May QAL

Yippee!  We are on the home stretch of our Modern Medallion Quilts. One person has already finished hers (and I mean quilted and bound!)! And I have spoken to several others who are busy at work on the centers. For the June meeting, do not bring your blocks/center but instead we will have a reveal in July (with a great giveaway)! So you have plenty of time to make your quilt uniquely yours!

So far we have introduced three border styles

  • Square and strips
  • Half-square triangles
  • Flying geese

What’s next?  Let’s think about the center.  Is there a block you always wanted to make? Do you have an applique idea that would work perfectly here? Don’t have any ideas? Check out our pinterest page with pictures of other Modern Medallions for inspiration.  Google quilt blocks and see what images come up. Here are a few I found.

Design Tools

Quarter-inch graph paper and colored pencils are a tried and true method. Take a picture of each border and the center and print them with your inkjet printer. Cut them out, and arrange and rearrange until you have a design you like. There are quilt design tools for your computer or tablet as well– EQ7, Photoshop, and many others. The design wall is also an excellent way to view how things will look. Sometimes using your phone to take photos of several arrangements makes it easier to compare.

Construction Tip  

It is important to take care attaching the borders. Measure your quilt through the center (rather than on the edges) to determine the length of the border you need. To attach the border, fold the border and the quilt in half and use a pin to mark the center.  Fold in half again and mark the quarters. Put the center and border on flat surface, match the quarter and center pins and then pin the outside edges. Add additional pins as needed.

I have been busy working on mine!  Happy sewing!

Debbie K