99 Designs Video Episode 2 – Free Motion Quilting Stipple

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The meandering curves and bumps of free-motion stipple quilting help you master creating a smooth, fluid movement. That’s why I wanted to share this short and sweet tutorial early on in my series of 99 Machine Quilting Designs. Take a look at my new machine quilting video below and let me know what you think!

Now I know what you are thinking, “but how do I do that on a real quilt?” In my bonus video below, I show you how to quilt stipple on a real quilt, demonstrating this versatile design on my Modern Logs pattern. This video is a little older and you’ll notice that I’ve upgraded my sewing table since then, but I still think you’ll find it useful. Click play below to watch:

If you are brand new to this series, be sure to catch the introductory lesson below, showing how to set up your machine for success! The videos are completely free to watch each week, and I highly recommend grabbing a copy of my book, 99 Machine Quilting Designs to follow along!

Click here to Grab the PDF version of my best selling book, 99 Machine Quilting Designs

Be sure to let me know how you are enjoying this series. You can ask me any questions you have, or share your progress over in my Facebook group. I’m here to cheer you on, every step of the way!

99 Designs Video Episode 1 – How to Machine Quilt Wavy Lines

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Wavy lines are literally one of the easiest designs you can quilt on your domestic machine. In fact, it’s my go-to motif when I’m in a hurry. For this week’s machine quilting tutorial, I’m sharing 2 fun variations to try. Grab a practice sample, and try this one out below:

That short and sweet video will get you started. Once you’ve finished your practice sample, I have 3 – Yes 3!! more videos you can watch, all showing how to quilt wavy lines on different full sized quilts. If you’d like to make a similar quilt, be sure to grab the patterns and supplies from my shop, or change things up and truly make it your own!

How to Quilt Wavy Lines on Churn Dash Slide

This is the quilt on the wall behind me in the video above. Click the links and image below and you can easily make this quilt from start to finish:

How to Quilt Wavy Lines on Streamers

This is my newest free pattern, and you may already have it in your stash. If not, click the links below to snag it along with an optional kit in your choice of colors:

Watch the free companion video by clicking play below:

But Wait… There’s More!

If you aren’t quite yet tired of quilting wavy lines, try it on this fun jelly roll quilt called Puzzle Box. You know the drill, click below for bonus goodies to go along with the video tutorial:

Get the Free Puzzle Box quilt pattern here
Grab the Optional Puzzle Box Quilt Kit here
Click here to View all Good Vibes fabric used in this quilt

By the way, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding a machine quilting design you love and quilting it on All.The.Quilts!!

In fact, when I first learned to Stipple, that’s all I did for a few years. Speaking of which, Stipple will be next week’s machine quilting video tutorial, so stay tuned!! Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss a thing!

My Year of Machine Quilting Videos Has Begun!

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The new year is a great time to pick up a new hobby, or develop one you’ve been working on. Well I’m excited to say that 2025 is definitely the year to improv your machine quilting skills! My Year of Free Machine Quilting Tutorials has begun, kicking off with this in-depth introductory video. Click play below to watch:

Before we get started practicing, it’s important to set up your machine and gather your supplies. To make it easy, here are a few of my recommended supplies that I mentioned in the video above.

I’m so excited to demonstrate on a full quilting sample for every single design in my book, 99 Machine Quilting Designs. Although it’s not required to watch the videos, I highly recommend it as a great resource to follow along. Think of it as pre-written notes for the entire series.

Along the way I’ll share bonus tips and tricks using both walking foot and free motion motifs. My goal is that by the end of the year, you’ll see a vast improvement in your quilting skills. In fact, I’m sure you’ll start to notice smoother stitching in just a few weeks!

For example, here’s a bonus video I’m sharing along with the introductory video. It’s a longer sneak peak showing how I quilted my Daisy Chain quilt 3 different ways. This is the cover quilt from my book, How Do I Quilt It? Click play below to watch:

Each new video tutorial will post to my YouTube channel on Fridays at 8 AM Pacific Time. They are all pre-recorded and edited ahead of time, so you can watch them anytime, on *your* schedule! I’ll include a reminder blog post each Wednesday, just in case you forget. And you can subscribe at ChristaQuilts.TV so you don’t miss a thing. Watch the videos as much as you like. Pause and rewatch your favorite sections so you can work comfortably at your own pace.

In every video, I get down to the nitty gritty right away. And the comments section is lively and educational, too! I read and answer every single one. So rest assured, if you have any questions at all, I’m happy to help!

I couldn’t have pulled this off without the help of my college kids. They worked hard behind the scenes to help me hang quilts, edit all of the videos and generally keep me on track. I’m sure they enjoyed bossing their mom around to get this done, LOL!

I also have to thank *you* for supporting my little business over the years. It’s allowed me to work from home while raising the kids. I couldn’t be more proud of the education and career paths they’ve chosen, and I love that they enjoy working for me part time during their breaks.

Until next time, happy quilting!

New Year, New Fabric: Pre-Order Dazzle Dots 2!

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I’m excited to announce I got the shipping date for my newest collection (#10) – Dazzle Dots 2 from Benartex. It will be shipping late February to early March, so I can now open up pre-orders for this colorful group!

Click here to reserve your Dazzle Dots 2 fabric.

Just like my previous collections, I’ve put together custom bundles and kits, in addition to the standard precuts (strips, squares and fat quarter stacks). I’m also filming videos for each quilt I make from this fabric, and I can’t wait to share those with you, once the fabric hits stores. For starters, I made 2 versions of my Surplus Strips quilt, and I quilted them both with a different design I can’t wait to share!

Click Here to View all Quilt Kits

Isn’t it fun to see how the same pattern can look with different color combos?

I recolored my Free Beaded Lanterns quilt pattern to show what it would look like using different background colors. Personally, the Icy Blue is my favorite, what’s yours?

As the name implies, Dazzle Dots 2 is a follow up the original best selling Dazzle Dots collection, but in softer colors.

I love how they look together and I’m even tinkering around with an idea of how I can use fat quarters of both in the same quilt!

View all Christa Quilts Fabric Bundles (from Benartex)

So if you’ve been eyeing this collection, go ahead and get your fabric pre-order in now. I’ll be ordering based on demand and it will be shipped on a first come, first served basis. Dazzle Dots 2 has a total of 20 soft colors including a few neutrals, so this will really round out your fabric stash!

Click here to get Dazzle Dots 2: by the yard, in precuts, or custom bundles and kits!

My Gift to You: Free Quilt Patterns!

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Merry Christmas from the Watsons! This time of year I’m so very thankful for your support of our small family business. Jason and I have been full time entrepreneurs since 2006 and it’s been quite the journey! We’ve raised our kids to understand the value of hard work and know that (hopefully) they can achieve their dreams, even if they experience bumps along the way.

As empty nesters, it’s wonderful when all of the adult kids are home at once!

To Celebrate the end of this year and the start of the new one, I invite you to take a look at this short video I put together, highlighting some of my free quilt patterns. It includes Beaded Lanterns shown in my upcoming Dazzle Dots 2 collection, along with an in-depth explanation of how to quilt it.

Click the play on the image below to watch. It runs about 5 minutes:

Click here grab my free quilt patterns. More are added every year, and most are precut friendly!

Dazzle Dots 2 preorders are coming soon, so stay tuned for that. Along with my Year of Machine Quilting, 2025 should be full of new and exciting quilty things. I can’t wait!!

Click here to view all Dazzle Dots 2 fabrics, arriving February, 2025.

Watch My Replay Chats with By Annie

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I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on Annie Unrein’s Live YouTube show. We talked about how you can apply machine quilting designs to her cute bag projects and patterns. We discussed things to think about when using her fabulous product called Soft and Stable. The most fun part was getting to show off a cute project that my mom (Also Annie) had made using the fabric I had quilted the previous time I was on Live with Annie. (Click the images if you don’t see the play buttons below.)

Recent Episode 44 from Season 4 in 2024

Previous Episode 22 from Season 2 in 2022

My Fabrics Make Cute Bags and Totes!

I’m always thrilled when Annie uses my fabrics in her cute bag samples. In both episodes her studio was filled with them. She’s also made a few projects from my latest fabric line, Dazzle Dots. Enjoy the eye candy below.

Click here to view all By Annie Patterns & Supplies
Click here to get my Dazzle Dots Fabric

Drop Zone Pattern

Cut it Out Pattern

Hot & Heavy Pattern

New Video Series: 99 Machine Quilting Designs!

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Starting in January of 2025, I’m excited to share an entire year’s worth of machine quilting tutorials over on my Christa Quilts YouTube Channel. This is something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I wrote my book, 99 Machine Quilting Designs. With the help of my tech savvy college kids, I’m finally making this dream a reality. Click the video below for a sneak peek of what’s to come!

Grab Your Quilting Textbook to Follow Along!

Although the entire series will be free to watch, I highly recommend getting my book to follow along. It’s the perfect textbook for independent study as you practice your machine quilting skills. It’s available as an instant PDF download which you can save to your computer for quick and easy reference!

Click here to get 99 Machine Quilting Designs Digital Ebook

Behind The Scenes

We filmed about half of the series over the summer and the kids have spent the last few months editing them together so they are ready to go starting on the first week of January. That will take us through until about the summertime. Then, over the winter we’ve been working on the other half of the series which will run through the end of 2025 and a bit into 2026. I’m very pleased with how everything is looking so far and I’m excited to share it all with you!

Here’s a bit of what my studio looks like when we are in the thick of it:

My kids did a great job hanging the quilts that served as my backdrop for each episode.

Making these videos has been a fun family affair. I hope you enjoy them!!

Bonus Machine Quilting Tutorials on “Real” Quilts

Throughout the year as I make more quilts, I’ll share bonus videos showing how I apply many of these motifs to an actual quilt. Here’s just one example from a previous quilt I made called Swanky Spirals. This is the quilt shown behind me in the preview video above.

Click below to watch:

Click here to get the Swanky Spirals PDF pattern
Click here to get the Swanky Spirals Printed pattern

What are Your Machine Quilting Hangups?

Now I need your help. I’d love to know your biggest stumbling blocks when it comes to domestic machine quilting. Please leave a comment below letting me know any particular issues you have. I’ll incorporate these into the series as much as possible. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to join the fun!

Color Weave Remake: Spray Basting Tutorial

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I’ve been working on a remake of my popular Color Weave quilt. I realized that I don’t create a ton of new patterns each year and I really like remaking some of my classics! It’s been super fun to create it from my current fabric collection, Dazzle Dots (#9 if you are counting). Originally I made this quilt using my Abstract Garden fabric line (#3) which is shown on the pattern cover below. Don’t they look similar?

I spray baste all of my quilts, so I took the opportunity of creating a step-by-step video tutorial showing how I did this on my Color Weave quilt. Click the image below to watch:

For a limited Time, you can grab a complete Color Weave quilt kit if you’d like to make one exactly like me, using Dazzle Dots. Or you can grab the Color Weave quilt pattern and choose your own fabrics for a different look. You can make this quilt from pre-cut strips, fat quarters, or even scraps. The hard part is trying to make just one!!

If you choose to make this one, be sure to let me know how it goes!

Who Wants to Join Me in VA for Machine Quilting Fun?

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I’m excited to announce I’ll be checking off another show from my bucket list! Next February (2025) I get to teach at the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Virginia. I made a quick, 3 minute video chatting about what I’m teaching and other fun things I’ll be doing there. Check it out by clicking the screen below:

Here are links to register for any of the workshops and featured lecture I’ll be giving.

My lecture and workshops are based on my last 2 books, How Do I Quilt It and 99 Machine Quilting Designs. If you are unable to attend my workshops, getting my books is the next best thing!!

Click here to grab a signed copy of How Do I Quilt It
Click here to grab a PDF copy of 99 Machine Quilting Designs

Please let me know if you plan to attend. I’d love to see you there!!

Cotton Cuts Giveaway Box

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Just popping in with a fun giveaway this week! I’m excited to be the featured designer in December for Cotton Cuts, a fun business that offers all sorts of fun quilty subscription boxes. As part of this fun feature they are giving me a Modern Maker box that I get to give away to one of you (located in the US).

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment letting me know which fabrics you prefer to work with: yardage or precuts. I’ll select a winner at random this Wednesday and notify them via email.

Thanks for reading and playing along!