I admit, Red Fort of Agra is a strange name for a modern quilt pattern. But my patterns are usually inspired by someplace I have traveled to and this modern, block based quilt pattern is no exception. Red Fort of Agra is a fun, pattern for the beginning quilter. It's even jelly roll, fat eighth and fat quarter friendly.
This pattern was designed after visiting Agra, India to see the Taj Mahal. Except I had already seen the Taj Mahal before and was more in awe of the Red Fort which over looks the Taj. This fort is full of patterns, designs, beauty and so much inspiration.
The Red Fort of Agra quilt pattern was my way of transferring a bit of my trip into a modern quilt pattern. Since then I have made this pattern more than any other quilt pattern. It never gets old. With it's easy design and compatibility to precuts I find myself frequently sewing up a new version. This time I collaborated with Art Gallery Fabrics to change the pattern up a bit and give the finished quilt a bit of a different look. Think: same pattern-slightly more organized assembly-less fabrics. The goal of this quilt was to show off Art Gallery's new Christmas line: Cozy and Magical.
Here are the fabrics before I cut into them. So fun and festive!
I have never made a Christmas quilt before. I do have a pile of fabrics ready to be made into one, but I guess it must not be high on my priority list because they have been hanging around for two years. I also am not a huge fan of green. Especially the green you find in most Christmas things. The combination of green and red is not my jam. So for this reason I haven't wanted to sew a Christmas quilt, and I haven't wanted a quilt sitting around that would basically be used one month a year... if we remembered to pull it out of a box. We move so often I am kind of practical that way. I don't like anything extra taking up space that we don't regularly use.
Check out the Art Gallery Cozy and Magical Lookbook here.
However, the Cozy and Magical fabric line by Maureen Cracknell for Art Gallery Fabrics is not the traditional Christmas line of fabrics. The colors are a mix of traditional red, with small splashes of green (I think, I am color blind). But the reason I really love this line is the peaches, pinks and blues.
Check out the Cozy and Magical line here.
This version of Red Fort of Agra is not only made from Cozy and Magical, but also from Maureen Cracknell's other new line, Plaid of my Dreams. This is a line consisting of eight plaid prints which match Cozy and Magical as well as many other Art Gallery Fabric lines. Together these lines and my quilt pattern created what I would call a non traditional, modern Christmas quilt which I love.
Check out the Plaid of my Dreams line here.
As I alluded to earlier, usually when I sew the Red Fort of Agra quilt pattern I like to have a bit of organized chaos. I don't really like to plan out where my blocks are going or even which fabrics will go in each one. I like to think the more fabrics and disorganization the better. The key to this pattern is to make sure there is a contrast in fabrics between the two main fabric groups. Usually I like my contrast to be color groups like warm/cool or fabric prints like solids/prints. However, with this quilt Art Gallery Fabrics wanted a very specific layout and look. To be honest I was a bit stressed to make the quilt. It's hard to make a quilt one way (ahem, chaos), and then have to slow down and rethink everything about how you are making it.
As you can see above the fabrics are very specifically placed in this version.
Why did they want a specific layout? They wanted to show Cozy and Magical off without having it get overwhelmed by the business of the quilt. I would have never in a million years have thought up this fabric placement. I mentioned in my last blogpost, I really love collaborating with fabric companies because they bring fresh ideas that I haven't thought of. Their organization of the fabric really helped me see the Red Fort of Agra quilt pattern in a new way, which is funny because I wrote the dang thing. LOL!
You can still see a contrast in this modern version of the Red Fort of Agra quilt. The larger blocks are pinks and peaches. While the small squares of the quilt are made up of blues or red and darker pinks. Since I am by no means great at matching up fabrics I love to see what combinations others come up with. You can also see a couple of the plaid prints from the Plaid of my Dreams line in the quilt. 
The Red Fort of Agra modern quilt pattern comes with five sizes (baby, small throw, large throw, twin and king). This quilt is the large throw size. It's a nice big quilt, but not too big to quilt on my machine. I used my walking foot and guide to do a one inch squiggly stitch across the quilt. Of course after I finished quilting it I second guessed myself and thought maybe the quilt looked too busy and I should have done a straight stitch. But it's grown on me. Do you ever feel like that? At first you aren't sure if you chose the correct pattern for your quilt? Then, you get used to it and like it? Happens to me every time.
I used the Sky colored plaid for the binding. I cut the binding on the bias. I was afraid if I cut it straight that there would be sections of darker plaid, then lighter plaid around the edge of the quilt and I didn't want that look. I think bias was the right choice and it looks cool too. However, I will say, I usually do not cut bias binding, just because I am too lazy. LOL! It really just depends on if I really am convinced the fabric will look better on the bias then I will put in what I deem the "extra effort".
Cozy and Magical is just that, with a little extra emphasis on the magical. I love the little nutcracker fabric, or to imagine which house I would live in on the backing fabric. I'm still not going to fully embrace Christmas quilts, and definitely not the traditional red and green colors of Christmas. But this quilt will be traveling back home with us (to Asia). Don't tell my husband, but it will be stored for the one month a year we will pull it out to use it.
Do your self a favor and make the Christmas quilt!
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