Romance for Two

With the Christmas season over, Valentine's Day is the next  holiday on the calendar. Get started now on this red and white table topper from the February/March issue of The Quilter, and when February 14th rolls around, you'll be ready! Let this quilt set the scene for a night of chocolate, wine and cupids, either for a romantic night with your special someone or chick flicks with your favorite girlfriends.

"Red Rose" designed by Diane Arganbright and Patricia Sue Nelson;
pieced by Patricia Meek and quilted by Shawna Crawford;
pattern featured in The Quilter magazine February/March 2014

Diane and Patty Sue of The Quilting Hen talked about their decadent red and white table topper design:

Q. What attracted you to the Roses are Red collection?

Patty Sue: Red and pink are my two favorite colors.  It is a rare find to have so many beautiful, complimentary shades of these two colors together in one collection.  And who doesn’t love roses?

Q. What’s the challenge/advantage of working with a single color collection like this?

Diane and Patty Sue: The challenge is placing the fabrics in the project so that they maintain their distinct values and do not mush together too much.

The advantage is that you can use all the pieces from the collection without the project becoming too busy or too overloaded with color.

Q. Looking at the first block—it's got such great detail with the pieced ''frame.'' What made you decide to do that as opposed to just using one fabric?

Diane and Patty Sue: We felt that the alternating light/dark strips made a simple block more interesting without adding too much difficulty.  It also gave us the opportunity to incorporate more of the fabrics into the project.

Q. Tell us about your border choices What prompted you to use four borders?

Diane and Patty Sue: We did not set out with four borders in mind. We simply kept working with different options until the quilt seemed complete.  We also liked the optical illusion that four borders give this quilt.  By designing it the way that we did, the finished quilt appears to be a rectangle, but is actually a square.

Q. Can you talk about the second block design?

Diane and Patty Sue: We wanted to choose a block design that would showcase the large floral rose piece without cutting it up too much and without simply using a large square or triangle in the quilt.  Since we were also thinking of Valentine’s Day when we were designing this project, the block design seemed to be perfect.  It reminded us of the shaft of an arrow, and by placing the blocks in the four strategic places, they appear to be pointing to the center, even without tips.

Q. What do you envision this quilt being used for?

Diane and Patty Sue: This quilt was definitely designed for holiday use.  We see it on a table or at an angle on the back of a davenport or recliner to add festivity.  It is large enough to be used as a picnic or lap blanket by a couple wanting to spend some quality time together.

Q. Can you talk about the quilting that was done on it?

Diane and Patty Sue: Patricia Meek did a fabulous job of piecing this quilt for us.  Her perfectly matched seams keep even the most difficult points sharp.  Her strict attention to proper pressing kept any seam from being visible under the white or light fabric. 

With a flawlessly pieced top, it was easy for our long arm quilter, Shawna Crawford, to create a fabulous design on this project.  Her unique, original quilting design complemented the vision we had for this project.  The flowing swirls and feathers provide a feeling of carefree gaiety.  The unending string of circles in the pink border is reminiscent of the circle of love.

Find a post about the Roses are Red fabrics here and see the entire collection here.

Find the kit for the Red Rose table topper here.

Find The Quilter magazine here.