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

Behind the quilt - Sunny Side Up

O.k., on to our next project, with a little peek behind this crazy little creative brain of mine! We may be no closer to figuring out how it works, but we'll take a look anyway...

Also from Stash Lab, this quilt is called Sunny Side Up...

Sunny Side Up

I love geometric patterns and I see them everywhere! Hotel carpets, upholstery, tile, a brick walkway - pattern is everywhere! This quilt literally jumped off a bathroom wall! Here's a magazine ad for some hotel that I ripped out of a magazine (I'm sure it was mine!) It was begging me to be made into a quilt. Really, a traditional quarter log cabin block, just made bigger and brighter!

Inspiration on my bulletin board in my sewing room...

That torn out picture lingered on my idea bulletin board for at least a year or so before I got the urge to go shop-hopping while on vacation through sunny California searching high and low for all things yellow. Before this project, my stash had virtually no yellow to speak of so this was a fun fabric hunt. It was addictive!

I have to admit, before I decided to go with the yellow, I considered making it in a bunch of different colorways (red and white, blue and white, etc.) because there was this old quilt color "rule" I had heard someone say that a quilt should never have more than say, 5% yellow or it will be ruined. Well, that was like throwing down the gauntlet for me - it had to be yellow now!

I didn't actually even draw this one out because I really figured on replicating the tile pattern pretty closely. Everything got cut down to 2 1/2" strips and this is what it looked like mid-way through up on my design wall.

Tracey added the most beautiful, modern quilting to it - way too big for me to tackle on my home machine with a deadline. This one is so cuddly and soft, it just begs you to curl up in it for an afternoon nap. I love it, one of my favorites for sure. Simplicity itself.

Happy stash quilting,

Tonya

Behind the quilt - Pixie Sticks

I thought I would share a little backstory on some of my quilt projects. I always find it interesting to find out where others get their inspiration for their creations and more about their process. It can just as often be very similar to mine - or completely the opposite.

I'll start with one of the projects from my book, Stash Lab - first up, Pixie Sticks, which is the smallest project in the book, a table runner. I have one drawer in my sewing room that has leftovers or orphan blocks from other projects. It also had leftover strip sets from other projects that I just couldn't bear to toss. I just needed to find them a new home. Cut down and paired with a simple steel gray solid with a linen texture, I came up with this...

Pixie Sticks table runner

Quilted straight lines with the walking foot

This one was so fun and easy that I decided to make it a second time - something I almost never do!

Pixie Sticks #2

I started with some beautiful scrap strip sets gifted to me by my friend Tracey - I love her scraps :) These were actually from another project of hers using Sew Kind of Wonderful's Quick Curver Ruler. I decided to work around the curves because the fabrics were just too beautiful to go to waste. Double score - the backing fabric was from her too! Here's where it started...gifted curved strip sets on the left.

Cutting down the curved scraps

1" wide scrap strips needed for the project

These scraps were more coordinated than in the original. The first time, I used leftover strips sets from several different projects to make the "sticks". This time, I paired the sticks with some plain unbleached osnaburg fabric. Have you tried osnaburg? I love it. It gives a nice, simple contrast to bright scraps with a beautiful woven texture. Ask for it at your favorite LQS, they probably have it. It can be a little stretchy because of the looser weave, so starch away!

A little big stitch hand quilting added the perfect touch to this project. Simple, modern and scrappy!

Big stitch hand quilting done with #8 perle cotton thread

Happy scrap quilting,

Tonya

New Year, New Opportunities!

"Time waits for no one, but fabric stash hangs around a little longer...."

                                                                  anonymous

Happy New Year! I love January for the simple reason that I find it is the absolute best month to dive into some fun scrap sewing with no deadlines, no agenda, just good cleaning fun! There is actually some method to my madness. It's a great time to dig into my scrap bins and re-sort, clean out, make new discoveries and just have some fun in my sewing room after the craziness of the holidays.

With storage and organization in mind, I'm sharing this post again - not so coincidentally, from January 2014! - in case you are looking for some fun new storage ideas for your sewing space. I jazzed up some old hat boxes with selvages for a simple storage solution. And also because it's very timely...

You can listen here

Save the date! I'll be a guest on American Patchwork & Quilting Radio hosted by Pat Sloan - LIVE on Monday, January 11th!

Live Show time is

4pm - 5pm Eastern

3pm - 4pm Central

2pm - 3pm Mountain

1pm - 2pm Pacific

I'm excited but a little daunted by the live part...can't there be some lag time for editing in case I blow it?! No such luck. If you miss the live airing, it will linger on in the archives for posterity....forever!

Pat's topic for January and February is BIG IDEA: Solving storage and workspace woes! Every journey begins with a single step. We'll be talking all things Stash Lab, scrap quilts and anything else she throws at me. You can also enjoy all of Pat's past shows at creativetalknetwork.com/ available to download any time. They are great listening, especially while the scraps are flying under your presser foot. Hope you can join us.

Happy stash quilting,
Tonya

Season's greetings

Amid all of the hustle and bustle of the season, I just wanted to take a moment to send you my warmest wishes and many thanks for your support and encouragement throughout the year. As this year winds to a close, I look back on all that has happened, places I've been and folks I have met, projects I have finished, and new ones just begun. It's also bittersweet. I miss loved ones we have had to say goodbye to as well and cherish my memories of them even more.

I have so much to be thankful for this year: projects in print, Stash Lab having its publishing date, good friends, support and love of my family, and new things to come in 2016 to share with you. So my wish for you all is that you have peace, health and happiness in abundance - and if not those, then people around you that you love and care for to help you through.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Tonya

Star Shuffle giveaway winners!

O.k....random number generator spit out #2 and #6...

so Bunny and Dena.... congrats! You are the winners of a copy of the Winter 2015 Quilts and More and mini-bundle of flannels from my stash! Please email me at tonyaalexanderdesigns@gmail.com with your mailing address for your goodies.

And thanks to all of you who played along and shared your recent recipients of your quilt gifts. It's great to see where you are all sharing your love and talent.

Happy stash quilting,

Tonya

Star Shuffle and a Giveaway!

My quilting cup runneth over at the moment! So many good things to share with you and be thankful for and one of those this month is my quilt "Star Shuffle" that is currently featured on the cover of Quilts and More, Winter 2015. My ever-supportive and patient hubby was due for a quilt just for him. This was my attempt at a "guy quilt", if there is such a thing. No flowers, no fru-fru. Just some very manly grey/black/red combos in flannel, just in time for the fall/winter season.

Images used with permission from Quilts and More
 magazine and Meredith Corporation. Copyright 2015

 If you click on the images, they should expand and you can see the detail on the quilting.


Images used with permission from Quilts and More
 magazine and Meredith Corporation. Copyright 2015

Here's the flat shot of the whole quilt. I often like to vary the scale of a single block within the design. It just adds a little somethin' somethin' that I tend to like. The big star in the lower right is pieced in five segments and then appliqued on as a one piece. Very easy to do. Same shape, just bigger.

Images used with permission from Quilts and More
 magazine and Meredith Corporation. Copyright 2015

The fabric shopping for this one was fun. I love a fabric hunt! Once I decided the direction I wanted to go and had a handful of fabrics from my stash,  it was time to hit the shops to find some more to make the project complete. Many of them were Woolies Flannels by Maywood Studio, but not all. The background squares are all flannel, not something I usually work with but this quilt was going to be made to cuddle up on the couch in the winter with my honey so it was the go-to option. The applique stars are done with regular cotton fabrics.

Some of the flannels for the background squares.

Some of the cottons for the stars.

So a couple of things about working with flannels if you haven't before. First of all, I definitely recommend that you pre-wash your fabrics and dry on high heat. Flannels shrink like crazy at very different rates and you don't want that to happen after you have your project all sewn together. Also, flannel is super-linty (not sure that's really a word :) so prewashing helps cut down on the lint a bit. Even so, after you sew a flannel project together your machine is going to beg for a lint cleaning in the bobbin casing and a new needle!

I would also suggest using a generous 1/4" seam allowance. Some people even choose to use a 1/2". Whichever you choose, just be consistent throughout your project so all of your seams will match. And remember, if you use a wider seam allowance, your finished project will finish a bit smaller, too. I almost always press seams to one side and still did with the flannel, but some people find it preferable to press the seams open. Again, take your pick.

As for the applique, I used cotton fabric for the applique star shapes themselves. I chose to do needle-turn applique because I was toting these blocks around with me at the time and posted about that method previously here. You could also use fusible web and the directions in Quilts and More include directions for both methods. So do what you enjoy!

Many kudos go to Tracey who did a lovely job of quilting this one and made the stars really shine with the straight line echo quilting around each one. She carried those lines out into the borders as well and I think it fits the design perfectly! Thank you Tracey :)

So let's share some goodies, shall we? I have a couple of copies of the magazine to give away and I'll even throw in a mini-bundle of flannels from my stash to share with you for your project, how's that? If you'd like to win, just enter a comment below and share with us who the lucky recipient of your last quilt gift was. Easy enough? I'll draw two names next Friday, lucky November 13th! It will be lucky for a couple of people :)

And with that, happy quilting!

Tonya