Craftsy Memorial Day Sale – Support our Veterans!

May 25, 2013May 25, 2013Leave a comment

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the kick-off to summer – a great time to gear up for fun times ahead and a chance to start on some summer sewing.

But of course it’s so much more than that. It’s really a time to honor our veterans and remember those brave men and women who have served in the US Armed Forces and supported the cause of freedom.

This Memorial Day, let's honor our verterans.

You can honor our veterans and kick off your summer by signing up for a Craftsy class this weekend. From now through Monday, when you sign up for an online class, Craftsy will donate a portion of the proceeds to benefit a veterans’ organization. Select classes will be on sale up to 60% off!

I took a quick look to see which quilting classes were on sale and there was quite a good selection to choose from. Here are a few that look interesting:

Pictorial Techniques by Wendy Butler Burns. I met her at Road to California 2 years ago and she was full of energy! This one’s on my to-do list at 25% off.

Design It, Quilt It by Cindy Needham – 25% off. I signed up for this class the last time it was on sale and it’s one of my favorites. It includes an excellent basting tutorial, too!

Big Techniques From Small Scraps by Sarah Fielke combines traditional techniques with fresh design. Fun – and 50% off!

Stupendous Stitching by Carol Ann Waugh explores of embroidery designs, decorative sewing machine stitches, couching and binding. It’s 33% off.

Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine – I can’t get enough domestic machine quilting classes! It’s 38% off through Monday.

The Machine Embroidered Quilt with Eilleen Roche looks like another fun class where you add embroidery elements to embellish your quilt. It’s 38% off, too

Civil War Blocks by Kaye England – learn precise piecing methods and make 12 traditional blocks, inspired by the stories of strong women of the Civil War era – 50% off!

Quick-Strip Paper Piecing with Peggy Martin – now that sounds like something I could use! Another one at 38% off. That’s kind of a weird discount amount but it’s better than paying full price. 🙂

I make it a point to only sign up for Crafsty classes when they are on sale and so far I’ve been impressed with how often that happens. Click here to see the rest of the classes that are on sale this weekend. Happy sewing!

Blogger’s Quilt Festival – Vote Now Through May 30, 2013

May 24, 2013May 22, 20138 Comments

Have you had a chance to visit the Blogger’s Quilt Festival yet?

Hosted by Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side, it’s a semi-annual celebration of blogging and quilting.

Here are my two entries, Charming Chevrons and Roses for Katelyn.

I’ve already blogged about each one separately and they are entered into the Home Machine Quilted category and the Applique category, respectively. You can click the underlined links to vote for each one.

In fact, you can vote for your favorite quilts in a total of 15 different categories. Not only can the bloggers who entered win prizes, those who participate and leave comments during the festival can win prizes as well, so it’s a win-win!

But prizes aside, the best reason for participating is viewing all of the wonderful quilts and reading the stories behind the quilts. I’m off to vote!

Laura Wasilowski Workshops and a Craftsy Class Discount

May 21, 2013May 21, 201312 Comments

I had the pleasure of meeting quilt artist Laura Wasilowski this weekend. She came to teach a couple of workshops on applique for one of the quilting guilds I belong to, Desert Quilters of Nevada.

Christa and Laura Wasilowski During Class

Let me tell you, she was extremely entertaining. She told us her story of how she got into quilting and gave us the history of how she founded her “infamous” Chicago School of Fusing, complete with song and dance, literally!

Those who attended the workshops got to have a “graduation ceremony” where we ll became “iron – maidens” (get it??)

Fowl Play – Birds Wiith No Egrets Workshop

On Friday, we used one of her bird patterns to create a pictorial scene. Each of the students created a unique piece of art as we learned her methods of fusing and selecting designs.

On Saturday, Laura taught us how to combine shapes and free-form drawing to create our own zen-like quilts. This was definitely appealing to me and I’m going to try to develop a larger applique quilt based upon my fabric sketch I made.

My Zen-Doodle Quilt – “Modern Art”

Laura was so pleasant to be around and very inspiring with her encouraging attitude. She even gave me a special Craftsy offer to share with those of you who are interested in taking the online version of her workshop. Use this link to sign up for Hand-Stitched Collage Quilts and get 50% off the class registration fee. How cool is that??

Here are a few of the beautiful pieces from the rest of the class:

Artwork on Display

Like many class projects, these will probably sit around as UFO’s for awhile, but the hours of classes this weekend were definitely time well spent!

Yvonne’s Aztec Piece

Cactus Doodle

A Fun Lunch Date and Some New Shoes

May 20, 2013May 18, 20137 Comments

Last week I met with Melissa Corry and her MIL for lunch when they came into town on their way to Quilt Market (yes I’m very jealous that I didn’t go but I can’t wait to read about it on her blog and others!)

Melissa Corry and her Mother In Law (and a cute bag!)

Isn’t she sporting such a fabulous bag??

We had a great time chatting at about 100 miles per minute. Talking is just so much faster than emailing and blogging, LOL!! I knew she was a kindred spirit when she told me she prefers flat 2-D sewing (quilts, wallhangings, etc) to 3-D sewing (totes, accessories, etc).

After a fabulous time eating yummy food and swapping quilt stories, I met up with my hubby in the afternoon to pick out my mother’s day gift, these fabulous new trail shoes!

New Shoes

I love running, but I’ve put that on the back burner for the last few months. Just last weekend Jason finished his volunteer term serving as Bishop of our ward from church (that’s like a pastor leading a congregation). Needless to say, this has taken up a bit of our free time over the last 5 years. I told him once he had more time, we’d workout together.

Jason and Christa running in Utah

We had a beautiful run when we were in Utah for HMQS and now I’ve committed once again to workout at least 4 days a week. I just have to stay balanced with both exercise and quilting. Too bad I can’t really do both at the same time, LOL!

Melissa’s Sandwich from Claim Jumper. Yummy!

After what I’ve eaten over the last few months, some good detox is in order now. 🙂

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Spring 2013 – Roses for Katelyn

May 17, 2013May 17, 201313 Comments

I am entering my quilt, Roses for Katelyn, into the bloggers’ quilt festival this spring. I was excited to read that you can enter two categories! (See my other entry here.)

Roses for Katelyn was completely made by me and it measures 36″ x 43″. I used soft edge applique techniques and machine quilted it on my old Bernina 1630.

I am entering it into the applique quilt category and would love your vote!

This is my first time entering something into the festival but after reading more about it in the latest issue of Modern Patchwork magazine I decided to give it a try.

This quilt is very special to me because I made it for my brand-new niece Katelyn.

Roses for Katelyn

My older sister and I have always been very close. When I had children she was such a terrific aunt and I felt so sad for her when she was not able to have children. After several years of trying she finally adopted her first baby boy, who’s now almost 8!

Ethan’s Alphabet Applique

Jacob’s Monkeys

Then she adopted her second sweet son who’s nearly two. Finally, she adopted her little girl just two months ago. I’ve made quilts for all of 3 them and it makes me very happy to visit and watch these little quilts get used and loved. 🙂

Original Quilting Plan

I blogged about Roses for Katelyn as I was making it, so I was able to show a lot of the in-progress work while I appliqued the blocks and decided how to machine quilt it. You can read the last blog entry here which gives links to all of the previous WIP posts.

Actual Quilting

I loved every stitch that went into this quilt and I’m especially pleased that both mom and baby are happy with the quilt and are doing well. 🙂

Roses for Katelyn, by Christa Watson

Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis

May 17 – 24 – Linkys Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

May 24 – 30 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

May 31 – Winners announced

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Spring 2013 – Charming Chevrons

May 17, 2013October 16, 201340 Comments

Welcome to anyone visiting from the bloggers’ quilt festival this spring! My name is Christa and I’m excited to be a part of this fantastic shin-dig! 🙂

I am entering my quilt, Charming Chevrons, into the home machine quilted category and I would love to have your vote! (You can see my other entry here.)

Charming Chevrons 46″ x 54″
Machine pieced and quilted by Christa Watson

It measures 46″ x 54″ and was pieced and quilted by me on my Bernina 1630. I used a double batting of wool and cotton which helps it hang straight and adds a lot of body to the quilt (though it was a little tough to quilt through!)

Marking the Straight Lines

Quilted Chevron Block

Charming Chevrons was my first “crossover quilt” which got me knee-deep into modern quilting and designing less than a year ago (although I have been a quilter for nearly 18 years).

When I started Charming Chevrons I’d just barely heard of the modern quilt movement and was wanting to go a little bolder with my quilts. I had just designed this quilt for one of my quilt alongs and it has led to some really great things.

Machine Quilting

Since finishing, Charming Chevrons was juried into QuiltCon, received a 2nd place ribbon at my local quild’s quilt show, and inspired me to submit a design idea to a quilting magazine. I’m also going to teach a class on it for my guild’s retreat this fall. I love this little throw!

It took me 5 hours to quilt all of the straight lines in this quilt and nearly 23 more hours to quilt all the pebbles. But you know what – I loved every single minute of it! For me, machine quilting is my zen. I can discard the cares of the world and really get into the rhythm of the stitching, creating wonderful texture on fabric with just thread and the machine.

Charming Chevrons Back

I especially like the back of the quilt. I love how the expansive negative space really showcases all of the colorful quilting. I even considered entering the back side as the main part of the quilt, LOL!

No matter what happens with my sewing in the future, I know that modern quilting will now be a huge part of it!

Charming Chevrons
Desert Quilts of Nevada Quilt Show

Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis

May 17 – 24 – Linkys Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

May 24 – 30 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

May 31 – Winners announced

Updated – 6/2/13 Thanks so much to everyone for your votes.

It was such an honor to receive a Viewer’s Choice Award for this quilt!

HMQS 2013 Part 3 – More Amazing Quilts

May 14, 2013September 5, 201518 Comments

I still can’t get over how wonderful and beautiful the quilts from the Home Machine Quilting Show (HMQS) were. You can see pictures from Part 1 and Part 2, and today will be my final round of pictures. Enjoy the show!

Dancing Stars by Kimberly Loar
Judges Choice, Quilting Treasures Challenge

Rain Dance by Ann Horton, Redwood Valley, California
Honorable Mention, Embroidery

Riley Blake Fabric Challenge #15
by The Midnight Quilters, Heber, Utah, 2nd Place

Fairy Dust by Judy Woodworth
Gering, NE, Mixed Technique

Fire in the Sky by Alice Kay Arnett and Sherry Reynolds, Laramie WY
2nd Place, Novelty Custom

Fettucci Sunrise by Corinna J. Weir
Salt Lake City, Utah, Theme Category

Elsa’s Knot by Ann Helbling and Clem Buzick, North Dakota
2nd Place, Traditional Custom

Mermaid Dreams by Shelli Ricci, Dee Levgold, Mary Reinhardt, and Page Johnson, TN
3rd Place, Art Innovative

Bell Star by Jo Ann Blade and Kim Diamond, Sedro Woolley, WA
Teacher’s Choice, Computerized Quilting

Me and My Shadow by Gail Stepanek and Ronda K. Beyer
3rd Place, Traditional Custom

Shimmering Symphony by Karlee Porter, Clearfield, Utah
3rd Place, Utah’s Own

Young Women’s Values by Ann Seely, Taylorsville, Utah
1st Place, Utah’s Own

These are simply breathtaking and are only a fraction of the hundreds of beautiful quilts on display. My daughter’s favorites were the mermaid and the seahorse so I included those especially for her. 🙂

HMQS 2013 Part 2 – Modern Quilts

May 13, 2013June 5, 201321 Comments

I was very pleased to see a nice showing of modern quilts at HMQS so I decided to share with you a few of my personal favorites. Most were either part of the QuiltCon exhibit, the Salt Lake City modern quilt guild, or part of the HMQS modern category. A few were entered into some of the other categories, but I still think they had a modern flair.

Click here for part 1 of my HMQS wrap up. I’ll post more amazing quilts tomorrow.

Coloring Outside the Lines by Mary K. Price
Oswego, Oregon, Embroidery

Fractured Pi by Lisa Chin
Salt Lake City Utah, Art Innovative

Trigonometry in Bloom by Ellen Stallard
Watertown, TN, Mixed Technique

Log Pyramids by Liz Havartine
QuiltCon

Jumbo Star by Kati Spencer
Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild

Untitled by Kayli Taylor and Sarah Oviatt
Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild

5 HTP Squared by Jen Carlton Bailly
Portland Oregon, Modern Category

Modern Coins by Dawna Sanders
Thornton, Colorado, Modern Category

Green 2.103 by Stephanie Zacharer Ruyle
Denver, Colorado, Modern Category

Fire and Water Under the Bridge by Debbie Neilsen
Mapleton, Utah, 2nd Place Modern

Simple by Ellen Stallard
Watertown, TN 1st Place Modern

Roller Coaster Fun by Jana O’Brien
Fort Collins, Colorado, Modern Category

Aren’t these such beautiful quilts? They have inspired me to go modern!

To Mom With Love on Mother’s Day

May 12, 2013May 12, 20139 Comments

The following is an essay I submitted to Quilter’s Newsletter’s writing contest, “300 Words about Quilting – The Person I Taught to Love Quilting”. They have selected it for publication on their website coming up in August/September as part of their “Web Extras”. (You can see my previously published essay here.)

I’ve chosen to dedicate this post to my mom for Mother’s Day – Love ya Mom!

Mom and Me

Quilting Bridges The Generations, by Christa Watson

When I was little, my mom taught me to sew. When I became an adult, I taught her to quilt. As a child, Mom fueled my desire to be an artist. Growing up, we participated in all sorts of community crafts classes together like candy making, chocolate molding, needlepoint, and even a short stint with ceramics. One of my fondest memories was picking out brightly colored cloth bands and making piles of woven potholders. (You can guess what everyone got for Christmas that year.) Mom taught me how to make clothes for my Barbie dolls and how to stuff a pincushion. To this day, she has kept my very first project.

As I grew older and life got in the way, I buried my inner artist. Mom divorced, I survived my teenage years, and we really didn’t have that much to talk about for awhile. Then, about a year after I married, Mom decided to give me a sewing machine for Christmas, thinking I could put it to good use. Before long, I stumbled upon quilting. (How did we miss that before?) All of a sudden, I could create again.

Three Generations of Fabric-Lovers

Soon after, I became the teacher, and Mom signed up for every one of my quilting classes. She was my number one fan, and I don’t know which she loved more: learning how to quilt, or spending time with me. We joined a guild, started attending quilting retreats, and drooled over colorful new fabrics together. We found something in common once again. The joy I felt in teaching this exciting craft was even more meaningful with Mom as one of my students.

Now that we are both a little older with quite a few quilts under our belts, Mom spends a lot of time these days taking care of her mom and keeping her warm and cozy with quilts we’ve made together. I now have my own young daughter who’s old enough to sew and has just completed her first quilt. I’m beginning to see that spark of desire that my mom first kindled in me, and I look forward to the time my daughter is old enough to attend her first quilting retreat with Mom and me!

My Mother’s Day Shirt From My Daughter

HMQS 2013 Part 1 – Overview

May 10, 2013June 5, 201313 Comments

This weekend Jason and I are in Utah, checking out HMQS – the Home Machine Quilting Show, and it is simply amazing! I took the plunge and entered my Busy Hands quilt into the show. After much trial and error, I was able to get most of the bleeding out, and I enjoyed seeing it hang in the show.

Christa at HMQS

I eagerly await the judges critiques! (I’ve definitely decided I like entering my quilts into shows – it’s the best way for me to learn what quiltmaking skills need improvement.)

I also happened to catch a glimpse of my friend Melissa Corry‘s adorable Read With Me Quilt. Isn’t it the cutest?? In fact, there’s even a Moda Bakeshop tutorial for it!

Read With Me by Melissa Corry

While browsing around, I bumped into the fabulous Lisa Sipes giving demos at the Gammill booth. Her quilting helped win both the best of show quilts and viewer’s choice at Quiltcon.

She showed her stuff on the long-arm and I tried out the sit-down version. Almost it persuadeth me to become a long-armer, LOL!! You can read more indepth about Lisa and her amazing quilting in my previous post here.

Near the end of the day, I ran into Vicki Anderson, CEO & publisher of Modern Quilts Unlimited. She was nice enough to pose for a photo with me, next to this gorgeous quilt.

Christa and Vicki at HMQS, in front of “Andrew”, pieced and quilted by Kathi Carter of Vineyard, Utah.
Teacher’s Choice Award

It was fun seeing her again after meeting her for the first time at QuiltCon.

I shot so many pictures it will take me all weekend to sort them out. I’ll share more on Monday, including some beautiful award winners and a few fabulous modern quilts. For now, I will end with the amazing Best of Show quilt by Marilyn Badger, called Super Star.