Sew in Love {with Fabric}: Christmas in July: A Festive Season

It's the middle of July...the sun is shining...flowers are blooming...

So of course it's the perfect time to start planning for Christmas!

Over the next two weeks, we'll be sharing all things winter holiday related with you. The fabrics are available in stores now, so you can get started on your favorite reindeer, snowflake, or Christmas tree quilt pattern now and be done before the holiday rush begins!

Crank up the air conditioning, pull out your wool hat, and enjoy our Christmas in July series!

Jackie Robinson is back, and with more feathered friends! Her new holiday collection, A Festive Season, features vibrant red cardinals and ornaments nestled among evergreen branches and holly. Touches of metallic gold add an elegant accent, and black and cream serve as background colors, allowing the reds and greens to pop off the fabric.

The panels:

The coordinates:

We asked Jackie to talk to us about A Festive Season:

Why did you decide to feature cardinals and ornaments?

We don’t have cardinals in Montana, but I grew up seeing them in my backyard. Because they’re red, they’re a festive bird. But they also are only in the U.S., so we added in the ornaments to make the fabric appealing worldwide. Also, the cardinals can just be “winter” (as opposed to holiday), and the ornaments add more of a Christmas feel.

Tell us about the cardinal prints.

They’re my favorite. I just love them! The birds are hand painted, and they’re beautifully detailed and shaded. I created embroidery designs from them. One of the prints has the birds spread out, so you can isolate and fussy cut a bird.

I have a bathroom that changes design almost monthly. I now have a beautiful set of cardinal linens, including embroidered towels, inspired by this collection.

Let’s talk about the stripe.

It’s the same stripe formula that I’ve done in the past—one section is 2-1/2” wide, and makes a good binding. Of course there’s the wider section as well. I include little ¼” chunks to be seam allowances. I like the paisley version too. The paisley goes well with both the cardinals and the ornaments.

And the panel?

It features four big blocks and three little ones, for the best of use of space in the panel size. The metallic gold braid around the edges adds interest. There are so many great ways to add metallic accents to designs. The panel blocks are featured in a BOM design (see more below).

Tell us about a few of the prints.

I’ve used a paisley before, but we added some holiday feel to it with holly. Holly is very much an ongoing theme in my holiday fabrics—it works for everyone. We have some holly looking plants here in Montana called Oregon Grape.

I also really like the tonal ornaments—they can be treated like a regular tonal print and used in backgrounds of blocks. I especially like the cream design.