From the Vault: Paper Roses for Valentine’s Day

Happy Thursday and welcome to another edition of From the Vault! In this new blog series, I’m digging deep into my vault of patterns to find oldies but goodies to update with more recent fabric collections of mine.

This month, I’m bringing out Paper Roses. This charm pack-friendly pattern was originally released with my Fresh Cottons collection, way back in 2010! Wow, time goes so quick sometimes. But I think you’ll agree that this fun pattern stands the test of time.

My Fresh Cottons collection was inspired by my childhood memories of hanging laundry to dry on clotheslines in the backyard, and the colors I used were taken straight from those memories: crisp apple green, warm milk chocolate brown, soft seafoam blue, sweet strawberry red, sunny butter yellow, and creamy ivory. Those colors used together in the original Paper Roses pattern yielded a quilt with an instant vintage vibe.

For this update, I decided to focus on just a few colors and make a Valentine version of Paper Roses! I’m sure you’ve all guessed by now just how much I love sewing with red fabrics (Blockheads, anyone?) and most of my recent collections have at least a few reds to choose from. And of course, Strawberries & Rhubarb features the prettiest strawberry reds and soft, sweet coral pinks!

I wanted to go scrappy with this recoloring, so I cherry-picked some of my favorite reds and coral/salmon pinks from a variety of past (and future!) collections, along with a few soft blues for a bright accent color. The addition of the blue fabrics adds a bit of visual interest and a little break from the stronger reds.

The scrappiness is balanced by using Bella Solids in Cantaloupe (for the pinwheels) and Ruby Ice (for the sashing posts). Of course, you could use your favorite lighter or low-volume Fig Tree prints instead of the solids…but if you are just starting to build your stash and don’t have as many of the older prints, using the solids is a great way to economize!

I think I’ll have to add this one to my must-make list…I think the colors are perfect for this time of year! My friend Susan (@thefeltedpear) is making a few blocks in this new colorway and I’m in love! Aren’t they pretty? Be sure to keep an eye on Instagram and our Fig Tree Friends Quilts group on Facebook…we’ll post more pictures of Susan’s blocks as she finishes them!

You can find the Paper Roses patterns in my shop HERE. And if you are interested, we will have some very similar bundles in the shop tomorrow on Friday.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a new twist on one of my older patterns!

I’ll be revisiting another pattern from the vault again soon, so stay tuned!

About The Author

joanna@figtreequilts.com