School Girls in Red

Last month, we shared a tutorial from Rebecca using the Lady in Red collection by Ro Gregg. Today we're back with another quilt made from these stunning fabrics, called "School Girls in Red."

"School Girls in Red" by Cathy Miles;
featured in Easy Quilts Summer 2013

You can find the pattern for this dramatic lap quilt in the summer issue of Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts magazine. Below, Cathy Miles shed some light on her block choice, fabric picks and machine quilting. 

Q. Tell us about the School Girl's Puzzle block you used.

Cathy: I was playing with blocks in EQ7 and changing the values of the various pieces, as it often is a surprise when the darks & lights are shifted to different positions. I liked the effect of the 'x' & 'o' that is created when the block direction shifts rather than having them all point one way. The block is one I haven't used much and I was trying to use something traditional in a non-traditional way.

Q. What does this quilt make you think of?

Cathy: While I was making it my name for this quilt was ''Bonnie Jean." The school girl theme and roses had me humming the song from ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,'' which starts with ''Jean, Jean, roses are red..."

Q. What attracted you to the Lady in Red collection?

Cathy: The combination of black, white and red have a lot of appeal, and I have wanted to design a quilt in this color group for a while. I liked the variety of florals in the group: big roses, little roses, roses on black, roses on white, plus a few geometrics for contrast.

Q. Do you have a favorite print from Lady in Red?

Cathy: The big red on red roses used for the border.

Q. What do you like best about the quilt?

Cathy: A few things: I like the balance of this quilt, how the blocks make 'x' & 'o' designs, and how the contrasting sashing frames the blocks without interrupting the flow of the design.

Q. What prompted you to design the quilt?

Cathy: I wanted a cozy throw for the couch. The colors in my living room are very low key and after the Christmas decorations are packed away, it can look pretty blah. This made a nice transition for those gloomy winter days when a little drama and color seems like a welcome change.

Q. Tell us about the machine quilting.

Cathy: I have great fun with the long arm machine, creating designs and generally doing what I call 'driving the big guy.' This one is quilted in a free hand spiral, it fills the space evenly and I used red thread.

p.s. Do you see the "X"s and "O"s that Cathy talks about in her design? Leave a comment telling us where you see them!  

To see the entire Lady in Red collection, click here.
To order a kit for this quilt, click here.
To find the summer 2013 issue of Easy Quilts, click here.