I made my Swanky Spirals quilt a few months ago to promote the launch of my Dazzle Dots fabric, and I took lots of videos and pics as I made it, so I could share them with you! Take a look at my newest machine quilting tutorial by clicking the video below:

Click here to grab the Swanky Spirals quilt pattern.

I created what I call a “free-motion mashup,” quilting lots and lots of different free motion motifs all over the quilt. After all, why quilt just one design, when you can do them all, right?? I’ve highlighted just a couple of them below:

This type of quilt is perfect for practicing your free motion skills because there’s lots of room to play! Your designs will show up more in the darker, tonal colored fabrics, and they’ll blend in more with the busier prints.

Now I did go a little crazy with the backing, too. I was actually on a deadline to finish this quilt, but using up some leftovers really spoke to me while making this quilt. I combined some of the block trimmings with several other leftover strips and chunks of fabric. The cool thing about making a pieced back is that it’s a totally unique creation each time!

While supplies last, I’ve put together a limited edition kit to make Swanky Spirals. It includes fat quarters + all of the fabric for the background, borders AND binding.

Click here to grab the Swanky Spirals quilt kit or fat quarters (while supplies last).

If you’d like to choose your own background, you can grab a starter kit of just the fat quarters. The coolest thing is that even if you use the same fabrics as me, your quilt will still look completely different than mine. That’s the fun of improv quilting!

So I hope you get a chance to watch the video and perhaps even make the quilt. But now I have a favor to ask. Can you leave a comment letting me know you saw this post/and or video? I’m sharing it in all the places and I’m trying to get a better sense of where folks are seeing it. Many thanks and happy quilting!

I’m excited to revisit a quilt that I designed and made many years ago called Positive Direction. I plan to share updates about this quilt in real time, so there’s no telling how many posts it will take until I finish! But I’ll share my progress and answer any questions you have, each step of the way! My original version is shown below, made from fun fabrics that I chose before I became a fabric designer:

The Positive Direction quilt pattern is still available as a pdf download and it includes instructions in multiple sizes. The version shown above is Lap Size. Over the years I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I would remake this quilt once I had designed enough red, white and blue fabrics. I started by recoloring the larger version using a more limited color palette and I think it looks pretty cool:

Click here to download the Positive Direction PDF quilt pattern.

Fun Fabric Pull

However, the more I thought about remaking this quilt, the more I decided that I wanted to go with the overall scrappy look like I did before. After all, my philosophy is why choose one red fabric when 20 will do??

I had a blast combing through my fabrics to find as many different prints that would work. After designing 9 collections (and counting) for Benartex, it was fun to see how many different fabrics I could pull from my personal stash.

And just so you know how my mind works, I got super excited about this fabric pull right in the middle of quilting my turquoise Ticker Tape quilt, so I had to stop what I was doing *right then* and set these fabrics aside until I was finished with the quilt under my machine. I’m sure I’m not the only one that does that, right??

Scrappiness = Happiness

I shared a few pics on social media as I began cutting and sooo many people wanted to know why I didn’t use strip piecing for this quilt. The answer is simple: I get much better results if I cut all of my units to the correct size *first* and then sew. Your mileage may vary, but I find that if I sew first, press, and *then* cut, my pieces tend to get a little wonky. Besides, it’s hard to do a lot of strip piecing when working with scrappy units.

Making the Quilt Blocks

I love to work in batches and assembly line sew. So I’ll lay out all of the blocks for one colorway right next to the machine and chain piece them all together to save thread. Then I’ll press and move onto the next set of blocks. It’s more efficient and makes me feel like I’m getting a lot done!

Ta-da!! Here are all of my finished blocks, waiting to go up on the design wall. In real time, it took me about 2 weeks to prep and cut all the fabrics, then sew and press all the blocks. It’s kind of nice that I’m not on any deadline for making this quilt so I can really enjoy the process. I’m making the Throw Size which will finish 66″ x 78″ so that’s a nice beefy size that will be perfect for cuddling on the couch!

Although this is not an “official” quilt along, I’ll continue to share my process as I make this quilt. If you’d like to make a version of this quilt for yourself, click here to grab a copy of the PDF quilt pattern.

Get a copy of my Positive Direction quilt pattern to follow along!

Neutral Background Fabrics

Because many of the fabrics I used are now out of print, you’ll be able to create your own unique look by gathering lots of different fabric prints in similar colors. However, I did stock up on the neutral backgrounds because those *always* come in handy! Click the links below to grab some of my faves, while they last:

• Click here to grab Confetti Crosshatch in Light or Dark Grey.
• Click here to grab Square Grid in White/Gray or Black

I’m thrilled with how the Turquoise version of my Ticker Tape quilt turned out.

Click here to get the Ticker Tape quilt pattern.

I really enjoyed quilting it densely with combination of designs that are easy to do with a walking foot: decorative stitches combined with wavy lines. Don’t you love all this yummy texture?

To see how I accomplished this, plus a completely different design that I did on the navy version, click below to watch my latest video tutorial over on my Christa Quilts YouTube channel:

I still have a few quilt kits available made from my Dazzle Dots fabric, too!

Click here to view my quilt kits.

The Ticker Tape pattern includes 4 sizes. I made the Turquoise version in the Double Size and the Navy version in the Lap size. Which color background would *YOU* choose??

A recent social media prompt had me thinking about all of the fun pieced backings I’ve made over the years. Whether for thrift or artistry, I find it a really fun thing to do. I thought I’d gather up a few of the images and match them up to their fronts. Don’t tell anyone – but sometimes I like the backing as much (or more) as the fronts!

Swanky Spirals Back & Front

I made Swanky Spirals from fat quarters + the dark grey backround of my Dazzle Dots fabric. Although the focus was meant to be the front of the quilt, I sure had fun sewing together all the smaller leftover scraps to create a secondary composition on the back. I combined leftovers with other chunks of Dazzle Dots from a few other projects to create this improvisationally pieced backing. Isn’t it fun??

Bling (Hashtags) Back and Front

This is about the 4th version I’ve made of my Bling Quilt – using a different layout than I’ve chosen before. It was really fun to use show case the contrast of colors in my Black, White & Bright fabric collection. Here’s a tip when making a pieced backing: place your smaller pieced areas away from the edges of the quilt, since those will get trimmed off the most.

Modern Logs Back and Front

Modern Logs is another one of my quilt patterns that I’ve made several times. I always enjoy seeing how the same quilt looks in different fabrics. For this pieced back, I used up the leftover “logs” in the center section, along with with bigger chunks of my Good Vibes fabric. I combined those with a few random leftover pieces from other collections for a fun pop of color.

Surplus Strips in 2 Colorways + Pieced Backing

Sometimes it’s fun to use up leftover blocks on the back, like I did for the warm colored version of my Surplus Strips quilt. Although these fabrics are long out of print, you can still get a similar look using your favorite jelly roll strips and coordinating fabrics.

Gathering up these image for this blog post has inspired me to make even more pieced backings. After all, I think it’s fun to have a 2-sided quilt, don’t you?

Want to Make Something Similar?

The patterns to make the fronts of all these quilts are available in my Etsy shop. I also included my favorite method for piecing quilt backs in my latest book called How Do I Quilt It? You can also check out my website at shop.ChristaQuilts.com to see which fabrics and kits are still in print. Thanks for reading and happy quilting!

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching at PIQF this summer in northern California. This is one of those shows that I’ve had my eyes on for quite awhile. They’ve invited me to come teach several times in the past when the show used to be held in the fall, but the timing never worked out. Now that it’s being held at a new time in the summer, the stars magically aligned and I’m excited to attend!

Click here to register for any of my workshops at PIQF

Click play below to watch a short summary of what I’ll be teaching.

In addition to teaching a full schedule of machine quilting workshops, I’ll also be one of the judges of the show. Although it’s not my main focus, I do occasionally judge a few shows when invited, and consider it a special honor. There’s nothing like getting up close and personal with hundreds of amazing quilts to make me appreciate the amazing artistry in this industry.

If you plan to attend this show, please let me know. I’d love to see you there!

This past weekend I was able to take a really fun trip to California and hang out with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims for a day! They invited me to be a guest on The Quilt Show – an internet TV show they’ve been producing since 2007. Full disclosure: I was a guest on an earlier episode back in 2018 so it was fun to return!

I thought it would be fun to share a few behind the scenes pics that we took while filming. I shared some of my best tips and tricks for domestic machine quilting. It’s my favorite subject to talk about, of course!! The episode will be out later this year so stay tuned!

Click here to get signed copies of my latest books!

Dazzle Dots Kits – Which ones Would *You* Make?

In other news, I’ve restocked several of my popular kits made from my Dazzle Dots fabrics. Take a look below. I have bonus video tutorials for many of them over on my YouTube channel and I’m adding new ones each week!

Click here to get the Churn Chain Quilt Kit

Churn Chain is a fun pattern designed by my friend Nicole Moore of Sew Much Moore. She’s hosting a quilt along to make her pattern during the months of March-April, 2024 and she asked me to put together kits for it. You can grab a kit and join in any time. Click here for QAL info to join the fun!

Click here to get my Fancy Gifts Quilt Kit

Click here to watch the free video showing how I quilted it!

Fancy Gifts was an exclusive pattern included in the Winter 2024 edition of the fat quarterly magazine. I was able to procure enough copies to offer about a dozen kits that include the pattern + all the fabric you need to make the quilt top including binding.

Click here to get the Terrace Tiles Quilt Kit in Citrus or Jewel.

Click here to watch the Citrus colorway machine quilting video.

Click here to watch the Jewel colorway machine quilting video.

I love making the same quilt more than once. Not only do I love seeing what it looks like using different fabrics, but it’s also a great excuse for me to try out different quilting plans. Terrace Tiles shown above is literally the easiest pattern + kit that I offer. It’s a quick and easy weekend make, perfect for a last minute gift.

Click here to get the Streamers Quilt Kit in 5 different background colors!

Click here to watch the Streamers machine quilting video tutorial.

Click here to download the free Streamers quilt pattern.

I love offering a free quilt pattern with each fabric collection I design, usually made from precuts. Although I only made one version of this quilt (with the pink background), it sure was fun to explore all the different options. Which one would YOU make??

Now that I’ve been back from QuiltCon for over a week I’ve had time to process my thoughts, feelings and pics and vids from the show. I’ve compiled them into a 30 minute video below. Click the image to play the video and check out my fave 100 quilts from the show!

Although I’ve been to EVERY SINGLE QUILTCON, last year is the first year I started making a video log of my time at the show. Click here to see how my experiences compared year over year.

Now I’m curious – did you get a chance to attend this years’ show – or any prior QuiltCons for that matter? I’d love to know your thoughts and opinions, too!

Next year it will be in Phoenix, Arizona and I can’t wait. I’m not teaching because I want to have plenty of time to enjoy the show as an attendee. It’s the only show I attend, even when I’m NOT teaching. It’s just that good!

Weather you are quilting along with me making your version of Ticker Tape, or any other quilt for that matter, basting is an important part of the machine quilting process. Take a look at the video below to see how I spray basted 2 of my earlier quilts, both made from my Black, White & Bright fabric from Benartex.

I used this same technique for my larger Ticker Tape quilt shown on my design wall below. Now it’s time to quilt it!

Here’s a bonus tip when basting: trim up the edges of the quilt, so there’s only about an inch or 2 of batting and backing sticking out. That will reduce the bulk under the machine, but more importantly, it will prevent the edges from getting folded under your machine while quilting! I use my batting shears to cut batting from the bolt and trim it up around the quilt.

Cick here to get my batting shears with my cute logo – they’ll make you a better quilter!

In Other News… I’m Heading to Paducah this Spring!

I’m still processing all of the amazingness that was QuiltCon 2024, but one thing is for certain. My favorite thing to do is teach others how to successfully quilt on their home machines. The excitement of my students when they “Get It” is unlike any other feeling I’ve seen.

If you missed the QuiltCon fun, the next place you’ll find me out and about is teaching at AQS quilt week in Paducah, KY from April 24-27, 2024. Here’s a short teaser video I made talking more about it.

Click here for my full teaching schedule and registration information.

As of this writing, 2 of my 5 classes have sold out, but there are a few spots left in 3 of them, plus my lecture. I will be lecturing and teaching from my latest books and I can’t wait. I’ve never been to this show before (although my Facets Quilt won a ribbon at the show a few years ago – read more about that here.)

If you plan to attend, please let me know. I’d love to see you there!

Hi everyone! I’m a little behind on posting due to my amazing trip to QuiltCon 2024 (more on that later)!! But I’m excited to share my latest video tutorial featuring my Fancy Gifts quilt. I’m showing how to combine 3 fun free-motion designs to create a new edge-to edge design that that goes with the theme of the quilt. Take a look by clicking play below to watch:

Lucky attendees of QuiltCon who received a swag bag got a copy of the quilt pattern + Dazzle Dots swatches to make this quilt. However, I want everyone to feel lucky, especially since I *am* from Las Vegas!!

I was able to secure a few extra copies of the Fat Quarterly magazine in which my quilt appears, so I’m able to offer a limited number of kits which include the pattern + everything you need to make the quilt top and binding.

Click here to grab the Fancy Gifts quilt kit (while supplies last.)

Now I’ve got to unpack from my trip, go through all my photos and videos that I took from the show and put them all together into a travel-log video for you all – so stay tuned!!

Just a quick reminder for all of those making Ticker Tape along with me: remember to work at your own pace – you are never “behind” because the quilt along posts will stay up indefinitely! Here’s the reveal of my turquoise version – I love a good “quilt top drop!” Click the image below to play the short video:

So this week’s “homework” is to join all of the blocks into rows and assemble the quilt top. You’ll be using the leftover squares to make a fun pieced border which frames the design nicely.

If you are just joining us, grab a copy of the Ticker Tape quilt pattern to follow along!
Click here to view all PDF patterns in my Etsy shop.

Here are some bonus tips that should help as you sew your quilt top together:

Lay Out Your Quilt Blocks On a Large Surface

This can be a design wall, the bed, or even the floor! But laying them out and then taking a picture of the order will help speed up the row assembly.

Press as You Go

I can’t over emphasize the importance of pressing. Whether you press your seams open like I do, or to the side, if you press every single seam as you go, it will help your quilt top lie flat and everything will go together much more smoothly. I use a hot dry iron with no steam. I press each unit in the block, then each block, and then reach row as I sew it together.

Pins are Your Friends!

Because I press my seams open, my seams don’t nest. So instead, I use a generous amount of pins to get my seams to line up perfectly. The trick is to pin perpendicular to the seam and place those pins on either side of the seam rather than in the middle so it won’t wiggle open. Take a look at this short video demo below. Click the image to start the video:

Enjoy the View

I actually finished sewing the Turquoise version of the quilt top while on a recent beach vacay. It was chilly outside but I had a great view from inside. I love taking my singer Featherweight with me on sewing vacation!

Make it Any Size You Want

The nice thing about my quilt patterns is that I offer them in multiple sizes and it’s also pretty simple to customize your size by adding or reducing blocks, rows and borders. I loved this quilt so much I’m making 2 versions of it. Here are a couple in progress images of the smaller Navy version which I made as Lap sized.

Stock up on Dazzle Dots!

As of this writing, I was able to cut out several more Ticker Tape quilt kits in all 4 colors I offer. You can also stock up on your favorite Dazzle Dots fabrics for the backing, and some folks have grabbed an extra yard or 2 to make it a little bigger. But you know what – no matter which fabrics and colors you choose, or what size you make, it’s going to look great!

• Click here to get the optional Ticker Tape quilt kit
• Click here to view all Dazzle Dots fabric
• Click here to get the Ticker Tape quilt pattern

Looking ahead to next week it will be time to baste – so stay tuned for more quilt along fun!!
Remember, you can share your progress and get extra help anytime in my Facebook group.