It might seem early, but now is the time to start planning Christmas quilts to make sure you’re ready for gifting (or for just curling up on the couch watching your favourite movies). Here’s a fun new holiday fabric line to get your Christmas quilting project ideas started.

Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobson are the team behind Me and My Sister Designs, and have designed for Moda since 2004. Together they have designed over 40 collections—aiming for 45 by the end of the year! 

Merry and Bright is in a red, white and green colourway (as you might expect for the holidays), but is much more vibrant than you’d expect—even from Me and My Sister fabrics, which are always cheerful and fun. This collection offers a 26-piece snowman and candy cane extravaganza, with added wreaths, bows, spots and stripes.

Barbara says the inspiration for this collection was a stack of cards that she’s been saving. “I hold onto old greeting cards and chunks of wrapping paper,” she explains. “I save them in a big plastic bin for inspiration. When thinking of a new fabric collection, I can refer back to things that I’ve liked in the past.”

She notes that the team’s designs start life a little differently than you might expect. They’re cut out and then glued to create a composition. “I can’t draw a stick figure, but give me a pair of scissors and I can cut out about any shape you want,” Barbara says. “Mary calls me Barbara Scissorhands!”

Barbara and Mary’s last Christmas collection, Red Dot Green Dash is now out of print, but you can still find a couple of the prints in the Trendtex online shop. As you can tell by the name, these fabrics are in a matching colour scheme and so they will partner well with the newest collection. 

“Our collections go well together,” Barbara says. “I often get emails from people looking for older fabrics that are out of print and asking what I would suggest as a substitution. Many times I’ll refer them to our newest collection. There is almost always something that coordinates!”

Merry and Bright Ideas

Looking for inspiration or Christmas quilting project ideas? Barbara has you covered!

“Many people who like holiday fabrics are usually making things for gifts or need something quickly. We have several projects that use only two Fat Quarters and they work well for gift giving.”

Above is the “2 Fat Quarter Bucket:” a great reusable alternative for a gift bag. Use it to gift homemade baked goodies, small toiletries, or how about threads and notions for another sewist in your life?

Or how about a Ruffled Zipper Pouch? This could make a fun cosmetics bag or pencil case to keep your desk tidy.

Of course if you want to make a quilt, there are a couple of patterns being released for this collection too, both of which were designed by Doug Leko of Antler Quilt Design. 

Ribbon Candy uses a jelly roll plus a neutral for the background to create a stepped zigzag design that is quilt size, though you could easily increase or reduce the number of zigzags and the length for a different size quilt. Frosty Friends has snowman shapes made with fat quarters, and finishes a little bigger.

The bonus: neither is overly labour-intensive, so you’ll have plenty of time before that big day in December to whip one of these up!

Merry and Bright from Moda Fabrics is arriving in Canadian stores this month, and the project patterns mentioned are available here from Me and My Sister Designs. Quilt patterns are available at antlerquiltdesign.com. We encourage you to touch, feel, and experience the fabric you’ll use for your next creative project at your local quilt store.