New Fabric for my Jingle BOM Project: Poinsettia and Holly by Martha Negley for Westminster

Poinsettia & Holly in Holly Green by Martha Negley for Westminster, available HERE from Pink Chalk Fabrics

I changed my mind about the fabric for the large setting triangles and border on my Jingle Block-of-the-Month quilt.  All of the pieced and appliqued blocks for this quilt will be set on point with red setting triangles in this red poinsettia fabric:

Winter Magic Scarlet Poinsettia, Hoffman Fabrics, available HERE from Quiltable Fabrics

and the large center applique medallion is supposed to also be set on point with green setting triangles that match a green outer border, like so:



Jingle BOM as of today, Design and Image by Erin Russek of One Piece At a Time HERE

(The image above is from Erin Russek's blog, One Piece At a Time, and shows all of the blocks that have been released so far.  The white squares will be replaced with additional pieced and appliqued blocks.  All patterns and instructions can be found on Erin's blog HERE).  Back in April when I started this project, I selected the red poinsettia fabric and this green swirl fabric for the setting triangles and borders:

Winter Wonderland Scrolls in Green, Windham, available HERE from Pappy's Quilting

I had thought this scroll pattern would be fun to quilt, but now that I've got about half of the blocks done, I am not loving this shade of anymore.  It's too muted, not at all like the vibrant emerald greens I've been using in the blocks, and there will be an awful lot of this fabric in the finished quilt.  So it goes into the stash, put away for another project on another day.

I found this Martha Negley Poinsettia & Holly, Holly Green fabric at Pink Chalk Fabrics and I think it's going to be much better -- I hope!  I love the red berries, since there are so many little red applique berries in the blocks, and similar to how my red poinsettia fabric reads as a solid from a distance, I think this holly fabric reads as a solid green with random red polka dots from a distance, so hopefully these fabrics won't compete with my pieced and appliqued blocks.  I'll be able to tell for sure once I receive the yardage and I can lay everything out on the table.  In the meantime, I did a little mock-up in my interior design software to try to get an idea of how the quilt will come together:

VERY Rough Idea of How My Jingle Quilt Might Look

That's a VERY rough mock-up, because nothing is to scale, and the green holly print fabric is WAY out of scale.  I also purchased enough yardage of the Natural colorway in this print so I can use it for the backing and/or swap out the large green setting triangles if I feel like there's too much green once all the blocks are completed.

I really like this fabric in both colors, so if I end up not using either one of them in this quilt I won't mind stashing them away for something else. 

Meanwhile, I'm way behind on the blocks for this project.  I have two appliqued blocks, the large center applique medallion, and one more pieced block before I'm caught up.  I've been trying to get better organized with this project, so I'm working on prepping all of the applique shapes on my kitchen counter and sorting them into little ziplock bags that I can grab and take with me on the go.  I didn't get much sewing of any kind done this week because Anders' had his sleepover birthday party last night (didn't get much SLEEPING done, either!) and we've been getting ready for school with supply lists, trying on clothes that don't fit anymore, etc. 

I never know how to END these posts, you know?  So how about this:

 

THE END

Princess Petunia Likes her Dresden Plates!

My Niece with her New Quilt

My sister finally sent pictures of the little princess with her new "covers!"  I don't know whether she'll give up the raggedy, disintegrating baby quilt, but at least she likes the new Dresden plate quilt that I made for her.  Who could resist that big, happy smile?  You can find posts about the process for this quilt here.

It also fits the toddler bed well, although I didn't plan it that way, and the colors look great in her bedroom.

So, next project on the horizon?  Well, I have a few things in the works.  I agreed to make a costume for Augustus Gloop in our school's upcoming performance of Willy Wonka Jr.  I'll be working on that this week while the kids are out of school for Spring Break.  Then, I'm dying to get started on this "Jingle" Christmas themed applique Block of the Month using Erin Russek's patterns and instructions for needle-turn applique: 



"Jingle" BOM by Erin Russek of One Piece At a Time, 76" x 76"

I've always admired hand appliqued quilts, but have never attempted one myself before.  Erin's designs are so beautiful, and her tutorials are so thorough, that I have decided this is the right time and the right project to take the plunge.  Somehow, the BOM (Block of the Month) format is less intimidating, too, because when you see a whole quilt full of applique it looks intimidating.  But, one little block?  Surely I can do one little block...  and then hopefully another little block...  You can find Erin's free block pattern downloads and instructions each month on her blog, One Piece at a Time, here.  The 37" square "Miss Kringle" poinsettia, pomegranate and tulip center medallion pattern is available as a PDF download from Erin's Pattern Spot store here for just $10.00, and the project is rated for beginners so you have no excuse not to give it a try!

 

I wanted to keep with the Christmas theme and color scheme of this quilt, especially since I don't know what most of the blocks will look like ahead of time, but I had more difficulty than anticipated sourcing Christmas fabrics at my LQS in March.  Over the weekend, I was delighted to find the perfect fabrics ON SALE from an online quilt shop, Quiltable Fabrics.  This green swirly fabric is going to be used for my large setting triangles and border:

 

Winter Wonderland Scrolls in Green from Windham Fabrics

 

And this FABULOUS poinsettia print is going to be for my smaller setting triangles around each block:

 

Winter Magic Poinsettia in Scarlett from Hoffman Fabrics

 

I also got this gold berry print to use for some of the yellow applique and block pieces:

 

Holiday Splendor Berries in Gold from Hoffman Fabrics

 

I just hope these fabrics work well together in person; sometimes the computer monitor can be a bit off.  Anyway, my plan is to cut or reserve enough fabric for the setting triangles and borders, and then start with the four applique and pieced blocks that have been released so far.  I've already purchased and printed out the center medallion pattern, but I'm going to start small and work my way up to that one.  I should receive the fabrics for Jingle by the end of this week, which gives me added incentive to get that costume sewn up quickly!

 

I also have a Storm at Sea quilt in purples, blues and grays that I'm planning to start once I'm caught up on the Jingle BOM.  I purchased all of the fabrics for that one months ago, and then got sidetracked on other projects.  Stay tuned!