Quilters know it’s not unusual to think about Christmas in July. After all, it’s then that new festive lines start to appear in stores, giving you a few months to add to your festive decor—or to make the perfect gift. With this in mind, Homegrown Holidays comes perfectly timed!

In the 25 years that designer Deb Strain has been with Moda Fabrics, she has produced more than 20 Christmas lines. She says Homegrown Holidays is one of her favourites, as it reminds her of home in Ohio. And this, she says, was a major inspiration for the collection: “I try to incorporate the popular farmhouse theme and the message of family coming home to be together,” she says.

And Deb feels pleased with the results. “I love everything about Homegrown Holidays,” she says. “The rich colours, the ‘home for the holidays’ message, the barn quilt, and especially the humour of the animals. As I was drawing and painting pigs with Santa hats, roosters wearing scarves, cows and sheep wearing Christmas quilts, I had to giggle!”

The colours of the collection include traditional red and green, with added white and black for contrast, along with warm grey details. There are panels in red, dark grey, and white, each featuring images such as Deb’s hand painted farm animals, trucks, and wreath imagery. within the entire collection, you’ll find more farm animals, handwriting, traditional plaid, vintage pickup trucks with trees, and burlap texture.

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Creating Homegrown Holidays

Deb explains that she always starts with a panel when designing a collection, and then expands the theme from there. This is why panels are very important when it comes to creating the quilt patterns released with the fabrics, she says, as it forms the foundation of the collection.

“The panel is the main idea and the coordinating fabrics are the supporting details,” Deb elaborates. “The panel in Homegrown Holidays sets the tone and feel for the design of the rest of the group.”

Her approach is traditional: Deb says she uses a pen and paper rather than a computer program to make the designs and motifs. When reproduced on fabric, it gives her collections a certain charm and rustic look.

She starts with a lot of rough sketches and then decides on a colour theme. These sketches are either discarded or further developed to narrow down the theme until the final sketches are made. The final drawings are often made in ink before painting.

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A collection with multiple applications

Wondering how you might put Homegrown Holidays to best use in your holiday home? We see opportunities to use Homegrown Holidays to make traditional festive decor— you could, for example, make stockings, pennants, table linens, or a tree skirt. Some of the prints also lend themselves to be fussy cut, and sewn behind a door in a fabric advent calendar. Or you might play with pairings: a little truck with a wreath, perhaps, or a pig in a Santa hat!

Another option is, of course, to make a gorgeous quilt. Deb’s previous collections—Holiday Lodge and Hearthside Holidays—will play nicely with this line, too. And as always, there are fantastic patterns released with the fabric if you need easy inspiration.

Barb Cherniwchan of Coach House Designs has made four patterns especially for Homegrown Holidays, available with the fabric. Pictured above is All Stacked Up, a playful 36” x 51” quilt that would be fantastic displayed on a wall over the holiday season. There are also three patterns that use the panels and are around lap size, which means they shouldn’t take long to make.

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And a very early message of thanks and joy…

Deb shares that she is extremely grateful for the career she has followed over the past two and a half decades, and wishes to extend her gratitude: “I love what I do for a living and feel so fortunate to be able to share it with others. Thank you to everyone out there who has enjoyed my work in some form over the years. It is because of you that I can spend my life doing what I love!”

Homegrown Holidays from Moda Fabrics is arriving in Canadian stores soon. We encourage you to touch, feel, and experience the fabric you’ll use for your next creative project at your local quilt store.