It’s that time of the year when we spread holiday good cheer, it must mean the Quiltmas Spectacular 2023 is here! The Quiltmas Elves have been hard at work dreaming up new Christmas quilt blocks for your holiday stitching joy!
This year I’m super excited to reveal the festive Christmas Crackers quilt block pattern. She’s a modern quilt block, that comes together super easily and is perfect for showing off your favourite prints!
Plus, the Christmas Crackers block offers lots of opportunity to play: think stockings, table runners, and quilted pillows. I’m sharing some mock-ups below to give you some quilty ideas and inspiration 😊
But first, let me tell you a little bit about how this quilt block came to be and what quilt technique you’ll be mastering by the end of making her.
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The Christmas Crackers quilt block pattern is ready for instant download.
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Inspiration Behind the Christmas Cracker Quilt Block
Growing up I remember seeing in movies these holiday festive dinners where the family kicked things off by popping their Christmas crackers. It looked like such a fun way to add an extra layer of cheer to the special occasion. Even the paper party hats that were often included in the crackers appeared adorable!
This wasn’t how our family celebrated the holidays – ha!
It wasn’t until I joined my hubz’ family that I had the opportunity to partake in this tradition.
The first year that I had Christmas dinner with his family, I was equal parts excited and embarrassed to get to crack my own cracker and wear the paper hat. I’ll admit, the paper hat seemed more fun when I was a kid, than as a 20-something but, nonetheless, I was thrilled to tick this off my own holiday wish list 😉
I share this story, so you understand that the Christmas Cracker and I go wayyyy back! And it seemed fitting to commemorate those memories in quilt block format!
So, today on Day 9 of the Quiltmas Spectacular, I give to you the Christmas Crackers Quilt Block.
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From Quiltmas years past:
Quilt Technique Featured in the Christmas Crackers Quilt Block
In previous Quiltmas years, I’ve tended to share some slightly challenging quilting techniques.
Nothing crazy hard, and it certainly wasn’t done on purpose; it was more the designs that dictated the more detailed piecework. For this year, I wanted to keep things simple. I know the holidays can be a hectic time and, in my opinion, all activities should spark joy and the festive spirit.
With that in mind, I kept the design and piecing very simple. It features traditional piecing, so you don’t need to fuss with special notions.
There is a template, but that’s really to give you peace of mind that you’re making the right size with the right angle. Plus, the template is 100% to size, so you don’t need to fuss with the scale on your printer. Just print her as is and you’ll be good to go. Just be sure to check that little test box before you start cutting your fabric 😉
The best part of the Christmas Crackers quilt block is that you get to play with all the colours! Well, 5 to be precise but you can totally add more and make it as scrappy as you’d like!
Materials Needed to Make the Christmas Crackers Quilt Block
For this year’s colorway, I was still drawn to those bold pinks and pop of red. Not exactly traditional, but I think that’s why I love the colours. It’s unexpected and fresh.
I also added in Spruce which I’ve featured in quite a few of my pieces to date. It’s a great mid-tone green-blue that I just love.
You can see Spruce in action in these quilts:
Here’s a round-up of all the materials and notions I worked with to create my own Christmas Crackers quilt block.
- Christmas Crackers Quilt Block Pattern
- 5 Fabrics of choice – I’m using AGF Pure Solids in:
- 50wt thread for piecing
- Rotary cutter
- Cutting mat
- Ruler
- Iron
- Ironing board or wool pressing mat
- Sewing machine
- Marking tool
- Pins
- Pin cushion
Find all of my most used notions here.
Christmas Crackers Quilt Block Design Ideas
To help get you inspired, here’re a few mock-ups featuring the possibilities with the Christmas Crackers quilt block:
Table Runner
Just add some borders and voìla you have a gorgeous modern holiday table runner to show off this Christmas!
Cushions
You know my love for pillows, not only are they cozy but they can spruce up your décor in no time flat!
Quilt
Obviously, you can make a quilt too! Just look at how fun the Christmas Cracker quilt block looks.
What is the Quiltmas Spectacular
The Quiltmas Spectacular is an annual quilting tradition where 12 quilt pattern designers come together to spread quilty holiday good cheer through 12 unique Christmas quilt block patterns.
Starting December 1, each modern pattern is revealed every day for the first 12 days of December. The patterns are offered exclusively via email by signing up for the Quiltmas Spectacular 2023 here. Sign-ups for Quiltmas 2023 are now closed. You can now find the Christmas Crackers quilt block pattern in the shop!
Important – even if you signed up for previous years’ Quiltmas Spectacular, you still need to sign up to receive this year’s patterns.
How to Participate in the Quiltmas Spectacular
The only way to participate and receive the free quilt block patterns is by getting on the Quiltmas Spectacular newsletter list!
You can sign up here to participate in this year’s Quiltmas Spectacular and get your copy of all 12 free quilt block patterns emailed straight to your inbox!
Hurry, the Quiltmas Elves will be closing the doors to the Quiltmas Spectacular sign-up on December 31, 2023.
For more holiday block inspiration, check out:
- Quiltmas Spectacular 2019
- Quiltmas Spectacular 2020
- Quiltmas Spectacular 2021
- Quiltmas Spectacular 2022
I can’t wait to see your Christmas Crackers blocks start popping up on Instagram. Be sure to use #ChristmasCrackersQuilt and #ShannonFraserDesignsPatterns on your post so I can see it too 😊
Happy holiday stitching!
xo
Shannon
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We always had Christmas crackers at Christmas dinner. We all wore the silly paper hats and there are lots of pictures in the photo albums to prove it! Great block to add to the quiltmas collection!
I love hearing Christmas Crackers was a family tradition for you, Gail!! Those hats are silly but certainly bring a joyful and fun vibe to the dining table 😀😊
I have all the other blocks for Quiltmas 23 but I could not download your Christmas crackers pattern. Could you please send me the pattern?
Hi Barb, the link to download the pattern is in the daily Quiltmas Spectacular email! It takes you right to where you download the pattern 😁