TOAD-SPO - December Color Palette '23

Posted by Olivia Alaniz on

Toad & Sew inspiration post for December, 2023. Color palette borders the top and bottom and toad logo is between words.

Merry Toad-Spo: December Quilt Color Palette

Now that the Enigmatic quilt is officially available to the general public - I knew I had to feature it for December Toad-spo! Although this pattern doesn't scream Christmas, it sure does look cute in 'Christmasy' colors. I wanted to create a holiday palette that could be appreciated year round, and what better combination than the timeless duo of classic green and pink! Whenever I find myself in need of a foolproof color scheme, green and pink are my go-to choices. As complementary colors, they effortlessly harmonize, especially when strategically applied.


I experimented with various hues and values to create a slightly whimsical palette, and to add a playful touch, I introduced a subtle yellow that serves as a captivating pop of color. This yellow infusion adds just the right amount of warmth to round out the December quilt color palette, making it feel perfectly balanced.

Circular graphic breaking out colors from the December palette overlaid on the complete Toad & Sew Enigmatic quilt.

Trending Patterns:

Mood Collage for the December Quilt Color Palette

Inspirational collage of the December color palette. Photos include a pink building and bright checkered throw pillows.
Close-up of the above collage where all the photos are linked by a color wheel of the December quilt palette from Toad & Sew.
The complete Enigmatic quilt next to an image of the beginning sewing process. Circles are on top showing the December colors.
Rectangles stacked vertically showcasing the AGF solid colors used for the December quilt color palette inspiration.

The Quilt - Enigmatic

This month’s featured Toad & Sew quilt pattern is the Enigmatic Quilt! Enigmatic was the very first quilt pattern that was released as part of my membership called Toad Circle. Toad Circle is a quarterly mystery quilt sew along and book club that combines the love of reading and sewing! Over the course of 8 weeks, members will sew a quilt pattern and read the chosen book all while having community discussions with me and other members of Toad Circle. Toad Circle sign-ups aren't currently open - the doors open 4 times a year - but if you would like to be notified when it opens, join this mailing list


Okay okay, enough about Toad Circle. Let's discuss this quilt! The Enigmatic quilt pattern is a beginner-friendly, block-based quilt pattern. This pattern, along with all other Toad Circle quilt patterns, includes an in-depth section all about color theory! These included instructions will help you choose colors that work well together and accentuates the design of the quilt.

Close-up of finished Enigmatic quilt by Toad & Sew. The upper right corner is folded over to view the backing fabric as well.

Our December Toad-Spo Enigmatic quilt was made entirely of Art Gallery Fabrics print and solid fabrics! On the top, we went with Pure Solids in the colors Sweet Macadamia, Blossomed, Weathered Brick, Miami Sunset, Honey, Forest Night, and Rosemary. If you'd like to make this quilt on your own, you can buy the quilt kit here!


You’ll notice that the quilt design separates the required colors into 2 groups or color families. Our December Toad-Spo fabrics can be simplified into green (Colors 1-3) and pink (Colors 4-6) color families. My favorite way to plug colors into this quilt is to use a darker tone for Color 2 and Color 5, a lighter tone for Color 1 and Color 4, and a pop of color for Color 3 and Color 6. If you look at the green blocks, you’ll see that the darker tone is the Forest Night solid fabric and the lighter tone is Rosemary. The pop of color we chose for this color family is the bright yellow color - Honey. While this is not a required method of pulling fabric for this quilt pattern, it’s one of my favorite ways of playing with the colors!

Fabric swatches from the Toad & Sew December quilt inspiration. Each fabric is labeled according to the name of the color.
Second view of fabric swatches from the Toad & Sew December quilt inspiration. Each fabric is labeled according to the name of the color.

The piecing instructions for this quilt pattern are fairly simple and are totally accomplishable by a beginner quilter. The main two piecing blocks/techniques you'll need to sew are half square triangles (HSTs) and snowball corners. Snowball corners (seen in the photos below) below have many names in the quilting world. You might also hear this piecing technique referred to as “stitch and flip” or simply “diagonal seams,” but they mean the same thing!

Quilting tools laid on a work table next to a stack of fabrics cut in the half square triangle shape with snowball corners.
More half square triangle shapes cut into fabric and fanned across a table. The two pink and green color families are shown.

While the Enigmatic quilt blocks look great on their own, the magic starts to happen when you combine them together! This is where your color families start to play off of each other within the quilt and make the design come alive!


One of my favorite things to do when sewing a quilt top is to play around with the blocks before they are sewn together! It is so much fun to see the many alternate designs that could be made with the quilt blocks. Check out the photos below to see how unique the design of these blocks can look when you lay them out a little differently! And if you snap a picture of your layouts, you can even give yourself a new phone wallpaper too! I might have that third picture below as a phone background right now… 

Close-up of the blocks arranged in a checkerboard-like pattern. The white corners connect to form a square in the center.
 A wider shot of the fabric block arrangement alternating between the pink and green colors being on the top or bottom.
Column of the fabric blocks folded into triangles.The green bordered triangles point up while the pink borders point down.

Enigmatic is a super quick make that can easily be increased or decreased in size by adding or subtracting quilt blocks! With the color theory lesson at the beginning of this quilt pattern, you're sure to make a timeless quilt that you'll love forever!

Longarm Quilting

Our fabulous longarm quilter for December is of course Ashley Perkins of Hen House Quilting! We are big fans of Ashley around here - not only because she’s a FANTASTIC quilter but also because she is a pretty cool chick too! ;) If you are in need of a longarm quilter, we definitely recommend checking out Ashley for your quilting needs!

Wide-angle view of a longarm quilting machine with the Enigmatic quilt in the December quilt colors by draped on top of it.

Since the theme of this quilt is timeless and subtle Christmas, we knew we had to pick just the right longarm quilting pantograph. We toyed around with the idea of making the pantograph be an overtly Christmas design, but ultimately decided it, too, should be subtle in its Christmas design. The goal was to make sure this is something that could be loved during the holiday season, but could be left out well after and still fit in! We decided to go with the pantograph called Twinkle Toes designed by Karlee Porter. I love the diamond sparkley shape in this quilting design - it reminds me so much of snowflakes!

Close-up of the pantograph used for the December Enigmatic quilt. The pattern is Twinkle Toes designed by Karlee Porter.
 Snowflake-like pantograph shown sewn into the top of the Enigmatic quilt with the longarm quilting machine in the background.
 Third view of Snowflake-like pantograph shown sewn into the top of the Enigmatic quilt with the longarm quilting machine in the background.

Backing and Binding

The backing fabric for the December Enigmatic Toad-Spo sample is a print from Art Gallery Fabrics called Blooming Ritual. The colors of this quilting cotton print pair so well with the Weathered Brick and Honey solid colors from the top. Plus, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to include a little hint of retro with those flowers! The December Toad-Spo Enigmatic quilt was finished off by using Honey, the same pop of color fabric in the green color family blocks, as the binding fabric.

Close-up of the pantograph on the front and back of the Enigmatic quilt. The backing fabric shown is Blooming Ritual from AGF.
The longarm quilting machine shown behind the Blooming Ritual backing fabric from Art Gallery Fabrics on the Enigmatic quilt.
The completed Enigmatic quilt by Toad & Sew hanging on a green wall that complements the colors in the December palette.
Toad & Sew’s Enigmatic quilt in the December color palette laid atop white granite countertop, allowing the colors to pop.
The finished Enigmatic quilt bordered on the top and bottom of the photo with swatches of the December color palette.

We absolutely love how this turned out! Geri and Ashley did such a great job making this Enigmatic quilt come to life. If you’d like to make this quilt, you can now grab the quilt pattern on sale through the weekend! Use the code ENIDEC20 at checkout for 20% off the Enigmatic quilt pattern.

A 20% off coupon on the Enigmatic quilt pattern by Toad & Sew. Coupon is valid through 12/17/23 and the code is: ENIDEC20.
Use this Toad & Sew recipe card to create the Enigmatic quilt in the December color palette. All fabric info is on the card.

Maker Spotlight: Geri

Geri, the featured Toad & Sew maker of the month from Texas, smiling in front of a quilt she’s made and hung on the wall.

Our featured maker this month is Geri! She is from Flower Mound, TX and learned how to sew in Home Economics. Geri picked up quilting again in 2019 after her sons left for college to keep her hands busy and manage her stress. Art Gallery Fabrics quilting cottons are what you'll find in most of Geri's quilts, as this brand is her favorite! She typically gravitates toward more saturated tones but loves to use all of the colors equally.


Geri finds her inspiration on Instagram from the quilting side of the IG world. This is where she finds quilt patterns to make when she is not coming up with her own designs! When Geri is in the sewing zone, you’ll often find her listening to an audiobook with her cat named Fish sitting right next to her - probably on a recently finished quilt block too.


Fun Facts:

  • She saw Elvis live in concert in Dallas in 1975 when she was 8 years old!
  • Her favorite food is Thai food.
  • She would have loved to see Freddie Mercury's performance at Live Aid.
  • A quilty goal Geri has is to improve her free motion quilting skills! 

You all should go check out Geri on Instagram and give her a follow! Geri said she finds inspiration from others on Instagram, but I find inspiration from her profile!  Her pictures and projects are always so good!

See the December quilt color palette in action!

Sky Cabin Quilt

Use this Toad & Sew recipe card to make your own modern quilt design of the Sky Cabin pattern in December’s color palette.

Booths Corner Quilt

Bring the Booths Corner quilt by Toad & Sew to life with the help of this recipe card. Send to a shop for your complete kit.

Garden Glow Quilt

Everything you need to make the Garden Glow quilt by Toad & Sew in December’s color palette can be found on this recipe card.

Open Road Quilt

Make the modern Toad & Sew Open Road quilt pattern in the inspired color palette for December with this recipe card.

Want to save this palette?

If you're loving what you're seeing and want to save this color palette for future use - don't forget to pin it by clicking the image below.

Pinterest-style header laid over the intricate details of the pantograph for the Enigmatic quilt by Toad & Sew.
 Pinterest collage of fabric swatches and final Toad & Sew Enigmatic quilt in the December-inspired color palette.
Enigmatic, the modern pattern for December from Toad & Sew, hung on a green wall showcasing the December quilt color palette.
December quilt color palette Modern quilt patterns Timeless Christmas quilt Toad-Spo for December 2023

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