Pandamonium Quilt - The Dear Stella One

(Hi there, my name is Breanna Gaudaur and I am an avid quilter, pattern tester, tech editor and long arm quilter based in Ontario, Canada.)

As soon as I saw this pattern, I immediately knew that I would be making it. Seriously, who could resist those adorable faces? Definitely not me.

Modern black-and-white Pandamonium Quilt using Kona Solids and Dear Stella Dash Flow.

I really love both the multi-color and two-color options in this pattern, and I promise that I had every intention of choosing one of those options and following the pattern as written. But I just couldn’t get the idea of black and white pandas out of my head. So I decided to roll with it and see how it turned out.

Sewing the Pandamonium Quilt pattern with a custom black-and-white panda design.

I kept the pandas nice and simple by using Kona solids in Snow and Charcoal. Then, I added in a couple of Dash Flow prints from Dear Stella as the backgrounds for my blocks. I love these colors and the movement that these subtle prints provide. (I also love that I already had all of these fabrics in my stash!)

Modern quilt featuring the Pandamonium Quilt pattern with playful panda faces.

After picking out my fabrics I went ahead and cut out the white pieces according to the cutting table on page 2. And then this is where I went off script: I used the cutting table on page 2 to cut the following pieces from my black fabric: A, B, C, D, E, F, & G. These would be used for the accents on the panda faces. I then cut pieces H, I, J, K, L, and M as instructed in the table, using my Dash Flow prints. These would be used for the background of each of the blocks.

Step-by-step process for making a Pandamonium Quilt with modern fabrics.

There are lots of little pieces in this pattern, but once I had everything cut out the actual block assembly flew by. Snowballed corners are so much faster than HSTs and Flying Geese, and it was so rewarding to see the eyes, mouth, and ears take shape. I’m pretty sure I actually squealed when I laid out a whole face unit for the first time. These pandas are just that cute!

Modern panda quilt with snowballed corners for easy block construction.

I really love how quickly the baby size came together, but as soon as I had my quilt top done I was wishing I’d made the throw size. I guess that means I’ll just have to make another one! In the meantime I’m looking forward to getting this version quilted, bound and ready to be loved.