Sew in Love {with Fabric}: Holiday Magic: More Quilt Inspiration

Ready for more holiday inspiration? Today we're sharing two very different quilts designed by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton. The first quilt, "Garland," is more traditional in color palette and design, and the second, "Sugar Plum," is brighter and more contemporary. We asked Joanie to talk to us about both of these designs; you can read her answers below.

Melanie and Joanie designed "Garland" using the Florentine Christmas collection. Classically elegant, this rich red and green palette is enhanced with metallic gold. The quilt design has a bargello feel that creates a garland effect.

"Garland" by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton; featured in Winter Festival of Quilts 2017

What attracted you to the Florentine Christmas collection?

The rich colors are so Christmasy, and the gold adds a beautiful touch.

Do you have a favorite print within the collection?

The red snowflake print that is in the inner border. I’m always a sucker for good Christmas reds.

Is this a bargello quilt?

It’s reminiscent of a bargello, but it’s assembled in horizontal rows. It’s a nice intermediate quilt with lots of strip quilting and a few hourglass blocks.

What do you like best about the quilt?

I really like the quilt as a whole. Even though it’s assembled in horizontal rows, the vertical rows that are created have a wave effect.

Click here to see the entire Florentine Christmas collection.
Click here to purchase the Garland pattern individually.
Click here to find the Winter Festival of Quilts 2017 magazine or look for it at your local quilt shop.

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Melanie and Joanie's "Sugar Plum" quilt has a completely different look. They used Holly Helgeson's Merry Little Christmas collection, which features teal blue, bright and lime green, and pops of fuchsia. The quilt has a medallion feel but is actually assembled in rows!

"Sugar Plum" by Melanie Greseth & Joanie Holton; featured in Quilty November/December 2017

What do you like about the Merry Little Christmas collection?

We liked that it wasn’t traditional Christmas colors. It’s a cute line with some really fun prints, and we thought it would be interesting to take a more traditional looking quilt and add a little spunk to it.

Do you have a favorite print in the collection?

I really like the dark teal with snowflakes. We weren’t sure it was going to work in the quilt, but it adds such a nice weight to the half-square triangles, and then we repeated it as the outer border.

How did this quilt come together?

It has the feel of a medallion quilt but it’s not really. We felt that twist made it less traditional. The quilt includes many different blocks, which came about organically. Once we’d established the medallion center and the framed outer edge, we wanted to add more interest so it wasn’t so plain. That’s how we got to the trailing four-patch blocks.

What’s your favorite block in the collection?

The electric fan (curved pinwheel blocks with white). It gives such a good visual to the spin of the blocks because of the curve. People are often scared of curved piecing, but the Drunkard’s Path units in this block aren’t scary.

What do you like best about the quilt?

I love how all the blocks work together to create a playful quilt, but at the same time, each block is interesting on its own.

Click here to see the entire Merry Little Christmas collection.
Click here to purchase the Sugar Plums pattern individually.
Click here to find the November/December 2017 issue of Quilty magazine or look for it at your local quilt shop.