Moda Fabrics Under The Mistletoe Quilt - Downloadable PDF

Moda Fabrics Under The Mistletoe Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern Summary

The Under The Mistletoe Quilt by Moda Fabrics is a festive, holiday-inspired quilting project that finishes at a generous 70" x 94", making it an ideal throw or bed quilt sized for the Christmas season. This intermediate-level pattern is available as a free downloadable PDF and is designed to make excellent use of a Jelly Roll — Moda's signature pre-cut bundle of 2½" width-of-fabric strips — alongside coordinating red and background fabrics. The design combines pieced strip sets with triangle-based blocks to create a dynamic, visually rich quilt surface with a classic holiday feel.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a full-size quilted throw measuring 70 inches wide by 94 inches long. The quilt is built from a combination of striped triangle blocks and corner blocks, assembled using careful strip piecing and precise triangle cutting. The overall design has a geometric, structured appearance that is elevated by the use of rich red accents and a clean background fabric, evoking the warmth and tradition of a holiday quilt.

Materials Required

• Jelly Roll strips: 40 pre-cut 2½" width-of-fabric strips, as found in a standard Moda Fabrics Jelly Roll
• Red fabric: Enough to cut eight 4⅜" width-of-fabric strips (yielding 70 squares, then cut into 140 half-square triangles) plus two 2½" width-of-fabric strips for additional triangle units
• Background and border fabric: Fourteen 6½" width-of-fabric strips for background triangles and border construction
• Thread: Standard quilting thread suitable for a ¼" seam allowance throughout
• Rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and cutting mat for accurate strip and triangle cutting
• Template: A triangle template is included in the PDF for cutting both the striped and background triangles consistently

Techniques Used

Strip Piecing

Strip piecing is the backbone of this pattern. From the 40 Jelly Roll strips, pairs of 2½" x 21" strips are joined together to create 28 strip sets. This efficient technique involves sewing strips of fabric together along their long edges before cutting them into smaller units, saving time and ensuring consistent seam alignment across all blocks. Each strip set is then cut using the provided triangle template to yield the pieced triangle units needed for the quilt body.

Triangle Cutting and Half-Square Triangles

A significant portion of this pattern involves working with triangles cut from both strip sets and individual fabric pieces. The red fabric is cut into 4⅜" squares, which are then cut once on the diagonal to produce 140 half-square triangles. Similarly, the background fabric strips are cut using the triangle template to yield background triangles. Precision in cutting is essential here, as all triangles must be cut with a consistent ¼" seam allowance to ensure blocks trim accurately to their finished size.

Block Assembly and Trimming

The main blocks are assembled by joining two background triangles and one striped triangle, then adding a 4⅜" red half-square triangle to complete the unit. Each finished block is then trimmed to exactly 6½" square, with careful attention paid to preserving the ¼" seam allowance at all points. This trimming step is a hallmark of intermediate-level quilting and ensures that all blocks are uniform before being joined into the quilt top.

Corner Block Construction

The pattern also calls for four corner blocks, which are constructed using a similar combination of background and striped triangles with red triangle accents. These corner blocks are trimmed to the same 6½" square measurement as the main blocks, ensuring a seamless and polished finish at the quilt's corners.

Pressing Technique

Throughout the pattern, pressing is directed by arrows indicated in the instructions, a standard quilting practice that helps seams nest properly when blocks are joined and reduces bulk at intersections. Pressing in the correct direction is especially important when working with triangle units,