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  • machine quilting
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December 20, 2025
Quilting finished................ from Exuberant Color


I wasn't sure this one was going to bloom.  It was a bud for more than 3 weeks.  This pot is on my kitchen windowsill, west exposure.










Since I am only a little over 5' I am looking across at this pot when I'm standing at the sink.  I kept thinking this pot had 4 pieces that had broken off my pale pink cactus plant, but when I looked closer it is just 2 pieces. 



I did have one more thing to bake yesterday and then PT in the afternoon.  Last night I finished the quilting on this ...

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Baking first, sewing last...................... from Exuberant Color


I started the day yesterday baking the other Kringlas, different than the ones I baked last week.  The dough was refrigerated overnight.








Next I baked the pink Spritz.  It was a relief to have my oven fixed to bake these.  I did the previous batch that were for my son's customers last week in the little countertop electric oven and it was tricky getting them out before they got too dark.






A little later in the day I baked the chocolate spritz.  After that I made one more batch of fudge.  Now I have enough of everything to mail ...

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December 17, 2025
How to Free-Motion Bricks – 99 Designs Episode #44 from Christa Quilts

For this week’s episode of 99 Designs, I have a very dense motif that works well to make a quilt more modern. As the design is rows and rows of little bricks, it could also work well to add realistic texture to a landscape or art quilt. To learn how to quilt this design, check out the video below:

Interlinked Quilt Pattern

The sample quilt used in the video is called Interlinked. It’s one of the quilts I’ve made several different variations of, from one that uses a monochromatic color scheme to one that uses a vibrant ...

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December 12, 2025
How to Quilt Decorative Stitch Shattered Lines – 99 Designs Episode 43 from Christa Quilts

If you remember shattered lines all the way back in episode 7? We’re bringing it back this week and teaching you how to do a version with decorative stitching! Like all decorative stitch designs, you can change which settings you use for endless combinations and variety. Check out the video below to learn more:

Shattered Lines on Little Man’s Fancy

In the video I showed you how I quilted regular shattered lines on Little Man’s Fancy. This quilt actually comes from the first book I ever wrote, Machine Quilting With Style. It’s also the first time ...

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December 8, 2025
Join Me for AQS Seam Retreat in 2026! from Christa Quilts

Want to go on a quilting retreat with me? I’m excited to announce this amazing event that will take place October 13-18, 2026 in Paducah, KY, hosted by the American Quilters’ Society (AQS). In a nutshell you are going to quilt a real, full sized quilt me in under a week! Here’s a quick video teaser I put together:

If you’d like more information about it, AQS is hosting a webinar about it on Tuesday, December 9, 2026 at 6 PM Central Time. Click here to register for the free webinar.

You’ll be with me for ...

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December 4, 2025
Quilting started..................... from Exuberant Color


I finished the basting yesterday morning and last night started the quilting on this small quilt I call Game Board.  This post shows the whole top.  I got the ditch quilting done in the 3 outer borders and then quilted the flying geese border.  I'll probably do the bow ties next and then proceed to the center.


I have tweezers handy when I am quilting.  No matter how many threads I pull out of the seams before I start, I always find more while quilting.  Sometimes as in this case, only about 1/4" of thread is showing and ...

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December 3, 2025
How to Free-Motion Quilt Rainbows & Crescents – 99 Designs Episode #42 from Christa Quilts

In this week’s tutorial, I’m continuing with more densely textured free motion quilting designs: Rainbows and Crescents. If you like last week’s tutorial, these two designs use the same concept. They are also very similar, so try quilting them together as part of the same motif. Check it out below!

The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting

The quilt featured in this tutorial is Quattrefoil, from my book The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting. Both Rainbows and Crescents are featured in this quilt, as I made to be a “sampler” quilt with many different designs. If you want ...

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November 29, 2025
99 Machine Quilting Designs #41 – FMQ Hears and Geometrics from Christa Quilts

We’re back to free-motion quilting this week with two dense designs that will add lots of texture to a full-sized quilt: Echoed Hearts and Geometrics. If you want to learn more about these designs, click on the video below.

Try these designs on Surplus Strips!

Want to try one or both of these designs on a real quilt? Check out Surplus Strips, a beginner-friendly design made from just one Jelly Roll and background fabric. You can get the kit (while supplies last) or pattern below. You can also take a look at all my Jelly Rolls to assemble your ...

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November 21, 2025
99 Machine Quilting Designs #40 – Decorative Stitch Grids from Christa Quilts

This week we are practicing more decorative stitches with our walking foot. Any traditional “straight line” design be modified for this technique. Watch and learn below:

Quilt This Design on a Real Quilt!

Practice quilting decorative stitches on Ticker Tape! I have several colorways of this kit available (while supplies last). It’s made from one jelly roll of Dazzle Dots with a colorful background.

Click Here to view all Quilt Kits
Click Here to grab the Ticker Tape Quilt Pattern – PDF Download

I even used decorative stitches on the binding, too! It’s a fast way to finish and ...

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November 12, 2025
Walking Foot Quilting with Decorative Stitches – Machine Quilting Tutorial #39 from Christa Quilts

99 Designs Episode 39 – Decorative Stitches

Did you know that any walking foot design can be quilted with decorative stitches? It’s a great way to add incredible texture to your quilts! Check out my latest free video tutorial below and give it a try! 

After practicing on smaller samples, it’s time to try these designs on real quilts! Below are two bonus videos to watch for free. First, try out those decorative stitches I’ve shown above on my Bling quilt made from Stitchy fabrics:

While supplies last, you can grab the kit to make Bling from either ...

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November 8, 2025
Garden Tea Party Quilt... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

Time to get a binding on this quilt...



I place the folgers can on the floor 

between my feet and the binding 

feeds beautifully up and onto 

the quilt as I stitch it in place.





Binding clips hold the binding in place

as I stitch it down...





Almost done stitching the binding...

always a great feeling !





She's all bound and ready to go...





It was raining today, so I couldn't take her

outside for a full length photo shoot...





Machine quilting close up view:

Swirls and flower petal motifs...





This was a FUN one to machine quilt...





Always ...

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November 7, 2025
Garden Tea Party...Machine Quilting from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full


I started this quilt top in June...

 


Garden Tea Party Quilt





I am absolutely in LOVE with these

gorgeous floral fabrics....





They are so feminine and lovely...





I basted the quilt last week

and it is time for machine quilting...





80 x 97 inches





I have been machine quilting with this sit-down

Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen for 15 years...

large quilts are a breeze with my big girl machine !





Those dark blue clamps hold up the quilt

so there is no drag while I am pushing it around

under the needle...





quilting feathers makes me happy...




feathers, flowers and swirls ...

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November 6, 2025
99 Designs Episode #38 – Quilting Wavy Chevrons! from Christa Quilts

Did you know that one of the easiest ways to change up your free-motion quilting is to stitch the design with wavy lines? That’s what I’m showing in my latest video. Watch and learn below:

If you are looking for fun quilt patterns to practice your quilting skills, check out my printed patterns. They are all on sale now for way less than the regular price.

Click here to view all quilt patterns on sale.

Let me know how your free-motion practice is coming along. I still have many more videos to share! I’ve you want to ...

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November 3, 2025
It's binding time................... from Exuberant Color


The 16 patch quilt made with Nancy Crow fabric has been trimmed now and I'll look for binding today.  The red stripe is the only Nancy Crow fabric that I had large yardage of so it ended up being the backing.



I ended up with a variegated 30 wt. thread for the quilting of mug rugs and a table mat.









First I quilted the 4 mug rugs that are the same size and then trimmed them to prepare for binding.







They will be nice used backing side up too.









I decided the same thread would work on the Kaffe ...

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October 30, 2025
Free-Motion Quilting Chevrons – 99 Designs Video #37 from Christa Quilts

This week I’m back with a fun geometric design for you to stitch – Chevrons. Try out 2 different variations which are perfect for modern or traditional quilts. Watch and learn for free below:

If you are looking for fabric to practice these fun designs, be sure to check out my fabric sale over on my website at Shop.ChristaQuilts.com. I’m always adding new things to the mix! While supplies last, I’m clearing out my older 10″ square and 2 1/2″ strips from earlier fabric collections. This is to make room for my next fabric collection ...

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October 22, 2025
How to Free-Motion Quilt Ribbon Candy Variations – 99 Designs Episodes 35 & 36 from Christa Quilts

I have two videos to share with you this week, covering 4 designs that are all closely related! These are fantastic for quilting strip quilts, or other linear areas of your quilt like borders and sashing. First take a look at my quilting tutorial for Cursive L’s and Double L’s below:

I used the Cursive L’s design when quilting an earlier version of my Beaded Lanterns quilt. The free pattern includes a step by step quilting plan which breaks down how to quilt it, step by step.

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October 11, 2025
Walking Foot Square Spirals – 99 Designs Episode 34 from Christa Quilts

Are you still watching and practicing your domestic machine quilting? This week I’m excited to share one of my favorite designs of the series! Walking Foot Square Spirals are fun, fast & forgiving to stitch – check it out by clicking play below:

Quilt These Designs on Bling!

I quilted the wavy spiral maze variation on my Bling quilt along with regular round spirals. I also made a video to go along with it showing you how I did it. Grab the pattern and then watch the bonus video below!

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October 3, 2025
Free-Motion Quilting Tutorial: Geometric Shapes, 99 Designs Episode 33 from Christa Quilts

In this week’s episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs, practice free motion quilting more “shapes on a stick” like Balloon Shapes and Shish Kebabs. Click below to watch and learn:

Quilt These Designs on Block Chain

I made this quilt before I started making video tutorials, but it’s a great one to practice these designs! The Block Chain quilt pattern includes a quilting plan showing you how and it’s perfect for your favorite charm packs!

Block Chain by Christa Watson

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September 16, 2025
99 Designs Episode 31 – 3 FMQ Chain Designs from Christa Quilts

In this week’s episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs learn to quilt 3 versions of Geometric Chains, or what I lovingly refer to as “Shapes on a Stick.” Click play below to watch:

The featured quilt on the wall behind me is called Plumb Lines and the pattern can be found in my book with Angela Walters called, the Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting. I was so pleased when I entered it into a machine quilting show and it won a ribbon!

Click here to get the PDF download of our book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting.

Are ...

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September 13, 2025
First quilt top for September 2025........................ from Exuberant Color


The borders are on and looking at it now, I think it will need the white dotted fabric for binding.  At first I thought green.  This zig zag top measures 54" x 69".









With the quilt top finished, I quilted the table runner I started a couple days ago.  I used Invisafil WonderFil thread for the ditch quilting.








I used thread that matches the color of the zebras in the bobbin.

I have to find a binding for this table runner and for the quilt I finished yesterday and maybe get them cut and sewn on today.  Then I have ...

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  • machine quilting
  • Page 1 of 52 ( 1026 posts )