Holiday Designs by Stash Bandit, Part 2
My exceptional longarm quilter said to me recently, “I think everything you do is modern.” I’d commented that I didn’t think of myself as a “modern” quilter, and her response gave me pause. I’ve been (very happily) fielding inquiries from modern quilt guilds, and the truth is that some things I design and make lean toward the modern aesthetic, some are traditional, and some are hard to put into a category.
Oh, Christmas Wreath by Diane Harris; quilted by Julie Lechner @beenquiltin
Today I’m introducing Oh, Christmas Wreath! This design is decidedly modern: solid fabrics, negative space, clean and fresh. Oh, Christmas Wreath appears in the Nov/Dec issue of Quilty, on newsstands now. I hope you’ll grab it when you see it or order it online in paper or digital format.
I’ve had the idea of making a wreath from Bow Ties ever since I designed a bunch of Quiltmaker’s Bitty Blocks in 2015. Bow Ties are so easy to make with stitch-and-flip, and they look great arranged in different ways. I have a bunch of Bow Tie ideas percolating in my head—more on that another time.
I thought the little red accents would suggest berries and make the wreaths into holiday decorations. I played around with how small they could be.
They’re little enough to be cute and still big enough to manage sewing. Once again, the magic of stitch-and-flip comes into play. Incidentally, I don’t think this block is very interesting on its own. It becomes something special when it is set with others like it and some negative space.
My quilts for publication are quilted by Julie Lechner in Grand Island, Nebraska, who can be found on Instagram as @beenquiltin. Julie is a real pro and I’d trust her with anything I pieced.
Oh, Christmas Wreath was quilted by Julie Lechner @beenquiltin
She’d have no trouble deciding what to quilt on any given piece, but we usually brainstorm together on how to quilt something. I often have a mood in mind or a vague idea and Julie can take that and run with it. Just above you can see the lovely feather designs she quilted in the alternate blocks.
The fabrics in this quilt are Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman. I can always find exactly the right colors because there are 343 to pick from. Can you imagine? That’s extraordinary! If you don’t have one, I recommend getting a Kona color card. I use mine all the time.
You really can’t go wrong with combining a variety of teal and green solids in one quilt. As long as you have enough different hues, it will work. And adding one little accent like the hot pink helps to pull it all together, as does the soft gray in Oh, Christmas Wreath.
In case you wanted to use this color recipe for a different quilt, how about teals and greens with a different accent? Orange!
I’ve designed and made several quilts in solids. One of the first was this rainbow quilt, called Abacus.
A more recent solids quilt was Shell We Dance? Little mermaids with flowing hair, seashells and ocean waves all around.
If modern is your thing, be sure to pick up this issue of Quilty. I have another design inside called Prancer’s Peppermints. Both of these new holiday designs are now part of the Jingle Bells Trunk Show. I’m sharing it with Prairie Quilt Guild in Wichita, Kansas on Dec. 11. Maybe your group would like to have it sometime in 2019 or 2020! Get in touch and Let’s Talk Quilts!
Prancer’s Peppermints by Diane Harris, 55″ x 95″
Get this issue of Quilty when you see it because soon it will be gone, gone, gone!
Thank you for visiting Stash Bandit’s blog!
Tags: Christmas quilts, holiday quilts, jingle bells trunk show, quilty
Toni Arnold
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I bought the last issue on the stand at HyVee. I think of your
designs as modern, too. I second the vote for Julie. PPQ
member.
Reply
Diane Harris
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Hi Toni, thanks for your comment! Julie is great, isn’t she?! I appreciate your visit to Stash Bandit!
Sandi Griepenstroh
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I have a bunch of these “boring bowties” and have been struggling with how to set them! Thank you for this idea! I love it with the negative space! It really would give me areas to showcase my quilting and make the quilt so much more interesting:) Maybe now I will finish it! Is the pattern for the setting in the current issue of Quilty?
Reply
Diane Harris
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Yes Sandi, it’s in the Nov/Dec Quilty, on newsstands now. If you should miss it, you can get it online in print or digital formats. There are links in the post if you need them. Thanks for visiting Stash Bandit! 🙂