Road to California Wrap Up – Hangin’ With the Quilt Celebs!

January 24, 2011July 13, 2013Leave a comment

Now that I’m back home from Road to California I can share with you some of the stories and pictures from my fabulous quilting excursion.

Here’s a photo of my friend Judy and me at the convention center on the first day. (Notice her adorable quilt bag made from Amy Butler Fabric. We are so eager! I think I need more quilt luggage or a least a trendy bag. I did get a couple of free bags from the show, though!

The first day I took an outstanding machine quilting class from Mickey Depre (I blogged about it here). Judy took machine quilting classes from David Taylor and a strip piecing technique from Elsie May Campbell. We love learning from the best teachers!

The next day Judy was in class with Darlene Zimmerman while I roamed the show floor and got to meet a few “quilting celebrities”.

Here’s “Christa Quilts Meets Quilt in a Day”!

Eleanor Burns was so fun and energetic in person. I told her how I first watched her on PBS over 15 years ago. I don’t think she’s aged a bit! She signed a book and recommended one of her favorite rulers to me. I hope to learn from her for another 15 years.

John Flynn looked so comfortable in his rocking chair with hand quilting on his lap.

Flynn was the featured artist at the show and his quilts were simply stunning in person. The two quilts behind us were some of the best I’ve ever seen. He had about 15 different quilts on display and got to sit in that chair and chat with the ladies all weekend. What fun!

The last day Judy and I took a machine quilting class together from Charlotte Warr Andersen. (I blogged about it here). I simply have to say she makes you feel like you want to be her best friend!All told, it was a fabulous trip and one I plan to make each year on a regular basis!

Quilt Classes at Road to California

January 20, 2011March 19, 20132 Comments

I’m here at Road to California having a wonderful time and I know I will be exhausted by the time I drive home. Here’s what’s on the agenda for this weekend:

Today, I’m taking an advanced class called, “Customize Your Quilting”, taught by Quilt artist and author, Mickey Depre. Here’s a sample of her beginning quilting class. I can only imagine what the advanced class will be like!

Tomorrow, I will spend the morning browsing the show floor taking in as much inspiration as I can handle. In the afternoon, I’m going to attend a lecture entitled, “Show Quilts, From Start to Finish” given by Linda V. Taylor & Cheri Meineke-Johnson.

Isn’t the machine quilting in this piece simply lovely? These ladies are my inspiration!

Finally, on Saturday, I’ll spend the day with Charlotte Warr Andersen learning some of her tips and tricks for perfectly quilted quilts. She is one of my favorite artists and if you’ve never seen her work before, take a look at the picture below to see why she is so amazing:

I plan on taking lots of class pictures and can’t wait to share them with you when I return.

On the Road to California

January 18, 2011March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I’m so excited! I’m going to Road to California this week, the quilt show and conference where I’ll get to hobnob with “quilting celebrities” and experience award winning masterpieces.

I’ve signed up for several classes and lectures and I’m attending with my friend Judy who just happens to live in California and just happens to have a spare room for me to stay! So stay tuned and I’ll post pictures of my quilting adventures.

Hoffman Oriental Quilt

January 13, 20112 Comments

Here’s a beautiful quilt made recently by another quilter friend of mine that moved away. Camey caught the quilting bug and had to move so that she could spread her quilting knowledge to others (or maybe it was because she got a great deal on a house on the other side of town??)

Camey used one fat quarter pack of Kyoto Gardens Asian prints from Hoffman for this gorgeous quilt. She cut out big chunks of fabric accented with black. Isn’t it stunning?

Heather Bailey/Sandi Henderson Quilt

January 11, 2011January 11, 2011Leave a comment

I love it when my “quilty” friends send me pictures of their projects. This one is from my friend and former neighbor Allison who recently moved Utah. Allison has always been very crafty – dabbling in sewing projects, needle arts, home decorating, cooking, other other wonderful creations. But of course it wasn’t until she moved away that her true quilting talent is beginning to shine! At least now we have something to email about!

Allison made this quilt from a mix of Heather Bailey prints and Sandi Henderson pieces that she got from me. Don’t they blend well together?

For the quilting, she made a template from one of the Heather Bailey fabric motifs. She used my favorite method of tracing the design onto the top of the quilt with water soluble ink. The quilting was done using her Bernina embroidery foot with the feed dogs off. Way to improvise, Allison!

And of course, she chose to showcase a little back art for the lining. I just love it when you can see all that gorgeous quilting on the back!

Textile Artist Friends

January 6, 2011January 18, 20141 Comment

I love having crafty friends! My very dear friend Janice (the one whom I shared pastries with yesterday) made me this beautiful cross-stitched picture. It is perfect for my kids’ jungle themed bathroom. She painstakingly formed each stitch by hand with multiple thread variations and intricate shading. Her handy hubby made the decorative frame.

In exchange, I made her this intricately quilted and appliqued wall-hanging for her home. I machine blanket stitched around the edges of each applique piece with matching thread. Then I echo quilted the backgrounds with metallic thread and added a double cable quilting design to frame the border. Special friends deserve special quilts!

French Pastries Anyone?

January 5, 2011March 19, 2013Leave a comment

Today Jason and I met some friends in Paris. (The famous hotel in Las Vegas, not the city). They introduced us to this fantastic bakery serving authentic French pastries. We started off with crepes for brunch followed by an assortment of yummy fruit tarts and crispy croissant treats.

Imagine my surprise when I came across an assortment of aprons in the shop made from material I used to carry. My favorite was a Paris Cafe themed fabric produced by Michael Miller several years ago (that sold out quickly and is now out of print). There were also some aprons sewn from Anna Maria Horner prints, too. This just goes to show that fabrics are for more than just quilts!

Snow Day!

January 4, 2011March 19, 2013Leave a comment

Yesterday we had a snow day here in Las Vegas which was quite unusual for our desert climate. The kids had fun building snowmen and having snowball fights.

When I made my snowballs, I looked closely at the snow and was amazed at how much it resembled the consistency of quilt batting. No wonder crafters use batting in winter scenes to represent the snow! It looks just like fluff!

Before the snow melted we were able to make yummy snowcones gathered from the fresh clean snow. What a fun morning!

Happy New (Quilt) Year!

January 1, 2011March 3, 20143 Comments

For 2011 I resolve NOT to make any new resolutions! I will however, try to sew more, hang with my kids more, and stress less.

Here are some pictures of a couple of quilts I finished recently using charm squares, embellished with some alphabet applique.

I made this quilt using very boyish plaids, tiny 1 inch setting squares and fusible applique for the letters. It’s about 36″ x 46″.

I just let the letters lie casually on each fabric square so I didn’t have to be too precise on placement.

I used my favorite moon stencil for the border – check out earlier posts for a closeup look using the same quilt design.

I used one Moda Charm Pack in girl colors for this cute quilt:

Just like the blue quilt above, I enlarged a computer font and made my own stencils for the lettering, placing them haphazardly on the background charms to give it a more whimsical look.

This quilt measures about 32″ x 36″ – perfect for a snuggly baby on the go!

My local quilting guild has encouraged its members to complete 12 projects this year – one for every month. These won’t count for 2011 but just looking at them is getting me excited to start my new projects. If I complete my goal, I’ll be rewarded with a gift certificate to a local quilt shop.

Hey – even though I run my own quilt store, it’s still fun to go shopping somewhere else!

Christmas Wrap Up

December 29, 2010March 19, 2013Leave a comment

We had such a fun Christmas that I wanted to write about it. For starters, it was a “Toy Story Christmas” at the in-laws this year. In order to find our gifts, we had to dress up as the Toy Story characters and go on a scavenger hunt with clues leading the way. My mother in law & sister in law sewed some simple cowboy themed costumes and gathered supplies that transformed our family into the Toy Story characters – Barbie, Mr. Potato Head, Woody, Jessie, Army Guys and of course, Buzz Lightyear!

Now we have costumes for next Halloween!

We had a fun time with my side of the family as well. As you can see from the mess it was quite a party!

For the younger kids and friends, it was a “DS Video Game Christmas”. And my oldest son looks like he could be doing a photo shoot marketing Apple products. What a fun Christmas!