Tag: Quilt Patterns

Moving Update Week 5 – Buy 2 patterns, get 1 free!!

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Yep – we’re still moving, LOL!! On the one hand it feels like this process is taking forever. But then I realized that most people take months to pack or even make a decision about purchasing a home. From the time we decided to purchase until we started moving was less than a month, so there really hasn’t been much time for dilly-dallying, much less planning and packing ahead of time! We’re getting as much ready in the new house as possible, moving a bunch of stuff and then immediately putting things away – no living out of boxes!

Our dining room (above, right) is nearly finished. I really love color in my home, but I fear the teal is a bit too intense for the softer seafoam green couches in the living room (in progress on the left). Some accent chairs are coming soon, and then I’ll make a final decision as to whether or not I’ll need to repaint.

We’ve gotten in most of the new furniture we ordered, and have moved in most of the essentials (except my sewing room – that will be the last thing to get organized!) We are living in the new house now while we work between both houses.

My daughter is thrilled with her finished room. Since this pic was taken, she’s arranged all of her collectibles and keepsakes on the shelves and it looks great! Now all she needs are a few final accent pieces – a mirror on the wall above her dresser, and a comfy bean bag chair under the window. (Thank goodness for Ikea assembly or we never would have gotten it finished!!)

Since we are self-employed, we can’t shut down work during the transition so that always makes things a bit tricky. I’m processing and printing labels for shop.christaquilts.com at the old house, while cutting and filling orders at the new place. Jason is keeping things running smoothly for ThePrecutStore during the transition, and of course my email in box is about a mile long. So thanks for your patience to anyone who’s reached out to me this month. I’m slowly working my way back down to “inbox zero!”

Fabric Storage

In the guest room next to my sewing studio we added shelving in the corner to hold bolts of my fabric yardage for sale. There’s plenty of room for a bed, dresser and desk. Plus, there’s lots of storage space in the walk-in closet. My son is currently living in this room until he leaves for his mission in China next month, so he took over some of the empty shelf space in the meantime.

This week’s sale: save on all printed patterns

We got a lot done this past week, but we haven’t moved over the printed patterns yet. you’d be surprised at how heavy a box of patterns can be! And with 14 patterns under my belt (with more to come) that’s a LOT of boxes!!

So do a girl a favor and scoop up your favorites with this great deal:

Use code MOVE5 during checkout at shop.christaquilts.com to buy 2 patterns and get 1 free.

Christa Quilts Patterns

Click here and use code MOVE5 at checkout for the pattern discount.

My kids will thank you as this means less for them to pack up!!

Don’t worry, even with all of the moving craziness, my Blooming Wallflowers QAL still starts on Friday, so watch for the first post. If you haven’t purchased the Blooming Wallflowers quilt pattern yet, now is a great time to grab it, along with 2 more of your faves.

Now it’s time to pack up more stuff!!

New Quilt Pattern – LatticeWork

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Happy Turkey Day!! I’m so thankful to you, dear blog reader for your support you’ve given me over the years. I started this blog on Thanksgiving Day back in 2010 and little did I know that it would lead to what I’m doing today – a full time career in the quilting industry.

LatticeWork Quilt Made from Abstract Garden

LatticeWork Quilt – Throw Size

On this day of thanks, I’m so happy to be sharing more fun and inspiring projects with you! Take a look at LatticeWork, the 4th and final quilt pattern I’ve released to go along with my Abstract Garden fabric line (which starts shipping to stores in December).

Abstract Garden Quilt Patterns

If you missed the previous 3 quilts I shared this week, click the links below to check them out:
Click here for Pieced Primrose (Monday blog post)
Click here for Geese in the Garden (Tuesday blog post)
Click here for Blooming Wallflowers (Wednesday blog post)

LatticeWork Pattern Details

LatticeWork comes in 3 sizes and is made from Charm Packs (5″) or 10″ squares. You can also make it from a bundle of fat quarters with coordinating light and dark fabric. For the Throw Size, I’ve used 4 charm packs of Abstract Garden, but it would look fabulous in Modern Marks charms or Fandangle charms, too. Or you could mix and match them for even more variety!

Lattice Work Quilt Pattern
Click image above to enlarge.
Click here to purchase the PDF pattern.
Click here to purchase the print pattern.

As with all of my patterns, I’ve included machine quilting suggestions so you can get ‘er done!! For LatticeWork, I quilted one of my favorite walking-foot designs: an allover wavy grid that requires absolutely NO marking of the quilt!

You basically divide and conquer the quilt into a grid: quilt lines in the center of each lattice strip in both directions. Then fill in with more and more lines until you are happy with the line spacing.

Latticework quilting detail

Wavy Grid quilting detail – it’s so easy to do!

If you look closely at the orange “Trellis” print above (the one near the purple, blue and orange spirals) you will see that it roughly mimics the irregular plaid design of the quilting. I love it when I can incorporate my fave quilting motifs into my fabrics!

I chose a tone-on-tone black for the lattice and paired up the bright colorful prints with the light gray Confetti Crosshatch print from my Fandangle collection. The best news is that I just got in more yardage of both of the Fandangle Grays so click here to grab some before it sells out out again!

LatticeWork Detail

I love bold, bright color – don’t you?

LatticeWork Quilt Stats

  • Size: 74″ x 82″ (Throw)
  • Completed: October, 2018
  • Machine used: BERNINA 770QE
  • Fabric used: Abstract Garden and Fandangle by Christa Watson
    with Colorweave from Benartex Contempo Studio
  • Batting used: Hobbs Tuscany Cotton/Wool
  • Thread used: Aurifil 50 weight cotton Variegated collection by Christa Watson
  • Quilting Motifs: irregular wavy plaid, walking foot (dual feed) quilting

Quick Links

If you missed any of the previous releases

LatticeWork Quilt

New Quilt Pattern – Geese in the Garden Available Now

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It’s day 2 of my new pattern releases! (Click here for yesterday’s post about Pieced Primrose).
Today I’m excited to share my Geese in the Garden quilts with you! I had the most fun naming my patterns so that they would tie into the Abstract Garden theme of my latest fabric line.

Geese in the Garden quilt pattern featuring Abstract Garden

Baby Size Geese in the Garden – Cool Coloway

I made this design in two colorways – warm and cool. The best thing about this quilt is that it only calls for 5 fabrics! So you can pick and choose and play around with different arrangements of the diamonds to create some really fun color gradations.

And the secret to this quilt is that the diamonds aren’t “true” diamonds meaning they are easier to piece than traditional diamonds, AND they will work with HST’s (half-square triangles), QST’s (quarter square triangles) and Flying Geese units, whereas traditional diamonds won’t, because of the funky math involved.

Geese in the Garden from warm colors of Abstract Garden

Baby Size Geese in the Garden Cool – Warm Colorway

In the instructions, I very thoroughly explain how to cut and piece the diamonds with lots of clear illustrations for you to follow. The best part is there’s no specialty ruler required! All you need is a regular ruler that has a 45 degree angle and you are all set.

Wavy Line quitlign on Geese in the Garen

I quilted wavy lines on the warm version.

Of course I include machine quilting suggestions, too. For these quilts I quilted irregular wavy lines on the warm colorway and straight lines on the cool colorway. Both are done with a walking foot/dual feed – easy peasy!!

Straight Line quilting

I quilted irregularly spaced straight lines on the cool version.

I used more of my new variegated threads from Aurifil – pink for the warm and blue for the cool for the quilting. They added a nice touch to the quilt while not overpowering the pieced design.

The pattern comes in 3 sizes: Baby, Lap, Throw and the cool thing is that the design doesn’t change between the three sizes. You make the same number of units, but each one gets bigger depending on the size. So this quilt goes together super quick and is the perfect quilt to make when you need a gift in a hurry!

Geese in the Garden quilt pattern

Click image above to enlarge.

Geese in the Garden Quilt Stats

  • Size: 32″ x 40″ (Baby)
  • Completed: October, 2018
  • Machine used: BERNINA 770QE
  • Fabric used: Abstract Garden by Christa Watson for Benartex Contempo Studio
  • Batting used: Hobbs Tuscany Cotton/Wool
  • Thread used: Aurifil 50 weight cotton from The Variegated Collection by Christa Watson
  • Quilting Motifs: straight lines (cool), wavy lines (warm)

Quick Links

Geese in the Garden with Abstract Garden fabric

 

Pre-order My New Fall Patterns

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I release quilt patters twice a year now, in conjunction with my new fabric lines. (More about the fabric later…) So today I’m happy to introduce 4 new patterns which will be released on November 16, but you can get them at a discount when you preorder now!

Christa Quilts Patterns

All four of my new patterns are available as print or PDF. Print versions will be shipped to you approximately November 16th. When you order the PDF version through my Craftsy shop, you’ll be able to download the cover now, and then the pattern itself will be emailed as an update on November 16th.

Use coupon code SAVE10 to get 10% off the price of the print version. The PDF version is automatically on sale through November 16th. (The code and sale applies to all current patterns in stock, too!) Here’s what’s new:

Pieced Primrose

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

Pieced Primrose Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

Geese in the Garden

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

Geese in the Garden Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

Blooming Wallflowers

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

Blooming Wallflowers Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

LatticeWork

Click here to purchase the PDF version instant download.
Click here to order the print version which will be shipped.

LatticeWork Quilt Pattern

Click the image above to enlarge the detailed materials list.

Wholesale Inquiries

These patterns will be available from most major distributors. Or email me christa@christaquilts.com for order info.

I hope you’ll enjoy making these quilts as much as I did!

Finished Quilt – Sparkling Stars

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I’m excited to finally share “glamour” shots of my finished quilt Sparkling Stars which  was made to showcase my latest fabric line – Fandangle – from Benartex Contempo Studio.

Click here to purchase the kit to make this quilt.

Sparkling Stars Quilt by Christa Watson

I design all of my quilts in Electric Quilt so that I know exactly how they are going to look with the chosen fabrics. The EQ design is shown above left. The finished quilt is above right.

My favorite thing about this quilt (besides the fabric of course) is the quilting design I chose. I quilted it with a large continuous spiral. This is one of my favorite designs to quilt with a walking foot or dual feed.

Spiral quilting detail

I teach how to quilt the continuous spiral design in my book Machine Quilting with Style, and also in my Craftsy class, The Quilter’s Path.

This quilting design is super fun and fast to quilt and it’s hard to go wrong! I used a variegated Aurifil 50 weight thread to add a little something “extra” to the quilt.

Walking foot quilting large spiral

In these extreme closeups the slight wobbles give the quilt interest and when you step back to admire the quilt, all you see is amazing texture!

Spiral Quilting on Sparkling Stars

Below are some more pictures we took while on a recent family vacation at the beach. We love taking long walks and exploring our surroundings to scout out scenic locations.

Sparkling Stars Quilt by Christa Watson

It was Jason’s job to climb to the edge of this rocky cliff and style the quilt. All the while I was holding my breath, hoping the wind wouldn’t catch the quilt and toss it into the sea!!

Sparkling Stars quit photography

Just imagine how peaceful this was, the waves breaking on the rocks, and us enjoying mother nature at it’s best! Every now and then a wave would splash on the rocks., but fortunately we were high enough up  that the quilt didn’t get wet.

Sparkling Stars Quilt by Christa Watson

I love how the wind blew the quilt so that it naturally folded on itself.

The bright colors really stand out against the gray ocean, charcoal colored rocks, and even the sandy beach.

Sparkling Stars Quilt by Christa Watson

One of our favorite vacation spots is Hermosa Beach, California, and I think I need to go on lots more adventures just so we can take more pics of my quilts in scenic locations!

Sparkling Stars Quilt by Christa Watson

Click here to get the Sparkling Stars quilt kit – (only a few left!)

Sparkling Stars Finished Stats

Sparkling Stars Quilt Pattern

Click here to purchase Fandangle fabric for a limited time.
Click here to view all of my quilt patterns for sale.

Sparkling Stars Quilt by Christa Watson

Links to additional information about this quilt

Click here for the making of Sparkling Stars part 1
Click here for the making of Sparkling Stars part 2
Click here for the making of Sparkling Stars part 3

Fandangle Fabric is Here – Get Your FQ or 1/2 Yard Bundle for a Limited Time

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While I was on vacation last week, I was thrilled to get the text from my friend letting me know my big delivery of Fandangle fabric had arrived – whoo whoo!! Needless to say, I’ll be spending the next couple of days cutting and folding fabric bundles!!

Boxes of Fandangle Fabric shipped from Benartex

Thank goodness my friend brought in the boxes from out side while I was gone!!

Because I want to encourage folks to buy my fabric at their local quilt shop (updated list of where to buy coming soon) – I’m only going to be offering bundles and kits for a limited time, so grab them while you can!!

Benartex Strip-pies

I love how the new Strip-pies (jelly rolls) are packaged flat and are arranged by warm and cool!
These will be going into the Dot ‘n Dash kits for our upcoming quilt along.

Fandangle 10 Piece Bundles

Fandangle (which is a fun word that means ornamentation or embellishment) includes an assortment of bright, geometric prints in warm and cool colorways. To make it easy on your budget, I’m offering 10 piece bundles in either fat quarters (18″ x 22″ each) or half-yard cuts (18″ x 36″). Of course you can get them both if you’d like some of the entire line.

Fandangle Fabric by Christa Watson in the Warm Colorway

Click here to get your 10 piece bundle of Fandangle in the warm colorway.

Fandangle Fabric by Christa Watson Cool Colorway

Click here to get your 10 piece bundle of Fandangle in the cool colorway.

Winners of the 3 Fandangle Quilt Patterns

I almost forgot!! It’s time to announce the winners of the 3-pack of quilt patterns that I released to go along with the line. I loved reading all of your comments on whether you preferd PDF or print patterns and am happy to say I offer my quilt patterns in both versions for your convenience!

Congratulations to Monica from the US, Jayne P. from the UK and Wayne M. Winners have been notified via email.

Fandangle Quilt Patterns

Click here to purchase any of my quilt patterns in printed format.
Click here to purchase any of my quilt patterns in DPF download format.

Stay tuned later this week as I’ll share some beauty shots of the quilts I made from Fandangle. While we were at the beach we took advantage of some gorgeous locations for some styled photography that I can’t wait to share with you.

Fandangle Fabric Bundle by Christa Watson

Thanks for your support of my fabrics. I love being able to design them for you!
When you create with them, please share your finishes in my facebook group, or on Instragram with the hashtag #fandanglefabric. I can’t wait to see what you make!

Introducing Tic-Tac-Toe on the Cover of Fat Quarter Favorites

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I love it when I get to reveal a quilt that I worked on many moons ago! Meet Tic-Tac-Toe, a fat quarter quilt featured on the cover of Fat Quarter Favorites – a new collaboration book from my publisher Martingale/That Patchwork Place that releases today!

Fat-Quarter-Favorites

This was one of those “secret sewing” projects that I worked on last year. I shared a few sneek peeks on my Instagram account while making it so if you scroll back through a year’s worth of posts, you can see some of it in progress, LOL!!

The book features 13 original designs by a dozen different designers all based on fat quarters (plus additional background fabric where needed).

I was in such a hurry to make this quilt that I forgot to take many in-progress pics, but here’s a shot of me “scrunching and smooshing” the quilt through the machine as I quilt:

Scrunching and smooshing to machine quilt

It helps to have a wider throat space on my BERINA so there’s more room for the quilt!

I only saved on detail pic where you can see the quilting while I added and pressed the binding. I quilted it with a dense allover free-motion square spiral design – one of my favorite “modern machine quilting” designs! (It’s similar to “boxes” – another fave design but you go round and round a couple times to get the spirals.)

square spiral design machine quilting

For the pieced design, I played around with the idea of combining blocks that look like X’s and O’s. It took several tries to adjust the proportions so they felt right. The O blocks came pretty quickly, but it took awhile until I was happy with the X blocks. I originally started with bigger center stars and they evolved into the design shown here. I extended the gray lines all the way to the borders to give it a bit more movement and overall I’m pleased with how well it turned out!

Tic Tac Toe by Christa Watson from Fat Quarter Favorites

Tic-Tac-Toe by Christa Watson, 76″ x 76″

Once I have the basic design in place it also takes me a bit to refine the sizes so the fabric yardage is used more efficiently. That’s why a lot of times, you’ll see me do scrappy bindings, so I can use up a bit more of the fun prints in the quilt!

If you like my design click here to see images of all 13 quilts from the book – I’m sure there’s something for everyone!

The Patterns are Here! The Patterns are Here!

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I got some happy mail this weekend – a shipment of my latest print pattern releases. The quilts below are all made from my Fandangle fabric which ships to stores in July, but I’ve written the patterns so that they will look fabulous in any fabrics you choose! I’ve blogged a lot about the quilts already (see links below each image in case you missed it), but now I’m excited to tell you what makes the patterns themselves extra special.

Sparkling Stars Quilt

Sparkling Stars quilt by Christa Watson made from Fandangle fabric

Sparkling Stars designed and made by Christa Watson, 70″ x 70″

For starters, all of my patterns are full color throughout. They are professionally printed, folded into a half-sheet size booklet, and staple-bound by GotPrint.com. I select high-quality glossy paper for the insides and the covers are slightly thicker which makes them a little more sturdy.

Because I purchase them in a higher volume, I’m able to get a quantity discount which I pass on to you all in the form of a lower price point. The MSRP for my print patterns is $9.95 which is much lower than the $12-$14 price I’ve seen for similar quality patterns.

Sparkling Stars PatternSparkling Stars Covers – Click above image to enlarge
Click here to purchase the Sparkling Stars Quilt Pattern

For Sparkling Stars, I included a very detailed materials list so that you could replicate the look in similar colors even if using different fabrics than I did. I also included detailed diagrams and charts by colorway so that it’s easy to follow along and not get lost.

Here’s an example of one of the many full-color illustrations that are included in the pattern:

Sparkling Stars Blocks

If there’s enough room in the pattern, I’ll usually throw in a closeup image of the quilting for inspiration. As an FYI, patterns need to be formatted so that they use up 8 or 12 sides (4-6 full pages). Most of mine tend to be on the longer end so that I can put in as much detail as possible.

I work with my graphic designer Lindsie to lay out the text, photos and illustrations, and if there’s extra room, I’ll throw in an extra diagram, tip, or quilting suggestion. I want you to have as much fun making these quilts as I did, and I try to pack as much helpful info into each pattern as I can!

Spiral quilting detail from Sparkling Stars

Quilting detail included in the pattern – inside front cover.

Surplus Strips Quilts

Surplus Strips Quilt Warm

Surplus Strips Quilt in the Warm Colorway of Fandangle
Designed and Made by Christa Watson, 67″ x 82″

Surplus Strips Cool Colorway of Fandangle

Surplus Strips Quilt in the Cool Colorway of Fandangle
Designed and Made by Christa Watson, 67″ x 82″

Surplus Strips Quilt PatternSurplus Strips Covers – Click above image to enlarge
Click here to purchase the Surplus Strips Quilt Pattern

For Surplus Strips, I wanted to show how you could use up leftover 2 1/2″ strips sorted by colorway to create a dynamic, scrappy looking quilt. In my patterns, I’ll try to include different methods of using your fabric (either yardage, scraps or precuts) whenever possible so you can make the best use of your stash!

Quilting Detail of Triangle Trinkets

Detail of the Triangle Trinkets motif quilted on the cool colorway.

I’m really excited that I was able to include machine quilting diagrams and detailed images in this pattern. Because many of the prints in my fabric lines are based off of my favorite machine quilting motifs, it was fun to include a different allover quilting design for each colorway.

Machine quilting detail of Surplus Strips

Do you see how the quilting design is the same as the Paper Cuts print? So fun!!

Pearl Pendants Quilt

Pearl Pendants Quilt by Heather Black

Pearl Pendants, designed and made by Heather Black, 60″ x 72″
Click here to read more about Heather and this gorgeous quilt.

It was really fun to collaborate on Pearl Pendants with my talented friend Heather Black of Quilt-achusetts. She designed and made the quilt using Fandangle plus Contempo Colorweave coordinates.

We both co-wrote the pattern and it was fun to go back and forth to ensure that the pattern was easy enough to understand and follow. My husband, Jason, who is NOT a quilter was very helpful in proof-reading to make sure even a novice could understand how to make this stunning quilt!

Pearl Pendants Quilt Pattern by Heather Black and Christa WatsonPearl Pendants Covers – Click above image to enlarge
Click here to purchase the Pearl Pendants Quilt Pattern

My favorite illustration included in the pattern is the very detailed chart of blocks which specifies exactly how many of each unit to make to get the same look. We included plenty of step by step diagrams so that you’ll have no problems making this fun quilt while practicing your curved piecing. Of course you can easily substitute the colors below for completely different fabrics, and it will still look great!!

Pearl Pendants Chart of Blocks

The pattern also includes full-sized templates to make the blocks in two different sizes, or you can use a specialty curved ruler if that’s your preferred method.

Heather has become quite proficient at quilting on her longarm and she loves to combine hand-guided work with a bit of computerized work in the quilting detail shown below:

Quilting Detail for Pearl Pendants

How to Purchase Christa Quilts Patterns

(1) Anyone can purchase my complete line of print patterns at shop.christaquilts.com.

(2) PDF versions of my entire pattern line are available in my Craftsy shop (click here).

(3) Quilt shops and other retailers can contact me via email christa@christaquilts.com for wholesale pricing information and exclusive specials.

(4) My fabrics and select patterns are also available wholesale through Checker Distributors and Brewer Sewing.

If you are a quilting instructor and wish to teach a class from any of these patterns, please contact me to get the wholesale pricing discount. I’m happy for others to teach from my patterns (or books) as long as each student purchases their own copy.

Sparkling Stars in the Benartex Contempo Booth at Quilt Market

Here’s Sparkling Stars hanging in my booth at Spring 2018 quilt market. Be sure to catch my next post where I’ll share all about my quilt market experience!

Sparkling Stars Quilt Part 1 – The Design and Sewing the Blocks

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Now that I’m back home from quilt market, I have time to share about the process of making Sparkling Stars, one of the quilts from Fandangle, my new fabric line from Benartex/Contempo.

Sparkling Stars Design

Whenever I make an original quilt, I first create it in Electric Quilt Software using the actual fabric swatches I plan to use. If it’s a scrappy-looking quilt, I won’t worry too much about color placement while I design. However, for Sparkling Stars, I took quite a while re-arranging the colors until I was pleased with how they looked.

Sparkling Stars Quilt

Click here to purchase the Sparkling Stars PDF Quilt Pattern.
Click here to purchase the Sparkling Stars Print Quilt Pattern.

I knew I wanted to use all 20 fabrics from Fandangle, but in a cohesive way. So I literally tried every fabric in the line in each part of the star blocks above until I was pleased with the final color arrangement. (I usually don’t save the “reject” versions because they are numerous and I don’t want to get confused by multiple images of the same file I’m working on.)

Fandangle Cut Units for Sparkling Stars

I love a pretty stack of cut units!

I planned the design months before I received fabric samples so that I could get the pattern written ahead of time. I knew time would be short in making the quilt so I tried to get as much work done ahead of time as I could. Once I start on a quilt, I’ll make it pretty quickly from start to finish since I’m usually working on a deadline.

Sparkling Stars HST's

Stacks and Stacks of HST’s in progress…

Making the Blocks

I try to assembly line my process, so I’ll cut everything ahead of time, then sew all the sub-units at once rather than constructing a quilt block by block. It’s much more efficient and I can pattern test as I go by doing it this way.

Sparkling Stars in Progress

I keep similar units together to stay organized.

As you can see, there are a lot of pieces that go into making this quilt so I try to be as careful as I can during every step of the process. I sew with a consistent quarter inch seam, press my seams open, and trim my units as needed to the correct size. By taking care during each step of the process, it ensures the final blocks will go together smoothly.

Sparkling Stars Quilt Blocks

Sparkling Star Quilt Blocks in Progress

When the sub-units are complete, I stack them up and lay them out in order next to my sewing machine so that I can chain piece as much as possible. I also take pictures as I go so I can look at a reduced view of the quilt blocks to make sure nothing is turned the wrong way before sewing together.

For these particular blocks, I made sure turn turn the “Beaded Curtain” print so that they were all facing the same direction. The rest of the prints are non-directional so they didn’t matter.

Seams Pressed Open

I sew with a shorter stitch length and press seams open as I go for best results.
Then I’ll pin the units together as I sew to get accurate seam joins.

Rather then sewing the blocks into rows, I sewed them into 4-patch units so they’d be easier to manage. It also allows makes me feel like I’m getting more done since it’s a lot of pieces to sew! The biggest tip is to just sew one step of ALL the blocks at a time and then take a break so it doesn’t get too monotonous.

Sparkling Stars Blocks in Orange

These blocks will sparkle and glow in the final quilt!

When the blocks are complete, I’ll press them with a hot, dry iron on both front and back. This ensures nice flat blocks which will be much easier to machine quilt!

Sparkling Stars Quilt Blocks

There are a total of 25 blocks in 6 different fabric combinations.

I wrote up the quilt pattern so that it would be extremely easy to follow along either using the same fabrics I did, or using similar colors to get the sparkling effect. Fandangle will start shipping to stores at the end of June, but you can pre-order bundles of the prints and yardage of the grays (along with the quilt pattern) over at shop.christaquilts.com for a limited time.

Sparkling Stars Quilt Blocks

While I’m not offering kits, you can get the enough fabric to make this quilt when you purchase 1/2 yard bundles of both the cool and warm colorways; plus 3 yards of the light gray, and 2 yards of the dark gray. There will be a little left over that you can use for other projects.

Stay tuned for part 2 where I show how I put the quilt top together!

Pearl Pendants PDF Pattern Now Available for Purchase

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Great news! While I’m in the throws of quilt market prep for next week, I was able to finalize the Pearl Pendants quilt pattern that my good friend Heather Black from Quilt-achusetts and I collaborated on. Heather designed and made this stunning quilt to showcase Fandangle in my booth at quilt market next week, and we both co-wrote the pattern.

Click here to purchase and instantly download the PDF pattern for Pearl Pendants

Click here to pre-order the print version (ships on or before June 1.)

Pearl Pendants pattern by Heather Black and Christa Quilts

I like to offer my patterns in both print and PDF versions because I know that some folks like to have instant access while others like to work with the physical pattern.

Check out a detail of the beautiful quilting the Heather did:

Quilting Detail for Pearl Pendants

She quilted a combination of straight lines, plus a spirograph/floral motif in each of the blocks. Didn’t she do such a stunning job?? The quilt is made from 20 fat quarters of Fandangle fabric plus background, but of course it would look great in other fabrics, too!

I’ll share  more pics of this quilt as soon as I get back from quilt market, so stay tuned!!