Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Table of contents
This little turtle quilt just made the trip to two of my favorite places in South Dakota!
Dakota is a Southwest style turtle quilt made with both beautiful sides of fabric!
Choose a focus fabric that’s beautiful on BOTH sides.
Every Creative Bee Studios pattern, including this turtle quilt, comes with a guide for auditioning both sides of fabrics. First, start with your focus fabric. See how legs, head and tail of this turtle quilt (made from the REVERSE) are a lighter value but just as interesting as the RIGHT side?
Learn how to “remove” color to see only value.
Black and white photos are a great tool for auditioning both sides of fabric.
Pick a variety of background fabrics.
Secondly, audition possible background fabrics for your turtle quilt with both sides of your focus fabric. You’ll discover the nuances of value as you learn to audition both sides of fabric.
Why South Dakota?
To summarize, our daughter was working shows at the Black Hills Playhouse in Custer, SD for the summer. Our treat was to watch her play the role of Laurie in OKLAHOMA!
Black Hills Playhouse & Dakota Dream
We made new friends, Kathy and Ernie, in Custer SD. They are owners Dakota Dream Bed & Breakfast & Horse Hotel. We highly recommend a visit to the Black Hills in Custer State Park and a stay with Kathy and Ernie. 
The Quilt Shop
On our trip we visited The Quilt Shop, Inc. in Chamberlain, SD. Owner, Sonya Kroupa is holding Dakota and Tanka quilts below. Creative Bee Studios patterns have been featured in her very cool shop! In addition to rooms and rooms of interesting and different fabric, kits, and patterns, she has local artwork, jewelry, and beads. Visit The Quilt Shop website HERE.
Also, see this post which shows more fun things to see in Custer and the Dignity statue in Chamberlain HERE.
This turtle quilt pattern is petite design, finishing at 18 x 24 inches. It’s a great “afternoon quilt” – quick and easy. Even after making more than twenty #usebothsides quilts, I can’t decide which is more fun, choosing the focus fabric or the background fabrics. Both are vital to the charm of the quilts!
Think outside the box!
Imagine all the different “turtle “fabrics you could use! Your turtle could be playful with children’s motifs, realistic with mottled dotty fabric, or wild with large florals or geometrics! In conclusion, anything will work as long as the reverse passes the audition!
Read about Tanka quilt pattern HERE!
Karla- You have so much talent and I love reading you blog!