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.
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"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: |
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.
