Tag Archives: Sarah Goer Quilts

New Release: Floating Hexagons Pattern • 4 Comments

sarah • September 13, 2018

I am excited to release my Floating Hexagons pattern. I originally designed Floating Hexagons in 2017 and worked with amazing testers at the end of the year. It has been a long time coming, and I'm so pleased to be sharing it with you today. I was inspired to work with solids, and I wanted to work with a block-based design with a twist, playing with placement of my hexagons to create interesting negative space. Floating Hexagons is a beginner friendly block-based design in three sizes.

Last month I shared my Petting Zoo version of Floating Hexagons. This variation features different fabrics in each of the hexagons.

As a bonus, you can choose to make five blocks from the baby or lap size quilt to make a table runner, as I did for Modern by the Yard for my Fall Fleurish runner.

A great big thank you to my testers, Anja, Laura, and Mary. (See their versions here.) Since I chose to change the construction method of my hexagons after my testers created their quilts, I worked with Sarah Ruiz for technical editing. She was fabulous to work with. I appreciate her keen eye and I look forward to working with her again.

Floating Hexagons quilt pattern contains three sizes:

Baby: 30 1/2" x 42 1/2"
Lap: 45 1/2" x 63 1/2"
Throw: 60 1/2" x 84 1/2"

My pattern includes:

fabric requirements and cutting instructions in clear charts
detailed precision piecing instructions, tested and professionally edited
clear diagrams
three block sizes
a coloring sheet for planning your design
quilting ideas
instructions for creating binding
photos of testers' quilts for inspiration

Happy Valentine’s Day • 6 Comments

sarah • February 14, 2018

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, including products from Hobbs and Aurifil.

My second project as an Island Batik Ambassador was to make a small Valentine for a friend. I opted to make two mug rugs in honor of Galentine’s Day, a celebration of some of my best gal pals.

I chose to use four of the fabrics from my Valentine's Island Batik bundle. As soon as I saw the bundle I knew I had to feature the print on the top (which I think is Mixed Berry Mini Dots from the Plum Delicious collection). That's how I chose it for my background fabric. I chose the pale pink for my hearts to contrast the dark tones of the background.

I pieced two sizes of heart blocks. The smaller ones fit in the palm of my hand. I opted for a triple heart in the small size heart blocks for one mug rug and used a single larger heart for the other mug rug. I like the idea of the main design of a mug rug to be on an edge or corner so it can still be enjoyed even with a mug and a snack in place.

I used the same ultra-thin polyester Thermore Hobbs batting that I used in my last quilt. I'm not sure polyester is the best choice for a mug rug, (anyone have thoughts on that?) but I like the idea that it'll stay flat and not get crinkly when washed. I used one layer of the batting on my triple heart mug rug, and on my single heart mug rug I doubled the batting and added a third layer under the heart. On that quilt, I started the quilting by stitching the perimeter of the heart, then I cut away the third layer of batting as shown below. This gave the heart just a little more puff to it, especially once I added the dense quilting to the background. It's subtle, but I like it.

I opted for loops and hearts on this first mug rug and went for pretty dense all over quilting in the background. This was my first time using Aurifil 40wt thread. The Antique Rose (#2430) from my ambassador box was a perfect choice to contrast my background fabric. I the second mug rug I omitted the hearts from my design and used a slightly larger scale loop motif.

In order to incorporate two more fabrics I made a flange binding. I pieced the cream and pink fabrics for a pink binding with a cream flange. The binding was attached by machine with a Light Beige (#2310) 50wt Aurifil from my stash.

These are my 12th and 13th quilt finishes in 2018. The triple heart mug rug finished at 10.5" x 8" and the single heart mug rug is about 10" x 7.75".

Check out some of the other Galentine's Day projects by my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors.

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts

Steph @ Steph Jacobson

Jeanette @ Inchworm Fabrics

Connie @ Kauffman Designs

Joan @ Moosestash Quilting

Maryellen @ Mary Mack Made Mine

Jackie @ If These Threads Could Talk

Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts

Annie @ Masterpiece Quilting

Next month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge is to try a technique that is new to us. Maybe I should have saved my flange binding for next month! ;-) I'm looking for ideas. Leave me a comment below with your ideas for a new technique for me to try.

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Project QUILTING 9.3: Bold and Brave • 24 Comments

sarah • February 11, 2018

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, including products from Hobbs and Aurifil.

I'm a multitasker at heart. Sometimes when I am planning a project, I like to figure out how I'll incorporate multiple goals. This includes quilt challenges and personal design goals. This week's Project QUILTING challenge of Bold and Brave wasn't really calling to me, so I was dragging my feet on formulating a plan. Then I found out that my Island Batik Ambassador box was due to arrive on Wednesday. I figured that meant I was supposed to dive right in and use it for my PQ challenge. It also meant I could procrastinate for a couple more days until the box arrived. ;-)

This project ties to the Bold and Brave theme in a couple of ways. This is the first official month in my role as an Island Batik Ambassador. It was brave of me to put myself out there and apply, and I'm excited to work with their bold colors. Also, I am excited to have started my quilt teaching career. I was a middle school math teacher for eleven years and it's great to be back in a classroom setting. The design of my mini quilt comes from my second Planned Improv workshop, All About Angles, which I'll be debuting soon. The workshop is designed to feature reversible fabrics (solids, hand dyes, cross weaves, batiks) so it lent itself well to choosing from my box of Island Batik fabrics. I love all the bright colors in the Morning Sunshine collection and chose a variety from that bundle to get started. After much debate, I settled on:

Sunflower in Rainbow
Mini Dot in Sun
Grass in Lime
Dot in Turquoise
Grass in Purple

Back to that multitasking that I mentioned. This mini quilt is my Project QUILTING Bold and Brave challenge quilt, my Island Batik Ambassador Mini Love project, and a class sample for my Planned Improv: All About Angles workshop. A three-fer!

It finishes at 20.5" x 24", pieced and simply quilted with Aurifil white 50wt thread, and features Hobbs Thermore Ultra-Thin Polyester batting.

I chose my binding from one of my Stash Builder rolls. It was a 5" x WOF strip and I managed to make it work by piecing my binding with straight seams since I was worried I didn't have enough fabric to piece on an angle... and I was right! It was a very close call.

I love mini quilts. They provide a great opportunity for a fast finish, an especially nice option for gifts. They can provide a splash of color on a wall or table. And mini quilts are my favorite way to try out a new technique. Something about their small size means it isn't too big of a commitment for a first run with a new skill.

Thanks for visiting. I'm linking up to Project QUILTING 9.3. Voting opens Sunday morning, so be sure to check out the other projects and vote for your ten favorites. (Mine is #57.)