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I love that pattern play with Tulip Tango has started with a couple of my favorite patterns, Ring Around the Posies (on the previous post) and MOD FLOWER BOX! I mocked this up awhile ago to figure out a kit for the Shipshewana Quilt Festival to make for a workshop I am teaching there this summer. This first one is the version they picked and I love it! The tulip fabric on cream has such a pretty look and I really love the Love Butterfly print in the collection and used that for the outer border and inner pink border.  I think this version with Cranberry Dotty Thatched paired with Burgundy regular Thatched (#60) is also striking. The reds are rich and dramatic. This version is showing an option I have on the Mod Flower Box pattern, which is to put a subtle difference in the background fabric on the curves. This gives the curves that "boxed in" look, thus the BOX in the name. But how about those greens and grays? The mood of these deep colors change when paired with the Dotty Thatched in Sprig and Chartreuse. The cream center still keeps the colors crisp and clear while having that springy border or growing greens to compliment the leaves.  And a Dotty Thatched Shadow border is softened by the larger Gravel colored outer border. Combined with Washed Linen background and highlighted backgrounds for the curves in cream, this version feels serene and meditative. How about more prints? Those big tulips in the big border perhaps? Or the Tiny Tulips? When the outer border has a busier print, I think it is good to separate that with a regular or dotty Thatched smaller border. This gives my eye a place to rest for a moment and clearly defines the spaces without overwhelming with print on print. Another version of the "boxed in" flowers with Burgundy Thatched against the Cranberry Dotty Thatched background.  This last one has a warm energy with the earthy linen color mixed with the pinks and shadow grays. I hope you find a version that speaks to you! One of the fun things about this pattern is that it uses curves but not too many, so it is great for those who are feeling a little afraid to try curved piecing. This is an easily manageable amount of curves and only a quarter curve vs a half or full circle. The pattern includes a paper template, but I am also a big fan of the Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler for making my curved quilts. I'll be doing a workshop at Shipshewana this summer with the top version of MOD FLOWER BOX or the all-Thatched version. The class is sold out, but I will also be doing some demonstrations in the shop with the Circle Savvy Ruler so if you are there, please stop by to say Hi! I think there are a few spots left in the Tightrope class!  I am honored to be in the company of these other designers and quilters at the festival! I've learned a lot from watching Amanda Murphy with her Bernina longarm (which is the one I have with qmatic) and am very excited to meet her in person. I am so pleased to know Devon and Melody from my shows with Moda Fabrics and look forward to more time at this event!  MOD FLOWER BOX can be made with Fat Eighths, Fat Quarters, Charm Packs or Layer Cakes. Check your local quilt shop for the pattern or visit www.RobinPickensINC.com if they don't have it. This is the all-Thatched version:  Hope to see you at Shipshewana and I hope you have fun with TULIP TANGO in MOD FLOWER BOX!
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In my newsletter I asked what quilt people wanted to see mocked up in Tulip Tango and RING AROUND THE POSIES was a clear winner!! I will be showing more quilt mockups in this fabric line but here is RING AROUND THE POSIES to explore with the Tulip Tango collection.  Lets start with the Dotty Thatched Cream background and Love Butterflies in the corners (in Tulip color). Classic reds on cream looks crisp and bright. When I use the Dotty Thatched background in Washed Linen with Cream corners it has a soft and romantic look. I would definitely want to snuggle up under this one!  This is the same Dotty Thatched Washed Linen with more of the Grays from the collection. I've used Love Butterfly in Shadow for the corners. I've also used more gray strips for leaves and flowers with the pinks still prominent for the flowers. One thing to point out here is that I've used a different fabric for the interiors of the flowers to give them a little more pop. This is Dotty Thatched in Cream and if you use a different fabric inside the flowers like this, you need a 1/4 yard of fabric for those.  Here I've used the lighter interiors again but sticking to more reds in the collection. The background is Dotty Thatched 118 in Cranberry with corners in Dotty 202 Tulip.  A little darker background is regular Thatched Burgundy 60. I am using the background color inside the flowers too and the main Tulip print 48710-19 in Cranberry for quilt corners.  One last one...dramatic night time garden with Thatched Soft Black 152 as the background color and Dotty Thatched 48715-117 in Shadow for quilt corners. Those colors glow against the Soft Black background! I love using the Swirling Leaves print as my bindings because it gives it a free flowing striped look.  Are you ready to make RING AROUND THE POSIES in Tulip Tango? I am trying to decide between the two washed linen versions. If you are looking for the pattern, please check your local quilt shop to see if they have it. You can also find it at my shop at ROBIN PICKENS INC. More mock ups to come...how about MOD FLOWER BOX next?  I had not shared my new quilts yet on this blog that I designed for Tulip Tango! The rush of November swirled into the holidays so quickly and with deadlines for fabric lines and calendar artwork added in, I somehow overlooked that. So it is the New Year and time to get back to some more sharing!  The Xs on this quilt make me think of cross stitch and a criss cross motion. And x's and o's make me think of hugs and kisses. So Criss Cross Kisses it is! This quilt is a fun play of both solid and "outlined" Xs with a variety of fabrics making up each X.  There are a lot of opportunities to play with the groupings of color or light and dark with these blocks. I liked separating the Outlined Xs below into cream/linen and gray halves. I then wanted the grays all grouped around the center X. I kept all my Xs in the Red/Pink families. By grouping light and dark halves, you create interesting shapes (like a chunky plus sign) within the overall layout.  In contrast, the Queen bed sized (and it is shown here on a king so you can see it can also work on that size mattress) is made with more random placement of colors. But again, I kept Xs within a color family each for this one.  This quilt can use Fat Eights (for lap) or Fat Quarters (for Queen) of fabric to make the pieces or you can use a Layer Cake(s). I used the Fat Eighths/Fat Quarters instead of Layer Cakes so I could group my colors specifically (the Layer Cakes will give you a slightly scrappier look). On the lap sized quilt (which is 63 1/2" square) you need 20 F8. I used 10 in red fabrics, 4 in linen fabrics, 4 in gray fabrics, then another 2 from the gray family for the outer border triangles. On the queen sized quilt you need 27 Fat Quarters and I selected 13 red, and a mixture of black, linen and green for the other 14 for the outline Xs and border triangles. If you use a Layer Cake, one will work for the lap and two are needed for the Queen. You can even use Fat Sixteenths on these- double the number of F8 or 4x the number of FQ to do so.  For this pattern you are using stitch and flip corners on those outline Xs and reusing parts for the corner backgrounds. Similarly, the big sold Xs cut those corners off but I didn't want them wasted. I challenged myself to think of ways of integrating the leftover corners that were cut off. That is how the little arrow heads that play in the sashings work their way into this quilt. They give more direction and size contrast within the quilt while adding little pops of those big X colors throughout in little ways.  With the strong diagonal directions of the pieces, I thought the border including arrow heads of a larger size was a nice balance. On the lap quilt, it reminds me of a compass of North, South, East and West.  This pattern design idea was actually started back when I first designed my Dear Mum patterns. It has been rumbling around in my head for awhile and I'm happy to see it finally come to life. Sometimes things need to develop over time and this is one of them. The lap quilt was pieced by Susan Strumpf and the queen by me. I longarmed both and used the Leafarama pantograph by Keryn Emmerson and Whirlwind by Wildflower Quilting/Karen Farnsworth.  Criss Cross Kisses is up in the shop in digital pdfs and printed patterns. Tulip Tango fabric should arrive in shops in approximately May 2022. Check the next blog post if you are interested in seeing it mocked up in Carolina Lilies (thanks Mom for your special request for that!)   For years, tulips have been my favorite flower. They have such elegant long stems and leaves. A group of tulip stems, with buds not yet opened, arching over in a gentle curve, creates a lovely sight. I’m fascinated by how they can be so pretty in the simplest of shapes with a single color, or have big multicolored and striped petals with ruffled and fringed edges. I am so happy to share some images of the new group coming in Spring 2022, Tulip Tango.  Imagine those flowers saying, “it is time to put on our flowing dresses and dance”. And not just any dance, but one where they are the star of the show in rich color and graceful, dramatic shapes. Big luscious blooms in the main prints show off on cream/linen, cranberry, olive/chartreuse green, princess pink and the dark shaddow gray.  The little dots that are in the backgrounds of the main prints also found their way into my Thatched backgrounds, making a new "Dotty Thatched" that has a little extra layer of whimsy and play. Those dots carry through into little bits of background in the paisley print, love butterflies with tulilps, tiny tulips and swirling leaves coordinates.    Here is a peek at the paisley print with arcs of tulips blooming inside the shapes. The swirling leaves, seen in the center of the tulip block above, mimics the graceful arch of stems and those long elegant leaves. I love using the swirling leaves on bindings where I cut it across the leaves to give an organic striped look to the edges of the quilt.  With tulip fabric, I had to design a tulip quilt! These blocks are my samples to try out my long leaves and stitch-and-flip blooms. I'll share more pictures in the next post of this Tulip Season quilt design. The other new quilts are called Tightrope and Criss Cross Kisses.  Normal mix of precuts coming: Layer Cake, Charm Pack, Jelly Roll, Mini Charms, Fat Eighth and Fat Quarter bundles. Each of my three new quilt patterns can use a Layer Cake vs the Fat Quarters or Jelly Roll they are specified with. And of course yardage for backgrounds. The Dotty Thatched in cranberry, shaddow, chartreuse, sprig, washed linen and cream match the color families of regular Thatched in those shades. That also means that the Thatched 108" widebacks of cream, washed linen and shaddow are a perfect match for quilt backings.   Tulip Tango will be shipping from Moda Fabrics to quilt shops in Spring of 2022, hopefully in April. Just in time for springtime blooming!
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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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