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Free quilt pattern: Shades of Southwest
You don’t have to live in Arizona to appreciate the striking colors and contrast in Sarah Oliver’s quilt called “Shades of Southwest.” She has kindly shared her pattern with us so that no matter where you live, you can create a quilt that makes you feel like you’re basking in the summer sun!
Sarah grew up sewing, learning everything from her mom. That time spent honing her skills led to her obtaining a degree in Fashion Design. Now she is the mom with four daughters, and she is busy sharing her sewing and quilting passion with them in the hope that they will continue the family tradition. Sarah currently serves as the president of the Greater Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild.
Even though she has sewn all her life, Sarah first started quilting 10 years ago, when she was introduced to the APQS Millennium! With that new tool in her sewing studio, Sarah found that she could create awesome quilts and get them quilted in a fraction of the time. The other big bonus was that she could extend her fashion design talent into designing both the quilts and the quilting patterns!
As for the inspiration for “Shades of Southwest,” Sarah has a sweet friend named Carol who loves turquoise and southwest patterns. Since turquoise is also a favorite of Sarah’s, it was easy to pull together a color palette that would be just right for Carol. Since Sarah used only squares and half square triangles for the base, the quilt is easy enough for a first-time quilter.
Sarah enjoys using pantograph patterns on her Millennium. She finds them very relaxing because she can get into a nice rhythm as she quilts. With a pantograph pattern on a longarm, all you need to do is follow the line printed on the paper so you can relax and not have to think too hard about the design or what to do. In fact, Sarah usually listens to music or a podcast while quilting! Since the quilt pattern is so graphic, Sarah wanted a subtle pattern for this quilt. She chose a pattern called “His Reflection” because it reminded her of ripples in water.
Sarah would love to see pictures of the quilt you make from her pattern! You can find her on Instagram as @stitch.sew.quilt – tag her with a picture of your quilt!
