Since Chris is a New Englander, we have a lot of fun discussing Moxie and Whoopie Pies! He has been very helpful in answering ALL my questions and was instrumental in my success at my first event. He is a great quilter and an even better friend.
Artist Statement
Not being a modern quilter, this was a challenge in every aspect. I chose my inspiration from a quilt by Linda Warren Designs and her Learning Curve Ruler.
The challenge was blacks and whites with an optional color. I tried to use gradient shades to develop a 3D style. As you stand back from the quilt it changes your perspective.
I quilted it on my HQ Infinity 26 with ProStitcher with some design elements done on ProStitcher Designer Software. It has 3oz wool batting from Winline Textiles which is my go to batting. The threads used in the quilting at all So Fine 50wt from Superior Threads.
Get to Know Chris
Chris Sousa was artistic from a young age. He started as a professional photographer in the early 80’s and then worked in various aspects of the environmental industry for 30 years. After making his first quilt, he decided that he wanted a change and began to study textile history, color theory, art theory, and art history. To bring his art studies into the longarm realm, he learned how to digitize longarm quilting designs.
This quilt-life journey started 10 years ago when he decided to make a gift for his wife, a quilt for their bed. He wrote down some directions and dug out his vintage sewing machine and made his first quilt, a 120” x 128” kaleidoscope pinwheel quilt, tied, not quilted. Chris’s second quilt was a 96” x 96”, Loyal Union Sampler quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. He felt that any quilt with 121 blocks deserved to be custom quilted, so he purchased his first longarm, a HQ Infinity™ with Pro-Stitcher™. Using the basic training he received from his retailer, he jumped right into quilting his sampler, entered it at AQG and won an award! He’d found his passion for longarm quilting and started his quilting business, CS Quilt Design Studio.
Chris and his wife, Pattie, recently moved to Arizona where he relocated his business and started quilting and teaching longarm classes and Pro-Stitcher classes at home and in connection with a local quilt shop. Chris’s advice to quilters, “Find your passion and you find your calling in life.”
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