My Mystery Medallion Quilt

Since I don't know what this medallion quilt is eventually going to look like, I am going to (not so originally) refer to it from now on as the Mystery Medallion quilt when I give you an update.

At the weekend, and just because I was impatient, I added border number 1 to frame the centre star.  Just a simple border with cornerstones at this point.  I used a little bit of the Westfalen horses fabric for fun too!

As I have no idea really where this medallion quilt will end up (there is currently not even an idea of it in my head) I thought I would record the details of each step as I go along.  It's not exactly instructions and definitely not tutorials, but if by chance I create a medallion that I'd like to make again some time, I would like to have the details, references and measurements handy instead of having to scrabble around working them out again.  And who knows, maybe some of you might find it helpful to have the details available too.  So, without further ado ...

Here's what I did 

Medallion Centre -  18.5" unfinished.
I used Little Miss Shabby's Supersized Quilt-A-Long Morning Star Pattern. There are three other gorgeous 18" finished stars in the Quilt-A-Long which would be lovely alternatives to the Morning Star I used here.

Border 1 - bringing whole size up to 24.5" unfinished.
Simple single fabric border with contrasting cornerstones.
Cut 4: 3.5" squares for cornerstones.
Cut 4: 3.5" x 18.5" rectangles for border pieces.


I suspect there will be more cutting involved in the next border somehow. Will keep you posted,

Making Me Smile - 45/52

Excuse the poor photos but this is the second day I've tried to take decent ones and suspect this is as good as it will get without a proper camera and given the general lack of light in the back of my house at this time of year. But hey, look what's putting a big ole smile on my face today!

Now gracing the walls of my kitchen/dining room is my first ever Bee quilt!  And I love it!

Thank you to all the original hipBees for making me blocks that have come together so nicely in a sampler quilt.  I couldn't be happier to hang it where I will see and enjoy it every day.

I usually wait until later in the week for Making Me Smile posts, but no need to wait for anything else to come along this week! Happy me!

Thanks again Di, Catherine, Lynz, Judith, Reene, Fiona, Collette, Jan, Tanya, Rachel and Karen.

MQGI Christmas Swap

It's been ages since I have been able to participate in a swap so when the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland sent an email to say they were running a Christmas Swap I was easily persuaded.

1. Modern Christmas tablerunner at home, 2. Christmas Table Runner, 3. table runner, 4. Mod-Xmas-Runner-Sent-2012, 5. Christmas quilt!, 6. Christmas Tree Pillow_1, 7. Modern Christmas tablerunner 2012 - received, 8. Christmas gift pillow, 9. Christmas pinwheel, 10. Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap - Finished!, 11. Modern Christmas Table Runner Finished!, 12. MCTR Finished Front


This is my inspiration mosaic for the flickr group.  The swap will be to make a Christmas table runner or table topper and one small tree decoration for our secret partners.  Just the sort of festive challenge to inject a bit of fun into the pre-Christmas madness.

If you are a quilter on the island of Ireland you are welcome to join with the swap fun too.  All the details can be found here but you'll need to hurry, sign ups close on Wednesday 6 November.

Making Me Smile - 44/52

 

 

Pretty flowers from mum!

 

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Bee Blessed Block - November

Blimey, what happened to October?  It feels like it really cannot be time to post a new block for Bee Blessed again but the calendar tells me that my feelings are misleading and November is upon us!

So here's the block we will be making this month - 

This is the quatrefoil block and it's one of my favourites!  I always think it looks so much more complex than it actually is to make.  The Modify Tradition tutorial works very nicely for this block so I don't propose to reinvent the wheel, but just a note re cutting: you can cut 8 2.5" white squares instead of the 21" strip suggested in the cutting instructions if you prefer.

Colours:  Please use plain white solid where I have and 4 other fabrics of your choice.

While you're over at Modify Tradition you should have a look at their other block tutorials (list in right hand column).  It's a very nice little resource to bookmark if you're not already familiar with them.

Hope you enjoy the block!

Handquilted Sampler Update

Guess what?

I have finished handquilting ALL of my hipBees sampler blocks.

YAY!!!!!

The last stage of the hand quilting was to stitch a single line border all the way around the quilt.  I am dying to show it to you properly, but for now you can just see how much fun the back looks.  When I get time to add a hanging sleeve and drill some holes in my dining room wall, I will be back for a proper reveal!

Disappearing Four Patch Cushion

The big question today is, why did I never try this before?

Reminds me of Opal Fruits (or Starburst for you young 'uns)

Seriously, how did I not realise that it was such a nice finish to conceal the zip in the cushion backing this way and quite straightforward to do?  What's even more terrible is that my great friend Judith has a fab tutorial showing exactly how it should be done and I have only just tried it for the first time this week!  Sometimes I am slow on the uptake, I tell you. I did line my backing but that bit was easy peasy to add to Judith's lovely clear instructions.

 So, here is the finished article.  A 24" disappearing four patch cushion.

Lightly handquilted in perle cottons.

Fabrics selected to tone in with a Scrumptious layer cake which will become a very simple quilt one of these days. I am just itching to get at it but better wait until there's a finish on my red and cream hipbees quilt - now there's motivation if ever I heard it!

So, here's what I learned on this project -

1. I really like the disappearing 4 patch (d4p) block.
2. I learned how to calculate fabric requirements the d4p block.
3. I think the d4p pattern looks much better in a larger quilt - the secondary patterns are distorted a little on the curve of the cushion which you don't get on the flat expanse of a quilt. And, of course, on a quilt you have more blocks to show off the pattern in.
4. Concealed zip backings aren't anywhere near as difficult as I thought.
5. Maybe it would have looked better if I'd finished it with binding rather than just sewing up and turning through.

All in all though, I'm happy enough with my experiment and even more thrilled that the colours work well with the Scrumptious fabrics.


PS If you have large scale print fabrics that you want to use but don't want to chop up into weeny pieces and lose the look, I think that a larger version of the disappearing four patch block would be ideal for showcasing them.