I mentioned the other day that my Mom changed her mind about doing Criss Cross Kisses in Carolina Lilies and now was wondering about either Kyoto Steps or Tokyo Terrace using that fabric collection. I took a little break this week to mock up some versions for her (and for you) to see...what if....? I broke the collection out into red or teal color groupings, just like I had made color families for these quilts before. I like the cohesiveness of telling that big color story. For Tokyo Terrace, I assumed the little squares are accomplished with a Charm Pack of Carolina Lilies with yardage used of the big prints. Even with these warm red tones, I liked the accent of the Carolina Lilies on aqua background for a couple of the big panels to tie in the aqua and teal colors in the little blocks. The big prints here are the Carolina Lilies main print 48700 in cream 11 and aqua 19, Boho Blooms on Ruby 48701-12, Little Drawings 48703-13 Coral, Vines in Coral 48704-13, and Dashed 48705-14 Peach. Background Thatched Cream 48626-36. These are the exact same interior fabrics but I added the Thatched Ruby 48626-191 as the background to the top and bottom of the quilt instead of Cream. I kept the Cream for the sashings within the middle body. I love the burst of rich red color on the big background spaces. Here is the teal/aqua/green group. I used the Main Carolina Lilies 48700 in Cream 11 again but this time paired with the deeper Teal background, 21. Other panels are Boho Blooms on Teal 48701-21, Vines in Teal 48704-20 and Grass 17, and Dashed 48705-11 Cream. Background Thatched Cream 48626-36. The same prints as above but with a background fully out of Thatched 48626-199 Lagoon. Let's compare with Kyoto Steps. For this quilt pattern I use six 1/2 yard cuts of fabrics (for the twin size). I use the larger floral to the middle, with the coordinates stepping out to top and bottom in thinner and thinner rectangles. This is shown with Carolina Lilies main print 48700 in cream 11, Boho Blooms on Ruby 48701-12, Ferns 48702-14 Peach, Little Drawings 48703-13 Coral, Vines in Coral 48704-13, and Thatched 48705-191 Ruby. Background Thatched Cream 48626-36. This version on the Ruby Thatched background 48626-191 uses the Carolina Lilies main print 48700-11 cream, Boho Blooms on Cream 48701-11, Ferns 48702-14 Peach, Little Drawings 48703-13 Coral, Vines in Coral 48704-13, and Dashed 48705-14 Peach. This teal/green combo on Thatched Cream 48626-36 background has Carolina Lilies 4870019 Aqua (love the Aqua!), Boho Blooms on Teal 48701-21, Vines in Grass 48704-17 and Cream/Grass 11, Dashed 48705-19 Aqua, and Thatched 48626-199 Lagoon. For fun, I tried the same mixture on Chartreuse Thatched 75 and I really like how it could look with the thinnest horizontal sashings in Cream and a couple of the vertical sashings in cream, like accent lines that add a little sparkle and added dimension! I hope you have enjoyed a little PATTERN PLAY today and are visualizing some fun with Carolina Lilies! You can find Kyoto Steps and Tokyo Terrace patterns at many quilt shops and they are also availalbe in print and digital formats from robinpickensinc.com
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It's finally here! Carolina Lilies has made it through the supply chain obstacle course and arrived in quilt shops! Yay! I'm so ready to do some more sewing with those peach, ruby, green, aqua and teal colors. What to do? Well, my dear Mother asked me what I would recommend if she wanted to make Criss Cross Kisses in Carolina Lilies. So of course I had to mock it up! I've mocked these up in the 63 1/2" lap size quilt. These first ideas use Fat Eighths of fabric. Carolina Lilies has a sweet little print of tiny vines in a white on cream which would be lovely as the background. But the Thatched Cream is a great match too. I've kept the idea of the red Xs and doing a split light and dark outline X with the inside halves in teals and the outsides in the lighter green/cream colorways. The fabrics I've used here in the Fat Eighths are the Carolina Lilies main prints 48700-11, 14, 21, Boho Blooms 48701-11, 12, 21, Ferns 48702-11, 12, Little Drawings 48703-13, Vines 48704-11, 13, 17, 20, Dashed 48705-11, 12, 14, 21, Thatched 48626-191, 193, 199. I also think this looks nice on a dark background and using Thatched Soft Black would be very dramatic. The same colors are in the top image on dark. The bottom image uses more greens and aquas from the collection with only a red interior and outer triangles. But what if you are using a Layer Cake? The mix of fabrics is a little more varied and there are not as many reds to do all red Xs. But it still looks great with a scrappier red/green/aqua look. On the bottom of the Layer Cake mockups I flipped the teal and red families so the solid Xs are green/teal and the surrounding outline Xs are reds. Subtle differences but fun to see. What IF we tried a background color that is unexpected? Here is Thatched Green Curry 177 and it gives this such an interesting vibe! Colors and their combinations give such strong personalities to quilts. Have fun exploring Criss Cross Kisses with a new fabric grouping! Check your local quilt shop and happy sewing!
Criss Cross Kisses Quilt pattern can also be found at my online shop RobinPickensInc.com Did you know a lot of my florals live on both fabric AND calendars? I've been creating artwork for Sellers Publishing for over 10 years! And I love it when a fabric line floral from Moda Fabrics also makes it as my cover girl! These are a couple of my crossover favorites. Painted Meadow coneflowers and big fat bumble bees were on the 2020 wall calendar and the 2021 daily calendar. Sweet Peas from 2019 became my Sweet Pea & Lily collection in sweet purple shades. This year's 2021 wall calendar had my sunflowers from my Moda Solana collection blooming brightly! I also had a fabric panel with the Helen Keller quote about sunflowers that is the first image in the calendar. And a little Carolina Lily beauty to look forward to this October. These lilies should be arriving in quilt shops this November. What a lovely way to enjoy the fall season! Just in case you didn't see it, Calendar Club Canada has a giveaway that closes tomorrow. You have an opportunity to win a 2022 daily calendar and a Sew Happy tote or zipper pouch and charm pack of Carolina Lilies! Hop over to their
facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CalendarClub/ or instagram @calendarclubca to enter! I am often a "transitional" quilter (or you could call it modern traditionalism)- relating to sewing between traditional quilters and modern quilters. I love to make more traditional quilts, but I also enjoy how modern quilts can allow you to express your creativity in a different way! For some people, modern design can be a bit intimidating. They may only know of more improvisational modern quilting and not have comfort with improv. However, modern quilting doesn't have to be difficult or intimidating. You also don't have to use a complicated pattern to get that modern look. To help you embrace the modern quilter that is within you, I am sharing one of my easy modern quilt patterns which creates a stunning quilt with tools that you have on hand and no matter what fabric you choose to use! I enjoy a modern quilt design that is not overly complicated. In fact, I often feel a simpler, pared down design will have a more modern feel. I wanted to come up with a modern quilt that would allow you to easily create with fabrics you may have on hand, utilizing scraps, yardage, or even precuts (and precuts as small as a 5" square Charm Pack). I combined curves and squares into striking modern blooms in this geometric garden. This is Mod Flower Box, ready to bloom upon your wall! I'm showing two versions of this modern quilt in these photos. You can see how it still has a striking composition whether done in all solid fabrics or a combination of prints. This version on the chair is made with Carolina Lilies. This collection is scheduled to ship to shops in November 2021 and features spotted lilies, paisley prints, vines and ferns. Rich teal and green colors mix with spicy reds and peach tones reminiscent of my Painted Meadow collection. I chose to keep the background a dark soft black so there is high contrast with the colors and they really pop! I like to see the different ways that light and dark colors change up a quilt (keep reading for a lighter version below). The wall/lap quilt in Carolina Lilies uses Thatched Soft Black 152 for the background and borders in Thatched Lagoon 199 (the teal color) and Dashed lines 48705-21 in Teal. The flowers and leaves are made from one Charm Pack of 5" squares. You can also use a Layer Cake of 10" precut squares and cut them in half both, horizontally and vertically. Another option for making this quilt is using Fat Eighths. My favorite version of this modern quilt is the one that looks like solid fabrics. It is actually using Thatched basics for the fabric. I've paired a use of bold colors with this subtle textured fabric to make the hues really stand out in a dramatic way. With the floral groupings all in the center, the outer borders create balance with a more expansive negative space that can be good for specific border quilting or just a breathing space and strong framing device. To get the look of these graphic areas of solid color, I've used a mix of 14 Fat Eighths, with 9 for flowers and 5 for leaves. For this version, I wanted to emphasize the corners and really play with the spaces left from the curved blocks by "boxing in" the flowers. That is where the name Mod Flower BOX comes in (plus the extra outer border). The background is made with Thatched Chalkboard Scribbles 187 with curves and inner border using Soft Black 152. The flower and leaf blocks use a mixture of Blizzard 150, Washed Linen 158, Toast 156, Gray 85, Early Dawn 122, Sugar Rose 127, Citrus 123, Clementine 138, Fuchsia 62, Green Curry 177, Sunlit 142, Grass 197, Dewdrop 143 and Brook 198. There are two different sizes of Mod Flower Box. The wall/lap size is 51" square with borders. If you choose to not have borders for a smaller wall quilt, the inner part is 34 x 34". The large quilt sized 78" square, uses 4 units of the rotated Mod Flower Boxes. Depending on which quilt size you choose, the Mod Flower Box pattern can be made with a Charm Pack or Fat Eighths for the wall/lap size or with a Layer Cake (or 4 Charm Packs) or Fat Quarters for the large size. I am planning on starting this lighter color version of Mod Flower Box, probably with a Washed Linen background or maybe Sandcastle 157 flipped to the backside and accent corners for curves in Blizzard 150. Speaking of colorways, this is actually one of my favorite things about this quilt design! You could create your own quilt top in almost any color scheme! For instance, you could use solid colors, different styles of fabric within a particular color palette, ombre fabrics, or simply your favorite colors. Color always gives me a new way to look at modern quilt designs. Needless to say, the color choices you have are absolutely endless! I've made lots of quilts with curved corners and I DO include a paper template you can work from in the pattern (or pattern downloads if you buy the pdf file version). I do prefer to use a specialty ruler for doing curves and know of a number of them. I usually go to my trusty Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler since it has every size I want and I know I will get a really good result cutting with these! I note which slots in the pattern if you have this ruler too. Since we are talking about curved corners, many beginner quilters stay away from modern quilts due to ''sewing curves''. I took this fact into consideration, so if you are new to curves, this is a great pattern to try since it only uses quarter circles vs half or full circles! Quarter circle curves are not very hard and I'd suggest making a practice quilt block or two first and then go for it! I love the look of curved blocks- so soft and curvy and gentle. They are a fun thing to experiment, plus, it will make you more confident in your quilting skills! So, if you are ready to take a break from traditional quilts and want to create your very first modern style quilt, then the Mod Flower Box is a great place to start!
Above I have included additional information on quilting materials and specifications. However, since this is only a blog post, I highly recommend that you check out my shop to learn more about this fun quilt pattern! If you are interested in the pattern, it is up in my shop at RobinPickensInc.com! In May, virtually we started showing the lines that would have been at a spring Quilt Market. I am happy to share my Carolina Lilies that will be shipping in November. This line started as I was thinking about my mom who loves day lilies and I know she has been waiting so patiently for me to do some with warm happy colors. She always had a mix of yellow, orange and red day lilies in her garden and I particualarly liked the ones with spots. When I saw the Carolina Lilies and their dramatic colors and big speckled petals and curved back cap shapes, I knew they were the ones! The curve of the petals, and the hanging stamen remind me of twirling dancers with their elegant legs and ballet slippers. I've added graceful ferns, lacy leaves and a painted paisley to accompany the spotted florals. The colors for this line are Ruby, Peach, Grass and Aqua, with a few pops of Teal. It is a similar palette to the Painted Meadow Coneflower palette. The teals, greens and aqua especially correlate strongly with Painted Meadow. The selvage quote is from Dolly Parton and says "Wildflowers don't care where they grow." Dolly Parton has given so much to research and vaccine development for Coronavirus. She is a fabulous example of a beautiful, creative and strong presence with the spirit of giving to others. Thank you Dolly! With Carolina Lilies, we have five new Thatched colors to complement the collection. I am especially smitten with the deep red of the Ruby color. I'm happy to say that with wideback Thatched fabrics, the Seafoam, Cream, and Pine are wonderful compliments to a Carolina Lily quilt top. I had a great time playing around with some existing patterns with these new fabrics. I used Emilia and love how the half square triangles and border look in both Thatched Soft Washed Black and the tone on tone cream of little vines and leaves from Carolina Lilies, as well as in the Ruby Thatched border with Toast Thatched triangles. I've also redone Blockstep in this new line and use Thatched seafoam, soft black, washed linen, pebble and greenery as some of the accent colors for the light and dark versions. A new pattern for this group is Mod Flower Box. I'm showing this in both Carolina Lilies and in all Thatched. The Thatched version uses Fat Eights of fabric. The Carolina Lilies version uses yardage for the background with a single charm pack. The pattern has a template for making the quarter circle blocks but I usually use the Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler for cutting my curves. This is a wall or lap quilt and if you want to leave the outer border off, it can work on smaller wall surfaces or as a table topper. This unit can also be grouped with four units to make a bed sized quilt. On the Thatched version, I've used the darker Soft Black for the background and pared it with the Chalkboard Scribbles fabric for the bigger background. I like how this emphasizes the corners on the circles. Carolina Lilies should be shipping to shops in November. Due to the world events with the pandemic and the shortage of shipping containers, there have been delays in the past year for deliveries. Every effort is made to get things shipped on time but things happen and there are only so many resources and containers. Just know that we are all trying as hard as we can to make it happen. Your patience is appreciated so much!! Now, back to summer and graduations and designing new lines and working with new arrivals. Happy summer. Stay safe. Stay calm. Enjoy each day.
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About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals for Moda fabrics. Modern to transitional quilt designer. Illustrator, sewist, crafter. I am proud to be a designer for Moda Fabrics!
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