For this week’s episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs learn to quilt one of my favorite walking foot quilting designs: Continuous Wavy Spiral. Watch the full video by clicking play below:
Get the Sparkling Stars Quilt Kit
While supplies last, I still have a few Sparkling Stars kits made from Stitchy fabric. Grab one now and start practicing your wavy spirals!
Bonus Video: How to Quilt Wavy Spiral on Sparkling Stars:
I made this video in response to everyone saying, “sure I can quilt that on a small sample, but it must be hard to quilt that on a larger quilt!” My answer is that it’s super simple to do! Watch and learn below:
If you’d rather choose your own fabrics in similar colors, you can grab the Sparkling Stars quilt pattern and get started making this quilt right away! The full color pattern incudes color charts so it’s easy to follow. It’s available both as a PDF instant download, or I’m happy to snail mail you the physical hardcopy. Choose your favorite format below:
I’m back with more fun free motion designs for you to try! Whenever I teach in person, I emphasize the importance of sketching out your design, quilting it on a practice sample, then making a quilting plan to quilt an entire quilt. Watch my latest tutorial below, and then give it a go!
Quilt These Designs on Surplus Strips!
Now, I invite you to try quilting these designs on a real, full sized quilt. I Stitched out the Spiral flowers on the soft, pastel version of Surplus Strips, and a secondary design on the gray version. While supplies last, you can grab the kit to make either of these quilts. They are made from precut strips + background, so you can whip up the quilt top in no time!
For this week’s episode of 99 Machine Quilting Designs learn my basic free-motion swirl motif, then see how I can easily change it up to create several different variations. Click play below to watch:
With every episode I like to include bonus tips and tricks for quilting these designs on a real, full sized quilt. And I like to share a different quilt for my backdrop each time. This week I’m talking about Terrace Tiles which is literally one of the fastest and easiest quilts you can make. In fact, I love it so much I’ve made it 6 different times, each with a different quilting plan, LOL!
Grab the Terrace Tiles quilt pattern (if you don’t already own it). And then watch this bonus video below, showing how I quilted 3 of them. I always say the best way to practice is to quilt an entire quilt with one motif; you’l be an expert at that design by the time you finish the quilt!
How are you doing with each of the designs? If you practice quilting about 10-15 minutes a day, you’ll see an improvement in no time! Be sure to share your practice samples over in my Christa Quilts Group on Facebook, and ask any questions you have!
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.
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.
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!
Christa Quilts 