It’s our turn to host the blog hop for the new book Machine Quilting with Style. If you’re visiting Martingale’s blog for the first time, welcome—be sure to subscribe to our posts so we can stay in touch!
When award-winning quilter Christa Watson asked us to be a part of her blog hop for Machine Quilting with Style, we jumped at the chance—because we have a LOT to share with you. Today we want to tell you about three things: the BOOK, the VIDEO, and the FREEBIE.
#1: THE BOOK
Eight walking-foot quilting designs, 10 free-motion quilting designs, and 12 fun projects for practice—this is the machine-quilting book that has it all. First, stretch beyond typical stitch in the ditch with creative approaches to straight-line—or not-so-straight-line—quilting. Then, free-motion quilt with success using easy-does-it motifs, tips, and advice—and do it all on your home sewing machine.
Choose straight-line quilting, free-motion quilting, or learn how to combine both techniques in your quilts.
See more from Machine Quilting with Style >
#2: THE VIDEO
Still feeling timid about trying free-motion quilting? Watch Christa tell a Quilt Market crowd how she combines two free-motion quilting designs—loops and spirals—in her “Candy Pop” quilt from Machine Quilting with Style.
Viewing this in email? Watch the video at the Stitch This! blog or on YouTube.
As you can see, it all starts with muscle memory. In Machine Quilting with Style, Christa says:
“Draw before you quilt. Sketch out your quilting design on a piece of paper first to practice your muscle memory and train your brain to recognize the pattern of movement for a particular design. Draw or doodle every day for best results. Keeping a quilting journal just for drawing is a great way to develop designs and practice your ‘quilt handwriting.’”
Grab a piece of paper and give some loops and spirals a try!
#3. THE FREEBIE
In Machine Quilting with Style, you can experiment with 12 of Christa’s chic, modern quilt patterns. But there’s a whole new space on which to get creative with color, design, and quilting—the backs of your quilts! That’s why Christa is offering you a free pattern download for making the backing for a quilt from the book, called “Lightning.” She’s even named the back of her quilt: “Staggered Squares.”
The front and back of Christa’s “Lightning” quilt
For the back of this quilt, Christa used up some of her less-than-full-sized fat quarters, randomly adding a pop of yellow here and there for pizzazz. Download Christa’s quilt-backing tutorial now and use it to create a backing for any quilt.
Oh, there’s one more thing we need to tell you about:
#4: THE GIVEAWAY!
Christa is featuring a different quilt from Machine Quilting with Style every day during her blog hop. Many bloggers have made their own versions of Christa’s quilts, so you won’t want to miss a day! Follow along to see all the variations—AND enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes (like the loot on the right). See the full blog-hop schedule below.
Quilt backs—made from a single fabric? Or does a mix of fabrics means "no boring quilt backs" to you? Tell us in the comments and you could win a copy of the Machine Quilting with Style eBook! We’ll choose a random winner one week from today and let you know by email if you win.
Machine Quilting with Style Blog-Hop Schedule
9/14 Start here at Christa Quilts
9/14 Color Crystals—Vicki Reubel from Orchid Owl Quilts
9/14 Technicolor Backing—Ida Ewing from Ida Rather Be Quilting
9/15 Pearl Gray—Alyce Blyth from Blossom Heart Quilts
9/16 Broken V—Sharon McConnell from Color Girl Quilts
9/17 Candy Pop—Linda Hungerford from Flourishing Palms
9/18 Ripples—Melissa Corry from Happy Quilting
9/19 Little Man’s Fancy—Tina Guthmann from Mod Geometry
9/21 Square in a Square—Stacy Cooper from Farm Road Quilts
9/22 Static—Lee Heinrich from Freshly Pieced
9/23 Rain—Cheryl Brickey from Meadow Mist Designs
9/24 Lightning—Leanne Chahley from She Can Quilt
9/25 Facets—Kristy Daum from St. Louis Folk Victorian
9/26 Focal Point—Amy Garro from 13 Spools
Additional blog-hop stops will include reviews, interviews, sample blocks, and other eye-opening info about machine quilting that you won’t want to miss
9/15 Andover Fabrics
9/16 Amy’s Free Motion Quilting Adventures and Leah Day’s Free Motion Quilting Project
9/17 Do You EQ? from Electric Quilt and Darlene from Quilt Shop Gal
9/18 Jacquelynne Steves’ The Art of Home and Scott Hansen from Blue Nickel Studios
9/19 Moda Fabrics – The Cutting Table
9/21 Katy Cameron from The Littlest Thistle
9/22 Debbie Grifka of Esch House Quilts and Generation Q Magazine
9/23 Rebecca Bryan of Bryan House Quilts
9/24 Stitch This – The Martingale Blog and Riley Blake Fabrics
9/25 Michele Foster of The Quilting Gallery and Teri Lucas from TerifiCreations
9/26 Pellon Projects and Amy Ellis from Amy’s Creative Side