Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Let me wish everyone a Happy First Day of Autumn!

With summer behind us and the kiddos back in school, I bet you have big plans for fall! Me, I plan to get caught up from a summer that went totally sideways on me. Yikes! Whew, I am heartily glad that’s behind me now – I am so ready for a fall reset!

As I’ve mentioned 1 or 2 times (or maybe 100?) already, I LOVE fall – haven’t I been talking about it for a while now? LOL! One of my favorite most bestest things about fall is changing out the clothes in my closet as well as my decor from easy breezy summer to warm and cozy autumn. And I know I’m not alone because apparently the decorating world has suddenly discovered quilts. LOL! Quilts and patchwork decor are showing up all over Pinterest, home dec magazines, catalogs, and stores. I think quilts have been sneaking up on the world of decor as part of the new-fangled Cottagecore style. Yeah……we used to call it country or farmhouse, but now it’s Cottagecore. Whatever we call it, quilters have been doing cozy before cozy was cool. And in my humble (never!) opinion, a house just isn’t a home without quilts.

Anyone can use a quilt on a bed, but there are so many other ways to enjoy quilts and use them in our seasonal decorating.

Quilts as Wall Art

Do you hang quilts on the walls in your home? I do! I have this wonderful big blank wall behind the sofa in the living room and it’s my special place to hang seasonal quilts.

I must admit that I haven’t yet begun changing out my quilts for fall and I probably won’t get to it until the beginning of October. Right now, my red, white, and blue Cabin Fever quilt is still proudly hanging there. You might remember I made this small quilt during our recent Summer Challenge. You can find a tutorial for Cabin Fever HERE.

Get your Cabin Fever digital pattern HERE or print pattern HERE

I plan to put up my Cabin Cozy panel quilt over the sofa for this fall. I think it will be perfect! And the blue in the quilt will look great with the blues that are already in the living room! It will hang down behind the top of the sofa, but that’s okay with me. I definitely don’t go in for perfect, I am all about comfy cozy.

Here’s an outside photo of Cabin Cozy. I just love the Log Cabin blocks in the corners. Seriously, when I think about cozying up for fall, Log Cabin blocks come to mind for sure.

Get your Cabin Cozy digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Hanging a quilt on the wall is a lot more than just putting up something pretty, though. It’s about seeing quilts as artwork. Yet, quilts are a special kind of artwork that framed art just can’t compete with – quilts add warmth, softness, and texture to our spaces without even trying. They’re quilts and that’s just what they do. No wonder the decorating world is jumping on the quilt bandwagon. But we quilters have always known that, haven’t we?

The Sofa, Chair, and Bench Treatment

Regardless of the season, there are always quilts on the backs of the furniture in my home. I adore my Farmhouse Blues quilt (mine is the one on the front of the pattern) and it lives permanently on the back of my chair.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Perhaps I should remake it in autumn colors – so my blue and white version gets a break for a while. Swapping quilts out with the seasons is totally one of my favorite decorating techniques – just another tip from me, the Lazy Quilter (this is what my quilty pals call me behind my back……and to my face, too. LOL!).

Maybe something like this? Using solids would really give Farmhouse Blues a whole new identity – more like Farmhouse Chic. Of course, I’d have to back it with fleece for maximum snuggly-ness on cool autumn evenings here in NW PA while I’m curled up reading a good book or watching TV.

Quilts are also great draped or folded over benches, ottomans, or anything else that stands still long enough for us to toss a quilt over. The cats? The dog? Grandma? Sigh……probably not.

Draping and folding quilts is seriously one of the easiest seasonal reset ideas anyone can do because there is no need to stand on ladders or move furniture around. Simply toss a quilt over a piece of furniture and like magic – poof! – autumn decorating at its finest.

Pillows, Table Runners, and Smaller Quilted Pieces

What naturally goes along with all of those quilts tossed over the furniture and hanging on the walls? Pillows, runners, and little quilts, oh my!

Pillows

You may have noticed that I’ve really gotten into seasonal throw pillows this year! You can check out my VRD 18″ seasonal pillow patterns HERE. I love that tossing a seasonal pillow onto a sofa or chair adds a nice little seasonal pop. A seasonal pillow can give our space a nice little boost without having to redesign our whole space. A couch full of fall pillows? Priceless!

Huh. I wish that was my living room, but right now Purrfect Pumpkin is my only fall decoration in the living room, at least until I get Cabin Cozy up on the wall. I just love this cute pillow – it makes me smile every time I see it right before plopping onto my chair. So, even though I haven’t gotten my fall quilts on the walls and the chairs yet, a simple fall patchwork pillow can totally make a bigger seasonal impact than you might think.

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

PSST! Don’t you just love Bailly in that photo? I think it’s one of the cutest poses she’s ever done for me. Of course, her fur is really growing out now since her short summer cut and she needs some grooming, but her little expression is just too adorable for words – I think she looks more like a stuffed dog here than a real Shih Tzu. But I assure you, Bailly is a real dog – err, fur girl (I don’t think she considers herself to be a dog at all).

Table Runners

Now don’t get me started on table runners as seasonal decor! I’ve got runners and pillows aplenty for all seasons and holidays, but that never stops me from making new ones, even though I really don’t need any more. But one can never ever have enough seasonal runners.

I swear my house is going to explode someday and seasonal quilts, runners, and pillows will shoot into the sky like Old Faithful! Oh dear.

That being said, table runners are another Lazy Quilter decorating secret because you can change the whole look of your dining area by simply laying a seasonal runner on a clean table. Done and done. Of course, you can add baskets, candles, greenery, leaves, and other decorative items to reinforce the season, but a simple table runner by itself can totally be enough.

I have found, though, that table runners aren’t just for tables. You can drape a runner over the back of a chair or sofa. Use it on your coffee table or side tables. Hang a runner on the wall like a banner. If it’s a particularly long runner, you can use it at the bottom of a bed or even across the pillows for a super fast seasonal touch.

Table runners are amazing superheroes without capes when it comes to seasonal decorating. And if you’re like me, you make lots of runners for all seasons and holidays. What better way to enjoy them than by layering your spaces with your runners? Maybe you made a new runner for your table, but those seasonal runners from previous years – you can totally use them everywhere! Easy peasy decorating. You can check out our VRD table runner patterns HERE.

Leaf is definitely one of my favorite fall runners. You can make it in an afternoon (if you have a stash……you probably won’t even need to make a trip to the quilt shop, but then again it’s never a bad idea to stop by your local shop because they might just have the perfect fat quarter….or ten that you can’t live without) and it can easily be lengthened by adding more blocks if needed. PLUS – you could make an extra block and turn it into a matching pillow!

Get your digital pattern HERE or your print pattern HERE

Other Small Quilts

There are lots of other small quilty objects beyond pillows and runners. Table mats (which are usually square or rectangular but not narrow like runners), place mats, snack mats, mug mats, banners, and mini quilts are all fun examples of small quilty projects.

Small quilts are especially fun for seasonal decorating because they are so easy to move around and tuck into unexpected places. A little quilt can sit under a basket or tumble out of a bowl on a table, hang from a peg or drape over a cabinet door, dress up the back of a chair, or add a pop of color to a shelf or hutch. You can even layer a small quilt with other decorations you already have instead of buying anything new.

And because these projects are small, they’re a great way to use up scraps, try a new color combination, or make something seasonal without committing to a full-size quilt. I love that kind of project — quick enough to finish in a reasonable amount of time, but still big enough to make a room feel different. Small quilts may not take up much space, but they can bring a surprising amount of personality to a room.

Let Your Quilt Choose the Colors

One of my favorite things about decorating with quilts is that the quilt itself can do most of the decorating work for you. Instead of trying to dream up an entire color scheme for a room, start with a quilt you love and pull a few colors from it.

Maybe your quilt has rust, teal, gold, and cream. There you go — instant fall palette! Add a pillow or two, a basket, some greenery or leaves, maybe a candle, and suddenly the whole room feels warm and seasonal.

And you definitely do not need everything to match perfectly. In fact, I think rooms are much more interesting when they look collected over time instead of looking like everything came home from the store in one giant matching set.

Of course, this is also another excellent excuse to let a favorite quilt be the star of the room. Not that we quilters actually need another excuse. LOL!

Autumn Doesn’t Have to Be Orange

Now, I love orange as much as the next fall-obsessed person, but autumn decorating doesn’t have to mean pumpkins and bright orange everywhere. It’s more about capturing that cozy fall feeling! If that’s pumpkins for you, then you do pumpkins. But there’s a whole lot more to fall than just pumpkins.

Think about some of the other colors we see in fall — olive green, deep red, mustard, brown, plum, navy, teal, cream, and even dusty pink. I just love looking at all the colors captured in a fall leaf. Depending on the type of tree, you can find pink to orange to red, yellow to orange to brown, purple to brown, and every color in between! A quilt in any of these colors can feel perfectly autumnal without containing a single pumpkin.

That’s definitely one of the things I love most about decorating with quilts. Depending on the colors and fabrics, the whole mood of a room can change just by swapping out the quilt on the wall or the one tossed over the back of a chair.

And because quilts already bring so much color, texture, and personality with them, you really don’t need to add much else. Unless you want to………

Quilts Make a House Feel Like Home

Maybe that’s why the decorating world is suddenly so excited about quilts and patchwork.

Quilts aren’t just pretty things. They add softness, warmth, color, texture, and personality all at the same time. Some quilts remind us of people we love. Some remind us of a special fabric collection, a class, a trip, a challenge, or even just a particular season of our lives. Some can even represent your heritage.

And unlike a lot of home decor, quilts are meant to be used and enjoyed. You can hang them on the wall today, toss them over the sofa tomorrow, and curl up under them when the weather turns cold.

I think that’s why quilts make a home feel so personal. They don’t just decorate a room — they tell a little bit of our story.

Bring on the Quilts!

So maybe the decorating world has finally caught up with us quilters. LOL!

Quilts really are pretty perfect home decor: colorful, cozy, practical, personal, and made to be enjoyed. Hang them on the walls, toss them over furniture, layer them on beds, drape them over benches, or scatter smaller quilted pieces around the house.

And if your house starts looking like quilts are slowly taking over every available surface?

Well…you’re probably doing fall decorating exactly right.

Now I want to know — how do you decorate with quilts in your home? Do you change yours with the seasons, or do you have favorites that stay out all year long?

That’s it for me this week! See you next time.

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD