My Trip to Quilt Nebraska 2017

August 3, 2017August 1, 20173 Comments

I’m trying to carve out more time to share a little update each time I teach. Although I repeat a lot of the same classes, it’s so fun to meet such a variety of fun quilters when I travel! In each workshop I teach, I’m always taking mental notes of what works well, what could use some tweaking, and which of my silly jokes get the most laughs!!

Teaching at Quilt Nebraska 2017

Ahem, there’s no Las Vegas in NE, so I made a simple fix!

Last weekend I was in a tiny, but adorable little town callked Kearney, as one of the teachers they brought in for Quilt Nebraska, the annual retreat of the Nebraska State Quilt Guild. (Next year’s event will take place in Omaha if you are nearby and inclined to go.)

Although it took me 10 hours, 3 different planes (including the tiny one below), and 2 layovers to get there, it was worth the trip. Whenever I’m among quilters, I truly feel at home among friends.

The Glamourous Life of a Traveling Teacher!

This is what the “glamorous” life of a traveling teacher looks like, LOL!!

On Friday I taught my most popular class – a full day of Modern Machine Quilting. I teach this class using a sampling of designs from all 3 of my books. First, we tackle walking foot quilting in the morning, which builds up the students’ confidence. My favorite part of this class is when students realize that YES, they can quilt their own quilts and they can do more than just stitch in the ditch!

Walking Foot Quilting: Spirals

Although I teach several different walking foot designs, spirals are always a favorite!

Then after a nice lunch break, we practice free-motion quilting in the afternoon. In a relatively short class like this (6 hours goes by fast!), there’s not enough time to quilt on an actual quilt, so students practice on sample sandwiches consisting of fabric and batting scraps. The best part about getting to play is that it’s okay to learn and be a “perfeclty imperfect quilter”, since it’s all just practice.

Free Motion Quilting: Student work in Christa Watson's class

Here are some great student examples of the free-motion favorites we tackle in class.

Not only do students learn how to quilt the actual motifs, we also have a discussion on how to apply those motifs to an actual quilt. It’s similar to the process I teach in my Craftsy class, The Quilter’s Path. If students can make a plan to tackle their quilting, and break it up into bite size pieces, it’s much easier to handle and they don’t get overwhelmed.

Carol Ann Waugh Lecture

Carol Ann Waugh shared her inspiring creative journey.

Friday evening we were fed a yummy dinner and treated to an inspiring presentation by Fiber artist, Carol Ann Waugh. I’ve long been an admirer of hers and I got to have some fabulous conversation with her and another amazing instructor, Becky Goldsmith of Piece O’ Cake Designs. It’s fun to talk shop and compare notes with these teachers on how best to interact with students so they get the best possible experience!

Christa Watson, Carol Ann Waugh and Becky Goldsmith

I love getting to know other instructors along with the students!

On Saturday, I taught students how to dive into improvisation piecing while make the Facets quilt from my book Machine Quilting with Style. I teach this class a lot, and it never gets old!! The beauty of improv is that no student’s quilts look alike, even if they are using the same fabrics, and making the same design!

Student work on Facets from Machine Quilting with Style

Just a few of the gorgeous blocks being sewn in class.

Saturday night capped off the event with an excellent lecture about Modern Quilting from Kristy Daum. Kristy and I are online friends and we’ve gotten to chat for a few minutes here and there at quilt shows and industry events. She was even part of my blog hop when my first book came out a couple of years ago. Click here to see the version of Facets that she made!

Kirsty and I had a great time chatting over dinner and getting to know each other better. She told me more about her experience judging QuiltCon earlier this year, and I think it was the most we’d ever talked to each other in person!! We even realized we will both be teaching at Maine Quilts next year and it will be fun to see her again!

Christa Watson and Kristy Daum

Kristy shared a bit about her creative journey along with the evolution of modern quilting. It was fun to watch many of the audience members get excited about what she had two say, and I think between the two of us, we made quite a few modern quilt converts over the weekend!!

Kristy Daum Modern Quilt Lecture

Community in quilting is so important – whether you find it in a guild, class, or online!!

It was a fabulous weekend and I’m happy to be home for a few more days before I head off to Houston to teach for a couple of guilds there: The Coastal Prairie Quilt Guild of Texas and the Houston MQG. I can’t wait to meet more fun friends!!

Book Reviews: Walk and Free Motion Quilting 1-2-3

July 28, 2017July 23, 20177 Comments

So by now I hope you all know how much I love incorporating BOTH walking foot and free-motion techniques in my quilts. So I thought it would be fun to share two of my favorite books on those two techniques! Jacquie Gering’s WALK is THE definitive guide to Walking Foot Quilting, and Lori Kennedy is a whiz at showing you how to create fabulous free-motion motifs step by step.

Walk by Jacquie Gering

I ran into Jacquie at quilt market last year and we both swapped copies of our books. I love how encouraging the quilting community is, even when many of us are teaching the same subjects!

By far one of my favorite things about WALK is that Jacquie shares her “wall basting” method in step by step photos. This is similar to the method I used, and it’s worth it to own this book just for this section! Of course, the rest of the book is fab, too as Jacquie walks you through over 60 different designs that you can do, all with a walking foot (or dual feed).

I love it how Jacquie sets you up for success through a series of “test drives” to get you comfortable with her process.

Walk by Jacquie Gering

Take a look at these two exercises from the book, shown in the photos above and below (photography credit Lucky Spool):

Walk by Jacquie Gering

Jacquie’s methods involve marking and are a little more precise than mine, but I love it that there are a whole range of options to explore. She gets you comfortable first with basic straight lines, and then she moves on to gentle curves, decorative stitches, and several designs you can do incorporating the reverse feature on your machine.

Whether you are new to walking foot quilting, or want to expand your horizons with this fast and fun technique, I encourage you to give WALK a try – you’ll be glad you did!

Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3

Moving on to free-motion, take a look at Lori Kennedy’s debut book, Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3. Based on Lori’s step by step photo tutorials, this book is a beautiful center piece for you sewing room and I know you’ll spend time poring over its pages!

Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 features over 400 photographs plus oodles of trouble shooting tips. My favorite part of the book is where she shows the difference between good and bad tension, and what to do to avoid thread buildups (it’s all about the starting and stopping point of each design). Just having a visual guide is such a huge help when you are learning to quilt!

Take a look at just two of the 60+ designs that are shared in the book (photography courtesy of Martingale/That Patchwork Place and Brent Kane):

Free-Motion quilting loops

Loops are a perennial favorite and probably the easiest design to learn! Follow Lori’s step by step tips and you’ll be finishing your quilts with a flourish!

Lori Kennedy Spirals

Once you learn Lori’s basic spirals, you can then move onto Spiral Rose, Spiral Heart, Reverse Spiral, and more! It’s like anything new: learn the basics and build your skills from there.

So whether you prefer to quilt with your walking foot, or free-motion or both, these books have got you covered. After all, even though I teach similar techniques, I always recommend that my students learn from several different sources. You ever know when someone is going to explain an idea in a different way that will resonate you!

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The Books Are Here! Piece and Quilt with Precuts Ships Ahead of Schedule

July 24, 2017July 23, 20177 Comments

I have some exciting news to share today! My third book, Piece and Quilt with Precuts has arrived ahead of schedule! That means that all of you who have pre-ordered my book directly from me should be getting it in the mail over the next few days.

Piece and Quilt with Precuts by Christa Watson

Click here to order Piece and Quilt with Precuts – and get a free bonus pattern!

Needless to say, I plan to spend all day signing and shipping them off. This is always such an exciting day!! Huge thanks to those of you who pre-ordered directly from me. Not only will you get your book ahead of schedule, you are helping me to break a record for pre-sales compared to my other two books. Wowza and thanks!!

Squiggles Quilt from Piece and Quilt with Precuts by Christa Watson

Sneak peek of Squiggles, the first quilt shown in the book. I start off with super simple walking foot quilting like gentle wavy lines. They are such a fun and easy design to quilt!
Photo credit Brent Kane for Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

Now, if you ordered the book from somewhere else, that’s totally fine. I just can’t guarantee when it will arrive since that’s out of my control. But I’m grateful for your support wherever it comes from!

If you haven’t yet ordered Piece and Quilt with Precuts, now is your chance to get your hands on a signed copy ASAP, plus a special bonus. For each book you order directly from me, I’ll throw in one of my printed patterns for all orders placed through my birthday August, 17th! You all have given me the best gift by being my loyal friends and fans – now it’s my turn to give something back. 🙂

Now is a great time to announce that August 17th also kicks off my epic blog hop for the book. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate and party with you all!! The blog hop will run through the end of August, featuring 30 different talented bloggers I met through the Quilt Pattern Designers Facebook group.

You’ll be able to check out each of the quilts I made, plus you’ll be able to see how 30 other “real quilters” were able to easily follow my tips and techniques for piecing and quilting success!

Spools from Piece and Quilt with Precuts by Christa Watson

Spools, is the final quilt shown in the book. It utilizes both improv piecing AND quilting – my favorite combo! Photo credit Brent Kane for Martingale/That Patchwork Place.

And you can’t have a party without presents, so I’ve rounded up some special giveaways throughout the event, plus an extra freebie for everyone who participates!! So save the date and plan to join the fun! It all starts here on August 17th!

Box of Books - Piece and Quilt with Precuts by Christa Watson

It was so exciting to get back from vacation and find several boxes of my books waiting!!

Click here to get your copy of Piece and Quilt with Precuts, signed by yours truly.

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My Next Craftsy Class – Win It Before You Can Buy It!

July 3, 2017July 1, 2017328 Comments

So I have three huge projects releasing this year. #1 is my third book which comes out next month. #2 is a new thing I’ve never done before which will be shown at fall market (sorry for the tease!), and #3 is my second Craftsy class which goes live next week – Startup Library: Quilting.

To say it’s been a busy year is a bit of an understatement, but now that most of the work has been done comes the fun part – I get to tell you all about it!

Startup Library Quilting

In class, I’ll teach you how to make the colorful Friendship Stars quilt from start to finish!

Startup Library: Quilting is different from the first class I released earlier this year (The Quilter’s Path) and it’s much more in-depth. Whereas the first class focused on machine quilting and included a free quilt pattern for you to make on your own, Startup Library: Quilting takes you step-by-step through the entire process of making a quilt, while working your way through the colorful Friendship Star quilt that I designed above. It also includes the free pattern plus bonus machine quilting diagrams.

The class is geared toward those who are just discovering quilt-making for the first time, or for other crafters who are adept in their own hobby, but want to give quilting a try.

Christa Quitls - Craftsy Class Startup Library Quilting

I love sharing tips and tricks that make piecing easier and more fun!

I was really excited to teach this class because I often lament the fact that I can’t teach everything in a one-day quilting workshop! This class covers all the basics: cutting, piecing, basting, quilting and binding in an in-depth set of 14 lessons.

Although aimed at beginners, I think it’s a great resource for more experienced quilters who want to freshen up their binding skills, or learn how to baste and prevent puckers while quilting! Plus I’ve thrown in tons of tips throughout the class including how and why I starch my fabrics, how to cut and piece efficiently, and many more.

Friendship Stars Quilt Assembly by Christa Watson from Startup Library Quilting

The pattern to make the quilt is included in the class!

When I filmed my first class, the number one feedback I got was how nice it was that students could actually watch me manipulate a “real” quilt under the machine. Well in this class, you’ll get to watch me perform every step of the process, on an even larger quilt! I compare it to watching someone cook rather than simply reading a recipe – you’ll be able to learn all the little tricks that I do, that I don’t even realize I’m doing!!

Machine Quilting with Christa on Craftsy

The class includes all the finishing steps – basting, quilting and binding.

Giveaway – Win it Before You Can Buy It!

I’ll chat a bit more about the class next week when it launches, but in the meantime, I want to award TWO (yes 2!!) lucky winners with a free copy of the class! To enter, just leave me a comment letting me know what’s the one aspect of quilting you need a little bit more practice with. Chances are, I’ve covered it in class! I’ll choose the winners next Monday morning, before the class goes live on the site.

Of course, you are all winners in my book!! So if you haven’t yet signed up for my first class, click here to get 50% off The Quilter’s Path. Both of my classes work nicely together, as well as standing on their own individually. And the best part is, you can watch them over and over again!

Finsihed Quilt - Startup Library Quilting - Craftsy class by Christa Watson

I just love cuddling up with a freshly made quilt – don’t you??

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Christa’s Soap Box – I like to Share

June 29, 2017June 28, 201716 Comments

Hi friends! It’s been a loooong time since I’ve written a “soap box” post! But don’t worry, they aren’t as scary or “controversial” as the name may imply, LOL!! My blog is my happy place, so I try keep things uplifting and positive around here. My soap box posts are just a chance for me to share my thoughts and feelings about quilting in general, with no other purpose than to be sort of a journal for me to capture what I’m thinking about, and a place for you to respond if you feel so inclined.

(I’ve included a few pictures from my week at Vermont Quilt Festival so that it’s not all text.)

Feathered Chevrons at Vermont Quilt Festival

Feathered Chevrons was my entry into the Faculty Exhibit at Vermont Quilt Festival 2017.

Recently I’ve been thinking about social media sharing. I have social media accounts in all the places (FB, IG, pinterest and soon to be YouTube.. yadayada.. – just go to the appropriate spot and type Christa Quilts), but I always return to my blog as my “home base.” It’s the one place I can go to write long form essays, share indepth written tutorials, and post lots of pics.

Don’t get me wrong, the bite-sized snippets that we all share on Instagram, Facebook, etc. are great. And you can’t beat the reach of a dedicated weekly email newsletter. However, I feel like there’s so much “noise” out there that sometimes things can get lost. I just recently returned from a teaching trip and I realized how much I enjoy the personal face-to-face interactions with my students in a classroom environment. Although there’s no way to replicate that exactly on social media, I feel like my blog is the next best thing and here’s why:

Christa Watson trunk show of quilts

Some of my quilts on display after my machine quilting trunk show.

When I teach an in-person class, the students are coming to me. They’ve signed up for the class, have prepared their class materials ahead of time, and they are excited to learn. Once they’ve read the class description, they know what to expect and we all have a fabulous time. We have created a community and many times we create relationships that extend far beyond the scheduled teaching day.

Student work - free motion quilting class with christa watson

Student practice in my free-motion quilting class.

When I blog, you come here to read what I’ve written, or be inspired by what I’m sharing. Many of you even leave comments which I do my best to answer to directly, and I really like that interaction. I really do consider you all friends here and try to treat my blog as an extension of my classroom. I’m NOT standing on a street corner (or better yet – at the entrance to a quilt shop) yelling “hey come take my class – I want to teach you something!” as crowds of people shuffle by on their way to do something else. Yet, that is sometimes how social media can feel. So. Much. Noise.

All of this is to say I’m going to start spending a little more time here, and posting more often. Don’t worry, I’ll still be in alltheotherplaces. And I have no set schedule that I have to keep up with. Sometimes I may only have time to share once a week with a quick update. Other times I may share several in-depth posts in a row. But it will definitely be thoughtful and with purpose.

At times my posts will need to be promotional (gotta pay the bills); other times they may be poignant (writing helps me think).

Student work from String of Pearls

Student work from my String of Pearls class.

After I wrote my fist book in 2015, things got really crazy really fast. Now 3 books, 2 Craftsy classes and one soon-to-be-revealed-big-project later, I realize that I miss blogging regularly. So I’m jumping back into it. Although I know I won’t post everyday, I realize I do best when I capture thoughts and ideas and write a little bit each day. So it may take me 3 days to write a post, but I’m excited to make blogging part of my regular routine again.

Student work on Facets from Machine Quilting with style by Christa Watson

Student work in my improv piecing class. We made Facets from Machine Quilting with Style.

It’s been nearly 7 years since I first started blogging and I still enjoy it – so thanks to all of you who have been with me since the beginning. And I offer a warm welcome to those of you who’ve just joined! Now I gotta go jot down some more ideas about my next post….

Happy quilting, friends!

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Machine Quilting Blog Hop Week 9

June 27, 2017September 15, 20177 Comments

Machine Quilting Blog Hop

Four friends of mine, HollyAnne, Vicki, Kristin, and Jen have been working their way through mine and Angela’s book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting. The book includes 10 different quilts with different machine quilting motifs to practice in each chapter. These fun bloggers have been diligently practicing their machine quilting skills, week by week, and it’s amazing to see how far they’ve come in just a short period of time!

Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting

I highly recommend visiting each one of them and spend some time looking back through their journey. It’s one thing for me to tell you that machine quilting success is possible; it’s quite another for you to see actual results!

Here’s a sampling of inspiration from each of them this week with a link to each of their blogs in bold. Please visit them, and get inspired in your own quilting journey!

HollyAnne – String and Story

HollyAnne applied many of the quilting techniques from the book to “Modern Birds in the Air,” a pattern designed by our good friend Frances of the Off-Kilter Quilt, that goes along with her book of the same name. Be sure to visit HollyAnne’s blog for the big reveal!

Machine quilting by HollyAnne Knight

HollyAnne’s work is a great example of my favorite machine quilting tip: when in doubt – add more quilting! All you see is there gorgeous texture rather than individual stitches.

Vicki – My Creative Corner 3

Vicki has been quilting on a longarm and practicing both mine and Angela’s motifs. No stranger to quilting, she’s been quilting for others for years and it’s been fun to watch her work her way through the book on her longarm. Click here to see more of Vicki’s progress this week, and be sure to go back and check out her previous posts.

Machine Quilting by Vicki Holloway

Vicki is also a podcaster. In case you missed it, she interviewed me on a recent episode where we chatted about the book, the hop, and machine quilting in general. It was so fun!

Kristin Esser – KristinEsser.com

Kristin is no stranger to good workmanship with contributions to many magazines, and her newly published book with Minki Kim, Sew Illustrated. It’s been fun to watch her develop her machine quilting skills and try out all of the different ideas! Visit her blog for more closeup pics!

Kristin Esser Machine Quilting

I love seeing how each person combines the motifs in their own unique way!

Jen Greer – Quiltin’ Jenny

I first met Jenny when I taught at her quilt guild last year and we hit instantly hit it off! Since then, I’ve been able to get to know all of the bloggers and I love how they are also cheerleaders for “do it yourself” quilting! It’s not hard to be instant friends with others who love machine quilting as much a I do!! Be sure and pop over to her blog for her favorite tips and tricks!!

Jen Greer Machine Quilting

Look at all that yummy texture!!

If you’ve been following along, I hope you are encouraged to give machine quilting a try. Next week, they will share the “grand finale” which combines every thing they learned. I’ve already seen a few sneak peeks on Instagram, and it’s quite amazing!!

But just remember: whether you quilt by hand, by machine, or even “by check” – I’m here to encourage you every step of the way!!

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Lanterns Quilt – My Contribution to Rock Solid

June 14, 201765 Comments

Have you seen the awesome new collaborative book from Martingale/That Patchwork Place and Robert Kaufman? It’s called Rock Solid, featuring 13 different quilt designs made from Kona Solids. My contribution, Lanterns, made the cover, so I thought it would be fun to tell you a little bit more about my quilt. But first, look at all that yummy solid goodness on the cover!

Rock Solid Cover

My quilt, Lanterns, was made from one roll-up (jelly roll) of my Christa Watson designer palette for Robert Kaufman, along with one roll-up of Kona coal. Aren’t they a smashing combination??

Lanterns by Christa Watson

I came up with the design while I was playing around in EQ7 (Electric Quilt software) on my Mac. I’m always designing and playing around with shapes and colors. I’ll usually start with a seed of an idea and then it branches off into a design on its own. The fun thing about my process is that I usually end up with at least 4-5 different variations in different stages of completion. Whenever I’m ready to finalize a new design, I start by looking through my “virtual sketchbook” first!

EQ7 design sketch for lanterns

As you can see, my virtual EQ7 sketch is very similar to the final quilt. Usually when I’m playing around, I’ll randomly color the quilt but I don’t worry about whether or not the colors end up in the exact same spot as designed. Just using the same swatches of color is good enough for me to get an idea of how the quilt will look.

Lanterns Quilt Path step 1

Step 1 – Stitch in the Ditch

When it’s time to plan out the quilting, I’ll print off the EQ7 sketch on paper and then start drawing possible quilting ideas. I know that you can actually draw quilting designs in the program, but it’s usually just faster and easier for me to draw it out by hand. 🙂

Lanterns Quilt Path step 2

Step 2 – Echo the Ditch

I usually make a quilting plan for each quilt I make because it’s much faster to draw out several ideas on paper, than try to dive into the quilt with no plan and then not like the results! I finally put a name to this process of “finding your path” when my first Craftsy class came out earlier this year.

Lanterns Quilt Path step 3

Step 3 – quilt one design in the background between the blocks.

For the actual quilting I use another process I call “divide and conquer” where I break up the quilting into different segments and just attack one segment at a time. I teach this in my in-person workshops and I love seeing other students get it and start applying it to their own quilts!

Lanterns Quilt Path step 4

Step 4 – quilt a contrasting design in the blocks.

As you can see, my drawing lines are pretty wonky, but that’s okay – it’s the actual stitching that counts! Of course, I draw the designs on paper with contrasting ink so I can see them, but when I do the actual quilting, I use a blending 50 wt. Aurifil cotton thread. For this quilt I used just two thread colors – yellow for the blocks and gray for the background (both from my Piece and Quilt Collection).

Machine Quilting Detail from Lanterns by Christa Watson

Machine quilting detail – I can quilt better than I can draw!

I sure had a great time making my solid colored quilt.
Click here to see all of the quilts from the book and grab your copy!

Giveaway!! If you’d like to win an e-copy of this book, just leave me a comment letting me know if you’ve ever made a completely solid quilt before. If so – how did you like it? I’ll choose a random winner at 6 PM Pacific Time on Saturday, June 17th

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I’m Back from Panguitch Quilt Walk 2017 and I Had a Blast!

June 11, 2017June 10, 20173 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared an update after I’ve taught a class. I’m usually thinking ahead to the next one. But I got back early enough so I had time to look through my pictures and share a few snippets from my time at the Panguitch Quilt Walk Festival. No matter where I go, I always meet the same type of fun and friendly students in my classes. I have to admit, one of the reasons I love to teach is for the camaraderie!

Christa Watson Trunk Show

I arrived on Wednesday night with Jason and the kids in tow. We got settled in and each of the teachers who were there were able to quickly introduce themselves and let everyone know what they were teaching. Although my classes had filled up right away, they put me in a large home-ec classroom (all classes were taught at the local high school) so I told the organizers they were welcome to squeeze in as many people as there were seats.

Christa Watson Trunk Show

I shared about 20 quilts in my trunk show, all made beginning in 2013.

Thursday was my longest, busiest day. I started off with a trunk show of my quilts and shared a little bit about my quilting journey from traditional to modern quilter. I always like to include a little story about the making of each quilt along with some tips on how I quilted it.

Christa Watson Trunk Show

My Positive Direction quilt is always a crowd pleaser!

Then I taught two sessions of free-motion quilting that same day. I kept the classes moving at a fast pace that I didn’t even have time to stop and take pics! I like to teach ideas from all three of my books and then help the students think about them in new ways. It’s always a treat to see what they come up with!

On Friday, things slowed down a bit and I taught the first session of walking foot quilting while Jason and the kids did a little hiking at Bryce Canyon. Students usually agree that walking foot quilting is much easier to do than free-motion quilting, but several signed up for both classes and seemed to enjoy it.

Student Work from Walking Foot Quilting

Student Work from my Walking Foot Quilting Class – Wavy Grid

On Saturday I taught a second session of walking foot quilting, and then we came home. I was able to get a few pics in class and it always amazes me how students take a concept they learn in class and really run with it!

Student Work from Walking Foot Quilting

More Student Work – Shattered Linens is a huge favorite!

I’ll be home for just over a week before I head out to the Vermont Quilt Festival. I’ll be there for an entire week, judging along with Kimberly Einmo, then teaching four classes and sharing a trunk show.

As of today, there are still openings in each of my classes and my lecture. Click here for more info. Now it’s time to unpack, catch up on a few deadlines, and start packing all over again!!

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My Week at Craftsy – May 2017

May 31, 2017May 30, 20176 Comments

It’s been a little bit quieter around here the last few weeks, because I’ve been hard at work getting ready to bring you some new exciting things coming this year! The first sneak peek I can share is that I just wrapped up filming on my next Craftsy class that will debut later this summer.

Christa on Set at Craftsy

This was my last day of filming and I got to cuddle up with the quilt I made on set once we finished. I’ll tell you more about this quilt when the class is ready – it was so fun and fast to make!!

My new class is part of Craftsy’s debut “Startup Library” which consists of longer, in-depth courses across all of their major craft topics. They are aimed at beginners or those who may be involved in one craft, but want to try their hand at something new. I was so pleased to represent quilting!

Startup Library: Quilting with Christa Watson

I was there filming for a total of 5 days, and prior to that I worked with their great editorial team for months, honing in on the content that I’ll be presenting. In a nutshell, I got to focus on my favorite topic: teaching new students how to make a complete quilt from start to finish!

Christa with the Craftsy Crew

Christa and the Craftsy crew – we made a great team! And yes, there were smoothies….

On Set at Craftsy

My fabulous content editor, Linda Permann helped me baste on camera. I wanted to make sure I included this important step, and I love that she got to cameo as my “helper!”

Returning to Craftsy for a second time was much less stressful because I knew a little bit more about what to expect this time around, such as getting my hair and makeup professionally done each day, and knowing that we would put in long hours of work which would get edited down to just a few minutes. I love the magic of television!!

Christa Watson and Angela Walters at Craftsy

Angela Walters and I took turns in the hot seat getting professionally made up each day by the lovely and talented Danica. This is was my favorite way to start each day!

While I was there, I got to mingle with a couple of others on set who were also filming their next projects. Angela Walters happened to be there at the beginning of the week, filming the next season of The Midnight Quilt Show.

Joshusa John Russell: Man About Cake

And Joshua John Russell from Make About Cake was there at the end of the week, gearing up for the next series of episodes for his popular YouTube show. Behind the scenes fact: I asked him how much cake he ate in each episode and he told me he never touches the stuff. True story!!

Now that I’ve written three books and filmed two classes, I can really appreciate the similarities and differences between both types of delivery. A book is a longer, slower sort of project, while a video class has a much quicker turnaround, but is also more intense. I’ve realized that I love creating both types of products, and I’m so grateful work with people who have a knack for editing and polishing my content so that I can look my best!

Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime, if you haven’t purchased my first class yet, you can click here to get 50% off of The Quilter’s Path. (Be sure to add the class to your cart to see the discount.)

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Machine Quilting Blog Hop – Week 4

May 23, 20171 Comment

Have you been following along with the Machine Quilting Blog Hop? Four friends, (Kristin, Jenny, Vicki and HollyAnne) are working their way through mine and Angela Walters’ book The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting. They are sharing their amazing practice week by week.

The Original Inspiration

This week they are practicing motifs from Fractured Squares in the book. In my version of the quilt shown below, I quilted straight and wavy lines using a walking foot for the whole quilt.

In Angela’s version, she free-motion quilted quilted fun, geometric motifs on her long arm.

Machine quilting practice

Now let’s take a look to see how the amazing blog hoppers interpreted these designs in their own way.

HollyAnne chose to quilt Angela’s chevron designs, but rather than doing them free motion, she used some of my tips for walking foot quilting. Don’t these look great?

Machine Quilting practice from HollyAnne

Click here to see more of HollyAnne’s practice samples.
She’s included a video on her progress, and has shown how to quilt some of these designs on a real quilt!

Kristin focused on the center motif in my version of Fractured Squares for one of her designs. She also embraced one of my other tips: if you want your machine quilting to stand out, use a highly contrasting thread. If you want it to blend in, use a matching thread.

Kristin Machine Quilting practice.

Be sure to check out Kristin’s blog post to see what she did with the wavy lines!

Vicki also chose to quilt the chevron motifs, and combined them with some of the other free-motion designs from the book. I really love it when others take these ideas and change them up to create new combinations.

Machine Quilting practic with Vicki