What to do with large image fabric
 

I want to make a christmas quilt and was looking at fabric today. I like using the small squares (3," finished) size and making item blocks (like a block that is a star or a pinwheel etc) out of HST's. But in looking at the fabric...the "image" print is all to big for that. If I ut a 3,1/2 sq out of it to make a HST...the image I am trying to capture would be deminished. For example...there was one with some cute santa's on it...they measured probably 3 inches sq....I couldn't use that to make a HST....the image of the santa would be cut off. Unless I cut a very large square to capture the design, I couldn't use that print. And even at that...It probably wouldn't look good as a HST, simply because it is so large.

So what can you do with this larger image fabric and still have the "quilt" look to it? "quilt" look meaning the squares and designs made out of the squares. I know they would work as sashes, but I was designing a quilt with square of christmasy items...like the little santas or reindeer or holly..in a HST with a solid opposite side. I know I can make this pattern the center of a block like a Northern Star and have the solids be the points...but so many of the quilts I make are that same pattern, I was hoping for something different. Any suggestions?

Turning Twenty (book 1 or 2) is ideal for large prints. Also Yellow Brick Road.

I just did a hole in the barn door and used fussy cuts for my 6 1/2" middle square.

I just did a great quilt with 6.5 inch half square triangles. One side was print and one solid. I arranged them as tilted diamonds. Love love love it. It was a magazine pattern.

ALternate star squares with the large fussy cut squares.

There is a block called "merry kite" which has a 4" center, chevrons (made with HSTs) surrounding it, and then 4-patches in the corners. There are actually many 12" blocks that have a 4" center. Maybe try "gentlemans fancy".

I love this quilt, the main blocks are 9.5" square, no loss of pattern there.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...o-t205991.html

The pattern is free here:
http://www.benartex.com/uploads/Imag...VAS/denovo.pdf

This is the one I've been making recently out of larger scale prints:
http://www.handcraftingwithlove.net/...-big-star.html
You obviously can make the half square triangles any size you want, I usually make mine finish at 10 or 12 inches.
Add as many borders as you'd like to make it a larger size.

Any of the BQ patterns would work great. I love those patterns.

I would suggest BQ patterns as well