Monday, July 24, 2017

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.



Our website features a few free quilt patterns using Jackie's collection.
First, Festive Cardinals & Ornaments by Heidi Pridemore (you choose which panel and border print to use!) 
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

Festive Runners by Jackie Robinson (again, you choose which panel to use!). Pattern includes table runner, queen-size bed runner, and placemats. 
Click here to download the free quilt pattern.


Jackie has a variety of patterns using A Festive Season on her website as well. Click here to see all of Jackie's A Festive Season patterns.

Ornamental Ornaments

Jackie also designed a 4-month block of the month pattern, A Festive Tree BOM:

Dancing with the Stars:


Click here to see the entire A Festive Season collection.
Click here to find the free patterns for this collection.
Click here to visit Jackie's website and see more of her patterns.
Click here to see Jackie's coordinating embroidery collection.





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9 comments:

  1. Such a beautifully classic collection! What fun to sew with this!

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  2. This is a gorgeous fabric collection!

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  3. I love Christmas fabrics and these are absolutely beautiful,

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  4. Love the ornamental ornaments pattern!

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  5. I had the pleasure of seeing cardinals in person when I visited my grandchildren years ago in NJ. They are not native to the West Coast. Just drool over that fabric.

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  6. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.netJuly 26, 2017 at 10:43 AM

    beautiful fabric

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