m slowly coming to the realization that substantial goals are worth waiting for and worth striving for: day by day, step by step, and drop by drop.

PSA: Craftsy

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Here’s a public service announcement for any of you who haven’t yet jumped on the Craftsy bandwagon. Next weekend, during all of the Black Friday weekend frenzy, a whole lotta stuff will be on sale! Be sure to create your Craftsy account now and get ready for their awesome promotions!

Strip Your StasIn Craftsy’s own words, here’s who they are and what they are about, plus a little “behind the scenes”:

Craftsy is a worldwide craft community offering online classes. It also has a patterns marketplace where independent designers can sell their patterns; a supplies shop with great deals on yarn, fabric, and class kits; and a projects section where members share pictures of their latest craft successes. With over two million members and counting, Craftsy has something for just about everyone, in categories ranging from quilting, sewing, knitting, painting, photography, cooking, and more.

Playful Piecing Techniques

Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Craftsy Class
Before filming even begins, hours and hours are spent determining what content will be covered in each class, and how to best teach specific techniques to the camera. Instructors work with an instructional designer to create an in-depth outline of each lesson, and decide how to best prepare props or “step-outs” that show what your project should like at different steps. Instead of a scripted class, instructors follow their outlines on camera to create an authentic and engaging teaching experience.

Design It Quilt It
Most Craftsy classes are filmed in one of five studios in Denver, CO, assuring that every part of the production process goes off without a hitch. They fly in instructors from all over the world to spend several days filming, then spend several weeks turning hours of footage into a two to three hour class experience that has been watched, rewatched, and reviewed by industry experts. The final result is an HD-quality video that takes you in-depth into specific topics in any given craft category- from cooking and fine art to sewing and knitting.

Dot to Dot Quilting

What IS the Craftsy experience?
Craftsy classes are designed to have all the benefits of an in-person class, with none of the drawbacks. Available online and on-demand, you always have world-class instructors at the tip of your fingers. You can retake the class as many times as you want, and the 30-second repeat feature allows you to watch the same section over and over again until you get every technique just right.

photography

Watching a Craftsy class is like having a first-row seat with some of the best instructors in the world. Even better, classes have a 100% money-back guarantee.

Try online learning today with a free mini-class! Choose from 23 Free Classes at Craftsy ranging from drawing and painting to sewing and quilting, from knitting to cake decorating and more.

Ok, back to me again! Just “sew” you know – all of the above pictures are classes I’ve taken or are currently enrolled in. 🙂 Be sure to browse around so you are ready to pick your favorites when they go on sale!

Sew and Tell – Colorful Chevrons: Now Available as a Dress!

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Where quilting and fashion collide…

Who knew I was so fashion forward? I got a kick out of this picture showing a dress version of Colorful (Quilty) Chevrons! One of my blog readers (Samantha K.) pointed it out to me and it’s from Southern State of Mind Boutique on facebook, a store in Texas that sells amazing boutique dresses. (Picture re-posted here with their permission).

20131120_chevron_dress

Isn’t it fabulous? I’m almost tempted to buy one for myself. Wouldn’t that be a riot? I didn’t realize that when I compared my quilting to a runway fashion show earlier in the week that could actually be a possibility, LOL!

Quilty Chevrons

Colorful Chevrons as seen in Quilty – image shared with permission.

You know of course that I was independently working on my color and design months ago while whoever designed this dress was independently doing the same thing. The fact that we chose similar colors and design is a testament to just how much the chevron shape has infiltrated popular culture!

Hmm – maybe I should commission someone to make dress versions of all my quilt designs….?

Book Review – Color Essentials by Amanda Murphy

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I’m so excited I get to share my review of a fantastic book with you today. It’s called Color Essentials by Amanda Murphy (author of Modern Holiday and recently featured on Quilty’s meet a modern quilter.)

Color Essentials

Color Essentials by Amanda Murphy

This is a book after my own heart. It features 12 crisp and vibrant quilts (3 smaller projects and 9 full-size quilts) made from precut solids. Need I say more? Don’t worry – I will!

Color Essentials starts off with a fantastic presentation on color theory using Amanda’s cleverly designed “Kona Color Wheel”. All of the quilts in this book were made entirely from Kona Solid precuts in three gorgeous coloways – Sunrise, Sunset and Bright. In fact, Amanda partnered with Robert Kaufman to create the first two palettes to go along with the book. How fantastic!

Kona Sunrise

Kona Sunrise

Kona Sunset

Kona Sunset

Amanda divides the colors up into warm and cool hues and uses actual Kona Solid fabric swatches to illustrate examples of color play interactions. She offers suggestions on how to pick the colors for your projects and includes several pages of Kona color swatch charts for you to use.

If you liked using solid fabrics before (like me), you will fall in love with them after viewing these gorgeous quilts. Amanda includes a wide range of skill levels and techniques in her book including strip piecing, machine applique, handwork, and non-traditional finishes such as prairie points and zig-zag bindings.

Color Essentials

Color Essentials Quilts by Amanda Murphy

My favorite part of the book is where she shows 3-4 alternate colorway possibilities for each quilt! It really gets your creative juices flowing. There is plenty of machine quilting eye-candy for you to drool over and I was so proud to read that she even quilted a few of them herself!

Illusion Pillow

Illusion Pillow, Pieced and Quilted by Amanda Murphy

Throughout the book, Amanda encourages you to move outside your comfort zone and experiment with new color combinations that you may not have tried before. I think this is a wonderful approach to quilt-making which can yield beautiful results.

Color Essentials is published by Stashbooks (C&T) and it consists of a total of 143 gloriously illustrated pages with full-color diagrams throughout. You can purchase it on Amazon or at your favorite Quilt Shop!

Christa’s Soap Box – I am a quilter.

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I am a quilter. Obvious I know, but I’ve been spending the last few weeks and months determining what this really means to me and why I enjoy doing what I do.

It means I love to make quilts from start to finish. I love coming up with a design, choosing the fabrics, cutting them into little pieces and sewing them back together again. I absolutely love the texture that machine quilting adds to a piece, and I don’t even mind basting since that’s a necessary part of the process.

I am a quilter.

I am a quilter.

I’ve come to enjoy finishing the binding by hand, curling up on the sofa watching a good movie while I do so. I’ve even gotten to the point where I can add a label and a hanging sleeve without too much stress.

Thinking about the quilt-making process has caused me to reflect on what I’m not really into, either. I finally came to the understanding that it’s okay not to do it all. Really, it is. I’m not interested in embellishment. I have no desire to dye my own fabrics. And, as beautiful as machine embroidery is, it’s just not my thing.

Quilting for Kids

My sister’s kids and their quilts. I love that they get used!

Although I love to create original quilts and share them with others, I haven’t become a serious pattern designer. I’m just not good at graphic design. (That’s one of the reasons I enjoy getting published in magazines and why I want to write a book – so I can leave the professional-looking layout to the experts!)

This reflection has caused me to be a little more open-minded. For a long time I had a really hard time wondering why everyone in the world didn’t quilt their own quilts. By the same token, I’m sure the art quilters, embroiderers and graphic designers can’t understand why I’m not as passionate about their hobby as they are. The answer? We each have our  own interests and thank goodness there’s room for all of us!

Quilting

Teaching my daughter to quilt.

So although I will try to convince as many people as possible that they really can quilt their own quilts, it’s okay if you aren’t interested. You can still be my quilting friend and I will continue cheering you on! 🙂

Sew and Tell Friday – Melissa Corry Edition

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I love having quilty friends, and I especially love it when they make such amazing and inspiring quilts! When I visited with my friend Melissa Corry on my way to Sewing Summit a couple of months ago, I took so many pictures of her fun quilts that I barely had room to fit them in one post. So I thought I’d share more of them with you today.

Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time Quilt – My Favorite!

It’s always fun to see how other quilters decorate their home with quilts and Melissa did not disappoint. She displayed them on walls, tables, and beds throughout her cozy home.

Bed QuiltI love the combo of green and brown, and especially how she tucked her bed quilt into the frame. It’s very clean looking. See those fantastic alumni quilts folded at the edge of the bed? Check out her detailed blog tutorial on how to achieve precise layered applique by machine.

A Bed Fit for a Princess!

A Bed Fit for a Princess!

Doesn’t every sweet little girl deserve a pretty quilt on her bed? And don’t forget the boys!

Bed Quilts

Start the day with a freshly made bed!

I arrived pretty early at Melissa’s that day and was impressed that nearly every bed was made up with a quilt on top! (She did know that I was coming…)

Melissa's Quilts

Melissa’s Quilts

And who can resist a yummy pile of quilts stacked up so nicely?!

In Your Neighborhood

In Your Neighborhood Quilt

This was my other favorite quilt of the day, Melissa’s In Your Neighborhood quilt. Bold graphic design really appeals to me. In fact, she’s teaching this one at a fun event coming up next year, the Small Town Quilt Show. I will definitely have to attend!

Melissa is truly a kindred spirit. She loves machine quilting her quilts (almost) as much as I do, and has shared many amazing videos of the process here on her blog.

Thanks Melissa, for sharing your hospitality and your quilts with me that day!

Machine Quilting Inspiration

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I love scheduling two weeks in between quilt along tutorials. That gives everyone time to work at their own pace. It also gives me a chance to highlight a few of the WIP’s that everyone is sharing on flickr and on their blogs.

Susan's Trees

Susan N – Desertsky Quilting

Today I especially wanted to give a shout out to a few gals who have already begun machine quilting their quilts.  I’ll start off with Susan from Desertsky Quilting. She whipped up 4 blocks into this cute quickie table runner. She stitched a simple outline around her trees which shows up wonderfully on the back in the photo below:

Susan's Quilting Detail

Susan’s Quilting Detail

I love Susan’s can-do attitude with her quilt. She said, “The walking foot really helped me, and I don’t know if I’ll go beyond straight lines and wavy lines with that, but it was fun, and I loved how easy it was!” It tickles me when quilters like Susan realize that you really can add extra dimension to your quilts, even with simple quilting!

She made my day with her sweet comments when she said, “Your encouragement gave me the confidence I needed and I loved every minute of it.  The quilting is my favorite part.” Me, too, Susan!!

Straight Lines

Katie’s Straight Line Quilting

Katie A. did a fantastic job straight-line quilting this adorable baby quilt made from leftover blocks. Don’t you just love the texture her quilting adds? Fantastic!

Swirls

Mara C’s Swirls

I adore the quilting that Mara (aka Simon Says Sew) is adding to the background of her trees. It looks like a blustery day in the forest, blowing up piles of snow drifts! I think Mara’s made at least 4 different Modern Tress so far. Can we say teacher’s pet? 🙂

Loops Swirls

Anne J. Loops and Swirls Quilting

Look at those fun loops and swirls that Anne J. has added to her background! Isn’t it great? She’s going for swirling snow and scattered snowflakes. I love it!

There are many more beautiful quilts that everyone is sharing. The fabric choices and color combinations are simply amazing. You can see more fabulous pics here on my flickr group.

My hope with this quilt along is that you will not be afraid to jump in and give machine quilting a try. (And don’t worry – if machine quilting’s not your thing you can still play with us and sew along!)

Background Quilting

Background Quilting for Christa’s Modern Trees

Here’s a sneak peek of my FMQ progress. I’ll give some more in-depth tutorials on background fillers when I finish quilting Modern Trees next week!

New Free Craftsy Class – Learn the Basics of How to Piece, Patch and Quilt

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Recently I blogged about how cool I think it is that Craftsy offers so many online classes for free. Well guess what? I just got an email from them telling me about a brand new free class that just launched called, “Piece, Patch, Quilt” – Basic Quilt Making Skills.

Piece Patch and QuiltNo matter how many quilts I make, I can always pick up a tip or two from any class I take, especially when it’s free!

A New Design Wall

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New Around here?

Be sure to follow my blog so you can notified each time I write a new post! Just enter your email address in the box on the right side bar (or scroll ALL THE WAY to the bottom of your screen if using a mobile device). That way you’ll never miss a new tutorial or quilting inspiration!

Hubs recently earned some extra brownie points by helping me create a brand new HUGE design wall for my sewing room. In my nearly 20 years of quilting I was fine using the floor, tables, portable walls or what have you.

However, now that I’m getting a little more serious about showing and sharing my quilts in public and online, I realized I needed a better solution. I want a larger space so that I can design and photograph bigger quilts.

Foam Core

2 Sheets of Foam Insulation

We started by purchasing 2 huge pieces of foam core from the home improvement store. Each measures 4′ x 8′ and the space we are covering is about 7.5′ x 8′.

After wrestling them in the SUV and taking them home, we cut off about 6″ with a utility knife so it would be the right size.

Design Wall

Jason putting my rulers to work!

Jason drew the straight lines, while I did the cutting. It wasn’t a perfect cut, so we decided to put this side on the bottom where no one would see it. In retrospect, I should have tried my rotary cutter, but this stuff if pretty darn thick! (We tried to get them to cut it at the store but they said they couldn’t. Bummer!)

Cutting

I’d rather use a rotary cutter than a utility blade, any day!

We then taped the two pieces of foam core together with duct tape on the white side. The other side, the silver side is the “front”.

Tape the Pieces

Tape the Pieces

Next was the hardest part. We bought a king-sized flannel sheet and covered the entire wall by stapling the flannel to the back side. The problem we ran into is that the sheet was not square or even so we had to yank on it quite a bit to make sure it would be nice and smooth on the front. We pinned it to the foam sheet first, then stapled like crazy!

Stapling

Staple the Sheet

We pulled it so it would be taut and attached it with a ton of staples. The corners were the hardest to finagle so that they would look smooth on the front.

Stapling the Corners

Stapling the Corners

We used my basting tables to work on but you could also do this on a smooth floor if you have enough space. It reminded me of basting a quilt but not as fun, LOL!!

Once everything was in place, it was time to mount it to the wall. Jason did this by attaching it with screws and decorative washers to make it look a little less “industrial”.

Mounting the Wall

Mounting the Wall

I am so happy that I have larger space to design. It adds such a pretty element to my sewing space. Now need to keep some WIP’s on there all the time!

Design Wall

Finished Design Wall, 8′ wide by 7.5′ high.

 

Upcoming Holiday Tutorials and Sewing With Certainty

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I’m excited to share with you two upcoming blog hops I am involved with this fall.

The first is a Holiday Tutorial blog hop hosted by two fabulous gals, Heather and Megan from Quilt Story.

Holiday TutorialsThe holiday tutorial series will feature 10 different bloggers (including yours truly) sharing tutorials for fun gift projects this holiday season. The complete schedule is below. I would encourage you to visit each of the blogs now and bookmark them or add them to your bloglovin’ feed so you can catch them as they happen!

Sewing with CertaintyThe next blog event is hosted by Jessica from Quilty Habit.

She’s presenting a series entitled, “Sewing with Certainty“, geared toward helping you improve your sewing and gaining confidence at the same time!

Since machine quilting is near and dear to my heart, I will be expounding upon that topic as part of her series.

The unique thing I love about Jessica’s series is that it will include a linky party with prizes! Every two weeks from now through February, she will blog about a particular topic. In turn, you can expound upon each topic in your own blogs and talk about ways you are gaining confidence in this particular area. I think it sounds like a lot of fun.

Remember, each linky party is open for the entire series, giving you plenty of time to participate. I’ve included the full schedule (subject to change), including a  link to the first party, underlined below:

  • Sunday, November 3: First Linky Party! Write a blog post about the crafty areas in which you want to gain more confidence, and/or discuss a project you will be working on during the series that will help you gain this confidence.
  • November 10: Choosing Fabrics
  • November 24: Perfection
  • December 8: Approaching New Patterns/Concepts
  • December 22: Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) with Christa of Christa Quilts
  • January 5: Creating Your Own Designs
  • January 19: Showcasing Your Work
  • February 2: Writing A Sewing Blog
  • February 9: Final Linkup! Write a blog post about a project you worked on during the series that helped you gain confidence in your skills.
  • February 16: Prizes awarded from all Linky Parties!

Happy hopping! 🙂