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Christa Watson was always crafty growing up and knew she wanted to own some kind of craft-related business one day — “but nothing stuck until I got into quilting,” she says. Her first experience, while in college, was to help tie together the layers of a charity quilt with yarn, and she fell in love with the tactile experience. It inspired her to delve deeper into the art of quilting. “From the very first quilt, my entrepreneurial sense kicked in,” she says.
“The first light bulb that went off was, like, this is amazing! This is part of my life. The second light bulb that went off was, like, oh, how can I make this my job?”
Now, 27 years later, the Las Vegas-based quilting mogul has authored five books and created numerous quilt patterns, designs fabrics, teaches, and travels to quilt shows around the country as a guest speaker. For the Brazos Bluebonnet Quilt Guild’s 33rd Quilt Show, “A World of Color,” Christa will give two presentations: “Hallmarks of Modern Machine Quilting” on Friday, June 17 and “How Do I Quilt It” on Saturday, June 18.
“For those that don't know much about quilting, there are three layers of a quilt,” she says. One can participate in any one or all three of those layers and still be considered a quilter, she says. “If you want to get technical, the steps of quilting are cutting, piecing, sewing, basting — not turkey basting! — putting the layers together, stitching, binding: the individual elements,” she explains. But the quilt is not finished until all three layers are secured by tying them together with yarn or stitching them by hand or machine. “I specialize in adding the stitches, and that is the machine-quilting process,” which adds another layer of artistry, she says. While some use a long arm quilting machine to sew the three layers together, Christa teaches quilters how to sew them on their home, or “sit-down,” machines, using walking-foot or free-motion techniques.
Some people never finish the entire process, and that’s where Christa believes she can help. “People get stuck,” she says. “They fold up their quilt, and they put it in the closet, and they never touch it because they don't know what to do.” Planning is the key to getting past quilter’s block, she explains. “You can deviate from your plan, and your final product may not look at all like your original plan, and that's OK. But by planning in the beginning, it takes away that stress.”
People worry about perfection, she says. “They're afraid to mess it up,” she says, so she espouses being “perfectly imperfect.”
“‘What if my stitches don't line up? What if my stitches don't all look the same?’ My whole philosophy — and I teach this — is that it doesn't have to be perfect to be functional and beautiful, and I always say, if you don't like the way your stitches look, add more stitches! It will hide the imperfections. It will hide the mistakes,” she says.
Christa wants quilters to enjoy the process. “I'm not really teaching them anything new,” she says. “I'm just giving them permission to make a mistake. You have to get them over that initial hesitation of being afraid to take the first stitch.” Even if the points don't line up, and the seams are not perfect, a larger quilt will still keep you warm, she says as a reminder. “It's still a functional item, and I love that. I love the utility of it.”
Another reason Christa loves quilting is because it’s linear. “It’s hard to mess up a square!” she says. “You take geometric shapes — squares, triangles, circles, hexagons, any type of geometric shape — and you figure how to puzzle those shapes together to create a new composition,” she says.
Those geometric shapes are the hallmark of her modern style and the basis for her quilting patterns as well as her fabric designs for Benartex as part of its urban, modern Contempo Studio line. “I've always been attracted to, like, bright, shiny, sparkly, loud, obnoxious — just color, a riot of color,” she says. She combines those vibrant colors with repeated geometric shapes to achieve her fabric designs, which are available through her website, as well as her books, patterns, thread collections, and free tutorials.
“I tried to be the teacher that I needed,” she says. “My target quilter is me. I want to make a million quilts, and I need the supplies. I need the fabric. I need the thread. I need the sewing machine. I need the patterns to follow. I want to explore all there is in quilting, and it's not there, so I have to create it so that I can explore it.”
“The nice thing about quilting is if you can dream it, you can do it,” Christa continues. “There’s millions of different quilters, there's millions of different styles. That's what I love about it — because there's something for everyone.”
For more information, visit christaquilts.com.
WHAT: Brazos Bluebonnet Quilt Guild’s 33rd Quilt Show: A World of Color
WHEN: Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18, 2022
WHERE: Brazos County Expo Center, 5827 Leonard Road, Bryan
ADMISSION: $10; free for active or retired military and children under 12. DETAILS: An adjudicated quilt show; a trunk show and two presentations by guest speaker Christa Watson, Christa Quilts; a quilt raffle; vendors; door prizes; Go Texan quilt selection; quilts for sale; raffle baskets; quilt appraisals by AQS certified appraiser Denise Barotsh ($55); and more.
For more information, visit bbquiltguild.org.
The Brazos Bluebonnet Quilt Guild
The Brazos Bluebonnet Quilt Guild was founded in 1985 by a small group of women interested in quilts and quilting. Its current membership includes more than 100 active and honorary members. The nonprofit’s mission is to educate its members and the public about quilts and quilting and to support deserving charities. Its monthly meetings and workshops, which include nationally and locally recognized speakers, provide information on history, techniques, materials, and other aspects of the art form. Each year, the Care Quilt Committee coordinates the donation of time and resources to create care quilts that comfort to both children and adults that are distributed within the community to local organizations such as Phoebe's Home, The Prenatal Clinic, St. Joseph's Cancer Center, and Hospice Brazos Valley. The organization provides $1,000 college scholarships to two Brazos County high school seniors every year. The Quilt-Ed Project educates youth about the history of quilting and quilting as a learning tool and art form. Lectures by a guild member and hands-on activities are available to teachers as a fun resource activity. Demonstration booths are set up at Washington-on-the-Brazos and Booneville Days.
The Brazos Bluebonnet Quilt Show is the organization’s primary fundraising event. At the last show in 2019, more than 150 quilts were displayed, including judged entries and special exhibits. This year’s attendees may shop at the Guild Store, which offers goods made and donated by members and numerous vendors who also participate in the show.
For more information, visit bbquiltguild.org.
