The Ultimate Modern Art Deco Quilt Pattern

I am so excited to share this modern Art Deco quilt pattern — Carbide! This is the third pattern that I have written and I think it is my favorite one yet! It is a the perfect modern quilt pattern with a vintage twist. Unlike traditional quilt patterns, this modern quilt pattern has clean lines and bold, solid colors. Settings the quilt blocks on point adds some interest to this modern design.

This quilt pattern is inspired by the luxury and glamour of the Art Deco period. It is named after the Carbide and Carbon building of Chicago. “Carbide” is a modern Art Deco quilt pattern that is built using quarter log cabin blocks set on point. I think this pattern is best with solids, especially rich jewel tones, dusty pastels, or higher contrast neutrals reminiscent of this iconic design era. Bright colors also work with this pattern, but don’t resonance with the 1920s and 1930s era as well.

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Carbide is written for three different sizes (crib, throw, and bed) and is now available for purchase as a digital download.

Modern Art Deco Color Inspiration

For the cover quilt, I decided to create the throw size. I wanted an ultra Art Deco vibe and chose colors that were inspired by the Carbide and Carbon building itself. This Art Deco color palette consists of black, emerald, gold and ivory, which I feel like are iconic 1920s colors. You have the high contrast between the cream and the black fabric, which is gorgeous next to the emerald green. Plus, I think the gold fabric perfectly captures the decadence of the Art Deco period.

Fun Fact: The Carbide and Carbon Building was designed to look like a dark green champagne bottle with a gold foil top.

I used Art Gallery Fabrics® exclusively and pulled from their Pure Solids line. I used: Deep Black, Evergreen, Aurus, and Creme de la Creme for the quilt top. For the binding, I used more Evergreen. For the backing, I chose Starry from Ruby Star Society. It is a black and metallic gold pattern cotton fabric that felt perfect for this Art Deco quilt. I ordered my fabric from an online fabric shop, but most local quilt shops have an excellent selection of solids. You may even find some 1930’s reproduction fabrics that would be fun to use!

Skill Level

This pattern is perfect for a confident beginner — maybe as a second quilt — or for modern quilters with a couple of projects under their belt. This quilt is essentially made up of quarter log cabin blocks. The difficulty increases with the use of 1″ sashing, and the blocks are also set “on-point” meaning they’re turned 45 degrees so they look like their are sitting on their points and then the rows are assembled diagonally. To finish the edges of the quilt top, on-point quilts require either setting triangles or for blocks to be cut in half diagonally — the Carbide pattern requires both

An important skill in any quilt is maintaining a consistent seam allowance. I found that my blocks were most accurate when I used a scant 1/4″ seam allowance and pressed my seams open.

This pattern requires lots and lots of strips. I found that using my rotary cutter with the Stripology XL Ruler from Creative Grids was an absolute game changer. It saved me lots of time with cutting. If you haven’t invested in one of these yet, I would highly recommend it!

Planning

When designing a quilt, I really prefer to use solid fabric for my quilt tops and large-scale prints for the backing. A lot of times, I start by finding a backing that I love and then I picks the solids for the quilt top, to coordinate. Often I will order my backing first and then use my color card swatches to find the perfects colors! This time around, I started by choosing the most Art Deco color palette I could think of and then chose a fairly simple black and metallic gold backing to compliment the quilt top.

I also like to do lots of digital mock-ups to make sure I absolutely love the color combinations before I start ordering fabric yardage. Check out a few of the variations I came up with!

If you want more color palette inspiration, then be sure to check out this post, where I use the 1920s and 1930s as inspiration and put together some Art Deco color palettes using both Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids and Kona Cotton Solids. With the exception of the first fabric pull, each palette features four solids. I also included a mock-up using the Carbide pattern.

Quilt Top Construction

I learned a while ago that chain piecing block is the way to go. It’s an easy way to speed up the construction of a quilt top that has a lot of the same element.

Finished Modern Art Deco Quilt Top

Modern Art Deco Quilting

Lilo of Trace Creek Quilting quilted the cover quilt! Lilo suggested “Behold” to compliment this modern Art Deco quilt without competing with the straight lines of the blocks. She was right! It is the perfect pattern for this 1920’s inspired quilt. Behold is a digital pantograph quilting design by Jess Ziegler of the Longarm League. I love how the staggered clamshells play off the bold color palette and geometric shapes,

Finishing this Modern Art Deco Quilt

One of my favorite ways to finish a quilt is with big stitch binding. This is a relatively new way to bind quilts and is a great option if you are looking to add an extra special touch to your finished quilt. I always start by machine sewing the binding to the front of the quilt and then, depending on the size of the quilt, I typically finish by hand sewing onto the back. DMC Perle Cotton in size 8 is my favorite thread to use for big stitch binding. I opted for black thread to match this moody quilt.

For all of my cover quilts, I have been hand embroidering custom quilt labels and this one was no exception. I used some scrap black fabric from the quilt top and embroidered “Carbide No. 003” in a very Art Deco font. I love how it turned out!

Want to learn how to make your own custom hand embroidered quilt labels? Check out my digital course Hand Embroidered Quilt Labels.

For more modern quilt patterns, make sure to look through my shop! New items are added regularly.

Get a Free Quilt Pattern

If you would like to try a free pattern that is a perfect beginner quilt, check out this awesome quilt with minimalist design. It is one of the easiest quilt patterns and it can be adapted for pre-cut fabric like fat quarter bundles or charm squares. This pattern downloads instantly!

Want more?

For more modern quilt ideas, be sure to follow me on social media. You can find Modern Moon Quilt Studio on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Find video tutorials on my YouTube channel.