Make Home Decor Hues Work for You

Neutrals are always high on the list of home decor hues, but how do you make them sparkle?

The key is a fabulous quilt design, such as the Elements quilt designed by the ladies of The Quilting Hen and featured in Quilt Trends magazine. The rich coppers, silvers and chocolate browns play off a creamy background in this multi-block design.

"Elements" by Diane Arganbright and Patricia Sue Nelson; machine quilted by Shawna Crawford;
featured in Quilt Trends summer 2014

Q. What attracted you to the Elemental Lines fabrics? Why do you think it works so well for a bed quilt?

Patty Sue: The rich, earthy tones of this collection immediately made me think of my Mom, who loves browns, and my Grandma, who loved gray. It is truly a collection that captures both of their personalities and fabric preferences. The elegant yet rustic look of these fabrics definitely belong in a quilt on a bed in a cabin or on a wood four-corner poster bed.

Q. How many different blocks are in this quilt? How did you come up with the layout?

Patty Sue: There are two blocks in this quilt. One of them is pieced as a half block and added to the sides of another block. This adds a new twist to a standard quilt block pattern. The border blocks are a smaller version of the blocks in the quilt center.

Q. What do you like best about the design?

Patty Sue: I like the combination of the pieced blocks and the whole fabric squares. This is a very nice size twin/full quilt that can easily be converted to queen by adding the block border to the sides of the center, making this a very versatile pattern.

Q. What was the most challenging part of designing or making this quilt?

Patty Sue: Designing this quilt was fun. The most challenging part of this quilt was the 36 hour deadline to get it cut out and pieced for the magazine!

Q. Can you tell us about the coordinating pillows?

Patty Sue: The pillows are the large and medium size of the same block pattern from the center of the quilt. I just used scraps from the top to make them and followed the block cutting and piecing directions from the quilt top.

Q. How is it machine quilted?

Patty Sue: The quilting is very elegant and ornate, which adds a nice classy touch to the quilt. The large feathers in the center cream are an eyecatching and very pleasing touch. Our long arm quilter, Shawna Crawford, did and outstanding job, as usual.

See the entire Elemental Lines collection here.

Find the kit for this quilt project here.

Find this issue of Quilt Trends here.

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.