If you follow me on Instagram then you have seen some sneak peaks of the quilt I’m about to show here. It is called Starstruck and is a pattern in Christa Watson’s new book “Piece and Quilt with Precuts”
Let me tell you how I started with all this. As soon as I found out I was to be part of the book tour Blog Hop I went through all the quilts in the book looking for one that would just call to me. ALL OF THEM CALLED TO ME!!! So I called my mom. I hadn’t made a quilt for her in a while. I’m not one to surprise people with quilts because I want to make exactly what they want. So what did my mom want? Starstruck. AND she wanted it exactly as Christa had done in the book.
Luckily I had a stack of 12 fat quarters that fit the bill for the light fabrics needed for the quilt. I took one each of the colors with me to my local quilt store with two friends and we searched for the 12 dark fabrics. Christa’s quilt is very neutral with white, light grey, and tan for the lights and dark grey, brown, and black for the dark. Do you want to know something though? Colors can be a neutral. I just had to add some color to this! So some of my black fabrics became navy and a really deep plum.
The piecing of the quilt went quickly. Christa’s book uses precuts for all the quilts, and this one was fat quarters. I made a what I thought was going to be a huge mistake by purchasing 1/4 yards instead of fat quarters for the dark fabrics, but I was able to cut all the pieces I needed.
I spent an evening and the following morning laying out all my stars, looking for the best arrangements of lights to dark and am so happy with the way it came out.
Now to the true test of my quilting capabilities. The book has 11 quilt patterns and 18 quilting motifs. Christa walks you through a quilting motif for each quilt in wonderful detail and encourages you to mix and match the motifs to make the quilt your own. Quilting is where I feel less confident in my abilities, but take a look at how this turned out.
This is a free motion design called loops and stars, with instructions on how to quilt other motifs. Soon you will see a quilt on Instagram where I will use hearts in the place of the stars. It is so easy to follow Christa’s directions and come out with some amazing quilting. She has two other books that focus on quilting that are now on my wish list! I also plan on taking Christa’s Craftsy classes. I think my confidence as a quilter is going to grow a hundred fold by the time I am through.
I want to thank the budding photographer in my house who took all but the final picture in today’s blog. Didn’t she do a fantastic job? I spent most of the day trying to decide what to use, and well…I’m just going to add all these here.
However, here is the money shot that I took! Taken on Aug 21st during the solar eclipse. Can’t go wrong with an eclipse on a star!
My goodness, I’ve had so much fun with this blog hop. Please check out the line up for the entire hop here and check out all the fantastic interpretations of Christa’s patterns.
And don’t forget the giveaways!!! There are a few, including 2 right here, right now from me!!!!
For a free eBook of “Piece and Quilt with Precuts” leave a comment below. Do you like to stick to one motif when quilting or do you prefer to mix and match? Do you use a walking foot or free motion quilt or both? Any tips and hints for those of us who struggle a bit? I take a piece of my back fabric, a piece of the batting, and a fabric left over from piecing the top to make a practice sandwich. This way I can fix any thread color issues or tension issues and get a feel for the quilting motif before the needle hits the quilt itself.
You can’t Piece and Quilt with Precuts without some precuts, now can you? So, head over to my Instagram, @lovinglylissa to find my IG give away. Two charm packs (each with 20 fabrics) of Amy Butler’s Timeless to get you started on your own quilt! You can’t miss the post on my feed, it’s a picture of the charm packs with “GIVEAWAY” written across it. Instructions on how to enter will be posted under it.
Winners will be chosen when the blog hop ends on August 31st.
Also, Christa has her own shop called The Precut Store where I am positive you can find the perfect precuts to use.
Lovingly,
Lissa
Hi Lissa, it’s nice to meet you and discover your blog. I like to mix/match motifs and walking foot quilt only. my FMQ foot scares me! Practice the wavy line motif that Christa uses…it’s litterally fool proof. Have quilt sandwiches of scraps from leftover projects on hand always and try up a multitude of thread colors too.
Love your eclipse…what great timig!
With my Bernina, I can do free motion. However, I still use a walking foot for some straight line quilting.
Great job. I do fmq, and often look at the fabrics for designs.
I would be better quilting if I would stay with one quilting and I have never FMQ. II sure can make a mess when I mix and match.
Your quilt is beautiful! I have a longarm and I love using different designs on my quilts. I love the quilting step the best!
I’m an experienced beginner as a machine quilter. Typically I use one motif per quilt and it’s my goal to move beyond that. I’ve done free motion and walking foot quilting, and still prefer my walking foot. (I love your quilt photos!)
Your quilt and pictures are gorgeous! I love the one with the foliage peeking out! Isn’t it funny we all went with the recommended quilting!? 🙂
I use the walking foot and mix and match my patterns.
I like walking foot and free motion and I usually use a mix of both. I’ve done a little bit of ruler work but need lots more practice with it. Love your quilt and especially the eclipse shot!
I mix and match my motifs and I love using my walking foot but I like more complex free motion ideas!!! I need to practise more!!!
You made a wonderful quilt for your Mom!… And your quilting looks beautiful!
Congratulations to your budding photographer for the great pictures…
And your solar eclipse on the star block is *outstanding!*
I free motion quilt on my vintage sewing machine (love my Singer 301)…
(No walking foot)
And I will quilt it however it needs… So I guess you’d say I mix it up??
I also practice a bit like you do, to make sure thread/color/tension/motif issues are all good, before I go!
Pat T.
You made a wonderful quilt for your Mom!… And your quilting looks beautiful!
Congratulations to your budding photographer for the great pictures…
And your solar eclipse on the star block is *outstanding!*
I free motion quilt on my vintage sewing machine (love my Singer 301)…
(No walking foot)
And I will quilt it however it needs… So I guess you’d say I mix it up??
I also practice a bit like you do, to make sure thread/color/tension/motif issues are all good, before I go!
Pat T.
I’ve tried both free motion quilting and using a walking foot, but not on anything big yet! I still consider myself “new” to quilting. I currently have four different quilt tops in the works, but haven’t completed a whole quilt yet. My goal is to finish one by the end of the year!
I am an experienced beginner! I am intimidated by the ideas on my head . Better when I just sit down and get sewing. Love what you did! Lucky mom!
I love your quilt, especially the eclipse block. The photography is outstanding. I have used my walking foot to machine quilt, but I am trying to get better at free motion quilting.
I quilt usually with a walking foot and I like to mix it up, according to the lines in the prints!!
Thank you!
Your quilt is beautiful!
Lissa,
I absolutely love your quilt. It is gorgeous. I do the practice for quilting the same way you do. I like to free motion. This quilt is on my to do list. Hope your momorning loves it.
I use my walking foot primarily but trying to do some freemotion quilting. The book looks great. Thank you for sharing and he amazing eclipse shot.
I like to mix it up and use a combination of walking foot and FMQ!
Love your quilt colors! a mix of warm and cool colors!
I love doing free motion quilting, I just wish that I had a bigger harp space, it gets too hard to push all that fabric through. I still love doing it though, and would love using this book to learn more tips and techniques, and have some gorgeous quilts to make too!
I have to tell you, I just upgraded my machine and went from a 6 inch harp space to 9 inches and it makes the WORLD of difference!! I considered going bigger, but the price difference was huge and I didn’t need all the other bells and whistles. This was quilted on the JUKI 2200 mini and it was wonderful.
I TRY to do different designs either with a hopping or walking foot. My tip is to slow down, it is not a race. Enjoy the process.
No free-motion quilts from this gal — I’m too chicken! Recently, I’ve been researching different quilting patterns using a walking foot — there are more possibilities than I could have imagined. Seeing results from Christa’s book makes me think I might be able to manage a FMQ challenge ?
I’ve taken two FMQ classes and each taught me differently. I’ve mixed and matched and have found what suits me best. Just take a deep breath and go for it!
I prefer using my walking foot to quilt. I have been very pleased with the results
Usually I use one motif when quilting & sometimes do something different in the sashing. I use my walking foot most of the time but have done a few FMQ’ing projects.
I use a variety of motifs, free motion and walking foot.
I stick to one motif and usually use my walking foot. I’m hoping to venture into FMQ soon but I have so far always ripped out what I’ve done and go back to the walking foot.
Beautiful quilt!!! I like to mix and match. Also I love doing free motion quilting with both feet. When preparing to sandwich my quilts I like to iron my backing first. This helps prevent wrinkles when quilting.
Finished product looks amazing! Love the photos, too. I’m renewing my enjoyment of quilting. I really like the Baby Flying Geese free pattern from Christa Watson. May need to be my next quilt?
I think I will enjoy hand-quilting one of these days. For now, I’m happy to work on designing, cutting, piecing the top!
I love to mix it up – love scrappy with different designs. I feel much more at ease using my walking foot to machine quilt, but have been practicing free-motion and like it. If I move at a fast pace, my lines aren’t very smooth; so going at a slower pace until I get the hang of smooth lines. I always do a practice swatch like you – works wonders!
Great eclipse shot! I mainly do walking foot quilting on smaller quilts and send bigger ones out to be quilted, but I want to learn to do my own.
I love how you quilted your quilt with stars. No IG account but your colors are wonderful
I use my walking foot to mix and match. Changing patterns makes it harder to see the mistakes!
I try freemotion but usually switch back to my walking foot! I’ve been quilting with the walking foot for a very long time, we’ve bonded! So nice to see all the new wf designs I had never contemplated.
Love them am
Your quilt turned out beautiful! The quilting I do depends on the quilt. If it’s a busy scrap quilt where there is little chance of detailed quilting to be appreciated I tend to do an all over pattern. I mix and match when there are areas where the effort will show! Thanks for sharing the awesome giveaway!
wow your quilt is gorgeous. love your eclipse star photo. it depends on what I am quilting as to whether I use my walking foot or not. I am a newbie with fmq. still practicing. I like to do echoing and squiggly lines
Congratulaions, Lori! You are the winner of an electronic copy of Christa’s book! Please contact me with your email address! lovinglylissa at yahoo dot com
Oh your eclipse photo is just awesome. Love the color palette. sometimes its hard to find a color palette suitable for guys. This would be perfect. I do quilting mostly with my walking foot, but am trying to be brave and work on free mtion.
That’s a gorgeous shot of the eclipse! Nice one! My tip is that I keep a stack of small (10?x10?) quilt sandwiches near my machine. When I have a few minutes, I sit down and practice a new motif, or one that I’m trying to get better at. I just use white or black fabric and a scrap of batting for each square. I stitch around the edges, then fill in with the motif. When I’m done, I trim the edges neatly, and I have a little motif library to look through when I need inspiration!
I love the eclipse shot! I like to mix and match my quilting, using both free motion and walking foot.
You did such a fantastic job on this quilt and that solar eclipse shot is amazing!!
That solar eclipse shot is one of a kind! Your quilt is beautiful.
Great quilt! I am still a newby with machine quilting so I stick with one motif. Any pointers are welcome!
Your quilt is beautiful! As far as the actual quilting goes, I use my walking foot and FMQ both. I need practice in both!:)
Your quilt colors are wonderful.
Do you like to stick to one motif when quilting or do you prefer to mix and match? Like you I’m not that confident so I stick with one motif.
Do you use a walking foot or free motion quilt or both? I use the walking foot on my home machine. Sometimes I rent a longarm and do free motion.
Lovely quilt and fun eclipse on the star!
Living in NE near some of the best viewing of the total eclipse…I was thrilled to see your eclipse block….I rarely remove my walking foot when using my machine. However, my favorite quilting is by hand. I love your quilts and so appreciate your tutorials
Your quilt is wonderful-very nice-love your eclipse on the star-how clever are you! I am still straight-line quilting with my walking foot, but FMQ is a possiblity as I have been practicing! Thank you, Susan
Great photos of your beautiful quilt!! I mostly hand quilt as I feel that it’s more to my speed for control!! I have tried FMQ and all I can say about it is to breathe deeply when stitching so you are more relaxed.
The eclipse photo is great! I use both ,free motion and walking foot, just started using a ruler with free motion…practice, practice!
Lovely quilt and excellent photography ? I’m gaining confidence with quilting too. I tend to mix and match patterns and use of walking foot and free motion. Yesterday I used the walking foot to quilt a traditional grid across the centre of a quilt, today I’m switching to free motion to quilt a vine design in the borders.