When I started working on the Holiday Dreams Pattern for Zsofia from Stoffsalat I could never imagine how much fun it will be to work with this tester team and how gorgeous creations they will make during this few weeks. I would like to introduce everyone with a few words and some behind the scenes snippets about the inspiration of their version of Holiday Dreams.
Meet my lovely testers and quilty friends! (I used alphabetical order for easy searching)
Gina
Introduction:
Hi, I’m Gina!
I’m a lawyer turned stay-at-home mom, turned fabric shop owner. I started quilting in 2016 as an outlet to handle the anxiety of working as a prosecutor, and haven’t stopped since! My favorite thing about quilting is seeing the transformation of fabric from whole pieces, into smaller pieces, and into new shapes and designs. I love the process of combining colors and patterns from different fabric brands and designers to create unique bundles.
Fabrics and Inspiration:
This kit was inspired by the colors of summer. I wanted to visually create the feeling of happiness that a warm summer day can give you.
- Rifle Paper Co. Jardin de Paris in Peony
- Firefly Bachelorette by Art Gallery Fabrics
- Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids
- Cotton Candy
- Mandarin
- Honeydew
It’s really hard for me to pick favorite designers and colors! They are all beautiful to me for different reasons, and often become my favorite as I’m working with them!
Lauren
Introduction:
Hey friends! My name is Lauren!
I’m a stay at home mom to two busy boys (ages 3 and 5) and an avid modern quilter! I learned to sew at an early age by watching my mom and assisting her with projects. When I had my oldest son in 2016, I finished my first solo quilt project (a baby quilt!) and haven’t looked back since! When I’m not quilting (or shuttling my kids around to different activities),
I enjoy traveling with my family, reading classic murder mystery novels, and baking yummy treats.
Fabrics and Inspiration:
For this quilt top, I drew inspiration from the beautiful spring colors that are popping up all around my home right now. The fabrics are bright and bold and radiate joy!
- Summer Sunshine collection by Indy Bloom for Hawthorne Supply Co.
- Speckle in Ice from the Fronds and Felines collection by Rae Ritchie for Dear Stella
- Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids
- Snow
As a quilter, I try to mix things up so I don’t get stuck working with the same colors or designs over and over again. I love working with solids because the look is so clean, but I’m also trying to add more prints into my projects to keep things interesting. I haven’t tried working with woven fabrics *yet*, but I’m hoping to give them a try soon.
As for my favorite designers, there are too many to list, but a few that quickly come to mind include Fran of Cotton & Joy, Erin of Love Sew Modern, and Allison of Allison Ramsing Patterns.
Oh…and my girl Edith of Lael Quilts, of course!
Lydia
Introduction:
I started quilting in 2018 after my daughter was born because I needed a creative outlet and something to do while on maternity leave. Fast forward to today, I am now awaiting my second child (due in August) and will hopefully be able to do all the quilty things again while on maternity leave.
Inspiration:
My favourite thing about quilting is playing with different fabric and creating beautiful colour (and sometimes texture) combinations to highlight specific parts of quilt patterns.
I am most inspired by Sharon Holland, Clara Jean Fabrics, and AGF Pure Solids.
Introduction:
Hi, I’m Nora!
I’m 37 and a proud hobby quilter for about a decade. I loved patchwork even as a kid and always took a sneak peak in my grannie’s “Quicky Fingers” sewing magazine, but I could only master up the courage to begin quilting in 2017 during a german QAL. It was love at first sight and since then lots of quilts were made on my quilting desk.
Fabrics and Inspiration:
I love the fresh spring colors and the pure white backgrounds so I created my Holiday Dreams quilt in my favorite color swatch.
- Moda Fabrics Speckled
- Pale Pink
- Sorbet
- Succulent
- White Gold
- Frost
- Art Gallery Fabrics
- Lavish Aged Strokes
I mainly work with Art Gallery Fabrics, because they are soft and great quality, but with this project I made an exception and used Moda as well so that the pattern is prominent, but I found solids to be a bit too simple.
I love patterns that are simple and fast to make, but not in a repetitive way and have some little twist and magic to it. I rarely work with pieces under 1,5″ and so mini quilts are not my strength.
Stacie
Introduction:
Hi, I’m Stacie!
Midwest mama to four beautiful blonde-haired, green-eyed girls and married to my best friend for 20 years in November. Sunset chasing, seashell hunting and wildflower picking are some of my favorite pastimes. 
Nature is my sanctuary.
I could eat Chic-Fil-a sauce and cinnamon rolls at every meal, but not together, of course. 
I believe photo-taking is as essential as breathing, just ask my kids 
and I love fall, fabric, deep thoughts, clouds and all the little extras. 
Fabrics and Inspiration:
My inspiration for this quilt are oceans and skies.
Wanted to challenge myself to use a dark background.
A little out of my normal wheelhouse, but I love it!
- Kitchen Window Woven by Robert Kaufman
- Desert Green
- Sevenberry Petite Garden by Robert Kaufman
- Periwinkle
- Ruby Star Society by Melody Miller Spark
- Pine
- Ruby Star Society Add It Up
- Lavender
- Melon
I love playing with color, trying new techniques, testing patterns, challenging myself and making new friends!
I love that.” =)
Zsofia
Introduction:
Hi,
my name is Zsofia. a Hungarian girl living in Germany for about 9 years now. I have a wonderful husband and two little children (age 4 and 2).
I started quilting about 10 years ago to get distracted from a difficult life situation,I had back then. It helped me a lot and I haven’t stopped ever since.
In 2014 I have opened an Etsy shop, where I am still selling fabrics and crochet yarn. In 2021 I had an opportunity to take over my favourite fabric shop (Stoffsalat), which was about to close.
I didn’t hesitate long, as it was absolute a dream of mine to be a proper fabric shop owner. Right now I am operating online only, but I would love to have a brick and mortar shop one day.
One of my biggest goals is to make Quilting more popular in Germany and help women to get to know this wonderful hobby, that can even help one out of depression or difficult life situations.
Fabrics and Inspiration:
I was wishing for a long time to have a quilt for each season. I tought, it might be something for others as well, so I have asked Edith from Lael Quilts if she would like to work with me and create a pattern for each season. She said yes, so Holiday Dreams and a special Stoffsalat Quilt Subscription Box was born.
I also wanted to test the pattern and I have a wonderful and romantic collection „Love Notes” from Lella Boutique (Moda) in stock, that I had in mind for a cute baby girl quilt.
I used pink, as it is one of my favourite colors and I just love the little hearts on the background.
I find it also amazing, how the corner blocks turn into a star in the middle. 😊
A lovely pattern for sure. Thank you, Edith!
Thank you for being part of this special project!
