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!
Are you keeping up withy my 99 Machine Quilting Designs Series? If so, what are some of your favorite designs so far? I have another fun one for you to try this week. Click the image below to watch me quilt a fun, whimsical design called “Clouds.”
Practice quilting this design (and many more) on my Swanky Spirals quilt pattern!
If you’d like more ideas for making and quilting this quilt, check out my bonus video below. It’s part of my “How I Quilted It” video series where I show how to quilt real, full sized quilts on a domestic machine. Happy watching!!
I’m super excited to be heading to Lancaster, PA for the American Quilters Society show this fall to teach a full load of machine quilting workshops. I’ve taught for AQS before, but this will be my fist time visiting this location. I will also be one of the quilt judges which makes the event even extra special!
I will be teaching the following workshops as listed below. Machines will be generously provided by BERNINA for all workshops, and they will be based on my best-selling machine quilting books.
Wednesday, 9/10, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm or Friday, 9/12, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
Embrace perfectly imperfect quilting! That means little to no marking, and a whole lot of gorgeous texture. Ease into freemotion quilting with asymmetrical textures that are fast and fun to quilt. We’ll explore a wide range of motifs that will look good on any quilt from modern to traditional. You’ll leave the workshop armed with the confidence that, yes, you can quilt your own quilts. Students should be comfortable with a sewing machine and will practice on their own pre-basted fabric and batting samples. Students will also learn best practices for successful free-motion quilting.
Just like penmanship, everyone has their own unique machine quilting style. In this workshop, you will learn how to form the basic swirl shape, then branch off in many different directions as you discover your own signature swirl! Ideas to explore include the wonky swirl, the flower swirl, the elongated swirl, the packed swirl, and many more. Combine swirls with other favorite motifs for even more possibilities! Students should be comfortable with basic machine quilting techniques.
In this workshop, you will learn how to turn basic shapes into linear freemotion quilting designs. Using the seam lines on your quilt as a guide, learn how to divide and conquer your quilting while you stitch interesting motifs that are a great alternative to straight line quilting. These can be quilted as allover designs across the surface of your quilt, or scaled down to fit a specific shape in your quilt. Students should be comfortable with basic machine quilting techniques.
Can feathers really be “modern?” In this workshop, the answer is a resounding, “yes!” Students will learn basic feather plume shapes, then build upon those shapes to create entirely new designs. They’ll explore a variety of options such as echo feathers, swirl feathers, broken feathers, and many more! Each student will discover their unique feather style and learn how to apply what they’ve stitched to an actual quilt. Adventurous quilters may choose to customize their swirls by adding pebbles or other flourishes to their designs. Note: Students should be comfortable with basic freemotion quilting.
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!
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.
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.
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!!
My goodness summer is already flying by! I’ve had a banner year of teaching domestic machine quilting so far in 2025 and I plan to continue a robust travel schedule into 2026 and beyond. So with that said, here are highlights of the big events coming up this fall and next spring. Be sure to click the links below each event to register or get more details. They sell out quickly!
American Quilters Society – Lancaster, PA Sept 10-13, 2025
Registration is open for members of AQS, with a discount on all workshops! General registration opens to the public June 17, 2025 for any workshops that are not yet sold out. Below is my schedule of events at a glance:
International Quilt Festival – Houston, TX Oct 6-12, 2025
Registration is open now for this event. It will be extra special for me to attend this year because I have a couple of quilts hanging in the show!! Check out my full schedule of events below:
This is truly one of my favorite events of the year. If you love modern quilts, and haven’t attended yet, this needs to be on your bucket list!! Check out my lineup below:
Thurs 2/19/26 – 1:30-4:30 PM Quilting Between the Lines
Thurs 2/19/26 – 6-9 PM Free-Motion Improv
Fri 2/20/26 – 1-2 PM Modern Machine Quilting Lecture
Sat 2/21/26 – 9-12 PM If You Can Sketch It, You Can Stitch It (Option A)
Sat 2/21/26 – 1:30-4:30 PM If You Can Sketch It, You Can Stitch It (Option B)
Click here for the interactive catalog. You can filter by day or by instructor. Member registration opens August 20th at 9 AM Central Time and workshops sell out right away.
Empty Spools at Asilomar, CA – March 1-6, 2026
This event is going to be epic. You’ll be spending entire time with me quilting a real, full sized quilt. This is the most comprehensive, intensive class I offer, and I promise we will be besties at the end of the week. Make plans to attend because this is definitely a destination retreat!
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.
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!
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!
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?
Tired of stitching in the ditch? Try out these three variations of straight line quilting from my youtube series, 99 Machine Quilting Designs! Don’t be deceived by their simplicity–these designs are easy to stitch with a Walking Foot but they add a lot of complexity to your quilt. Check out how to do it below:
Featured Quilt: Rain
The quilt behind me in the video is titled “Rain, from my first book, Machine Quilting With Style. This book includes 12 quilt patterns as well as how-to instructions on how to quilt them! You can purchase the PDF version or a physical copy from my online store.
I also feature “Geese in the Garden,” a versatile quilt that can be done in a variety of sizes and colors. You get the pattern on my Etsy shop as a PDF or a physical copy on my online store. Try making and quilting this quilt with straight lines, or any of the 99 Designs we’ve gone over in the series so far. The possibilities are endless!!
This week for 99 Machine Quilting Designs I’m showing how to free-motion quilt a dense design called Leaves. Take a look by clicking below:
Watch the Entire Series over on My YouTube Channel!
Each week when I share a new video tutorial, it gets added to my playlist. As you can see, I’ve shared 14 videos so far, and there will be 60 of them in all. Click below to start at the beginning and watch them all in order. The videos will stay up indefinitely so you can watch the over and over again, as much as you want!
Christa Quilts 