Dashing Quilt in Christmas Eve Fabric
Here’s a quilt inspired by a star that lit up the darkness on that first Christmas night. Meet “Dashing” – a quilt made up of dozens of little fancy triangle blocks that can be arranged a variety of ways. It shines bright in Christmas Eve fabric – but is one of those versatile quilt patterns that would be stunning in any collection. It’s beginner friendly (using an easy half-square triangle technique + traditional piecing) and uses 32 fat eighths. Pattern is available in the shop now in PDF or printed booklet formats.
Once I finished making the “Dashing” blocks, I played around with the arrangement and color placement for quilt a while. Even though I rotated my blocks around a center star formation – there are no real rules here. I’ve included a materials list below. The specific SKUs refer to Christmas Eve fabric arriving May 2023 – but you can make any substitutions you like. It doesn’t even need to be a Christmas collection. Use any fat eighth bundle in your stash, or use fat quarters to double up on prints for a less scrappy look.
Materials Needed
- (32) fat eighths assorted prints (I used 32/35 prints from the fat eighth bundle of Christmas Eve)
- 3-3/4¾ yards background fabric (Moda Bella Solid #9900 283 “Lead”)
- 3/4 yards binding fabric (SKU 5186-13)
- 4-3/4 yards backing fabric (I used SKU 5181-16 but you could use anything you like)
- 81” x 81” batting
Quilt Details
- Pattern: Dashing by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique
- Fabric: Christmas Eve by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics (arriving May 2023)
- Finished block: 8″ x 8″
- Finished quilt: 72-1/2″ x 72-1/2″
- Skill Level: Beginner (uses a half-square triangle technique)
- Pieced by: me
- Quilted by: Natalia Bonner of Piece n Quilt (she used red thread!)
- Pantograph: “Quilting Baubles” by Lorien Quilting
Alternate Color Option
If a charcoal background isn’t your thing – take a look at the Dashing quilt with the “Merry Dot” in Snow (SKU 5187-11). I haven’t had a chance to make this one yet, but it’s on the list.
Have you ever made a quilt with a dark background? Share your thoughts in the comments!
4 Comments
Shawn
October 1, 2022 at 6:54 amI love a dark background and use black or navy or dark gray often. I think it makes the fabrics pop
A
October 1, 2022 at 8:03 amI haven’t done a lot of dark backgrounds- just red and that is fun and striking. Yours is lovely with dark background
Clara Chandler
October 2, 2022 at 9:11 pmUsing your Christmas Morning fabrics , I sewed last year’s free Christmas project from Fat Quarter Shop with black Crackle as the background. It is a stunning quilt, I believe.
Joan Leopold
June 2, 2023 at 6:01 amI have made quilts with dark backgrounds for my teenage Granddaughters. The most stunning was , Stomping Ground, the one with elephants. My background was black and the elephants were Kaffee Fasset fabrics. I enlarged it to twin size with 32 elephants.