Picnic Pop Quilt

The Picnic Pop Quilt is available here.

Have you ever made a quilt that made you want to smack your head against the wall because working on it was driving you crazy? Well, this quilt pattern has the opposite effect for me. I made three Picnic Pop Quilts in a four week span and truly loved making each one of them. I would finish a quilt and immediately start planning the next. It was therapeutic. I think because there are a couple different skills used in this pattern, it stays interesting and doesn’t feel overwhelming. Plus, there are lots of options with this pattern. Modern and classic layouts, 8 total size options, a fat quarter version, and 2 block version. You could make a dozen of these, and each would be different.

When I was designing Picnic Pop, I really wanted to be able to show off my fabrics that had designs that were larger in scale. Most of my patterns are written to be scrap friendly, but scraps don’t tend to let prints that are a bit larger shine. I also wanted to create the illusion of a curvy movement without having to actually sew curves. The combination of half rectangle triangles and half square triangles really made that curve look come to life.

My first Picnic Pop Quilt was the red, white, and blue version. This is a modern layout, 2 block version, small throw. The 2-block version is a really fast make because you don’t have to think about how you are going to mix and match the block components. My quilt top was done in a handful of hours.

My second Picnic Pop quilt is my cover quilt (and my personal favorite.) I was incredibly lucky to be able to use the Petunia fabric collection by Kimberly Kight of Ruby Star Society. This fabric will be available in the fall of 2022, so it was quite the treat to be able to get my hands on this beautiful fabric early. This is a large throw modern layout fat quarter version. (Wow, that’s a mouthful.) The modern layout is my favorite because I can best see the curve illusion in this layout. And I love the scrappy look that the fat quarter version has.

My third, but certainly will not my last, Picnic Pop quilt is this small throw classic layout fat quarter version. I used the Prickly Pear fabric from FIGO for this quilt. I love how bright and summery this quilt is. The classic layout is definitely the easier of the two layouts to put together because there are no bias edges. So, if you are less experienced and nervous about making a quilt on point, try the classic layout.

If you want to start planning your Picnic Pop quilt, below are the fabric requirements. This pattern is an advanced beginner quilt. The only reason this isn’t a beginner pattern is because half rectangle triangles (HRTs) can be a little confusing to trim. Once you get the trimming down, you’re set. I have a blog post about HRTs here if you want some extra help getting the trimming right.