Stitchography with Christa Watson

This week my Stitchogrphy interview is with Christa Watson.  Christa is a powerhouse machine quilter and wants us all to "not be afraid" and empowers us with her books and classes.

 Please introduce yourself (actual and professional name) and describe your areas of expertise

Hi! I'm Christa Watson of Christa Quilts and I've been quilting for over 20 years but some days I feel like I'm just getting started, LOL!! My area of expertise is teaching others to successfully machine quilt on their regular home sewing machine, using both walking foot and free-motion techniques. I've written 2 books on the subject so far and my third book, "Piece and Quilt with Precuts" comes out in August - I can't wait!

What is your background and how did you arrive at your current job(s)

I've always loved being creative and wanted to be an artist and a performer when I was little but I couldn't draw or sing. It's taken me a long time to realize that I could be a "performing artist" by creating textile art and teaching my skills to others. I've been teaching quilting workshops locally since the late 90's while raising a family, but it wasn't until the last 4 years that I took my show on the road by writing books and teaching nationally.

 How many hours a week do you devote to your job?

Do I have to give an honest answer?? Let's just say it's a lot. When I'm awake I'm quilting. Or thinking about quilts. Or planning new quilts, or talking about quilts. I quilt for my work AND my hobby so it consumes most of my daily life.

Where do you physically work?

 I work from home in a large open loft upstairs. My husband also works with me but in a different room. He does the boring stuff (back end computer stuff, accounting, etc.) and I get to do the "fun stuff" - designing, teaching, sewing and writing.

What do you sell and how do you sell it? (It can be a service)

We have two main focuses of our business. My husband Jason runs ThePrecutStore.com where we sell fabric precuts and my thread collections with Aurifil. I do all the designer stuff: writing books and patterns, and traveling around the country teaching workshops at quilt shows, guilds, and shops. I self-publish my patterns and sell them wholesale to shops and distributors. My books are published with Martingale/That Patchwork Place. I also have a couple of brand new Craftsy classes and it's been fun to explore teaching online to reach a wider audience.

My books are published with Martingale/That Patchwork Place. I also have a couple of brand new Craftsy classes and it's been fun to explore teaching online to reach a wider audience.

What are you working on now
My latest big project is my first fabric line with Benartex. It's called "Modern Marks" and while I can't share too much yet, it will be in stores this November. I'm currently in the process of making a whole bunch of samples to show off the fabric at quilt market this fall.

 What do you do when you are not working? 
 Um... quilting??? I actually do have a couple of other hobbies. I love playing board games and doing outdoor things with my family. It's really too bad I don't do much hand piecing because that would really come in handy while going on road trips, camping etc, LOL!!

Perhaps an indelicate question, but people starting out want to know - what are your income sources?
Our income comes from our precut store sales, book and product royalties, online class commissions, pattern sales, and teaching. To make a full time living in this industry, you have to wear a lot of hats!!

If you could give one suggestion to someone starting out, what would it be?
Don't expect to become an overnight success. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Keep in mind that most people in the quilting and sewing industry aren't making a full-time living, so it can sometimes skew one's perspective on who's actually financially successful.

Where can people find you and/your products?
 You can find me here:

Website: christaquilts.com

Pattern store: shop.christaquilts.com

Instagram @christaquilts

Facebook: Quilt with Christa

Precut store: ThePrecutStore.com

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An Eclectic Life

Being a quilter and a designer is pretty much a solitary life. Don't get me wrong, I have friends, but most of the time I'm in my studio. I'm either at my sewing machine or on my computer. I love to go out and visit quilt guilds to share what I know with other quilters and I try to make lunch/coffee dates with friends to get out of the house. My daily walk is so important to me.
This all changes when I head to Key West. We live in a small place around a plant filled courtyard with a eleven other units. I create and sew while I'm here, but there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not socializing. Just taking Bailey out to do her business, results in multiple conversations. My weekly painting class immerses me in the art community. The quilt shop, The Seam Shoppe, is a 20 minute walk. I'm there at least 3 times a week. We eat out a bunch and my favorite places to eat are located on the water. Here we are at Geiger Key Marina, with my favorite company and a food I only eat down here, blackened fish tacos.

How about Bingo at The Green Parrot, the southernmost bar, to benefit The Studios of Key West?

And instead of walking, Bailey and I head out on a bicycle ride, where we often circumnavigate the island. That sounds far, but it's about 10 miles! This is one of my favorite sights on our ride.

The bicycle becomes my means of transportation. Riding my bike to buy drawing supplies, or groceries or miscellaneous items at the dollar store makes it a very healthy lifestyle.

I'm still sewing and designing and staying active on social media. I'll be vending at QuiltCon in February and need to add some new items to my booth. I found this cute little toddler sundress DIY on a blog called Blooms and Bugs. I added a cute scalloped border using fabric from The Seam Shoppe. Isn't it adorable?

I'm hoping to include a video of how I add scalloped hems with Curvalicious, which will work for skirts, dresses and even pillowcases in my next monthly newsletter. If you haven't received one yet, you can sign up for my newsletter HERE, so you don't miss it.
I was asked to review a Craftsy class presented by Christa Watson on machine quilting. It's called The Quilter's Path: Plan It, Stitch It, Quilt It. It's a basic class packed with a lot of information. Christa talks about thread, walking foot and free motion quilting. I like her attitude that her "quilting is perfectly imperfect!"

While watching the video, I thought about this little paper pieced mini quilt I had just designed and made called "Philly Love".

It was inspired by a Philadelphia iconic sculpture.

I'm in a pink mini swap on Instagram (@CherylLynchQuilts) and this will go to my swapmate. I had some ideas about how I was going to quilt it. It's only 12" square. In the Craftsy class, Christa shared how she quilted a spiral circle with her walking foot. I decided to try her technique. It was easy peasy and I just loved the result.

Here's the good news. You can get Christa Watson's machine quilting Craftsy class for half price by clicking on this link, CRAFTSY.
It's certainly nice to be living outside of my comfort zone, and the beautiful weather sure does help. When you spend a morning videoing roosters walking about town, to send to your grandson, you know it's not Pennsylvania.

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