Mazant
I am so incredibly thrilled to introduce to you Mazant! It is my very first pattern released to the public and has thus far been a very exciting journey. I decided at the formation of Bullerbee Quilt Co. that if I did not have a particularly meaningful name for a pattern, I would pull inspiration from the street names around the city of New Orleans.
Mazant (“may ZAHNT”) Street is located in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, East of the French Quarter. It is known for being an area dedicated to the art scene of the locals. Bright and colorful houses define the residential areas, and between these you’ll find hip bars and restaurants, charming local businesses selling all kinds of wares, many of them created by local artists in the city. There are also historic buildings repurposed as venues, including the historic house by the same name as my pattern. The Bywater is not as well known as the French Quarter and not as grandiose as Uptown, but it characterizes everything we love about the people and character of the city.
As much as one can compare a street to a quilt pattern, I saw some similarities when designing my pattern. As a modern designer I enjoy a more minimalist design, but at the same time, classic and traditional quilt blocks also appeal to me. I felt in Mazant, I had a blending of modern and classic; Something familiar meets something new.
I was very intimidated to write a pattern for other quilters to follow, so for this first one I wanted to keep it very simple. The entire quilt is simply two repeating blocks, both of which are constructed using mostly Flying Geese, with a little something extra in the corners to zhuzh it up a bit. Though it is written for a total of 25 blocks creating a 60 inch square quilt, you can easily keep adding rows and columns to make it as large or small as desired.
In the process of writing this pattern, I have also been building in blog posts (like this one!) and tutorials on my website to aid beginner quilters in completing this pattern with the best degree of accuracy in their points, seam allowance, and finished block sizes. Here you can find my tutorial on Four-At-A-Time Flying Geese and Tips for Strip-Piecing.
And possibly the best part about Mazant is that it is FREE! You can receive a free copy by simply joining my subscriber list below.
As a new designer, and a woman starting her first business at 35 years old, I am both excited and terrified to be sharing this pattern with you. The quilt community is HUGE and for the most part, very supportive, but pattern writers (and great pattern writers, at that) are a dime a dozen, so for you to be reading this blog or making my pattern means the world to me. If you make a Mazant quilt of your own, I would love for you to share it with me and let me know how you liked it.
Until next time!
Laura