Dancing Stars Quilt Along Week 1 – Gather Your Supplies

September 4, 2026August 28, 2026Leave a comment

Welcome to Dancing Stars quilt along! We will take it nice and easy this week. Jut gather up the fabrics you plan to use and do whatever prep you normally do (prewash, starch etc. if so desired.) The quilt pattern includes 3 sizes and it calls for fat quarters, but this patten works very well with scraps, or fewer colors, too.

Colorway Ideas for Dancing Stars

When choosing colors, think about complementary pairs of fabrics that will work well together, such as black and white, shown above or think in terms of value like light and dark. In order for this quilt to work successfully, you want to clearly see the boundary between each star block and it’s background color. Scraps will work well as long as you sort them together into pairs that contrast.

I used a fat quarter bundle of Confetti Cotton Solids in black, white and grey for my first go-round.

In my black/white/grey version I used 12 fat quarters – half of them were white to light grey, and the other half went from medium gray to black. However, I did NOT try to make any sort of pattern with the placement of the black and white in the quilt. I made sure each individual block contrasted well and then I placed the star blocks rather randomly. However, I did do a checkerboard of dark-light-dark in the border to unify the design.

Each fat quarter will be enough fabric for one star, and one background. So you can make two opposite stars with a positive/negative vibe, OR you can mix up the stars and backgrounds so that no two fabrics are paired together more than once.

For my Americana version of Dancing Stars, I had less than a fat eighth of each fabric to work with (1/2 of a fat quarter). So I chose 12 different red and blue fabrics for darks and 12 different cream batiks for lights. In the color layout above, I made sure that every other star was a contrast to its neighbor (light-dark-light) and I repeated that pattern in the stars, too. I didn’t use any of the lighter fabrics in the border like I did for the black/white version. Instead I only cut those squares from red and blue fabrics. In fact there ARE a few fabrics in the border that aren’t in the stars. Sometimes, limitations can lead to creative outcomes!

These are the fabric scraps I had to work with. Here’s a sneaky hint: I made this batik version of Dancing Stars to test out Riley Blake batiks. That’s because I’m going to design a line of modern batik fabrics in the future and wanted to make sure I was happy with their performance. The answer was yes – so stay tuned!!

Here are some other color combinations I came up with. Just remember, The sky is the limit when it comes to your creativity so be fearless when it comes to choosing colors. After all, you make want to make this quilt more than once, like I did!!

Share Your Work in Progress!

Each week as you work on this quilt, I would love to see how you are doing and cheer you on. It’s important to note that everyone will work at their own pace, so please don’t ever feel left behind. These blog posts will stay up indefinitely so you can sew on your own schedule. Even if you make it much later in the future I still want to see!

Click here to share your work in progress in my Christa Quilts Group on Facebook.

Next week it’s time to cut everything out, so if you haven’t already done so, be sure to grab a copy of the Dancing Stars quilt pattern to follow along!

Dancing Stars Quilt Along Supply List and Schedule

August 28, 2026August 25, 2026Leave a comment

Are you excited to join me for another quilt along? Below you’ll find the supply list and schedule to make Dancing Stars, one of my newest and most versatile quilt patterns. I’ve already made it twice, and it’s one of those fun patterns that looks great in any fabrics you choose!

Dancing Stars quilt pattern in black and white by Christa Watson

Dancing Stars Quilt Along Schedule

Week of Sept 4 – Gather Your Supplies
Week of Sept 11 – Cutting the Fabrics
Week of Sept 18 – Sewing the Star Blocks
Week of Sept 25 – Completing the Quilt Top
Week of Oct 2 – Catch up & Basting Your Quilt
Week of Oct 9 – Finishing Your Quilt – with a Bonus Machine Quilting Video!

I love including quilting suggestions in my patterns so that you can actually FINISH your quilt! Here’s a close-up detail of the quick and easy loopy stars motif I stitched in the black/white/grey version. I’ll be sharing tips on exactly how I did this in the bonus machine video, so stay tuned!

Then I re-imagined those motifs as a denser design in my Americana version with echoed stars and swirls! I’ll share how I came up with the quilting plan for this one in the video as well, so you’ll have lots of options to choose from!

Dancing Stars Supplies Needed

See the back pattern cover for a list of yardage requirements. In addition, you’ll need basic cutting and sewing supplies. I recommend pre-washing and starching your fat quarters. You can zig zag the edges or wash them in a small garment mesh bag to prevent fraying.
Although the quilt along itself is free, you’ll need a copy of the quilt pattern to make this quilt. You can ask for it from your favorite quilt shop. They can order it from Riley Blake Designs, or Checker Distributors.
If you can’t find it locally, you can always get a copy of the quilt pattern from me, either as a printed hardcopy or instant PDF download.
Your “can-do” attitude. This is going to be fun!!

Share Your Work!

If you’d like to show off your progress so that I can cheer you on, you are welcome to tag me on social media (@christaquilts). You can also share progress and ask any questions in my Christa Quilts group on Facebook.

Join Me for Dancing Stars Quilt Along This Fall!

July 21, 2026July 18, 2026Leave a comment

It’s quilt along season and I’m excited to share one of my newest patterns with you! This fall beginning in September we’re going to make my Dancing Stars quilt. This is a fat quarter friendly design that’s easy to customize and make it your own!

In additional to including three size options and colorways in the pattern above, I’ve already made two versions of this eye catching quilt. The first one was made from black, white and grey Confetti Cotton Solids shown below.

Then just for fun, I whipped up a patriotic version made from batik scraps, shown below.

Then by request, I digitally recolored another version using Lori Holt Family Reunion from Riley Blake Designs. Isn’t it cute??

To join, you just need to purchase a copy of the Dancing Stars Quilt pattern in print or PDF and you’ll be all set. I’ll include weekly updates here on the blog, including a bonus machine quilting video showing how I quilted both versions shown above.

So what say you – are you in??

Celebrating America 250 With Patriotic Quilts!

July 4, 2026Leave a comment

I recently finished two patriotic quilts that I’m excited to share as I say, “Happy Birthday, America!”

This first one is called Positive Vibes and is a remake of a pattern I first had published in a magazine nearly 10 years ago. That was before I became a fabric designer and I always knew I wanted to remake using red, white and blue scraps of my own fabrics.

I quilted it with Red, Aqua, Navy and Gold Metallic threads. In each of the aqua, red and navy rows of plus blocks, I quilted straight lines to represent stars. In the alternating rows I added the gold stars with pebbles for added texture.

The second one I literally just finished today in time to share for the 4th of July is called Dancing Stars. I made this from Riley Blake Batik scraps to test them out. It’s been years since I’ve sewn with batiks and I wanted to make sure I love working with them before I dive in and design my own line of batiks in the future…

The fabrics were wonderful to work with during piecing, basting, quilting AND binding. So they definitely get my stamp of approval! Here’s me proudly showing off my patriotic Buc-ee’s shirt that we picked up on a cross country drive earlier this summer.

And here are so closeup details of the quilting. I stitched an edge to edge free motion mix of echoed stars and swirls.

My #1 free-motion quilting tip is to practice one motif across an entire quilt. When you’re done with the quilt, you’ll be an expert at that design!

Both of these quilt patterns are available as PDF downloads in my Etsy shop. Click the links below to grab them:

Happy 4th of July, and Happy Quilting, Friends!!

Daisy Chain Quilt Along Week 3 – Sewing the Chain Blocks

March 13, 2026January 24, 2026Leave a comment

Follow along in the Daisy Chain quilt pattern pages 8-11 as you work on this week’s quilty “homework.” Start by chain piecing your strips that create the small 4-patch units. I’ve given step-by-step diagrams to follow in the pattern so it shouldn’t feel so daunting. Just remember to take it one section at a time!

Aren’t these units so cute??

Keep all similar colors together so it’s easier to create each chain block or border unit. I’m pressing all of my seams open and sewing with a shorter stitch length so my small pieces will lie flat as everything goes together. I’ll work on the border blocks first, since those are smaller and it’s nice to get them out of the way.

Once the 4 patches are sewn, they can be treated as a single unit when sewing the rows together in each block. I’ll stack all of the same units on top of each other so I can sew a whole bunch at once.

This is one of the border units. Each piece is the same color so you can play around with final block placement later.

I use lots of pins and press after each and every seam. The Daisy Chain pattern includes the correct sizes that each unit should be at each step so you can double check your measurements as you sew. Accuracy is key to getting things to line up, so test your 1/4″ seam allowances and adjust if needed.

I chain piece, and then I assembly line press to speed things up.

Now it’s time to organize everything else for the full size chain blocks. It’s a lot of pieces but as long as you organize all the smaller units by color, they go together fairly quickly. I make sure that the pieces for all of one block are laid out correctly first.

It’s really fun to sew all of these units at once, then stack them together by color.

Next, I stack all of the rest of the units on top right next to my sewing machine. I like to chain piece, or assembly line sew as I go. This means I don’t cut threads in between each pair of units I’m sewing. I’ll do that at the end. It looks like the background pieces are so much smaller, but that’s only because the seam allowances aren’t sewn yet.

Bonus tip: be sure to use a contrasting fabric for your center square of each block so the colors don’t look “muddy.”

When I chain piece, I will sew 2 units together at a time and finish up a whole stack at once.

Below is my pretty stack of finished blocks! I used pins at each intersection so that my corners matched up nicely. Here you can see that I’ve pressed each an every seam open, resulting in super flat blocks!! I made another stack in another colorway, but sadly forgot to take a pic of my finished blocks, but you’ll see more of the other version in the next post, so stay tuned!

Homework for next time

Don’t forget to sew the corner blocks, and next week it will be time to assemble the Daisy Blocks, Chain Blocks and border blocks into the quilt top.

If you are just finding the quilt along, it’s never to late to jump in! Grab a copy of the quilt pattern and get started!

Daisy Chain Quilt Along Week 2 – Sewing the Daisy Blocks

March 6, 2026January 12, 20262 Comments

Whenever I’m sewing quilt blocks that have lots of pieces, I find it much easier to sew the smaller units of each block into larger units, then chain piece everything for speed and efficiency. Follow along in the Daisy Chain quilt pattern on page 6-7s for the images and tips shown below. I’m making two of these at the same time in 2 different colorways: Autumn & Purple Vibrations.

Making Stitch-N-Flip Units

So the first thing we are doing is sewing all of the stitch-n-flip units which will make the petals of each daisy flower block. You can either mark lines down the center of each background unit, or you can eyeball since they are very small.

At each step in the pattern I give what the measurements should be so that you can closely follow along. It’s not that huge of a deal if your units aren’t the exact same size as mine, but you do want them to be all the same size for consistency.

I prefer to sew all of the little stitch-n-flip squares on one side of each block so I can chain piece. That means assembly-line sewing a whole bunch without cutting threads in between. Then I will trim off all the corners at once and press my seams open.

I end up with a lot of leftover triangle tips at the end. You can totally save these for another project if you want to! You’ll also notice that some of the petals have 2 white corners and others have 3. Be sure you follow the pattern diagrams closely to sew them onto the correct corners.

Once the petal units are sewn, you will be adding extra background strips to the square petal units to make them the correct size. I’ll stack all of the units up facing the same direction before adding the background strips. Notice that one background strip is shorter and one is longer. As long as you sew ALL units the same, you’ll be able to rotate them into position correctly.

I will continue to assembly line sew by laying out all of the units for each block and stack them on top of each other. The main flower parts are all the same color so it’s easy to keep track of what unit goes where. Then you can decide which color you want for each center flower.

One thing to notice is that 4 of the petals look a little pointier than the others and that’s correct. They will appear more rounded once the blocks are finished and sewn together due to the seam allowances.

Why Make 1 When You Can Make 2??

Here’s what it looked like when chain piecing the stitch-n-flip units for the second colorway I made.

And my units are all in position and ready to sew!

This Week’s Homework:

Finish all of your Daisy Blocks for the size you are making, and then post pics of your progress in my facebook group!

99 Designs Episode 52 – Free-Motion Quilting Heartbeat & Clamshells

February 10, 2026February 6, 20261 Comment

Ready to practice your modern machine quilting? Try these 2 fabulous free-motion fills and see how you can tweak them to make them your own. Click the video below to watch:

Featured Quilt – Surplus Strips

I turned the bumps from clamshells into a floral swirl design by combining them with a basic swirl technique. Then I quilted it edge to edge on the white version below Grab the Surplus Strips quilt pattern to make one for yourself!

Bonus Video – Quilting Surplus Strips 2 Ways

See how I quilted both of the quilts below using 2 different free-motion motifs. You can apply any design I’m sharing with you as an edge-to edge design on any quilt in your UFO pile!

More Ideas for Quilting Clamshells

The pink quilt below shows clamshells as a background design, repeating the motif in the center. The dramatic black/teal whole cloth utilizes clamshells as a filler motif to highlight the focal point of this design.

Both of these patterns and their quilting plans can be found in my book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting.

What do you think? Would you quilt either of these designs on a quilt??

99 Machine Quilting Designs Episode 51 – Decorative Stitch Square Spirals

February 4, 2026January 30, 2026Leave a comment

Learn to quilt two innovative designs with your walking foot: decorative-stitch wonky squares and decorative-stitch spiral maze. Watch & learn below:

This week’s featured quilt comes from my book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting that I co-authored with Angela Walters. You can grab the PDF download to see how I quilted Fractured Squares using only walking foot motifs.

Bonus Walking Foot Quilting Video

In case you missed it, check out the pre-cursor video showing how to quilt the exact same designs using regular straight-line quilting, below:

Please let me know how you are liking these videos – I only have a few more left to share!

Free Quilt Pattern – Connections by Charisma Horton in Modern by the Yard Ezine from Benartex

December 3, 2020December 2, 2020Leave a comment

One of the things that I love about working with Benartex on fabric design is that they produce a fantastic free digital magazine called Modern by the Yard. In each issue, they share inspiring projects that you can make from their fabrics. So each time I have a new line that comes out, one of my amazing designer friends creates a fabulous pattern for you for free!!

Click here to download Modern by the Yard for free from Benartex.

In the current issue of Modern by the Yard, my talented designer friend Charisma Horton has created and shared her amazing quilt pattern called Connections, which is right up my alley!! She made it using my latest fabric line, Good Vibes from Benartex.

Click here to get your hands on Good Vibes yardage, precuts and bundles.

Here is what Charisma has to say about her latest project:

“I am a big fan of Christa’s fabrics. I have made a few projects with her collections. They are fun, colorful and diverse. I actually designed Connections years ago before I was a professional designer.

I have learned that sometimes you have to wait for the designs to speak and decide when they should be released and where. I have always been a fan of quilts with negative space. This quilt decided that it was time and she is shining in all her glory.

If you’d like to check out some of my other patterns you can visit my shop here:Charismas Corner on Etsy

Thanks so much for letting me share! I can’t wait to design with Christa’s next line of fabric. We make a great team.”

Connections Quilt made by Charisma Horton from Good Vibes fabric.

Thanks Charisma!!!
Click here to see other beautiful quilts and projects that Charisma has made from my fabrics.

I can’t wait to see what she makes next!

All Digital Quilt Patterns on Sale This Week Only!

November 17, 2020November 16, 2020Leave a comment

Save 20% on All PDF patterns in my Etsy shop!

This week I’m running a special sale on all of my instant downloadable digital patterns in my Etsy shop. This is a great time to stock up on those patterns on your wish list. Or grab the PDF versions of your favorite print patterns. Then you’ll always have access them to them right on your computer!

Click here to view all of my PDF quilt patterns on sale.