I have 2 super fun things to talk about today, both involving Electric Quilt.
First of all, I’ve partnered with them on a design challenge, featuring my new fabric collection, Black, White & Bright from Benartex.
During the month of November 2021 you can head over to the EQ blog to download swatches of my newest line and design an original quilt to enter into the contest.
The second EQ news is that I’m featured over on their blog as one of their “Pearls of Wisdom” celebrating 30 years of EQ! I’ve used the software since before the beginning of my quilting career and I currently use EQ8 to design ALL of my quilt patterns. I couldn’t design without it!
Free Quilt Pattern!
Whenever I design a new fabric line, I include a free quilt pattern to go with it, designed in EQ8 of course! Here’s my free Pattern, Puzzle Box, recolored in my Black, White & Bright collection. This really plays up the black, white and grays in the group – don’t you think? It just takes 2 jellyrolls to make it with half light/half dark fabrics.
It’s a cheery collection that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I have a thing for black and white prints but as I started designing this group, I knew that I needed to add a pop of color to it. So I started with a base of black, white and grey below….
Black, White & Black: Gray Fabrics
Then I wanted to add in some more low volume prints that can work well as “light” backgrounds…
Black, White & Bright: Low Volume Prints
And finally, I added in some bold, bright, saturated colors to round out the collection…
Black, White & Bright: Saturated Colors
Get Free Shipping On Fabric by the Yard!
For all you early birds out there, I’m offering a pre-order special now through October 31st!! Get any of the 20 Black, White and Bright prints by the yard and receive FREE US shipping with NO coupon required. How cool is that???
I’ve also grouped the entire line into two bundles – lights and darks. You can order a full yard bundle, or a half yard bundle, and those qualify for free US shipping, too!!
I hope you love using these fabrics and much as I enjoyed designing them. Stay tuned over the next few weeks to see what you can make with these fabulous fabrics. I’m excited to dive in and start using them and sharing my process with you!!
This is my favorite way to use up leftover scraps while making an interesting quilt back! Below is a roundup of some of my favorite pieced backs that I’ve made over the years. Click each of the links below to get instructions on how to make the quilt back (or front)!
I made this one from my Good Vibes scraps plus a few leftover strips of my other fabric collections.
Bar Graphs Pieced Backing
This was the pieced backing for an early version of my Charming Chevrons Quilt pattern. I love how the machine quilting lined up on the back – that was purely accidental and not planned!
This black and white backing used up leftover fat quarters for one of the quilts in my first book, Machine Quilting with Style. The front of the quilt is called Lightning and it was a modern take on a rail fence design in black and white with a pop of yellow.
While I don’t have step by step tutorial for this one, I used up leftover blocks from the front combined with larger chunks of fabric in coordinating colors. This is an easy way to add a pop of interest to your back, and it’s much faster to piece together.
Sometimes I will sketch out exactly how I want the pieced quilt backing to look in EQ8. This can more easily help me figure out the dimension to cut each piece. See the before and after pics below:
One of things I love most about being a fabric designer is creating fabrics to add to my own personal stash. Although I’ve now designed 6 fabric lines for Benartex (#7 on the way soon!!), I really just look at it as a continuation of one large collection, LOL! To help you fill out the rainbow in your stash, I’ve created custom color bundles from a mix of all of my fabric lines.
Learn to stitch beyond the ditch and unleash the power of your walking foot to quilt modern or traditional designs. Walking foot motifs to be taught include: wavy lines, decorative stitches, irregular grids, large continuous spirals, several straight line variations, and more! You’ll leave class armed with the confidence that yes, you can quilt your own quilts! Class will also include a discussion on basting, favorite tools and supplies that make the job easier, plus tips for putting it all together on a real quilt. Students should be comfortable with their sewing machines and will practice on their own pre-basted fabric and batting samples.
Embrace perfectly imperfect quilting! That means little to no marking, and a whole lot of gorgeous texture. Ease into free-motion quilting with asymmetrical wavy lines, then move onto loops, traditional and modern stippling, plus curvy fillers like wishbones and cursive l’s that can expand to fit any space. Finish it off with several swirl variations, and you’ve got a toolbox of motifs to try on your next quilt! Class will also include a discussion of basic free-motion quilting tips and tools, plus figuring out how to combine motifs together in the same quilt. Students should be comfortable with their sewing machines and will practice on their own pre-basted fabric and batting samples.
Put a modern spin on a classic block while you learn to create improvisationally pieced Log Cabin blocks. Choose two sets of fabrics that have good contrast, such as lights and darks. You’ll need 10 fat quarters of assorted lights and 10 fat quarters of assorted darks to make the 48″ x 54″ quilt. Pattern is required and includes additional sizes. Suitable for all skill levels.
I’m so thrilled to let you know I’ve just partnered with AccuQuilt to be one of their newest brand ambassadors. When they invited me to be a Go! Getter, how could I say no?? After all, I’ve been admiring their cutters and dies for a looong time and now is finally the right time to start investing in their system.
I received my first box of goodies recently, so I made an ”unboxing” video to tell you all about it. Check it out on my YouTube channel here:
Here are all of the die bundles included in the video (affiliate links):
This is a fancy way of saying I’ll be working with their dies and cutters, designing patterns using their dies, and generally sharing about my adventures with this awesome system. I hope you’ll follow me in my journey. It’s going to be great!!!
So now I’m curious – what’s YOUR favorite die shape or block? Please leave me a comment and let me know!!
I’m so excited to be back teaching live and in person at various events throughout throughout the country (and the world!!) I’m especially thrilled to be returning to the QuiltCon faculty in Phoenix from February 16-20, 2022. It’s my absolute favorite event!!
I’ll be teaching a total of 3 workshops all about domestic machine quilting!
Make a note of the class numbers, times and dates and be sure to register first thing on August 4th Workshops tend to fill up very quickly and many sell out on the first day. If you aren’t yet a member of The Modern Quilt Guild – be sure to join so you don’t miss out!
Quilting Between the Lines: Walking Foot
DSMQ005 Friday, February 18, 6 – 9 p.m.
Get out of the ditch and learn to quilt between the lines instead! In this domestic machine quilting workshop, you will learn several of the walking-foot designs showcased in Christa’s book, “99 Machine Quilting Designs.” Using your seam lines as a guide, you’ll learn how to stitch organic, linear designs with no marking of the quilt! These include but are not limited to: chevrons, zigzags, parallel lines, wavy line variations, and some gentle curves. You will leave empowered to embrace the beauty of imperfection as you learn to quilt your own quilts!
Quilting Between the Lines: Free Motion
DSMQ010 Saturday, February 19, 6 – 9 p.m
Use the seam lines on your quilt as a guide to add gorgeous texture to your quilts with absolutely no marking! In this domestic machine quilting workshop, you will practice many free-motion designs showcased in Christa’s book, “99 Machine Quilting Designs.” Embrace perfectly imperfect quilting while exploring a wide range of mo- tifs that include: continuous curves, S-curves, geometric chains, chevrons, zig-zags, and other linear geometrics. You will leave class armed with the confidence that you can indeed quilt your own quilts!
This class is part lecture, part hands-on design workshop with an emphasis on domestic machine quilting. After discussing the often-asked question, “How do I quilt it?” you will practice sketching quilting motifs on paper, then learn strategies to apply those designs to an actual quilt top. You will have a chance to create several different quilting plans using images of your own quilts printed on paper, as well as learning how to create quilting plans for a wide variety of quilt designs. If time permits, Christa will also discuss options for designing a quilting plan as a group, using some of your quilt tops as examples. This is a no-sew workshop.
I’m excited to announce I’ll be a guest on a brand new video series called The Quilting Hour! It’s hosted by Lee Chappell Monroe of May Chappell and will be presented by C&T’s Creative Spark. Here’s a quick roundup of who all the guests will be. I can’t wait!!
Quilting Conversations with Trendsetting Designers For Quilt Enthusiasts
The Quilting Hour dives deeper into quilting techniques and trends. Each week the LIVE one-hour conversations will focus on a specific theme or technique. Expert quilter Lee Chappell Monroe of May Chappell will host 2-3 sensational guests and guide the conversation to be sure you learn the most you can on the theme of the week. Of course there will be time to ask questions so come ready to participate.
If you miss the LIVE event, don’t worry. Each week’s discussion will be recorded and accessible to watch at your leisure.
So pick a discussion topic you want to learn more about or better yet sign up for the entire series!
Here’s a list of dates and topics that will be included in the series:
I’m excited that they’ve saved the best for last!! On July 30, I’ll be the featured guest along with Teri Lucas and we will be chatting all things domestic machine quilting!!
I am so thrilled to be getting back to live teaching this year. My next big upcoming event takes place in Nebraska August 5-7. I’ll be teaching for BERNINA Sewing Center of Omaha & BERNINA of Lincoln. I can hardly wait!
I’ll be teaching the same things at each shop. We will kick off the event with my popular “How Do I Quilt It?” lecture in the evening. Then the following day I’ll teach my hands-on Modern Machine Quilting full day workshop.
So first you’ll learn the theory of how I quilt my quilts, then you’ll be able to practice my fun and easy walking foot & free motion techniques. By the end of the event you’ll be a better quilter, guaranteed!!
Just one of the walking foot designs you’ll learn!
I sure can’t wait to get back to in person teaching later this year. But in the meantime I’m excited that I can reach more people online that may not have a chance to travel and see me otherwise.
I’m very pleased to be offering two of my popular lectures at the virtual Minnesota Quilt Show in June.
Here are the details with links to register:
The Hallmarks of Modern Quilting Lecture
June 9, 2021 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Central Time
This informative lecture is full of quilting examples demonstrating how the modern aesthetic can apply to the machine quilting process. Learn how negative space, minimalism, graphic geometry, improvisation and other hallmarks of the modern aesthetic can be incorporated into your machine quilting work. Attendees will gain a better understanding of why many modern quilters choose to employ an abundance of straight line and “industrial looking” designs rather than quilting overly ornate and perfectly symmetrical motifs. Skill level: All levels. Cost: $10 (member) / $12 (non-member).
The secret to successful quilting is in the planning and preparation. I’ll guide you through the steps I take to make each quilting experience fun and stress free. Once you see my methods, you’ll feel empowered to quilt your own quilts! Learn how I baste my quilts, make a quilting plan, choose thread colors, divide and conquer each task, and apply rich texture with little to no marking of the quilt. Skill level: All levels. Cost: $10 (member) / $12 (non-member).
Christa Quilts 