Chelsa Barton | Modern Longarmer in Kaysville, Utah

By: Razi B., Special to the: Hill Farms News

If you’re up early enough in Kaysville, you might just catch a glimpse of Chelsa--sneaking down to her sewing studio before the rest of the house wakes up. The room is bathed in soft morning light, bolts of fabric are stacked like candy, and in the middle sits “Fiona,” her sleek Innova longarm quilting machine, waiting to turn quilt tops into showstoppers.

Chelsa’s love affair with quilting started back in 2003, when she was living in Gilbert, Arizona and working non-stop. Her mom called one day, happily bragging about her new quilt group and all her fun “quilty” friends. Feeling inspired (and maybe just a little left out), Chelsa wandered into a local quilt shop—and that was it. “It was a fabric feast,” she laughs. “Not your granny’s prints—modern, beautiful, nothing like I’d ever seen before. I bought a heap, chopped it up that weekend, and made my first modern quilt.”

Since then, quilting has been the thread running through Chelsa’s life—from Utah to Arizona to Las Vegas and back again. Along the way, she served in leadership positions in both the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild, #PHXMQG and the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild, #LVMQG, helping organize events, support fellow quilters, and foster a strong sense of community. Today, she is an active member of the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild, #SLMQG, where she continues to connect with other makers and share her passion for the craft.

When she landed in Kaysville—a town she’d never even visited before—she realized she couldn’t find a longarmer she truly clicked with. Her husband, who’d been itching to buy a longarm for years, reminded her she had the biggest room in the house as her sewing space. And just like that, the idea for Colorway Collective began to take shape.

At first, Chelsa’s passion was in curating fabrics, doing the math, and creating unique quilt tops. But the thought of helping other quilters finish their creations—and make their designs truly shine—was too good to pass up. Now, she collaborates with quilters locally and across the country, turning their WIPs and UFOs into beautifully finished heirlooms.

A perfect day in Chelsa’s studio starts before sunrise, with her measuring a quilt top, laying it across Fiona, and dreaming up which edge-to-edge design will make the fabrics sing. “That’s my favorite part,” she says. “Finding elements in the fabric to highlight and suggesting designs that really bring the quilt to life.” Once the kids are off to school, she dives into quilting with sunlight and a 90's hits playlist streaming throughout the studio.

Her quilting style? Playful, modern, precise—and full of personality. Chelsa especially loves making quilts for friends, family, and causes she supports. “Making for others fuels my soul,” she says. “It makes me find time to sew.” And while she doesn’t really have a “least favorite” quilt, she does admit there’s one rainbow-and-low-volume quilt for her daughter that ended up… well… in a ziplock bag. “I just didn’t love it. Maybe someday it’ll have a comeback story!”

Ask her what makes Colorway Collective special, and she won’t give you a sales pitch. “The quilting community is about working together. We all have our own style and our own people who trust us. If you’ve found someone you click with, you’ve found your quilter. I just hope to be that person for my customers.”

Her favorite moment is when the quilting is done, the stitches are checked, and the quilt is unrolled to reveal the design in full. “It’s magic,” she says. “I think about who the quilt recipient may be, and I can’t wait for the customer to see it.”

If she could quilt with anyone—real or fictional—Chelsa wouldn’t pick a famous designer or a historical icon. “My mom,” she says without hesitation. “She’s still teaching me every day. I even joined her quilt group for a retreat recently—it was heaven to just sew together for a few days.”

She also shares one of the biggest surprises that she learned in becoming a longarmer, backing size. The need for extra inches in quilt backing. “At least 8 inches wider and 8 inches longer than the quilt top is a must." It makes such a  difference in getting the tension right and ease of loading your quilt onto the longarm. "I used to feel like it was a waste of fabric, but now I know how important backing size is.”

These days, Chelsa serves local quilters along the Wasatch Front—from Kaysville to Ogden, Layton, Salt Lake City, Bountiful and Lehi —and quilters all over the country through her easy, streamlined mail-in quilting service. Whether you hand-deliver your top or ship it from across the U.S., you can expect the same care, precision, and creative energy.

From that first “fabric feast” in Arizona to a bright, bustling studio in Kaysville, Chelsa’s journey has been stitched together with friendship, creativity, and a love for the craft. At Colorway Collective, she’s ready to help you turn your quilt top into the masterpiece it was meant to be—one joyful stitch at a time.