Northern Lights Flannel Quilt

It’s 80 degrees and sunny in California today but the Northern Lights fabric collection by Natàlia Juan Abelló has me longing for cooler temperatures. This adorable fabric line, made from high quality 100% cotton flannel, is perfect for snuggling.

The collection features several focal prints and a panel showcasing cute Arctic creatures. For my quilt, I aimed for a scrappy look, incorporating all the blues, teals, and grays with pops of red. To balance the busy design, I appliquéd the penguins and polar bears from the panel onto the foreground, creating areas for the eyes to rest. The Arctic creatures in sweaters, hats, and scarves are too cute!

This was my first time making a quilt top with flannel, and I truly appreciated the high-quality flannel from Riley Blake. It was a dream to work with.

If you’re just starting out with flannel, here are a few tips:

1. Use a walking foot, if you have one. (It’s not necessary, but it helps!)
2. Use larger pieces. (I cut the squares in my quilt at 4 inches.)
3. Avoid patterns requiring intricate piecing or precise points. (For my quilt, I staggered the seams to avoid having to nest so many points.)
4. Use a short stitch length. (I recommend 2.0.)
5. Clean your machine often. (Flannel produces more lint compared to quilting cottons.)

For the backing and binding, I plan to use the Bee Plaids Cobbler Songbird, which features hues of teal and blue—a perfect match!

I intend to do straight-line quilting on my domestic machine. Do you have other ideas? How would you quilt this? Fingers-crossed, I can finish before the temperatures drop!😂

Thanks so much for reading and happy quilting!