24 Quiltmaker• January/February’20
A Charisma-tic Quilter
Charisma Horton has been gracing
us with her cheerful quilt designs for
just a few months, but it seems like
she has been an integral part of The
Quilting Company for longer. Her
cheerful disposition and gorgeous
quilts make her a designer that we
love to work with regularly. Here we
learn a little more about this talented
designer and quilter.
An Introduction
I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, but
moved to the Pacifi c Northwest in
high school. Now I live in a small rural
farming town in central Washington. I
am married to “The Rob” and we have
six children. Most of them have left the
nest now, with just one left at home.
We love animals and hope to some-
day move to North Idaho (the Idaho
panhandle) to live on land with lots of
trees and animals.
I didn’t grow up with a quilter or any-
one that really encouraged my artistic
talent. I pursued that on my own
through teachers and friend groups.
I always wanted to be an artist, I just
didn’t realize I would fi nd my niche as
a quilter.
Now I longarm quilt for Courtney
and Janeane, and I am contributing
to magazines. I am beyond blessed
and feel so humbled. I certainly never
thought all of those tears would lead
to this!The Journey Continues
I am a longarm quilter by trade and
have been quilting for ten years or so.
I have quilted for people all over the
world. It’s been an amazing experi-
ence to work with other quilters and
build those relationships. I just started
designing patterns this past year. My
fi rst publication was with The Quilting
Company in January 2019.
I am also an avid hand stitcher. I create
and design embroidery patterns and
projects. I have a YouTube channel and
I hosted my fi rst retreat last fall. I have
more retreats and classes scheduled
in the future. It’s been fun to see all of
the projects that people create using
the techniques and stitches that I have
taught them. It’s very rewarding.A Quilter is Made
I started quilting in my early 20’s. My
lifelong friend Courtney’s mother,
Janeane, would be stitching little
embroideries and I thought they were
adorable. I asked Janeane if she would
teach me. Once I had a bunch of those
little blocks embroidered, I had to
learn how to sew them together.
I asked my husband’s grandmother
if she would pick up an inexpensive
sewing machine for me while she was
out at yard sales. She said she had
just replaced her old machine and
she would give it to me. I had no idea
what a gem I was getting at the time.
The machine was given to her by her
parents as a wedding gift. It’s all metal
and in a desk. She had it serviced for
me, hauled it over, and I learned how
to quilt. Back then we didn’t have
the internet so I spent a lot of time in
tears with my seam ripper. I would buy
magazines and dream of being able
to make anything featured in them.
I still have those magazines and the
machine.Designer Spotlight
Charisma Horton
You Are Here Spectrum Photos courtesy of Charisma Horton.