Goose Crossing

Do you love a great two-color quilt?
Make sure you catch Barbara J. Eikmeier's Goose Crossing quilt, featured in the March/April 2016 issue of Love of Quilting! Barb used her Vintage Shirting & Dress Prints collection to create this quilt, inspired by an antique. Keep reading; Barb shared more information about her design below. 

"Goose Crossing" by Barbara J. Eikmeier; machine quilted by Denise Mariano;
featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting March/April 2016

Q. What inspired this quilt?
Barb: An antique quilt that belongs to my friend Lynn and was made by her grandmother. I've borrowed the quilt for my blues talk and wanted to try making it. On the antique version, the colors are reversed. When I drew it, I didn't love it, but then I switched the colors and it became this great quilt.

Barb's version

the antique version

antique version close-up

Q. Tell us why you like two-color quilts. 
Barb: I especially like blue and white, and also red and white. I think they’re striking and kind of timeless. I just don’t get tired of them; they speak to me. When you use fabrics that are really similar like in this quilt, I call it using fabrics that are the same but different. It’s like selecting from a menu—don’t have to really worry about placement. They can be all mixed up. This quilt uses all the blues from my Vintage Shirting collection. 

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?
Barb: I like that it's easy to make--I super sized the blocks--they're 18" square in my version--and the geese go every which way. I made the flying geese units using the Fons & Porter flying geese ruler. I like to cut my triangles to the right size and sew them together, rather than trimming larger pieces. I think it's time saving. It's just a fun quilt to make. 

Q. Tell us some fun facts about this quilt.
Barb: There are multiple ways to assemble this quilt. We featured one in the TV series, and a different method in the magazine. 
Also, I had my first celebrity encounter because of this quilt--my husband and I were out walking the dog and a lady stopped us to tell me how much she liked the quilt in the video. I didn't even know her! 

Q. How did you name this quilt?
Barb: I named it as a tribute to my old neighborhood. There were two ponds on either side of the road, and the geese would walk across the road. They put up a sign for the geese--like a deer crossing sign. 

See the entire Vintage Shirting & Dress Prints collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.
Learn more about Barbara and her work here.
Find the kit to make this quilt here.
Find Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine here. (This quilt was also featured on the “Love of Quilting” 2700 TV series.)