Splash of Color Giveaway Winner!

Thanks everyone for the great comments on Jackie's book, Splash of Color and entering to win the giveaway. I hope you've been inspired to pull out some brights, blacks and whites from your stash and dive in!

Congrats to MsAdventure!...., our giveaway winner! Please email me at eyecandyquiltco@gmail.com with your mailing address so we can send you your copy of Splash of Color signed by Jackie!

If you didn't win this time around, be sure to ask for Jackie's book at your favorite local quilt shop or you can get it from Jackie at Canton Village Quiltworks!

Happy stash quilting,

Tonya

Book Review and a Giveaway - Splash of Color

One of the best things to come out of my first time author experience has been the chance to meet some really fun folks in my quilting world this past year and today I'm happy to share one of those and her book with you...Splash of Color: A Rainbow of Brilliant Black and White Quilts by the awesome Jackie Kunkel.

You may know of Jackie through Canton Village Quilt Works or through Quiltworx as a Judy Niemeyer certified instructor - she's a really busy gal! I had the pleasure of meeting her at Fall Quilt Market and quickly found we are two peas in a pod when it comes to our love of color and bright, bold fabric. I was thrilled she shared a copy with me :)

All images courtesy of Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

Her book Splash of Color is beautiful! It has 13 different projects that focus on the use of brights with black and white fabrics as the neutral...right up my alley! Here are some of my favorites...

Star Bright, by Jackie Kunkel

Proud Mary, by Jackie Kunkel

Jackie had many of her quilting buddies contribute to the book and do their version of her quilts in different colorways and with their own twist as well. The ideas just keep coming. I love that.

One thing that I really wanted to try was Jackie's technique for curved piecing, something I really haven't done a lot of. A little scary - but not when Jackie shows you how easy it is. She has this great youtube video to show you how.

Let's celebrate that successful curved piecing with a giveaway, shall we? Just share a comment below about Splash of Color, curved piecing, or anything colorful to be entered to win your very own signed copy of Splash of Color. I'll draw a winner on March 5th.

And if that weren't enough, you can hop over to Jackie's blog where she's reviewing my own Stash Lab: Simple Solutions for Scrap Quilts this week for a chance to win a signed copy of that one as well!

So two thumbs up! Thanks Jackie for a great addition to my bookshelf and my sewing room.

Happy Splash Quilting,

Tonya

Book Review - Machine Quilting With Style

What do you do when you love quilting but don't actually like to do the quilting part? I have to admit it's not the part of the process I enjoy the most and I'm often stumped on what to do with my completed tops. I like the fabric, design, piecing and even binding! The quilting itself can be a challenge for me and definitely an area with room to grow. So I was very happy to get my hands on fellow-Martingale author Christa Watson's book Machine Quilting With Style: From Walking-Foot Wonders to Free-Motion Favorites.

All photos courtesy of Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

You may know her from on-line as Christa Quilts or the Precut Store. She has so many great ideas for quilting with both the walking foot as well as free motion.

The book includes 12 complete projects that provide not only beautiful projects themselves, but great ideas for some very do-able quilting ideas that you can do on your own domestic machine.

I really appreciated all of the info Christa shares about batting types and thread. Hints for successful basting (often another challenge altogether) as well as some really beautiful designs.

I love this scrappy project called Facets. The best part - she's even doing a quilt-along on this pattern as we speak!

So I was happily inspired to drag out a project I had been procrastinating on and give some of her tips a try. I pulled out my completed top for Cavanaugh Crossroads and decided to give the serpentine stitch on my machine a go for some nice, overall texture.

And success! Super happy with it. The quilt measures 54" x 54" and took me about 7 hours (split into two days.)

The best news yet is that Christa has another book coming out later this Spring with Angela Waters that I can't wait for - The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting....to be continued! Christa is super involved with the Modern Quilt Guild and you can also find her on Instagram @christaquilts .

And guess what? You can find me there too! @tonyaalexanderquilts.

Happy stash quilting,

Tonya