About a year and a half ago, I began working on my newest fabric collection with Riley Blake Designs. It's called Honey Locust, and I am happy to announce that it has finally shipped to stores!
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Honey Locust is an homage to my grandparents, who lived in a cute little house on Locust Avenue in Pleasant Grove, Utah, for many years. Before that, they lived in Laie, Hawaii for 25 years. My grandpa was a cowboy and a history professor. My grandma was a quilter and a homemaker. Their home in Pleasant Grove was on the historic registry, and it was full of learning and love (as well as lots of quilts and antiques!) I have many memories of riding horses, learning skills such as quilting and canning, working alongside family while painting their picket fence, and singing songs while my grandpa played the guitar and taught us about our heritage. We worked together and played together at that sweet little house on Locust Avenue, and I miss my grandparents dearly.
In this collection, you'll find cozy colors such as grove green, sky blue, berry pink, honeycomb yellow, lead navy blue, petal pink, saddle brown, and linen. The names remind me of Pleasant Grove, picking cherries and grapes on my grandparents' property, Utah (the beehive state), my grandpa - the teacher and cowboy, and fresh linen sheets hanging on a clothesline.
The large floral print (bottom fabric below) is called Gigi's Garden.
The grandkids called my grandma Gigi (she is the namesake of my company!)
There are 9 different prints plus one "cheater" print.
I'm kind of obsessed with the cheater print and want to make "all the things" with it!
The cheater print was inspired by a quilt I made several years ago (and that was inspired by several antique quilts I had seen around). I kept meaning to write a pattern for the quilt, but it just never happened! When it came time to design a cheater print for this collection, I knew I wanted to recreate the quilt on fabric! I love that design, and I love that the blocks are even smaller than the ones in my quilt. Everything is cuter when it's tiny, right!?
Honey Locust Rolie Polies, 5" Stackers, 10" Stackers, and Fat Quarter Bundles are available.
I hope you're seeing just how scrappy this collection is!
So many prints and colors! It's been a blast to work with!
I've designed 3 new patterns to go along with Honey Locust. First up is one of the first patterns I ever designed - with a major update! I omitted some outdated appliqué and included one more size option. It's called Square Root and it's 2-1/2" strip-friendly.
Next up is a row-style quilt called The Locust House Row Quilt. Again, it was inspired by my grandparents' house. My grandma also had a few row-style quilts that I admired greatly so I knew I wanted to design one for this collection. It finishes at 62" x 81" and would make a great block of the month program for any shop! Or a great scrap buster project if you want to make it on your own!
And finally, Checkered Spools. In honor of my grandma, who taught me how to quilt! It comes with instructions for two size options and is 2-1/2" strip-friendly!
I can't wait to share more with you soon! I am busy making all the samples for these quilts (and more!) so stay tuned! For the most up-to-date info, follow me on Instagram (@gigis_thimble) or check-out my Etsy shop for new patterns and fabric by clicking HERE.
I'd love to hear what you think of Honey Locust and the patterns I've designed to go along with it!
And if you really want to do me a favor, please tell your local fabric store about this collection! I would appreciate that so much! Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by today!
