French Roses Machine Applique Quilt

Yay! I finally finished another quilt! This quilt was started in a class I took from my guild several weeks ago. I used fusible applique and machine blanket stitching techniques. I’m showing the finished quilt first, then you can see the steps I took to get there:

Christa's French Roses QuiltOnce the blocks were fused together on the background, I selected matching threads for the pink and green blocks. I have fallen in love with Superior Threads and will soon carry them in my shop. Next, I carefully blanket stitched around the edges of each piece. The trick here is to use an open-toed applique foot so you can see what you are doing. Stitch slowly and pivot often so you can guide the stitches smoothly around the fabric edges.

Matching ThreadMachine Applique Buttonhole StitchClick on the pictures to see closeups!

I like it when the back of the block looks as crisp and clean as the front! This takes good tension. One the block is all stitched, it gives a really nice texture, I think.

Buttonhole Stitching on the BackFused and Stitched Rose blockFinally, here’s a closeup of the quilting. I stippled loops and flowers in on the background squares, outlined all the applique, then used the serpentine stitch to quilt wavy x’s in the borders and finally finished with random loops around the outside border. I used the leftover scraps for the pieced binding (which I’ll post a demo on later). I love this quilt!

French Roses Closeup QuiltingHere’s another guild member’s top,  in different colors with raw edge stitching and leaves:

French Roses Quilt Top

Charm Pack Quilts Galore!

I don’t know what it is about Charm Packs that have gotten me so addicted! Now my friends are using them, too and making even cuter quilts that me!! My friend Stacy stopped over after our workout this morning (which means getting caught on camera with no makeup!). She showed me these adorable Charm Quilts she whipped up this week using Keiki’s Oops A Daisy and Sanae’s Chrysalis charms, both precut from Moda:

Oops A Daisy Charm Pack Quilt - GirlChrysalis Charm Pack Quilt - BoyAren’t they simply adorable?

She made them for a friend who’s expecting twins – a boy and a girl!

How perfect!

I especially love how she finished the quilts. She used Minkee on the back and omitted the batting in the middle. My favorite part is the pom-pom fringe with the satin binding.

Charm Quilts with Minkee BacksEach quilt takes just one charm pack for the front and finishes about 28″ x 32″. This will be a perfect gift for the new mom to be!

Boy & Girl Charm Pack Quilts

Baby Boy QuiltBaby Girl QuiltHere are are pictures Stacy took of her two quilts outside.

Don’t they look like they belong in a craft or quilting magazine?

One Person’s Trash is Another Quilter’s Treasure

Pattern StacksFree PatternsA pattern designer friend of mine recently cleaned out her sewing room and gave me hundreds of stacks of paper and pictures for patterns she used to sell in the late 80’s and early 90’s. She said she was done with it and wanted it to be gone!

Never one to turn down such a treasure as this, I eagerly accepted her gift.

Whenever someone orders $25 or more worth of quilt fabric from my on-line quilt shop, they are entitled to a free gift.

If they forget to add it to their order, I will throw in a little fabric treat or free pattern for them. I call these goodies “Christa’s Candy”, and I think these cute patterns will make such wonderful freebies!

My First Quilts…

Christa's First QuiltsBlogging about making a quilt with my daughter made me remember the joy I felt when I first got into quilting, so I thought it would be fun (and sort of embarrassing) to post pictures of my first quilts!

I started quilting in 1995, two years after Jason and I got married. I don’t know what hit me but it was the most fun thing I had ever done and couldn’t imagine life without fabric!

The first quilt I made was for Jason. It was made from flannel squares and tied with yarn. I still remember the thrill of completing each 9 patch block. I had no idea about seam allowances or stitch length but I dove in and did it anyway!

First Flannel 9 PatchThe next quilt I made for me. I cut out tons of log cabin strips that were supposed to be 1 1/2 inches wide. As you can tell from the photo, I wasn’t exactly consistent in my cutting.

Tied Log Cabin QuiltAs every quilt should have a label, I finished these up properly. Even though these quilts have received lots of wear & tear over the years, I’m glad I documented them so I can remember when it all began!

Quilt Label #1Quilt Label #2

Weekend Charm Pack Quilt

The most meaningful quilt I have ever helped with is this adorable charm pack quilt made by my daughter Jenna! I blogged about our sewing time together here and here. Jenna did all of the sewing, machine quilting and binding. She even won an award for it at our local show.

Jenna's Charm Pack QuiltJenna picked out an Oliver + S City Weekend charm pack with coordinating pink for the binding from my stash. For this part of our mother/daughter sew-in, we had to cut the batting and safety pin baste the layers together on our well-used kitchen table.

Trimming the BattingPin Basting.

Then came time for the most fun part: machine quilting!! Jenna was such a big girl feeding Machine Quilting Wavy Stitchesthe quilt through by herself and checking to be sure all the layers were secure.

She used a serpentine stitch to quilt between the rows of all the blocks. It’s a super cute stitch and much easier for little hands to do than stitching in the ditch.

Flannel Quilt BackingI think she liked picking out the quilt backing just as much as touching all the fabric squares. She loved the soft feel of the flannels and was thrilled two include 2 shades of pink in her quilt!

It’s fun to see the back of the quilt. You can make out the quilted design around all the squares and we were both very impressed that we actually got the back seam to line up with a row of stitching.

It makes this quilt reversible!

I helped her a lot with the binding which we did completely by machine. First we sewed the binding onto the front like usual. Then we flipped it over and stitched it down on the back using the same serpentine quilting stitch.

Machine BindingBinding by MachineDecorative Stitch BindingJenna loved sewing & is now asking when she can make her next quilt!

Charm Pack Table Runners

A fellow guild-member named Judy sent me a picture of two table runners that she recently made from charm packs. Here’s what she had to say about them, “They are from the book ‘Fast & Furious quilting as you go’ by Gudrun Erla. The runner is called Lucky Charms.  It only takes 5 light and 17 medium to dark charms (backing, binding and batting extra). The size is 8 1/2″ X 26 1/2″.  A really quick and easy runner that can be made for all occasions. Everyone that has made this has said it is very addicting and lots of fun!”

Charm Square Table RunnersI met Judy recently when I took an all-day sewing class sponsored by my guild. (You can read about that in an earlier post). During the class we chatted about how fun charm packs are to work with and the possibilities are almost endless.

We also took a break with a few other sewing buddies to go visit a fun little quilt shop in the area that had just opened up. You know you are having fun while attending a quilting class and a shop hop breaks out!  Isn’t this place cute? The owner is super friendly and is a mom with young kids, just like me!! This is exactly the type of shop I would want to run if I owned a “brick and mortar” store rather than my on-line shop.

Shop Hop

Dr. Seuss Quilt, Thing 1 and 2 Costumes

I was so taken with the introduction of Dr. Seuss fabric that I just had to get some! Here’s a picture of Jason and me dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween last year.

Thing 2 Thing 1 Halloween CostumesI found the wigs at the store and just knew they were perfect for these costumes. I bought the blue and red spotted fabric at a local quilt shop (now I’m carrying the entire line). I used a super easy sewing pattern to make the pants, then appliqued the letters and circles to the front of red T-shirts. It still cracks me up seeing us dressed like this but it was fun and we got quite a few comments on our outfits.

Dr. Seuss QuiltHere’s a quick and easy strippy quilt my friend Jessica made with Cat in the Hat fabric and coordinating yellow dots. I love how she cut the black and white striped fabric on the bias for the binding. What a perfect gift for her child’s school teacher!

Why You Should Join a Quilting Guild

I have “sew” much fun in my quilting guild that I wanted to encourage you to join one if you haven’t already. My large guild of over 300 members has several smaller groups that meet once a month, called quilting circles. Here’s a report of Rainbow group’s July meeting:

Biding DemoScrap Basket Sensations QuiltsWe had a demo on binding and how to finish the ends so that they are neat and tidy.

We also had a book report on two fabulous scrappy quilt books that use jelly roll strips. They are called Scrap Basket Sensations and Scrap Basket Surprises. Our guild president, Bobbi has already made a few quilts from the book.

Scrap Basket SensationsScrap Basket SurprisesI liked them so much that I ordered several copies to sell on my website and it will be available the middle of August. I can’t wait!

The best part of our meeting, by far, is the show and tell. We have some absolutely talented ladies and it’s such a treat to see their work.

Beautiful Batik QuiltPaper Pieced Compasses

Karen's Rhapsody QuiltHand-Dyed Fabric

One of our members, Karen, won a weekend retreat with Ricky Tims and we were all jealous!! She dyed her own fabrics and designed a unique Rhapsody Quilt.

After such a fun and uplifting meeting I was inspired to go home and sew. That’s the point, right?

Plump, Juicy Garden-Fresh Grapes

I’m so excited – my grapes are turning into plump juicy fruit!

Before I left on vacation, I covered my grape vines with netting to to keep the birds away. When I returned I was a little worried when I saw how brown all the leaves were. I’m not sure if they weren’t getting enough water, if the net is restricting their growth, or if it’s just too darn hot!

Covered Grape VinesBut as I got a little closer I was thrilled to see plump juicy little grapes ready to harvest!

Protected Grapes

I quickly picked a bunch and shared them with the kids. They are sweet and delicious! Look how much bigger they’ve gotten in just a few weeks! I’ll leave a few on the vines and harvest some every day to see if they get even bigger.

Sweet and Juicy GrapesBaby Grapes

I call this a resounding success! Now I have high hopes for my 2 little apples growing on my tree.

Apple TreeThe pomegranates are good and hardy but the birds always pick at them because I never know when to harvest. This year, I think I’ll try the bird netting on those, too. All this fresh fruit makes for wonderful healthy snacking while sewing!!

Pomegranates

Fabric Shopping Spree

Ok, so it’s a different sort of shopping spree I had this morning – one of my fabric sale reps came by to pay a visit today bringing loads of new fabric samples and paper-mockups of new lines coming out this fall.

Fabric Sales RepHere’s Ron from Westminster showing me the latest and greatest new fabrics from Kaffe Fassett, due out this fall. I scooped up a few geometric-looking lines and ordered a bunch of precuts. Westminster is getting on the bandwagon with that, much to everyone’s delight!

Amy Butler LarkNext, I got to see paper printouts of Amy Butler‘s newest collection, Lark, coming in October. First the company prints the designs to scale on paper, then produces them on fabric after enough orders have been taken. I’m sure this one will be very popular!

I’ll be going to my next wholesale trade show in September but it’s nice that many of my sales reps will also make house calls. Now, I just have to be patient and wait for the good stuff to arrive!