99 Designs Video #55 – Swirls & Pearls

March 3, 2026February 27, 2026Leave a comment

One of my favorite free-motion quilting techniques to do is combining two different designs for a unique stitch combination. That’s what I did in this week’s video. Combine spirals and pebbles to make Swirls & Pearls! Watch the video on my YouTube channel by clicking the image below:

Make My Block Chain Quilt

This week’s featured quilt is called Block Chain. I’ve made it twice over the years and it’s the perfect pattern to showcase a set of charm packs. Pair them up with light and dark accent fabrics for a quick make! You can grab the quilt pattern to make this quilt either in print (while supplies last) or as a PDF digital download.

Can you believe this is the penultimate episode in this series? Stay tuned for next week for the final chapter in this series. Just remember, these free machine quilting videos will stay up indefinitely so you can watch them as many times as you wish!

Daisy Chain Quilt Along Week 1 – Cutting

February 27, 2026January 23, 2026Leave a comment

Welcome to Week 1 of Daisy Chain quilt along! We will dive right into cutting all of our pieces to make this quilt. I’m making 2 versions of the quilt in the throw size, but you can make any size you wish!

If you are just joining in, be sure to ask for the Daisy Chain quilt pattern from your favorite local quilt shop! (Shops can order it through Riley Blake, Checker, or EE Schenck.)

Stay Organized!

We will be working through the cutting charts on pages 2-6 of the quilt pattern. There is a LOT of cutting for this quilt, so I highly recommend labeling your units as you cut to stay organized. I created a bonus for you to go along with this pattern. It includes a coloring page plus 2 sheets of labels that you can print off and use to keep all of your units organized.

Click here to get the Daisy Chain extras: coloring page + fabric labels.

I’m using the Riley Blake Confetti Cotton solids Autumn FQ Bundle for this version.

For cutting speed and efficiency, I’ll stack my fabrics up to 4 layers thick and double check my measurements. I like to cut out all of my strips first, and then subcut those into squares and rectangles. Most of the blocks will be made from individually cut units. However, there are a couple of units that can be strip pieced, so follow the cutting charts carefully as indicated.

I’m using the Riley Blake Confetti Cotton solids Purple Vibrations FQ Bundle for this version.

I’m basing the instructions on 42″ wide fabric for the background with 40″ of usable length, and 17″ x 21″ usable area of the fat quarters. I recommend cutting out the fabric for the colorful units first, and then the background. The background goes much quicker since it’s all of one fabric.

I used Riley White background paired with the brighter colors, and Vintage white with the warmer tones. Yes, it’s a lot of cutting, so take it slow and work your way through, one stack at a time.

Leave a comment if you have any questions about this week’s “homework.” Remember, I’m here to cheer you on every step of the way!!

Free-Motion Quilting Modern Feathers & Echoing!

February 24, 2026February 23, 20261 Comment

Check out my latest video from my 99 Machine Quilting Designs Series – Episode 54 – for 6 fun variations. Watch and learn below:

This week’s featured quilt is one of my free patterns called Beaded Lanterns. It’s another one I’ve made several times because it’s just so darn fun to stitch!

Click here download any of my free quilt patterns.

While supplies last you can check out my kits to make Beaded Lanterns as well as many other fun designs made from my fabrics!

Click here to view all in-stock quilt kits.

Just Getting Started Free-Motion Quilting?

Check out the introductory video for this series. Then watch all of the previous videos. There’s a total of 56 for hours and hours of machine quilting fun!

99 Designs Video #53 – Decorative Stitched Geometrics

February 17, 2026February 13, 2026Leave a comment

Level up your walking foot quilting with another fun decorative stitched design: Geometric Spirals. Watch and learn below:

Make This Quilt

This week’s featured quilt is called Blooming Wallflowers and I’ve made it more than once! See two different versions below:

I hope you are enjoying these video tutorials and inspiring quilts to make. I’m excited to be your cheerleader for domestic machine quilting!

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

February 10, 2026February 6, 20261 Comment

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

Featured Quilt – Surplus Strips

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

Bonus Video – Quilting Surplus Strips 2 Ways

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

More Ideas for Quilting Clamshells

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

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

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

99 Machine Quilting Designs Episode 51 – Decorative Stitch Square Spirals

February 4, 2026January 30, 2026Leave a comment

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

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

Bonus Walking Foot Quilting Video

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

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

99 Machine Quilting Designs Episode 50 – Filled Paisley

January 30, 2026January 24, 2026Leave a comment

This week’s machine quilting tutorial takes the traditional paisley design and modernizes it by adding filler motifs inside the design! It’s a fun way to change things up. Click the image below to watch on my YouTube channel:

Make This Quilt!

Throughout this series, I’ve loved showing how I quilted these designs on actual, real quilts. The quilt shown in the video behind me is called Star Struck and it’s fun to see how different it looks depending on the fabrics that are chosen. Complete, start to finish instructions for this pattern are included in my book, Piece and Quilt with Precuts!

Click here to download Piece & Quilt with Precuts for the Star Struck quilt pattern.

Catch Up on Past Videos!

I’m almost finished sharing all of the designs from this series. If you’ve missed any of them be sure to check out the complete play list for hours and hours of viewing pleasure!

Click here to view the entire 99 Machine Quilting Designs Playlist

Teaching Machine Quilting in 2026

January 23, 2026January 8, 2026Leave a comment

I’ve got a full load of teaching this year and hope to see you out and about on the road!
Here are a few highlights (with a link to my complete schedule at the end.)

I’m Heading to Quilt Town, USA Twice This Year!!

I’m teaching a full load of machine quilting workshops at the AQS signature quilt show happening April 22-25 in Paducah, KY. These are stand-alone 3 hour and 6 hour workshops that are now open for registration.

Click here to register for my workshops at AQS Paducah

If that’s not enough, I’m also teaching an intensive 4 day retreat in October 13-18 at the same location. In the longer workshop, everyone will be quilting a real, actual quilt during class. Wont that be fun?? Check out the video and links below for more information.

Click here for more info about SEAM Quilting Retreat hosted by AQS.

Want Me to Come Visit? The Answer is Yes!!

See my complete schedule below. I’m accepting new events now for 2027-28 so feel free to reach out if you’d like me to come to an event near you! You can leave a comment or email me directly at christa@christaquilts.com. It’s going to be a great year of quilting and teaching!!

Click here for my current teaching schedule.

Learn How to Quilt Hourglass – 99 Designs Episode #49

January 20, 2026January 19, 2026Leave a comment

For this week’s tutorial we are back in business with free-motion quilting! This design, Hourglass, is basically a geometric and modern version of an earlier design: Cursive L’s. The technique of these two designs is very similar, so if you got one down, you can easily do the other!

Dot n’ Dash Quilt – Pick Up Piece and Quilt With Precuts

I admit I haven’t actually made a full-size quilt with Hourglass – that is on my bucket list! However, I’ve quilted a similar design on Dot n’ Dash, the featured quilt of this week. I call this a my Modern Jelly Roll Quilt since it can just be made with strips from a jelly roll! If you are interested in making this quilt for yourself, the original version of the pattern comes from my book, Piece and Quilt with Precuts.

This book is currently out of print. Click here to get the PDF download version.

I remade this quilt with some of my newer fabric, udpated the layout, added borders and more sizes, and renamed it Ticker Tape!

Daisy Chain Quilt Along Schedule

January 16, 2026January 12, 20262 Comments

Are you excited to make Daisy Chain along with me? See below for the complete quilt along schedule. Although this event will be quickly paced, I’ll leave these blog posts up indefinitely so you can work on your quilt any time you wish. I’m here to help you each step of the way!

Daisy Chain – Autumn Colorway

Daisy Chain – Purple Vibrations Colorway

I made both versions of this quilt using fat quarters of Riley Blake Designs’ Confetti Cotton solids. The throw sizes shown here are made with 12 fat quarters plus 4 yards background, and the leftovers form a scrappy binding. Color selection is super easy for this quilt – just grab your favorite fabrics and pair them up with a highly contrasting background and you are good to go!!

I used fat quarters in the Autumn & Purple Vibrations Colorways for my Quilts

Here’s a the complete supply list so you can make this quilt in 3 different sizes. It’s a LOT of cutting, but it’s all just straight seams with traditional piecing techniques. So there’s no specialty rulers required. I do recommend getting some small label stickers though so you can label all your pieces to stay organized.

Quilt Along Schedule

Throughout the quilt along I will refer you to specific parts of the pattern and will share lots of in progress pics and bonus tips. When it’s time to machine quilt, I’m going to share 2 bonus videos showing how I quilted each version. Hopefully this will inspire you get it done!! After all, machine quilting is my favorite part of the entire process, and there’s lots of room for experimentation and play in this quilt.

Feb 27 – Week 1: Cutting
March 6 – Week 2: Sewing the Daisy Blocks
March 13 – Week 3: Sewing the Chain Blocks
March 20 – Week 4: Sewing the Quilt Top
March 27 – Week 5: Backing & Basting
April 3 – Week 6: Quilting Option #1 – With Bonus Video Tutorial!!
April 10 – Week 7: Quilting Option #2 – With Bonus Video Tutorial!!
April 17 – Week 8: Binding to Finish

Machine Quilting in progress – can’t wait to share more details on how I quilted them!!

I’m happy to offer lots of support during this quilt along. You can share pics in my ChristaQuilts group on Facebook or leave a comment here on the blog with any questions you have. You can also share on social media using #daisychainquilt. I can’t wait to see how you make this your own!!