I rarely get through any year without wanting to add to my Christmas Quilt collection. I've already made a couple this year - they'll be popping up in Today's Quilter this autumn - but good things come in threes, yes?
If you subscribe to the newsletter you'll already know that September's £5 PDF pattern of the month is Hazel and it's an ideal candidate for 'christmasification'. My original quilt was made in scrappy Liberty prints on a linen coloured background, but for this version I'm going with traditional red, green and creamy white.
My aim is to keep to just three fabrics: Moda Bella Solid in Porcelain (178), a crisp green Swiss dot and a Provençal-style sprigged red print, both from Fig Tree's Catalina (although my red fabric is actually from an older collection called Avalon) plus a red Swiss dot to bind. I do love a scrappy quilt though, so more prints may creep in! These are not overtly Christmassy fabrics, but have the same folk art feel that I've explored in many of my festive quilts.
I also have a little trick up my (glittery) sleeve for the stems: Christmas ribbon. I have a Berisford Crystal jacquard ribbon in taupe - and also a green on back-order...just in case - which will replace the bias strips and add an extra layer of festive pattern. I've been meaning to try substituting ribbon for bias tape for a while and this is the perfect chance to experiment.
I'll be sharing my progress on Instagram and Facebook, so if you'd like to join me this is what you'll need:-
¾ yd or 10 8½" squares of red
1¼ yds or 20 8½" squares of green
5 yds of jacquard ribbon* 3/8" - ½" (10-15 mm) wide
4¼ yds of background fabric
5 yds fabric for backing
78” x 86” Cotton Batting
¾ yd fabric for binding
Basting glue
{* EDIT: you might want to by a bit extra to practise with}
CUTTING...
Instead of cutting from Fat Quarter or 10" layers, we will be cutting 3 8½" x WOF red strips and subcutting 10 8½" red squares, then 5 8½" x WOF green strips, subcutting 20 8½" green squares.
Follow step 2 of the pattern to cut the background fabric and then omit step 3 and cut 20 x 9" pieces of ribbon. Cut the binding strips as directed in step 4.
PIECING THE HAZELNUT UNITS...
I've finished my cutting, so this weekend I'll be piecing my Hazlenut units and following steps 5-7 to make 20 red units and 40 green units.
I'll share my progress in my next post and show you how to prepare the stem units, using that scrummy jacquard ribbon and my favourite glue-baste technique. So much easier than fiddly pins.
But in the meantime I have some half square triangles to chain piece: my favourite!
Nicola xx