What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

My BQF (Best Quilty Friend) Heather Black of Quiltachusetts just wrote her 2nd book, Design, Make, Quilt Modern and I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover!

The book includes wonderful explanations of her design process including how the quilting can affect the look of the quilt, plus so much more useful info, especially if you enjoy designing your own quilts.

As a bonus, the book also includes 4 modern quilt patterns for you to make. They are:

#1 Grounded – I love how Heather explains her reasoning on why this quilt only has borders on 3 sides. At first you ...

When I’m prepping a quilt for machine quilting, I do everything I can to get a nice, flat quilt sandwich. This is especially helpful when quilting on a domestic machine because of all the quilt wrestling, scrunching and smooshing that happens during the process.

“Scrunching and Smooshing” in progress!

In order to make my quilt as flat as possible, I press ALL of my seams open. I know this can be a bit controversial, but contrary to popular belief, it will NOT weaken your seams. After all, dressmakers have been pressing seams open forever, and clothing certainly gets a ...

I’m thrilled that my 4th book has now officially been released and I have a signed copy waiting for you! Take a look at my newest pride and joy called 99 Machine Quilting Designs from Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

Click here to get your signed copy of 99 Machine Quilting Designs

As an author, it’s been great fun to open up boxes and boxes of my brand new book and get it out into the world.

99 Machine Quilting Designs includes a detailed photo, illustrated diagram, and step-by-step instructions on how to quilt 99 different machine quilting motifs ...

Today I’m excited to kick off a 9 part series on Machine Quilting Tips and Tricks. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, especially since I’ve written and taught on this topic extensively over the last few years. This week’s post will serve as an introduction to the series, and also as the landing page where I’ll update each of the links below as they are written.

I’m also happy to answer your machine quilting questions. So don’t be shy – ask you questions in the comments and I ...

I’m having a ball seeing what everyone makes from my fabrics so I thought I’d share some of the amazing quilts my good friend Charisma Horton from Charisma’s Corner has made from my prints. She’s a prolific and talented pattern designer and chances are, you have one of her patterns in your stash! I’ll let Charisma tell us a little bit more about these beauties in her own words….

Hi Everybody! I am so excited to share a little about the quilts I have designed using Christa’s fabrics. I met Christa a few years ...

The Modern Logs Quilt Along is in full swing, and that means everyone has started to post their blocks, tops and finishes. This is one of my favorite parts! And I want you to explore your own creativity so I’m thrilled when you add stash fabrics or play around with the setting or otherwise add your own special touch.

Today I’m sharing a variety of other people’s Modern Logs in different stages so you can appreciate the versatility of this design. I hope you enjoy ...

I’m so excited to share with you the cover art for my brand new book, 99 Machine Quilting Designs, coming soon! I don’t have a release date yet, but once I do, I’ll open up pre-orders with some bonus incentives and freebies for those who order early. So stay tuned for more info!!

Get my Current Books for just $19.95 Each!

While supplies last, I’m giving you a chance to stock up on my previous books to complete your machine quilting library. I’m offering these for a price way below the retail price, AND ...

You all know I love to see what you create using the fabrics I’ve designed for Benartex. Well every now and then a quilt comes along that really makes my heart sing! So today I wanted to share more about this fabulous quilt called Hypnotica by my talented friend Nancy Messuri who is a relatively new quilt pattern designer.Click here to get Nancy’s Hypnotica Quilt Pattern PDF

I’ve invited Nancy to come on the blog to tell you more about this fabulous quilt in her own words…..

From Nancy Messuri:

I am honored Christa gave me ...

Have you been enjoying following along to make Bling? Scroll to the end for links to the entire quilt along. This week we will be binding our Bling to finish it up!

Roundup of binding tutorials

Because I pretty much bind my quilts all the same way (either by hand or machine), I have a LOT of binding tutorials that I’ve shared over the years. So here are 3 for you to try – use whichever method you like best!

• My basic binding tutorial (shown on Modern x)
• Binding by machine – straight stitch (shown on ColorWeave)
• Binding by machine video ...

I love reading quilt magazines that are more than just a bunch of patterns. So when QuiltFolk debuted in 2016 it was a no-brainer for me to get a subscription and I’ve enjoyed every issue since then!

Imagine my pleasant surprise when editor in chief Mary Fons called me up earlier this year (before the world went a little haywire) and asked if she could feature me as one of the stories in their Nevada issue which published earlier this month.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, this amazing magazine tells stories about quilters all over ...

Nothing makes my day more than seeing what you all are making with my fabrics! And I love seeing when you’ve used one of my patterns for your latest project. With so many options, it’s an honor to see these beautiful quilts and works in progress “in the wild!” read more

One of the best things about designing fabric is seeing how people use it. It’s absolutely inspiring for me when I notice your work using my fabric out in the world. It makes my day! Here are some recent examples.

Geo Pop Beaded Lanterns

Beaded Lanterns by Leesa Burr-Bates; pattern by Christa Watson.

Leesa Burr-Bates shared her Beaded Lanterns quilt top in the Christa Quilts Group on Facebook. If you’re not yet a member of the Group, you’re invited to join us!

Leesa used my Geo Pop fabrics from Benartex. I think she did a great job ...

Are you ready to join me for the adventure of a lifetime? Or at least a fun sewing escapade over the next several weeks? I’m excited to guide you as we make my Optical Illusion quilt from start to finish.  All you need is a copy of the Optical Illusion quilt pattern and a can-do attitude!

Optical Illusion made from Geo Pop, 67″ x 88″
Scroll this image to see the lines move!

My original version was sewn up in bold black, white and gray from my Geo Pop fabric line. I had requests to see how it would ...

So the biggest casualty for me in this whole quarantine situation is getting out and chatting with fun folks like you! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy working from home and am grateful for the flexibility that my job in the quilting community allows. However, I miss teaching quilting and I miss talking about quilting and I miss being with quilters. So I wanted to try out an experiment….

Starting on Monday, April 27th at 2 PM PST (5 PM EST) I’m going to host “Ask Me Anything” using Facebook Live in my ChristaQuilts facebook group.

It’s ...

This part of the quilt along is always my favorite!! I’m excited to share how I free-motion quilted my Block Chain Quilt with a fast, fun and forgiving modern design I call “Geometric Chains.”

Click here to get the optional Block Chain quilt kit, while supplies last.

The basic idea is to quilt an allover design, one line at a time across the entire quilt. Below is the basic motif diagram shown in the Block Chain quilt pattern.

To get a feel for how this design is stitched, draw a series of geometric lines, similar to those shown below ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...