Customizing a Quilt Pattern with GO! Quilt

My 3 1/2-year-old granddaughter decided she wanted flamingo decor in her bathroom - and knowing that there’s a die for that, I jumped right into planning a wall hanging!

I went through AccuQuilt’s free, downloadable patterns and decided that the GO! Square Dancing Flamingos Wall Hanging would be perfect. I wanted to customize the colors to make the little miss as happy as possible, though, so I headed to GO! Quilt.

Refresh a Pattern with GO! Quilt

GO! Quilt is a free design tool on AccuQuilt’s website that lets you play with different colors and fabric before you make a single cut. You can give patterns you've already created a fresh new look simply by using this fantastic tool. Let's take a look at it.

How to Get Started with GO! Quilt

You can get there by clicking on the green “GO! Quilt” button in the top, right-hand corner of the site.

There are video tutorials on the site to help you along the way, but it’s a very user-friendly tool. I made sure to log in so that I would be able to save my finished creation when I was done!

Getting started was so easy – I just clicked on the blue “Create New Project” button in the center of the page. Then I typed the name of the pattern into the search box on the left side!

GO! Quilt Makes Imagination Come Alive

I played with shades of pink and purple, her favorite colors, saved it, and sent a picture of it (taken with my cell phone, very high tech) to my daughter for approval. It was a good thing that I did, too. My little missy has decided that she likes blue best – and not just any blue, but dark blue!

GO! Quilt Makes it Easy to Reimagine a Pattern

I headed back to GO! Quilt and came up with a new plan, focusing on blues! I didn’t use any specific fabrics, just colors. I printed out the pattern and took it along to visit some quilt shops in the neighboring state.

With the help of the great team at a shop in Ames, Iowa, I found just what I needed (although, it did vary from my picture slightly).

Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help from the staff in a quilt store – they know just what they have and where to find it!

They produced not one but two great flamingo print fabrics to really make this project special. To make sure I remembered my plan, I took notes on my pattern.

Pro Tip: I also purchased more fabric than I was going to need “just in case” since I was shopping away from home! (a tip learned by experience!)

Putting the GO! Quilt Designed Project Together

Cutting this wall hanging was so quick and easy! I started by cutting the squares that would have flamingos embroidered on them. Then I downloaded the free embroidery from AccuQuilt.

There’s an option of 3 different stitches for all the free embroidery designs – blanket, satin, and motif. For this project, I went with the satin stitch.

The GO! Qube Mix & Match 9” Finished Block made short work of cutting the rest of this project, and it was almost as quick to sew together!

The border really pulled it all together, adding in more flamingos with the pink print. This really is a weekend project - no doubt about it.

Pro Tip: When working with a GO! Quilt project, it’s important to remember that the illustrations in the sewing instructions use the colors from the original pattern. You will want to use the Fabric Color Reference Chart included with the pattern to keep you on track.

You can print this chart, make notes, and even attach swatches of your fabric to help. The picture generated at the beginning of the pattern will reflect your version of the pattern to follow.

GO! Quilt for the WIN!

I encourage you to try out GO! Quilt for your next project and see just how easy – and inspirational it is to use! After all, AccuQuilt really is all about cutting time and quilting more!

WATCH: A Video Tour of GO! Quilt

Have you used GO! Quilt before? Have you used GO! Quilt to refresh one of your favorite AccuQuilt patterns? Share your experience with everyone in the comment section.