I Love This Quilt: Pom Pom Parade, Part 1

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I love Tula Pink. The intricacies of her fabric designs are so beautiful and her color palette never fails to intoxicate me and stir up my creative juices. A few months ago, two of my co-workers went to Quilt Market and came back with all sorts of samples and catalogs. This is when I first saw Tula’s Pom Poms, Stripes and Solids collection from FreeSpirit Fabrics.

I knew instantly that I wanted to do something with this new collection of fabrics. I needed to find a pattern that would showcase the fabrics and I remembered Maria Umhey’s Picnic pattern for our June/July 2017 issue of McCall’s Quick Quilts. I love using bright, contemporary fabrics with traditional pieced patterns and Maria’s Courthouse Steps pattern fits the bill perfectly. The simplicity of the pattern will make my version of this quilt go together quickly but will also beautifully show off the pom poms and stripes of Tula’s collection.

I recently started my quilt, which I have named Pom Pom Parade. I wish I could say that I have started sewing, but no such luck! I was quite sick last month and had to work from home for a few days to avoid contaminating my co-workers, which gave me time to get everything cut out.

I am using a fat quarter bundle of Tula Pink’s Pom Poms, Stripes and Solids from FreeSpirit Fabrics to make this quilt. The first thing I did was to cut all of the striped fabrics to size.

Stripes cut into patches
Stripes cut into patches

Next, I cut all of the pom pom fabrics to size. And, oooh, look at all the pretty colors! These fabrics remind me of Carnival in Rio De Janiero.

Stripes and Pom Poms cut into patches
Stripes and Pom Poms cut into patches

Step three, easy peasy…cut the solids!

Solids, Stripes & Pom Poms cut into patches
Solids, Stripes & Pom Poms cut into patches

I even have a nice little pile of leftovers! And the pieces are big enough to get saved for a later project.

Leftovers go in my stash!
Leftovers go in my stash!

And last but not least, for each block I paired up my solid patches with striped patches or pom pom patches.

Solids paired up with Stripes and Pom Poms
Solids paired up with Stripes and Pom Poms

To date, this is as far as I’ve gotten on this quilt. I have a quilting group that meets on the third Saturday of each month to eat and quilt all day – I’m hoping that I can spend my Saturday this month piecing this quilt top!

Join me next time to see my piecing progress on Pom Pom Parade!

Anissa

p.s.: want to make your own Picnic? Click here to download the pattern for free!

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  1. Hi Jill – there is link at the bottom of the blog to a free copy of this pattern. You should be able to easily see where I placed the stripes, pom poms and solids. As a note, where the pattern says to cut “assorted denims”, I instead used the stripes and pom poms. Where the pattern says to cut “assorted prints”, I used the solids. I hope this helps! Have fun making the quilt!

  2. Hi Anissa, can you post details on piece sizes you cut from stripes , pom poms and solids. Would love to make this too, regards, Jill Watson, lake wylue, SC