Category: Fabric

Bling Quilt Along Begins Next Week

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Who’s excited to join me for the Bling quilt along which begins next week? All you need is a copy of the Bling quilt pattern to follow along, and each week’s assignment will be posted right here on the blog. But just remember, you can totally quilt along at your own pace!

Click here to get the optional Bling quilt kit – made from Dazzle Dots!

I will be making this version of Bling from my Dazzle Dots 1 and 2 fabrics. I love how the softer pastels in the background make the more saturated colors pop!

I also played around with what this quilt would look like using my Stitchy fabric collection, below:

Click here to get the optional Bling quilt kit – made from Stitchy fabric!

Which colorway do you prefer? The Bling quilt pattern itself comes in multiple sizes and you can choose to include the floater border as shown in my Stitchy version above, or leave it off like I did with the Dazzle Dots variation

Click here to get the Bling quilt pattern – PDF version
Click here to get the Bling quilt pattern – printed version

Sharing is Caring

As you gather your supplies, I’d love to see which fabrics *you* choose! You can post pics of your fabric pull over in my Christa Quilts Group on Facebook, or feel free to email me directly: christa@christaquilts.com. You can also tag me on social media @christaquilts or use #blingquilt on instagram. I’m excited to cheer you on every step of the way!

Bling Quilt Along Schedule Begins July 17!

  • Week 1 July 17 – Cutting
  • Week 2 July 24 – Making the Blocks
  • Week 3 July 31 – Quilt Top Assembly
  • Week 4 Aug 7 – Catch up & Basting
  • Week 5 Aug 14 – Quilting and Finishing

99 Designs Episode 24 – Walking Foot Spirals

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For this week’s episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs I’m showing how to use your walking foot or dual fee to quilt two spiral spiral variations: continuous Round Spirals and Overlapping Spirals. Watch the full video on my YouTube channel below:

Get the Kits!

While supplies last, I still have Sparkling Stars kits made from Stitchy and Optical Illusion kits in black and white. I quilted wavy spirals on Sparkling Stars and Overlapping Spirals on Optical Illusion. I think this was the perfect design for both of these quilts! You’ll use the same technique that I show you in the video above, but you’ll just keep turning the quilt round and round until it’s done.

Click here to view all Quilt Kits, while supplies last.

Sparkling Stars

Get the Patterns!

Although I enjoy offering kits as a convenience, it’s also very easy to grab my quilt patterns and then select your own fabrics in similar colors. My Optical Illusion pattern is such a crowd pleaser and it looks great in any fabrics. The secret is choosing light, medium, and dark fabrics to create contrast which forms the illusion.

Optical Illusion Pattern by Christa Watson

Click here to get the Optical Illusion Pattern – PDF Instant Download
Click here to get the Optical Illusion Pattern – Printed Hardcopy

Poll Results and Quilt Along Schedule

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I asked followers amongst all of my social media channels if they wanted to create Bling or Beaded Lanterns for our next Quilt Along, and the majority voted for Bling, but not by much. So guess what?? I’m actually going to make both!! We will kick off with Bling then follow up with Beaded Lanterns after. See below for details and QAL schedule….

Bling Quilt Along Schedule Begins July 17!

  • Week 1 July 17 – Cutting
  • Week 2 July 24 – Making the Blocks
  • Week 3 July 31 – Quilt Top Assembly
  • Week 4 Aug 7 – Catch up & Basting
  • Week 5 Aug 14 – Quilting and Finishing

Each week I will guide you through each step of making the quilt. I will be making the Dazzle Dots version shown above with the scrappy Hashtags layout. All you need is a copy of the quilt pattern, or the optional kit to follow along. There are so many different ways to lay out this fat quarter friendly quilt!

Bling Supply List

Each week of the quilt along, I will be sharing tips and tricks right here on my blog and will include a bonus video during the quilting and finishing week. Just remember, you can work at your own pace, and the quilt along will stay up indefinitely so you can refer to it again and again, any time you wish!

Beaded Lanterns Quilt Along Starts Aug 28!

Beaded Lanterns will follow a similar format and will begin about a week after we finish up Bling. So you can make either quilt, both quilts, or neither – it’s totally up to you. I’ll follow up with a reminder once it gets closer, but as long as you read my blog updates, you’ll be all set!

Click here to get the Free Beaded Lanterns Quilt Pattern
Click here to get the optional Beaded Lanterns Kit (while supplies last)

So – who’s in????? Leave me a comment letting me know if you plan to make either of these quilts. I’m happy to cheer you on, every step of the way!

99 Designs Episode 23 – FMQ Ribbon Loops & Harlequin

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When practicing your free-motion quilting, I recommend trying a variety of curvy and geometric designs. You may decide you like one style over another! In this week’s episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs you can practice both techniques when you stitch up Ribbon Loops or Harlequin! Click play below to watch:

Bonus Video – Quilting Ticker Tape

My Ticker Tape quilt shown behind me in the video, is quilted using single ribbon loops. I love making the same quilt multiple times to try out different fabric combinations and quilting plans. Check out my bonus video below, showing I quilted Ticker Tape using 2 different quilting plans:

Get the Ticker Tape Quilt Kit!

If you’d like to take your quilting practice to the next level, grab my Ticker Tape kit while supplies last. It comes in 4 different colorways, all made from my Dazzle Dots fabrics.

Which color way is *your* favorite??

YouTube Play Lists

Let me know how you are liking this video series, and if you have any special requests of designs I haven’t covered yet. You can watch the entire machine quilting designs series as much as you like, and also check out my other playlist showing how I quilted these designs on real, full sized quilts!

Click here to watch my full playlist: 99 Machine Quilting Designs
Click here to watch my How I Quilted It playlist

99 Designs Episode 21 – Walking Foot Quilting Diagonal Crosshatch

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We are back to walking foot quilting with another fun machine quilting video tutorial for you to watch. Check out Diagonal Crosshatch and Irregular Crosshatch. Click the image below to watch and let me know which design you prefer!

Click here to watch the complete 99 Machine Quilting Designs Video Series for free!!

Have You Checked out My Latest Kits?

It’s one thing to practice your designs on small samples, but you really get the hang of things when quilting them on a real, full sized quilt. I’ve been having fun putting together all sorts of fun kits from my fabrics I’ve designed. I often make the same quilt more than once, just to try out different machine quilting plans.

99 Designs Episodes 19 & 20 – Free Motion Quilting Wavy Lines

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Have you been watching my free series of domestic machine quilting videos? New episodes drop each week and you can watch them anytime, on your own schedule for FREE! This week I have 2 for you to catch up on. First of all, learn how to quilt fun free-motion wavy lines. They are fast and easy to stitch! Check it out below:

If you want to take your quilting up a notch, stitch this design in both directions and it becomes an interesting, organic wavy grid! You can stitch this as an edge to edge design, or in smaller areas of your quilt wherever you want to add texture. Watch and learn below:

Grab My Book and Follow Along!

All of these designs can be found in my Book, 99 Machine Quilting Designs. The digital download includes images of each design, diagrams and step by step instructions showing how to quilt each design.

Click here to get 99 Machine Quilting Designs as a Digital Download.

99 machine quilting designs

Grab Some Scrap Fabric to Make Practice Sandwiches!

As a fabric designer, I love coming out with fun new fabric collections for you to play with. However, to keep things fresh, I’m clearing out the old to make way for the new! Be sure to check out my current clearance section to grab a great deal on yardage and bundles. These are great to use for quilting practice!!

Click here to shop my fabric clearance sale.

99 Designs Episodes 17 & 18 – Free Motion & Walking Foot Designs

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Today I’m playing catchup with 2 new videos from my 99 Machine Quilting Designs series. These are free videos I’m sharing each and every week, from my book of the same name. I like to teach a variety of walking foot AND free motion designs to make the best use of your home sewing machine! First, check out this fun pebbles variation called Cobblestones:

This is a dense design that I would use sparingly, and it looks great as a background fill surrounding other, less dense designs.

Walking Foot Wonders

If walking foot quilting is more your thing, be sure to catch Episode 18 where I show how to turn simple straight lines into a stunning grid. You can be precise or random with it, and both variations are fun to do! Watch and learn below:

New Quilt Kits Galore!

I’ve recently added lots of new quilt kits to my shop, all made from fabrics I’ve designed. You can grab the Color Weave quilt kit featured in the video above as well as many others all made from fabrics I’ve designed.

Click here to see all quilt kits using my fabrics!

Bonus Videos for Your Viewing Pleasure

Here’s a bonus video to go along with my Color Weave quilt:

Click here to grab the Color Weave PDF quilt pattern

If you are a new follower of my machine quilting videos, be sure to watch this bonus video showing how I set up my machine and prepare for domestic machine quilting. It serves as the introduction to my 99 Machine Quilting video series and is like the cliff notes version of my in-person workshops!

Get My Designer Fabrics for Less than $8 Per Yard!

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We are making some changes around here (all good I promise) so I really need to clear out some of my older fabric lines, like ASAP! I’ve just reduced all clearance fabrics by the yard to just $7.95!! This is a great time to stock your stash with borders, backings and lots of gorgeous color. Hurry though, because these are all out or print, so once they are gone they’re gone forever!

Click Here to Shop My Clearance Sale and Save!

But Wait, There’s More…

In addition to my sale fabric by the yard, I also have a few too many bolts of this fun rainbow fabric, so when you purchase them in 5 yard increments for $35, you’ll save even more!

Click Here to Shop My Clearance Sale and Save!

Most of My Precuts are on Sale, Too!

Stock up on 10 inch Layer Cakes, 2 1/2″ precut jelly roll strips, or 5″ charm packs. This includes everything from my oldest fabric lines, while they last!!

Click Here to Shop My Clearance Sale and Save!

The Fine Print…

Multiple yards of the same print will be cut continuously. Sale prices not valid on prior purchases. Flat rate shipping via USPS to the US. International shipping is available and recipient pays all customs fees.

99 Designs Episode 16 – Pebbles Variations

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My latest episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs covers three variations of one of my staple designs: Pebbles. This is one of my favorite designs to use in my quilts, as it’s easy to quilt once you get the hang of it and endlessly versatile. Check out the video below if you want to give it a try:

Featured Quilt: Beaded Lanterns

This week’s featured quilt comes from one of my free quilt patterns, titled “Beaded Lanterns.” I originally made it in solid fabrics to really show off my free motion quilting. I quilted pebbles in the background which really gave this piece so much texture!

Click here to download my free Beaded Lanterns quit pattern.

I’ve updated the pattern to feature my newest fabric, Dazzle Dots 2. And the best part is, it includes the step-by-step quilting plan showing how you can combine pebbles with loopy L’s for amazing results!

While supplies last, I’m offering 3 variations of this kit with 3 different background fabrics. Which background do you prefer – Tan, White, or Ice?

Click here to get the Beaded Lanterns Quilt Kit – In 3 Different Colorways

Please let me know how you are liking this free video series. I’ll keep making them as long as you are loving them!!

99 Designs Video Episode 11 – Walking Foot Quilting Wavy Zigzags

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We’re back to Walking Foot quilting this week for 99 Machine Quilting Designs! Wavy Zigzags is a great design to add some quick texture to a small or full-sized quilt. Try quilting it once, twice, or combining it with regular zigzags for endless variety! If you want to learn how-to, check out the video below:

Get the Ticker Tape Quilt Pattern or Kit

Each week I try to feature one of my patterns where I’ve used the design I’m showing you. That way you can actually practice this design on a full sized kit! I quilted some fun wavy double zig-zags on the navy version of my Ticker Tape quilt. This is one of those designs that I’ve made several different versions of, just because it’s so darn fun to experiment!

Click Here to Get the Ticker Tape Quilt Pattern
Click Here for the Ticker Tape Quilt Kit in 4 Colors (while supplies last)

Bonus Video – Machine Quilting Ticker Tape

For even more video fun this week, check out my bonus video showing how I quilted both versions of Ticker Tape shown above. Click the image below to watch:

Are you quilting along?

How are you doing on your machine quilting practice? Are you following along and making up the practice sandwiches? Please let me know how it’s going or if you have any questions that I can trouble shoot for you. My goal is to inspire you to quilt more of your own quilts and have fun doing it!