Blog

Hi Everyone!!

I've been looking for some smaller projects to work on during my down time while staying home. I'm sure that I could simply look around my work room and rediscover a project that I haven't finished yet, but what's the fun in that? haha! A fun tote bag or a mini quilt are great projects for keeping your creativity flowing, plus they can make wonderful gift for those we love or those we want to honor. These patterns and projects are in stock and ready to ship out to you:

Ombre Geometric Tote by V and Co.: (no longer available)
Pattern: $10  Kits Available too!: $53.45

Teeny Tiny Collage Pattern Group #5:
Pin Cushion, Dress Form, Sewing Machine by Laura Heine of Fiberworks - $25

Take a look at more new patterns and projects {here}.

Oh wait!!! I almost forgot about the cutest little zipper pouch - it's adorable and will hold all sorts of wonderful quilting tools and supplies.

Opposites Attract Zipper Pouch: $9.90

Happy Quilting,
~Cristy

Edited 4/29/20:
My mini class on Curved Piecing is now available to watch on YouTube. Enjoy!

As you're watching, please keep in mind that this video was recorded from a livestream and you will hear me troubleshooting camera angles and sound as we work to figure things out. Also, there is conversation happening because some people watching live asked questions that I answer while filming. I have many other videos on my YouTube channel that are more rehearsed and fine-tuned if this style doesn't suit you.

🥰Hi Everyone!! Join me (Cristy😁) Thursday at 10am PDT for my second Mini Class on Facebook Live!! 
🤩I'll introduce to to my favorite technique for sewing curved seams: 
Piec-lique (piece-li-kay). 
It's fun, simple, and can be used to make virtually any curved seam. 🧵During the mini-class, I'll go over the basic steps for using Piec-lique to create and sew a circle, a Drunkard's Path block, and a custom curvy shape.
🌟Piec-lique was developed by my ingenious mom, Sharon Schamber and was first introduced to quilters in her book: 
Piec-lique - Curves the New Way in 2005 (out of print).
🧵Please share with your friends and invite them to join us. 
See you Thursday! 
Here's a link to my Facebook page and the live video: https://www.facebook.com/PurpleDaisiesQuilting/live/ 
To join in, be sure to "Like" my page to be sure that you're notified when my video starts. There is also a post about the mini class with a "Get Reminder" button that you can click on to be reminded when the class starts.
I'm so excited to connect with you and to share some wonderful quilting tips and tricks! Come with questions!! 
If you aren't on FaceBook, don't worry!! After the mini-class is over, I will upload the video to my YouTube channel where you'll be able to view it.

Quilting is not only my business, but it's my hobby. I crave it. I love cutting up fabric and sewing it back together again. I am a maker. I'm also a teacher, and I'm passionate about designing patterns and teaching all of you tips and tricks that keep you inspired to cut up fabric, sew it back together again, and just keep making.

I'm not alone in my passion. There are many makers like me that are passionate about teaching and sharing. Many of us love to share fun projects and free tutorials on our blogs, despite the time and preparation involved, because each of you appreciate and learn from them. Unfortunately, offering everything for free isn't sustainable for any of us. Over the years, bloggers have helped rejuvenate the quilting and sewing industry (in addition to many other crafts) with valuable content. Many of us have revived or discovered our love of quilting through amazing bloggers like Amy Smart, Lee Heinrich and Jeni Baker. Through the internet, we've also been able to learn from quilting masters like Sharon Schamber, Alex Anderson, Sue Nickels and Bonnie K Hunter, all from the comfort of our home. 

Somewhere along the way, we've gotten use to getting way too much for free. And now "the balance between what we expect for free and what we are willing to purchase" is a bit, well, unbalanced.  Free tutorials are great, but shouldn't they be a treat? Like the cherry on top? I think so. I strive to stay teachable. Learning new tips, tricks and techniques is so much fun for me, which is one reason why I love buying patterns from independent designers. I know how much time, effort, cost and heart goes into creating an independent pattern. Whether or not we sell a million, we put the same amount of love and passion into our designs - our only hope is that they inspire and motivate you to make.

Lindsey at LR Stitched created the May is for Makers campaign to support independent designers who infuse creativity, inspiration and institutional knowledge into our craft. Through the campaign, Lindsey is pledging to buy a new pattern from a different independent designer each week during the month of May. I'm joining in, and I hope you will too. With each purchase, we are collectively telling the designer that their work matters. We are also validating all of the time and effort that they put into their brand. No candle ever went out from lighting another. Let's share our light and love! As Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced says so perfectly, "Consider buying a pattern as a way of saying thank you for a free tutorial you learned from, or a free pattern that you especially loved—after all, that free tutorial or pattern was probably only made possible by that designer's paid patterns." (Thank you Lee!)

Each Friday I will purchase a new pattern from a different designer and will share it on social media with the hashtag #mayisformakers. I hope you'll join in and share the pattern that you chose by tagging your post on Instagram or Facebook with the same hashtag. 

Happy Quilting!!
~Cristy 

Hi Everyone!

A while back I was working on a mini quilt, and the backing tucked under as I was quilting it, and I stitched right over backing. Not once, but twice. Ugh! I know we've all made mistakes like this, but can be so frustrating and feel almost impossible to to fix without undoing your hard work. While I was fixing my little "boo-boo", I took some pictures so I could share a few of my tips and tricks for fixing quilting mistakes like this. 

Here is my first mistake in all of it's glory. If you look closely at the left hand side, you'll see that the backing folded and tucked under twice. I did a really good job with this one, haha.


I had already done quite a bit of quilting, so I really didn't want to "unquilt" my quilt and have to quilt it again. I always make my backing 4"-6" bigger than my quilt top, which gave me some forgiveness and allowed me to cut the fabric away rather than pull out my stitches.

First, I cut the backing very close to the stitches. Be very careful not to cut your stitches. Using scissors with a short blade and a blunt tip like these from Famore Cutlery help quite a lot. 

Cut the fabric away from each line of quilting. Cut closely to the stitching, without cutting through it.

Use your fingers to pull the fibers of the fabric away from the quilting. 

Snip your fabric as needed to release it from the stitches. Cutting the fabric close to the quilting will allow it to pull away quite easily.

In this picture, you can really see what a fantastic job I did making this mistake ;). Keep snipping the fabric away while being careful not to cut your stitches.

Almost there!! I kind of like pulling the fabric away from the quilting. It's satisfying, like pulling weeds. I hate to get out there and pull the weeds, but when I pull one out, root and all, it feels so good!

Just a snip or two left!

YES!!!! 

Next, clean it up and pull away any fibers of the backing from the stitches.

It's all finished and looks so much better. The best part is that I didn't have to remove a single stitch of my quilting. 

I hope this helps you if you ever find yourself needing to fix a quilting mistake. 

If you do need a seam ripper to do some "unquilting", Seam Fix is my favorite brand and I carry some in the store.

Happy Quilting,
~Cristy

At the start of 2014, I chose a word to help guide me and give me focus: Important (you can read more about it here). I had been doubting my work and the importance of my contributions to the quilting industry. Seeing myself, my choices and the world through the lens of "importance" was empowering. I began to truly see that what I do is important to others and that hiding my importance isn't a sign of modesty, but a sign of not believing in myself. I made small shifts in my perspective, and they began to add up. I had an article published in Machine Quilter's Unlimited (July 2014), I sought out and was presented with many new teaching opportunities, and I filmed my class with Craftsy. It was a wonderful year.

In 2015, I didn't choose a word. Instead, I created a Vision Board, with the kind guidance of Carrie Bloomston. My Vision Board is on my wall, above my computer where it provides daily inspiration and reminds me of who I am and what's most important in my world. It makes me smile too - how can you not smile with Mickey, Goofy and Minnie smiling right at you?

Last year was one of the hardest of my life. I'm looking forward to 2016 as a continuation of the work that I began doing in 2014 - discovering and uncovering who I am, and what empowers each aspect of my life to flourish. As a lot of us do, I was doing quite a bit of reflecting during the holidays. I began to think less of what happened and more of what I want to have happen. One word summed it up: Thrive.

When my friend Mandy told me about the One Little Word class by Ali Edwards, I was compelled to sign up. One Little Word is a year long project to explore, craft, invite and connect with your chosen word. I'm really excited to be a part of Ali's class, and even more excited to have it as a part of of my life. And I'm looking forward to sharing what I discover with you.

Since I've chosen thrive as my word, I've already begun to look at my world through the lens of "Thrive". I've been asking myself a lot of hard questions about what it means to me to thrive, and if what I'm choosing to do (or not to do) is supportive of me thriving. All of this led me to an "Ah-ha" moment. I was working on business "stuff" like emails, packing/shipping orders, and accounting all the while I was getting really down on myself about the state of my home. It was untidy and recovering from the holidays, with many new toys not put away, the sink was full of dishes, and loads of laundry to wash and fold. I began to get down on myself about everything that needed to be done which led me to feeling guilty about doing my work. Later that week, I was cleaning the house, and looked into my studio and immediately began to remind myself of all of the work I needed to finish, which led me to feel guilty about taking care of my home. Oh my gosh! There it was, like a slap in the face! I wasn't letting myself win. I wasn't allowing myself to thrive. I'm not quite sure how I will change this bad habit, but I know that I must. It's not helping me feel good about my work or home, and it's preventing me from being a good mom and wife. Have you ever felt this way? How did you overcome it? 

This journey will be interesting, and I'm welcoming it with open arms. I have some work to do. I'm sure there will be hard moments, but it will be worth it.

Have you ever chosen a word for the year? Do you have a word for this year? I'd love to hear what your word is and how you're making it a part of your world.

Lots of love and happy quilting!
~Cristy