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How are your Block Chain quilt blocks coming along? Be sure to share pics of your progress in my ChristaQuilts Facebook group or instagram #blockchainquilt and ask any questions you have. I love to cheer you on!

Click here for my free tutorial on how to make a design wall.

This week it’s time to finish up those blocks and sew them into a completed quilt top, also knowns as a “flimsy.” Refer to the Block Chain pattern pages 5-7 for the step by step instructions.

The easiest way to arrange your blocks is to use a design wall ...

Today is my stop on the Benartex Precut Project Hop and I have a load of fun ideas for you! I’ve rounded up a collection of precut-friendly quilts I’ve made from my 5 Benartex fabric collections, including a mix of free patterns, paid patterns, and remakes from my books. I hope this will inspire you to put those precuts to use!

The Freebies

Click here to download any of these free patterns shown below.

Rainbow Taffy Made from Charm Packs

By using 4 Modern Marks Charm packs +  white background I was able to really show off the rainbow ...

What a week it has been since we began! I know that many of you are home sewing and I hope this Block Chain quilt along is just what you need to make something beautiful when the world is in a bit of chaos! This week we will be sewing our chain blocks using the 5″ charm squares + black accent fabric.

My blocks above are made from Gridwork charm squares + square grid fabric in black. 

Follow the Block Chain pattern instructions on page 2 to trim down your black strips, and sew the center units shown above.

For the next ...

Welcome to the Block Chain quilt along! This week we will be cutting all the fabric needed to make this quilt. It will be super easy because the center of each block features precut squares which are already cut for you (one of the reasons I love working with precuts)!

My version uses 36 out of the 42 squares included in the Gridwork Charm Pack.

Sorting the Charm Squares

You will need one charm square for each block in your quilt. Because the throw size consists of 36 blocks and my  Gridwork charm pack includes 42 squares, I pulled out ...

I’m excited to help you make my Block Chain quilt from start to finish over the next six weeks. All you need is a copy of the quilt pattern; cheerleading and moral support are free!!

Block Chain designed and made by Christa Watson

FINISHED SIZE SHOWN IS 69″ X 69″

This colorful modern quilt is a remake of an earlier design I created before precuts became so popular (and before I was a fabric designer). Over the years, I’ve had numerous requests to reconfigure the design so that it can be made from charm packs:  5″ x 5 ...

I always like to post a final writeup of my quilt finishes (even when I’ve done a quilt along) so that I have a place where I can refer to the when I made the quilt, and keep track of the quilt details like fabrics & batting used. So hopefully you aren’t tired of seeing my Pieced Primrose quilts, yet. They were so fun to make!

Pieced Primrose FINISHED QUILT STATS

• Finished sizes: 35″ x 35″
• Designed using Electric Quilt 8 software
• Pieced and quilted by Christa Watson on my Bernina 770QE
• Fabric collection: Abstract Garden by Christa Watson ...

Can I share a secret with you? I’ve been working behind the scenes on my next book and I can’t wait to share it with you! However, before I give any sneak peeks, I want to offer  signed copies of my current books at a discount when you enter code BOOK at checkout . It’s my way of encouraging you to update your machine quilting library with any of my current titles that you don’t yet own.

Click here to get your signed copy of my books while supplies last.

I really enjoyed writing Machine Quilting with ...

I sure have enjoyed making my Pieced Primrose quilts and I hope you have, too. Now it’s time to put the finishing touches on the quilt with binding- either by hand or machine. Just remember, if you are still working on your quilt, I’m here to cheer you on – no matter how long it takes!

Because I wanted to include all 10 prints of warm or cool from my Abstract Garden line, I used 9 fabrics for the blocks and then the focal print “Raised Beds” for the backing and binding of both Pieced Primrose quilts.

When I ...

I’m so pleased with how many of you have said you love doing my quilt alongs! So this year I’m thrilled to be sharing more quilt alongs than ever before! Now don’t feel like you have to do every single one – but I like to share a variety so that there’s something for everyone. I recently took a vote in my Facebook group and the overwhelming majority wanted to make Block Chain next and I can’t wait!

• Click here to get the optional Block Chain Quilt Kit
• Click here to get the Block Chain quilt ...

Can you believe we are almost to the end of our Paper Pieced Primrose Quilt Along? If you are just now hearing about it, scroll to the end for links to all of the other QAL posts. I’ll leave them up indefinitely so that you can make this quilt on your own time and schedule.

Click here to get the Pieced Primrose Quilt Kit made from Abstract Garden.

Quilting on Busy Quilts

The first thing to think about when quilting a busy quilt such as my versions shown above, is that the quilting won’t be a focal part ...

This is the final part of my “making of” series for Terrace Tiles. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey and are inspired to make your own version! See below for info about these quilts and the previous progress posts.

Terrace Tiles Finished Quilt Stats

• Finished sizes: Amethyst and Citron 38″ x 57″; Breeze 57″ x 76″
• Designed using Electric Quilt 8 software
• Pieced and quilted by Christa Watson on my Bernina 770QE
• Fabric collection: Gridwork by Christa Watson for Benartex
• Pattern: Terrace Tiles by Christa Watson
• Batting used: Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton/polyester
• Thread used: Aurifil 50 weight ...

This week, Benartex is promoting my new Gridwork fabric on their social media channels. Along with that, they run a weekly Win-it Wednesday promotion. Today is your chance to win a fat quarter bundle of Gridwork + 2 of my quilt patterns made from it.

Click here to get fat quarter bundles or yardage of Gridwork.

3 lucky winners will each win one of the color ways: Amethyst, Breeze, or Citron along with my Block Chain and Terrace Tiles quilt patterns.

Click here to get my quilt patterns – printed paper version.
Click here tog et my quilt patterns – PDF download version ...

And now we come to everyone’s least favorite part of making a quilt – basting!! But really, if you just set aside the time to do it’s not that bad! Here’s what both versions of Pieced Primose look like up on my design wall that also doubles as my basting area. Read on for helfpul ways to tackle this part of the quilt-making process. It’s easier than you think!

Get the Pieced Primose kits here – in cool or warm, large or small.

Because I wanted to include all 10 warm or cool fabrics from Abstract Garden in ...

Today I’m excited to share some machine quilting tips and videos for all 3 versions of my Terrace Tiles quilts. My thought is why make one quilt when you can make 3 in almost the same amount of time, right?? LOL!!

Choosing Thread colors

The variegated thread color above is actually a combo of red, white and blue but it looks pink and purple when quilted on the Amethyst quilt!

Because these quilts are so bright and colorful, I decided to quilt them using 3 different colors from my Aurifil Variegated Thread Collection. I’ve really been enjoying quilting ...

QuiltCon, put on by The Modern Quilt Guild is absolutely my favorite quilting event to attend! It’s taking place this year in Austin, Texas February 20-23 and I can’t wait!!

The first modern quilt show and conference took place back in 2013 and I’ve attended each and everyone one since. It’s a can’t miss event for me and this year I’m especially thrilled to taking classes, doing some meet’n greet events, and sharing my quilts on the show floor and in several vendor’s booths.

Meet ‘n Greets on Friday and Saturday

I ...

How are your Pieced Primrose blocks coming along? Did you check out some of the optional layouts from last week’s post? This week will be pretty straightforward as we sew the blocks and add borders to complete the quilt top.

• Click here to get the Paper Pieced Primrose quilt pattern – PDF version
• Click here to get the Paper Pieced Primrose quilt pattern – Paper version

Quilt Top Assembly

For my cool and warm versions of the quilt, I’m doing the standard layout as shown on the cover of the Pieced Primrose Quilt pattern above. It’s the same basic ...

My Terrace Tiles quilt pattern is quickly becoming a favorite because it is so fast and fun to make!! Last week I shared some tips on piecing the quilt blocks. Now it’s time to finish the quilt tops and get them ready for quilting.

Terrace Tiles in Gridwork Citron Colorway

You can either arrange all the blocks on a design wall or other flat space; or you can sew them together into larger sets of 4 blocks like I did to speed up the process.  I’m not worrying about block placement at this point. The more random the ...

One of the most fun things I love about teaching others to quilt is seeing their joy when they successfully learn to make a quilt from start to finish! So I love traveling the country and meeting enthusiastic quilters who end up becoming my quilty friends. But I know not all of you can come see me in person, and there’s no way I can get everywhere I’d love to. So that’s where my online videos come in.

I’ve filmed 3 comprehensive video classes with Bluprint (formerly Craftsy) along with being featured in a roundup video ...

I know that last week’s foundation paper pieced tutorial was quite intense, so this week I wanted to give you some extra time to finish sewing your blocks. Last week I shared the steps using the cool colorway of my Abstract Garden fabric. Now here are more pics of the warm colorway:

Remember to piece as many blocks as you need for the size you are making. The primrose block is constructed from 3 units per block: the A & B foundation sections (full sized paper template to photocopy is included in the quilt pattern), and the corner triangle unit ...

Welcome back to part 2 of Terrace Tiles quilts from my Gridwork fabric line. I’m excited to let you know that I’m now offering kits to make all 3 colorways of this quilt in two different sizes each!

Click here to get Terrace Tiles kits in Amethyst, Breeze, and Citron

Click here to catch up on part 1 and think of this as a shortened version of my quilt alongs. You can bookmark this post and come back to it when you are ready to make YOUR version of Terrace Tiles.

Amethyst Colorway of Gridwork Fabric.
Click here ...