This easy quilt brings warmth and color to your fall home decor. It is a perfect scrappy quilt with modern vibes, fast construction, and comes in two sizes!
Fall Blooms, my newest fall quilt, has just been published in the September 2020 issue of the American Quilter magazine published by the American Quilter’s Society. As pictured above, it measures 66″ x 66″ with 12″ blocks. However, the pattern comes with a queen-size version if you decide to make it for your bed.
This is a great quilt for beginners because you only work with squares and a few half-square triangles. If you are looking for fall perennial flowers to plant, follow the simple instructions in the pattern to create a colorful garden that will bring the fall palette inside your home or a friend’s for a very long time.
You can choose a fabric collection as I did (I worked with the gorgeous fabrics from the Autumn is Calling collection by Timeless Treasures), or you can use all the fall fabrics you have in your stash if ‘scrappy quilter’ are the words after your name in your business card. These rich hues are my favorite! For your fall home decor, this quilt will work well with either prints or solids.
Yes, I have many fall quilts and there is no indication I will ever stop making them. I would like to make four Fall Bloom blocks for a wall hanging for my office. See what I mean?
I like how all the colors popped against the white background. The negative space, a common feature in modern quilts, was the ideal canvas for the quilting motif Melissa Kelly selected for Fall Blooms. Should you choose to quilt your version of Fall Blooms on your domestic machine, try to stitch on the ditch, mark it as a diagonal grid and stitch using larger stitches, or use the stippling stitch.
If you really enjoy free-motion quilting, you can quilt it with leaves as I did on this fall table topper. When I quilt my projects, I do it while humming the Blue Danube melody, which is how I ensure even motion and speed. What is your secret?
Did you notice the placement of the print sashings? It defines the layout with a grid, adding another element to the design. I used a subtle print to emphasize the floral wreaths and to create a cool surprise on the center of the quilt if you focus only on it.
Designing quilts is challenging but fun. Sometimes, unexpected and delightful things appear… Of course, working with quilt design software makes serendipity an almost everyday occurrence! I design all my projects in EQ8, a far cry from when I used paper and pencil, or created the blocks first and played with different layouts on the design wall. These two methods work very well unless quilt design is your full-time job.
You can find Fall Blooms on page 18 of the September 2020 issue of the American Quilter magazine. This issue has other awesome fall projects and articles. You must check it out!
Signing off from California, where I will be working until the first week of September. Have a great day!
Fall Blooms is a really pretty quilt. Thank you for sharing the block. Also, I hand quilt. I have only attempted straight line machine quilting on some dog quilts. Lately though I have been taking my quilts to my neighbor to machine quilt on her big machine.
OH, hand quilting is the best! I did it every Wednesday at a friends house for five years… I miss it so much. I also have been sending my quilts to the quilter – my hands can no longer manouver large projects in my domestic machine. Enjoy your day!