Christa’s Soapbox: Let Your Voice Be Heard – Vote!

November 5, 2012November 5, 20122 Comments

I hope everyone in the US who reads this plans on voting in the 2012 presidential election on Tuesday, November 6th (if you haven’t already done so!)

I know we quilters can be a lively bunch with vociferous opinions when it comes to sewing, and we all have our favorite techniques, styles and methods. I’m sure it’s much the same when it comes to politics. But I’ve seen how we all come together at a rockin’ quilt show to enjoy traditional quilts to art quilts and everything in between. So I have faith that when all is said and done, no matter who wins, we will come together as a country, too! So please, let your voice be heard and cast your vote…

We wanted to get our kids involved in this great democratic process of ours, so we took them with us to vote (we have early voting in Nevada which is super convenient). The kind ladies at the polling station even gave them all stickers!

Last year when we went to Washington, DC on a family vacation, we had a chance to meet up with Harry Reid (since he’s one of Nevada’s senators). We also got to have a tour of the capitol building by one of his staffers. It was a tremendous experience for us and the kids.

This year, when Mitt Romney came to Las Vegas for a campaign rally, we also took the kids. We were pretty far away from the stage but it was great for the kids to be a part of this experience.

And we had to have a laugh at some friends of ours who dressed up as Mitt and Ann for Halloween. If nothing else, the political season makes for great entertainment!

Christa’s Quilt Links: Time to Vote and Share

November 2, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

In light of the storm devastation this week, Jennifer from Knotted-Thread is collecting donations of quilt blocks that she will use to make quilts that she will personally deliver to one of the affected areas in December. Please click the link above and send a block or two if you can. I’m sure there will be tons more quilters and sewists banding together to help out during this time of need.

There are lots of things to vote about this time of the year, and fortunately many of them have to do with quilts! Below are fun links to explore from my web travels this week:

The 2012 Blogger’s Quilt Festival is now underway. Nominate your favorite quilts in 15 categories through November 4. (I am sponsoring the winner for the Home Machine Quilted category). Vote for your favorite quilts in these categories November 5-8. Winners will be announced November 9. As of this writing there are over 600 entries to choose from!

Alyssa at Pile O’Fabric has lots of fun stuff going on, too. You can vote for your favorite finalist quilt in her Totally Groovy Quilt Along. This original pattern was designed by Emily Cier and was used as the basis for the QAL.

Curves not your thing? Then how about triangles? Check out Alyssa’s Triangle Wheel Quilt Block Tutorial. I’ve never seen a block like this before. She recommends using Kona Cotton Charm Squares for ease of construction.

Speaking of tutorials, I have another fun one I want to share with you courtesy of Elizabeth from Don’t Call Me Betsy.

Elizabeth is taking part in a Cathedral Windows Quilt-Along series.

She chose Summersville fabric to make a very modern version of her Cathedral Star Block.

Very cute Betsy — I mean Elizabeth!

Finally I wanted to end with this fun quilt by Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studio. It’s her nod to the 80’s – complete with neon fabrics, musical notes and yes, that’s a cassette tape! Remember those??

Here’s the disclaimer: I’m blogging about what interests me and I in no way receive any compensation for endorsing anything I write about. These are strictly my opinions. I’ve gotten blanket permission from individual blog owners ahead of time to share photos.

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!

Happy Halloween 2012

October 31, 2012March 19, 20133 Comments

From our family to yours – Happy Halloween! This year we dressed up as Star Trek cadets. Yes, I’m in a red shirt so that doesn’t bode well for Halloween night, LOL!!

I actually dressed up twice this Halloween season. A friend of mine held a Witches’ Brew for all of her friends. We each dressed up in our scariest witchy frock and enjoyed some devilishly decadent desserts! There were about 30 witches in attendance but I could only get a few of us to stand still under the light long enough to snap a picture. As you can see from our scary eyes – it was a very low-lit party.

Here are a few more fun pictures of costumes from Halloweens past. We love to dress up!

I made Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes for Jason and myself in a rare attempt at creating something other than quilts! I sewed the pants using Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat fabric. I purchased red shirts and then appliqued letters onto circles that I cut out of fabric. I found the wigs for $3 each at Target which inspired the costumes to begin with. What a deal!

Our Toy Story debut was actually part of a previous Christmas dress-up scavenger hunt. But now these costumes have done double duty for Halloween, too!

Hmm, I wonder what improvements I could make using Mr. Potato Head fabric now??

Christa’s Quilt Along 3.3 – Trimming the Triangle Squares

October 30, 2012August 15, 201311 Comments

I am very glad I decided to take some time putting together my Charming Chevrons Do-It-Yourself Quilt Tutorial, and spread it out over several weeks. This week’s step of making the triangle squares is a very simple process; however it was a little time consuming.

It took a total of 3 hours to complete the steps below. That’s not bad considering I’m giving you a whole week to complete it, but I suggest you break it up over a few cutting sessions. It’s too tedious to do all at once! Scroll down to the end for the complete schedule.

Step 1 – Cutting the Squares in Half (20 Minutes)

With your ruler, rotary cutter and mat, slice each pair of sewn squares in half on the diagonal, down the middle on your previously drawn line. You may use scissors instead, but rotary cutting them is definitely faster.

Each pair of squares has been sewn together 1/4 inch away from the drawn line, yielding 2 half square triangles per each pair of charm squares (following last week’s instructions).

I like to stack them up as I cut, keeping the same pairs of colors together. They look like little fabric sandwiches. Yummy!

Step 2 – Pressing the Triangle Squares (1 Hour)

It took me longer then normal to press the squares because I starched each block first.

I am not sure if I’m happy with the results so I mention this with caution – test on the back side or some scrap fabric first or just skip it.

I got starch marks on the front sides of several of the blocks.

I had to soak them in water to get the marks out.

And yes, I used Mary Ellen’s Best Press which was not supposed to leave any residue.

So I’m not sure if I had my iron on too high of a setting, or perhaps it doesn’t work well with solids?

Is anyone else familiar with this? I’m still a starching newbie.

This is why I’m making this quilt in real time – so I can learn these things!

So if you just press your squares without worrying about starch or sizing, it will be quicker!

I pressed all of my seams toward the darker fabric.

Once my stacks were all pressed, it was time to trim them to size!

Step 3 – Trimming the Triangles (1 Hour 40 Minutes)

This was the tedious part because you will be trimming a total of 168 squares 1 at a time! So set aside a few afternoons and enjoy the process!

With a square ruler and a sharp cutter, trim the blocks so that they measure 4 1/2 inches. Line up the diagonal line of your ruler on the seam of the blocks.

Then trim the sides. You may be able to trim only on 2 sides, or you may need to trim all four sides depending on where you need to slide your ruler so that the diagonal line stays in the center of the block.

When you are all finished trimming, you will have a leftover pile of cuttings.

I think it looks rather pretty, don’t you?

You can use it as colorful stuffing or confetti.

Or how about wrapping up used needles or rotary blades with these scraps, put them in a bag, and safely throw away these sharp objects!

Sewing Schedule (All links will be active once each step has been completed.)

Week 1 – Supply List and Introduction
Week 2 – Marking and Sewing the Charms
Week 3 – Cutting and Trimming the Triangle Squares (today’s post above)
Week 4 – Sewing the Chevrons
Week 5 – Assembling the Quilt Top
Week 6 – Marking and Basting
Week 7 – Machine Quilting Straight Lines
Week 8 – Free Motion Pebble Quilting
Week 9 – Binding and Finishing Your Quilt

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!

Charming Chevrons Follow Up Questions #1

October 25, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I am starting something new with my Charming Chevrons quilt-along. Each week or so I will post follow-up questions and answers the day after that week’s tutorial is posted. This will be so that I can answer any questions, or follow up on any suggestions while making your quilt.

Charming Chevrons Original Size 48″ x 56″

You can either ask your questions on any of my blog posts, or email me directly and I’ll answer them here on the blog.

The first question is from JennyWren in Tx. She asked about which day will I be posting the weekly tutorials.

That’s an easy one to answer!

Usually on Wednesdays, depending on when I get that week’s step finished. My goal is to be about a week ahead of you guys but sometimes life gets in the way. If I get really behind, I’ll post no later than Thursday of that week, but I’ll really try to get it up as early on Wednesday morning as I can. How’s that for an answer?

Kathie asked if it was ok to use a Layer Cake to make the quilt larger.

Absolutely! I have two ideas on how to do this:

1. Use one layer cake of print/color fabric and one layer cake of background. Cut each piece into four – 5″ squares, yielding 168 per layer cake. This is twice as many squares as I have listed for my pattern (mine calls for 2 charm packs of print, 2 packs of background or about 1/2 a layer cake’s worth each). This will make a larger quilt measuring 64″ x 80″.

Charming Chevrons More Squares

2. Still use a total of 2 Layer Cakes, but treat each one as an oversized charm square and follow the same pattern, making adjustments for the size of the blocks. This will still yield a larger quilt but with bigger blocks, rather than more smaller blocks as in answer number 1 above. It would measure about 72″ x 90″ (less waste lost to seams yielding bigger blocks).

Charming Chevrons with Layer Cake Blocks

Here’s another way to think of it. If you can find a layer cake with an even amount of light/dark pieces, you can get 2 of the same layer cake. Then separate the lights from the darks and treat them as two separate cakes!

Great questions! Keep ’em comin’!

Christa’s Quilt Along 3.2 – Marking and Sewing the Charm Squares

October 24, 2012August 15, 201310 Comments

Welcome to week 2 of my do-it-yourself quilt along, Charming Chevrons. Last week we gathered our supplies. This week we will mark and sew our charm squares. Scroll down to the end of this post for a link to last week’s supply list and a schedule for the entire tutorial. Three versions below are available as quilt kits on my website; you can also make your own.

You can work at your own pace and I will start posting how long it takes me to complete each step. This will give you a general idea of how long my quilts will take to make. Today’s tutorial took me a total of one hour, 15 minutes to mark and sew.

Step 1 – Mark the Background Squares (15 minutes)

I chose 2 charm packs of Kona Ash grey and 2 packs of Kona Classics Solids (new palette). My pattern calls for 84 – 5″ squares of color and 84 – 5″ squares of background. The Kona color solids only came in 41 pieces per pack, so I had to add an extra charm to each set to ensure I had enough. (I made sure to add extra charms to the kits using this fabric, too!)

Using a straight edge and marking pen of your choice, draw a diagonal line down the back of each background square. (Kona Solids don’t have a right or wrong side so just pick one. )

After several tries with different marking tools, I had great success with the Frixion pen because it drew dark smooth lines on the fabric with no snagging or bleeding.

Step 2 – Sew the Seam Lines (1/2 hour each side, 1 hour total)

My favorite method for making half-square triangles is to sew 1/4 inch on either side of your marked lines. This goes really fast and you can sew for a few minutes at a time.

Grab one background charm and one color charm at random. Flip it over so that the background (grey) square is on top. Starting off of the sewing machine, sew 1/4″ in away from the marked line.

Do not clip your threads at the end. Rather, “chain piece” the next pair of charms. Continue sewing together pairs of charms (background/color) until you have sewn a total of 84 pairs, all on one side.

Now, gather your long chain and this time sew on the other side of the line, again using 1/4″ seams. If they get tangled up, it’s ok to cut a few sections apart. If your seams are not exactly perfect, that’s ok, too. We will trim the blocks next week so they are all the same size.

Once all of your pairs are sewn, clip the threads between the blocks, stack them into a pile, and set aside for the next step. Now, give yourself a pat on the back! Wasn’t that fun??

If you are now just joining us, here is the complete schedule for making this quilt from start to finish, including quilting and binding. You’ll have a finished quilt in just a few weeks!

Sewing Schedule (All links will be active once each step has been completed.)

Week 1 – Supply List and Introduction
Week 2 – Marking and Sewing the Charms (today’s post above)
Week 3 – Cutting and Trimming the Triangle Squares
Week 4 – Sewing the Chevrons
Week 5 – Assembling the Quilt Top
Week 6 – Marking and Basting
Week 7 – Machine Quilting Straight Lines
Week 8 – Free Motion Pebble Quilting
Week 9 – Binding and Finishing Your Quilt

American Warriors Quilt Tutorial – American Rails Quilt

October 23, 2012January 24, 20208 Comments

JOIN MY QUILT ALONG!

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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

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