Quilt block and giveaway are at the bottom of this post!
I live in the suburbs of Houston now, but I grew up a couple of hours to the east in Beaumont, TX. Most of my major life events happened there: birth, starting school, college, meeting my husband, marriage and my first graphic design job. While I absolutely love where I live now, Beaumont will always have a special place in my heart!
Because of its proximity to Louisiana and the jobs created by the oil boom, there is also a major Cajun/Louisiana Creole influence in the area.
Sew What Bernina, The Fabric Store (Nederland), Sew Much More (Nederland) and Sew-N-Sew's (Port Arthur) are some quilt shops in the area. The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild meets in Beaumont.
The Designer Fabric Boutique recently opened. It is a small fabric store that sells modern fabric. I am sure y'all can imagine my face when I walked into a room filled of Echino, Melody Miller, Heather Ross and Amy Butler fabric! I definitely recommend stopping by if you are ever driving through the area.
- Gator Country - If you have seen Gator 911, you might be familiar with this place! It is an alligator wildlife park and rescue. Gator Country offers the following activities: alligator feedings, taking pictures with reptiles, holding small reptiles, swimming with gators and more! It is home to "Big Al," the largest alligator in captivity in Texas. I have never been brave enough to visit!
- The Fire Museum of Texas - This is the official fire museum of Texas. It is really neat to walk through and see how much technology has changed over time. They also offer safety activities for kids. If you are into roadside attractions, this is the location of 24 foot tall fire hydrant with a unique paint job. It used to be the worlds largest fire hydrant, but it has since been rebranded to the world's largest working fire hydrant. :)
- Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum - Features a replica of the Lucas Gusher. They do reenactments (with water)!
- Texas Energy Museum - This is a really nice museum with many interactive exhibits. The focus is definitely mainly on oil. My favorite part is the creepy talking mannequins.
Other Places of Interest:
St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica | Thomas Edison Museum | Art Museum of Southeast Texas | Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum | Clifton Steamboat Museum | Mcfaddin Ward House Museum | Shangri La Botanical Gardens (Orange) | Beaumont Botanical Gardens | Museum of the Gulf Coast (Port Arthur) | Lamar University | Crockett Street | The Art Studio | Beaumont Farmers Market. I also recommend a trip to Rao's Bakery and Hamburger Depot! :D
The area between Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange is often referred to as "The Golden Triangle." "Golden" refers to the wealth that the Spindletop oil strike brought to the area and "Triangle" refers to the triangle formed by the three cities on the map.
After clicking the download link, just click the downward facing arrow in the upper left hand corner to download. I recommend downloading the PDF and then printing from Adobe Reader. Print with no scaling. The blocks are 6.5 inches unfinished.
Paper-Piecing Pattern | Templates
Giveaway is closed. Aurifil has generously offered a pack of designer thread (type will vary, picture for illustration purposes only), a sample pack of thread and an Aurifil color chart to one lucky commenter! To enter, just follow the directions below.
Be sure to visit more stops during the quilt along for more chances to win!
Fine print: This giveaway will close July 15, 2014 at 8pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org. I will be contacting the winner by email. If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please be sure to include your email address in your comment so that I am able to contact you if you win. Entries without an email address will be disqualified. The winner must respond within five days of the end of the contest. If the winner does not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
I hope you are able to visit some of the other stops, which I have listed at this link. There have been many wonderful block designs! Teresa at Third Floor Quilts posted her block on Monday and Amanda at What the Bobbin is next on July 14! You can also check out everyone's quilt progress at the Flickr page.
Thank you to Melissa and Cristina for having me on the "trip"! Thank you for stopping by!
St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica | Thomas Edison Museum | Art Museum of Southeast Texas | Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum | Clifton Steamboat Museum | Mcfaddin Ward House Museum | Shangri La Botanical Gardens (Orange) | Beaumont Botanical Gardens | Museum of the Gulf Coast (Port Arthur) | Lamar University | Crockett Street | The Art Studio | Beaumont Farmers Market. I also recommend a trip to Rao's Bakery and Hamburger Depot! :D
- Beaumont is the twenty-fourth most populous city in the state of Texas and the state's largest city east of Houston.
- The Port of Beaumont fourth busiest port in the United States It is also the busiest military port in the U.S. and the second busiest military port in the world.
- Jason's Deli and Conn's were founded in Beaumont. Jason's Deli is still headquartered there and Conn's was headquartered there until recently.
- People with ties to the area: Janis Joplin (Port Arthur), Babe Didrikson Zaharias, George Jones (Vidor), Robert Rauschenberg (Port Arthur), The Big Bopper and Keith Carter. (I was lucky enough to take a photography class from Keith when I was at Lamar. It was awesome!)
After clicking the download link, just click the downward facing arrow in the upper left hand corner to download. I recommend downloading the PDF and then printing from Adobe Reader. Print with no scaling. The blocks are 6.5 inches unfinished.
Golden Triangle Block Download
(Block pictured above on the left. I paper-pieced this block, but I included the template document in case you prefer to piece that way.)
And because I went a little overboard:
Golden Triangle Bonus Block - involves Y-Seam (Block pictured above on the right)
EXTRA Bonus Block!
Do not hesitate to email me if you have any problems or suggestions! For information on paper-piecing, Katy at The Littlest Thistle has an awesome series. If you need any help with y-seams, Charise Creates has a short, wonderful tutorial. I definitely needed a refresher course on that skill. I made three blocks before I finally got the bonus block right!
HOW TO ENTER: |
Be sure to visit more stops during the quilt along for more chances to win!
>>>The winner is commenter #9! Congratulations Allison! <<<
Fine print: This giveaway will close July 15, 2014 at 8pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org. I will be contacting the winner by email. If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please be sure to include your email address in your comment so that I am able to contact you if you win. Entries without an email address will be disqualified. The winner must respond within five days of the end of the contest. If the winner does not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
Thank you to Melissa and Cristina for having me on the "trip"! Thank you for stopping by!
Beaumont images are from the Beaumont CVB's Pinterest page. If you ever visit Southeast Texas or are just driving through, the Beaumont CVB's web page is an excellent resource.
