Fall’s just around the corner and time to start thinking about the weather getting cooler and sewing projects for the home and maybe even sewing for gifts! I always get energized in the fall and am continually inspired by the colors of the season—how about you?
The newest pattern in my shop is called Chicago Geese and this fun, intermediate pattern comes in 6 sizes ranging from crib to king! Even though the pattern is new on my site, it’s not exactly new. I had made the original version for Quilts and More Spring 2019 issue, using prints from my Signature collection for Art Gallery Fabrics (see image below).
For the magazine feature, the quilt was called Sense of Direction but that’s the name they gave it. To me, it’s the Chicago Geese quilt, named after the antique block of the same name. This was finally the year I turned the magazine pattern into a stand alone quilt pattern. So, with the addition of one more fabric for a even scrappier look and 5 more size options, we now have the Chicago Geese quilt pattern!
The cover quilt for the Chicago Geese quilt pattern is a twin size quilt made with a mix of fabrics from my Kindred, Kismet, Fanciful, and the AGF Vert Venture prints. I’m calling this version Moody Blues because of the goose and sky-colored palette. This is more of a masculine look with the addition of smokey black. Kits for the throw size in this version are available at Lady Belle Fabric. Brooke at Lady Belle Fabric also did the long arm quilting for this quilt and used a pantograph called Woven Wind—it’s one of my favorites! We also used two layers of Warm and Natural batting for a heavy quilt with lots of cushion and great stitch definition!
But wait, there’s a bonus to making a Chicago Geese quilt! Because of the way the blocks are constructed, you get usable half-square triangle trimmings. The cast-off corners can be sewn together in pairs to create nice size half-square triangle units. Sure, whatever your background fabric is will have a little seam in that triangle half but that adds to the charm of a true scrap project, right? Depending upon the size Chicago Geese quilt you make will determine how many corner scraps you get. I have made a twin quilt and a king quilt so far and the twin could have yielded enough scraps to create a baby quilt (but I chose to only use some and made a bag) and my king quilt created enough scraps to make a 60’’ x 70’’ throw quilt with the addition of borders.
Above is my impromptu book bag I made using selected colored scrap half-square triangles or goslings as I’m calling the trimmed scrap half-square triangle (HST) units from making a Chicago Geese quilt. The goslings can be made into anything you’d normally sew. I’ve no pattern to give for this bag because I made it up as I went—just use your favorite bag pattern if you wanted to make a bag with your Gosling scraps. You could make just about anything from the scraps like a fun fall quilted coat or a table runner or quilt. I did very simple patchwork arrangements with my projects but there’s so many block designs that use half-square triangles in construction—you could get really creative.
The king size Chicago Geese quilt is currently in transit from being long arm quilted by Brooke Becker of Lady Belle Fabric. This is the Fern Glade version and is a quilt I made for my new house and first time having a king bed! I can’t wait to have it bound and in use on my bed and will be sure to have a follow up post showing it all styled and finished.
The fabric used in this quilt are from my Shine On, Willow, and Fanciful collections for Art Gallery Fabrics and Brooke will be kitting this Fern Glade king version as well as a Fern Glade throw size.
From the king quilt I was able to make a Gosling throw quilt from the trimmed corner half-square triangles. A throw Chicago Geese quilt will yield less scrap “Gosling HSTs” but still be able to use for small bonus projects.
I used Hobbs 100% Premium Polyester batting and AGF flannel from my Willow collection for the backing.
Again, I’m not supplying instructions or a pattern for my Gosling bonus scrap project because depending upon what size Chicago Geese quilt you make will determine how many trimmed scraps you have to work with. From the scraps, you can make anything you want with the half-square triangles. I simply arranged these half-square triangles units in the same orientation to a desired size that used I think all but 2 or 3 HST units. To make my throw a little larger I added 3’’ (finished) borders on all sides using scrap strips from making both my quilts.
To finish the Gosling throw quilt on my domestic sewing machine I did a simple stitch-in-the-ditch following the diagonal lines of the squares. The polyester batting and flannel backing give this quilt a heavenly puff that’s snuggle-perfect! It’s my new favorite throw quilt and looks beautiful in my family room. I’ll share more of some home decor shots in the king quilt followup post.
Meet the testers
With every new pattern release, my tester team also makes their own quilt versions. I love working with this group of talented ladies and they always come up with the prettiest quilts in fabric selections I could never dream up on my own! The following showcase of their work also illustrates how versatile this pattern is in a variety of fabric prints and colors.
In alphabetical order:
Leah Bruski
Leah Parker Bruski stitched this sunny Chicago Geese throw quilt in a mix of cheery Art Gallery Fabrics purchase at Piper Autumn Fabrics. Follow Leah’s quilt journey on her Instagram feed @lapinsta.
Jen Cannon (Piper Autumn Fabrics)
Jen Cannon of Piper Autumn Fabrics has created a magical palette of sea glass for her throw-size quilt and best part is she has kits available so you can make this version, too! All fabrics are from Art Gallery Fabrics beautifully curated. Grab this kit in her ETSY SHOP and don’t forget to visit Jen on Instagram @piperautumnfabrics.
Tamara Darragh
Tamara curated a delightful mix of Art Gallery Fabrics prints to make her aviary-inspired Chicago Geese throw quilt. See more of her stunning quilt on Tamara’s social media on Instagram @remivailstudio and visit Tamara’s shop Remi Vail Studio.
Tamara also made a bonus Gosling project from her trimmed scraps! As a talented bag maker, she self-drafted a beautiful cross body bag using fabric scraps and beautiful bag hardware.
Lindsey Fuessley
Lindsey has created a Chicago Geese throw quilt with a vintage palette and twist that it’s tied with machine tacking and pom poms! It looks right at home on the range and super snuggly with a Shannon Cuddle backing that also is used as self-binding—wow! See more of Lindsey’s makes @lindseymakes on Instagram as well as her blog Lindsey Makes.
Mary Gove
Mary Gove of @thecurlyquilter on Instagram has wow’d us again with her tester quilt! Mary used Maureen Cracknell’s Homebody collection for Art Gallery fabrics and backed it with flannel from my Kindred collection to make a sublimely pretty Chicago Geese throw quilt.
Terri Neil
Terri Neil owner of @quiltingrubies has outdone herself with this Chicago Geese baby quilt gem! She curated a palette of Art Gallery Fabrics in ruby jewel tones and backed with Shannon Cuddle fabric and of course quilting is done by Terri who’s also a profession long armer.
Terri creatively used her Gosling HSTs to create framed Quilt Block Art for her studio! Now that’s thinking outside the box, or, rather inside the box!
Elaine Satterfield
Elaine Satterfield of @createjoyquilt is so incredibly talented, and always creates pretty things. Elaine’s used a variety of Art Gallery Fabrics including several prints from my Shine On collection in creating her sunny, end-of-summer palette.
The Gosling bonus projects that Elaine Satterfield made are great examples of the many small projects that can be make using the trimmed HST units from making a Chicago Geese quilt. Elaine made a gorgeous HST pillow and a zippered pouch.
Tracey Taber-Perry
Tracey’s Chicago Geese throw is anything but scary! She did, however use Art Gallery Fabrics spooky Halloween collections to create this adorable throw quilt—look at that striped binding! See more of Tracey’s beautiful makes by following her on her Instagram feed at @ttabes80.
Liza Taylor
Liza Taylor of @lizataylorhandmade always makes something special! Her Chicago Geese throw quilt in Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solid color palette is in perfect tonal harmony. I especially love that she used my Delicate Balance print in the background.
Joyce Ulm
Joyce Ulm of @evamaecustomquilts is a prolific quilter and talented long arm quilter. Joyce used prints from Amy Sinabaldi’s Haven collection for Art Gallery Fabrics to make a twin Chicago Geese quilt.
Using the trimmed scrap HST units from making her twin Chicago Geese quilt, Joyce was able to make a generous-size baby quilt like my Gosling throw quilt.
Marija Vujcic
Last but not least is Marija Vujcic on Instagram @maraquiltdesigns and on her blog at Mara Quilt Designs. Marija used mostly prints from my Fanciful blender collection plus a green blender from Lilliput and the dark green floral is from Shine On. Marija’s Chicago Geese throw quilt looks like you are looking at a beautiful garden!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Chicago Geese quilt show and are inspired to make a version, or two for yourself. Don’t forget you’ll also have left over scraps to make some Gosling bonus projects as well!
I have so much more to share with you besides this new pattern release! My next fabric collection, Juniper is shipping to shops during the month of September and there’s new projects to make for the Juniper Look Book. This blog post is already way too long so to see more about the Chicago Geese quilts, my new fabric collection, and sewing project, follow along on my Instagram account @sharonhollanddesigns for daily updates and pretty pictures of what I’m working on.