Medallion Suggestions, Anyone?

Andee, a keen follower of our MQGI blog, has been stitching away on her medallion quilt but has come to a point where she could use our help.  Please read on and see if you can toss an idea or suggestion her way.  Take it away, Andee....

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I have been stalled on my modern medallion QAL quilt that the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland has been doing...I finally just started playing around trying to figure out what to do next.  

I had the idea to put red on two sides and squares on the other two sides...then wanted to repeat the four patch that I had done earlier so I put those up there...then felt it needed more so I made that weird thing that is the top center (I was planning to add peach to all sides of it and randomly put it in the red strip--right now it is a block on a peach square on the strip).

Then I just wasn't sure I was nuts about it all, so I cut all the strips in half and sewed them together and tried putting red on two sides again...

I have not attached any of it.  I really think I like the first one better (now that I would have to completely remake all the parts but the corners, lol).  I do not have a great quantity of any solid color that is in this quilt other than the red and I am using layer cakes of the Fandango fabric.

Any suggestions?  Which is better or do you have a better idea?  I am a pattern follower and this entire quilt is out of my comfort zone!  I keep thinking I should call it done and put these odds and ends in the backing and be done with it!

Medallion QAL Finished Tops? Or WIPS....

How are you getting along with your medallion quilt top?  I think some of you have finished already (quilting, binding and all!), some of you have finished tops to show off and some (like me!) are still adding on layer after layer.

No matter where you are, show us your progress!  Several of us are thriving on what the group creates for continued inspiration, so don't be shy.  Pop up a link to your latest photo.

A peek of where mine is heading.  Slowly, but surely.

This linky is open from today through to the end of Dec 2014, so if your medallion top is a WIP today be sure you pop back when you have a finished top (or a finished quilt!) and add your link.  I will keep checking back and will create mosaics as our group finishes off these pretties.

Thanks so much for piecing along with me.  Even though I have officially fallen behind (and am WAY late in releasing this post), this has been one great adventure.

-Cindy

An InLinkz Link-up

Medallion QAL Border Three

Oh, how time flies!  Three weeks have passed since our last QAL post.  In theory, we should have added on our third border set, bringing our quilt top to 48 inches square.  This border, if you're following Track 1 of the Catbird Quilts tutorials, should be a 2 inch thick border followed by a 6 inch thick border.

Now, I have to confess...I am not yet done my 6 inch outer border.  Although indeed I did make progress over the last three weeks, I am now officially behind in my own QAL.  I am really looking forward to seeing where each of you are.  Are you behind as well?  Come on - make me feel better :)

As usual, below you'll find our linky party to show us your progress since early March.  Please do add your link and hop around a bit to see what others are creating.  I am inspired each time I visit your pages, so do visit one another lending a bit of advice or encouragement.

Our next goal, according to Catbird Quilts, is to add another border set (be it single or several borders), adding another 6 inches onto each side of our quilt.  Our tops will then grow from 48 inches to 60 inches square.  Why don't you guys tell me when you want to have the next linky.  Is four weeks enough time to finish off the third border and add on yet another final border?  Will we meet up here on 22 April?

Happy stitching, ladies!

An InLinkz Link-up

Medallion QAL Second Border Linky

How is your medallion quilt coming along? I've seen several beautiful center blocks floating around blog-land. We have a wide variety ranging from a New York Beauty or a Dresden Plate to Retro Flowers or a Bento Box.  One of our members is is even using hexies to create a story in her center block!  How cool!  I really enjoy seeing each quilter's personality starting to appear given their design choices and color pallets.

Now that we are off to a kicking start, do you have a plan for each of your borders?  Over the past two weeks we have added the second border.  I am sure you are now noticing your quilt top rapidly growing and eating up your scrap bin!  We would all love to see what borders you decided to add on, so please do leave your link below.  Are you a flying geese girl or HST lover?

Our next challenge is the third border as described by Catbird Quits.  For Track 1 folks, this is a 2 inch border followed by a 6 inch border bringing your quilt top to 48 inches.  Melanie takes time in this post to describe how you might use these borders to deal with "size issues", so if you're in trouble it's worth a read.  Now that these borders are getting quite large (and eating lots of time and fabric) why don't we take 3 weeks to stitch these borders?  Meet you all back here on 26 March for our next linky.

An InLinkz Link-up

Medallion QAL First Border Linky

We are off and running with our medallion quilts!  Are you enjoying the process of making a quilt border by border?  Does it look as you imagined it or has your quilt already taken on a life of its own?

As a group, we have a stunning start to our medallion center pieces.  I have seen them pop up in blogs here and there, but I am REALLY looking forward to this linky party to pull them all together and see what you have created.  Between the last QAL post and this one, you should have created your 15 inch center block and then added one border to it.  If you are following Track 1, your quilt top should now measure about (ahem!) 24.5 inches unfinished.

Over the next two weeks we will piece and add our second border.  This border is 4 inches (finished) on all sides (in Track 1), bringing our top to 32 inches (finished).  Do take a bit of time to read the Catbird Quilts post discussing this border as Melanie gives a lovely overview of color, design, proportion, etc that you may find very helpful when choosing your next step.  Join me again on 5 March to link up your photos for your second border, to encourage one another and to draw inspiration from the others in the linky party.

An InLinkz Link-up

Medallion QAL Linky Party

I am delighted you have decided to join in our Modern Irish Medallion QAL!  Have you been busy daydreaming about what your medallion quilt will look like?

I hope by now you have taken the time to read through Melanie's first post, giving us our guidelines for getting started.  Do you think you're going to follow the clearly described Track One, or are you more a Track Two free spirit?

Over the last two weeks we were to each create an inspirational mosaic and dig through our stash to pull fabrics setting the tone for our quilt.  Maybe you're an over achiever and have already started stitching your first central block for your quilt.  Each and every one of us would love to gain inspiration from your mosaic or drool over your fabric pull!  Please leave a link to your blog post below and we'll all hop over there for a peek and a giggle.  Be sure to visit the other links you see below and offer advice and encouragement.

Over the next two weeks, here is your challenge:  Re-read the QAL first post and create your central block for your medallion quilt.  Seeing as this is only one 15 inch block and we have two weeks to sew, go on and read the QAL second post and make your first border.  This will give you a 24 inch square quilt top.  Come back here on 19 Feb and link up to show everyone your medallion quilt center.  Happy stitching!

Modern Irish Medallion Quilt Along

You asked for it, you have it: announcing the Modern Quilters of Ireland quilt along!  2013 seemed to be the year of the medallion quilt, which really got my creative juices flowing.  Although there were several gorgeous patterns circulating, like the Marcelle Medallion or Made to Measure, they were not well suited to my quilting interests.  I really do not like using templates and flying geese make my heart clench.  I had to find another way to create one myself.

I started to do a bit of online research to find example medallion quilts that I loved, looking both at the design of the borders as well as the fabrics used.  I created a little inspirational mosaic...that I ogled time and time again when daydreaming of my own medallion quilt.  

1. Red Pepper Quilts, 2. Not available, 3. Red Pepper Quilts, 4. Not available, 5. Not available, 6. Not available, 7. Medallion Quilt detail, 8. Baisakhi Medallion Quilt, 9. 1930s Medallion Quilt

I've been looking long enough.  It's time to stitch!  What if we, as a guild, could create medallion quilts together?  Are you interested in stitching along with me?  I found a wonderful series of tutorials by Catbird Quilts that we can use together.  These tutorials are set up so that we can each create our own individual medallion quilt (depending on our skill level) using Catbird Quilts tutorials on the design-as-you-go process.  Melanie (the brains behind Catbird Quilts) gives two paths to follow in each tutorial.  One path (for beginners) will give block/border measurements for the center square and then for each border.  Alternatively, you can take path two (more advanced) and design your own quilt using Melanie's suggestions on size ratios, etc.  Melanie explains it much better here, so please do click over and read her first post. 

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Here's how this will go:  

First, read this post to get the basic idea of this QAL.  I know this is something that each and every (interested) member of our guild can do to their own skill level AND we can have a great time stitching together, drawing inspiration from one another and learning as a collective group.

Second, search through your fabric stash (or go shopping...what ever makes you happy) and find a palate for this quilt that makes your heart flutter.  Scrappy is most likely best as we don't exactly know how much fabric we will each need.

Third, if you have not already done so, join our Flickr group so that we can all keep updated on each other's makes.

Finally, come back here in two week's time for a linky party.  By 5 February you should have A) a gorgeous fabric pull to share with everyone and B) an inspirational mosaic for your first central block of your quilt.  If you've started stitching, that's even better.  Show us what you've made in your own blog post and leave us a link to check it out!

We will then take each additional border as it comes with shorter intervals between linkies for the first, smaller borders and then giving ourselves more time for the larger outer borders.

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If you're into books, I picked up a few inspirational books including border patterns that could be adjusted depending on the project.  Liberated Medallion Quilts  by Gwen Marston is quite inspirational with a WIDE variety of eye candy quilts to keep me interested each step along the way. 

And then Gwen's co-authored book with Freddy Moran, Collaborative Quilting, hit the mark with lots and lots of border ideas that can be scaled depending on the project.  Super!  You can read my Collaborative Quilting book review here if you'd like.

Now let's get stitching!