It's a "Swell" Christmas Quilt (#101)

Nothing says Christmas like this fabric from Urban Chiks called Swell.  Cute retro images in soft cream, pink and green with a bright punch of Santa red.

If you happen to pick up a jelly roll and are not sure what to sew ... Thimble Blossoms Patchwork Swoon pattern (here) is a perfect fit.  For my first holiday quilt I wanted something that screamed CHRISTMAS, so instead of using a solid background fabric I used this happy red & white Christmas text by Henry Glass.

This is a nice pattern to follow with good directions and diagrams.  I chose to put a solid Santa square in the middle rather than patchwork.   

There are some overages of half square triangles (HST) that are a by product of the design. Quite enough for another project like a table runner or little blanket.

Quilting and piecing was done with my favorite off/white Aurifil 50wt. thread #2311.  It's sometimes called Muslin and it just melds with white Kona & the softer creams of Swell.  I love little squares created by jelly rolls (and 2.5" squares) because they create a ready made grid for me to follow when I quilt.  A wavy line following the seams with a walking foot is my 'go to' quilting method for most projects - it's pretty fast, easy to do and looks consistent.

For a large quilt with lots of design punch Patchwork Swoon is perfect. There are smaller versions of the same Swoon design, a 16" block just came out and is demonstrated here on the Fat Quarter Shop YouTube channel. 
Materials:
Swell by Urban Chiks / Moda
Holiday Wishes / Henry Glass
Kona white
Aurifil 50wt. #2311
Patchwork Swoon pattern / Thimble Blossoms
Warm & White batting
white flannel
Size: 73" x 73"
November 2018