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I was lucky enough to get chosen to test this amazing new pattern by Whaling City Quilt co, called Fission! It always amazed me how quilt designers find new ways to use the HST. Geese! It’s really just four huge blocks put together, that make an amazing design. See what I mean? There is a whole different pattern once you put the four blocks together. Click here for the pattern.
So I bought 12 yards of this purple fabric, yep 12 yards. Why 12 yards? Well you see, I bought 4 yards of the same fabric 3 times. My only excuse is there was wine involved with internet shopping. FYI this fabric is called “vivid violet” by Bella Solids. My goal for the year is to use all 12 yards, yep all 12 yards of barney purple. This Spring Meagan at Then Came June had a quilt along for her newest pattern, called Camp Fire Glow. I knew I was going to start to use that purple! First came the 9 patches! Then more 9 patches 🙂 I couldn’t bring myself to use the purple in the stars. But for my first go at using up my purple, it came out really well. Click here for the pattern!
Did you know I am a pattern tester? Yep, I test at least six patterns a year, and let me tell you not all patterns are created equal 🙂 I was so excited when Ashley from Whaling City Quilt Co selected me to test her new pattern Jagged Edge! I knew I wanted to make a scrappy version of this quilt, but I could not come up with a color pallet that would do this pattern justice. Then I realized I was completely overthinking it, and pulled all of my solid scraps and just started to cut! Can you have a favorite block? Cause if I could this one would totally be it. After pulling my scraps I knew I needed a little lime green, cause you really can’t have enough lime green. I found this fabric in one of my scrap buckets. Yep this block makes me happy. Sometimes…
Maggie @maggiemugginesdesignes allowed me to be part of her testing crew for her new pattern Launch Status Check. Once the fabric was cut, I started to second guess my color pallet. Should I have tried for more of an outer space vibe? I got all of the blocks sewn together, laid out the quilt…turns out I messed up one of the blocks and had to rip them all…Yikes. Ok, this time the blocks are sewn together correctly, but man I messed up that layout. But at this point, I started to love my fabric choices. Truth be told, I really liked both of my mistake layouts, I might have to do this one again. Hey look, I finally got it right and they really look like rockets! It’s really three blocks, it looks more complicated than it is. Boom just like that it’s done! Click here for the pattern.
A few Sundays ago, my husband asked me what quilt I made for John’s wedding, I told him the wedding was next month I had time….turns out the wedding was in six days. Yikes! I turned to IG to find a pattern, Keyana at @collectivequilts just came out with her new Diamond Path Pattern that I thought I could knock out. The first obstacle, it was Sunday afternoon and my LQS was closed. So I had to pull from my own stash. Since solids and grunge are always the answer, it was an easy pull. I managed to get the whole quilt cut Sunday nights, and most of the HST’s sewn together. Of course, this is the last seam of my last block, sometimes the bobbin gods like to laugh at you 🙂 Night two, I got all 200 plus HST done. Nights 2 and 3, I got the blocks…
OMG, I was interviewed by Jeff Rutherford and Elaine Poplin on their podcast called Quilting Stories episode 12. I rambled on about my love for the HST, my quest for a new sewing machine, and Elaine and I bonded over bright colors. Click here to check it out!
Cabins Peak This quilt is all about the fabric. I had traveled all the way from California to the muggy land of Melbourne, Florida, and I will admit I was not excited about it. I was visiting my Great Aunt Connie who was celebrating her 94th birthday. While she is one of the most hardcore women I know, ( she was the first woman to wear pants to her work and she answers the phone ‘Hello this is Constance, world’s oldest virgin speaking’) I am genuinely against heavy humidity and bugs. I found the fabric in a little shop called Quilt Boutique. There were four long pieces, with a gradual gradient from dark to light. There was a dark green that faded into an emerald, to lime green and on to yellow. I also found a purple, blue, and pink one. I had absolutely no idea what I could use…
My new scrappy quilt obsession. The X and + Quilt Block could be one of the easiest ways to use up your left over fabric. You really don’t need to put to much thought in to the fabric choices of this block. Just make sure the background is lighter than the X and the +, really it’s that easy. Badskirt has a great free pattern for this block I think this whole quilt top took me under 10 hours to make, and that includes pulling the fabrics! This was so much fun to make, I am sure there will be a second one in my future.
I had found this colorful fabric in my stash that I got from a yard sale several years ago. For some reason, I now felt that I needed to make something out of it now. No idea what I wanted to make, I started with 6.5 inch half square triangles. This is my go-to block to get me out of a rut! Once the blocks were complete, my son’s friends came up with a pattern that we could all agree on. Picture this three young 20-somethings debating the layout of these blocks. I just happen to have this backing that I got from the same yard sale. I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it, but it’s the perfect pattern for this quilt. The final outcome is so freaking awesome!
Vivilux has created a 3 in 1 laser that can be attached to any sewing machine with magnets or velcro. The laser is cordless and is re-chargeable meaning no batteries needed. Right now the Fat Quarter Shop has this laser on sale for $54. At first, I thought that was a little pricy until I used it. I was able to sew these blocks in a perfect straight line without marking them. I had to two almost 300 of these lines, so it was a HUGE time saver skipping the marking step. As you can see, I was able to velcro it to the side of my machine. It did take some time to line it up correctly the first time. But once it was in place it worked like a dream. The laser comes with three attachments that will allow for a straight line, dots or a cross hair.…
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Beth
Hi there!
My name is Beth and I am the Garland Girl who runs this blog. I have been quilting for almost 15 years, and let’s face it quilting did not come easily to me. Do you remember that kid who had no rhythm, but danced her heart out at every recital? Well, that was me in the quilting world. I remember one night about a year in, I was working on a baby quilt ( the shower was the next day) and after every wash, at least one seam would pop open….good times. The crazy thing have I loved everything about quilting. I found joy in the process, even though the binding on the table mats I gave my mother in law fell off after two washes. A few years in, I realized that I needed to practice my quarter seam, and learn how to bind a quilt properly. I have worked so hard at my craft, man I have made so many mistakes and found so many ways to do things easier than I had to start writing them down.
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