MODERN MEDALLION QUILT: THE FINAL BORDERS

It’s all about the Modern Medallion Quilt and the final borders (am I the only one that now has “The Final Countdown” stuck in their head?) today.

[pullquote width=”300″ float=”left”]The Fussy Cutters Club Link Party will be back next week. Which means there’s plenty of time to get some fussy cutting action happening in time to link and share! The winner of the 5 F8’s Mystery Bundle is Linden Vine with this amazing mini quilt that she linked up with via Instagram.[/pullquote]

If you’re a fan of Project Runway (like I am) you’ll be familiar with those scenes that show a contestant clearly in the weeds sewing to save their lives and pulling a rabbit out of their hat at the very last minute. Well that’s been me this week.

I have spent the past fortnight frantically sewing quilts (yep, more than one!) for the Canberra Quilters Exhibition entry deadline that was Friday 20 June. With that out of the way I thought a quick trip to Melbourne would be fine and I was on top of everything. Mental note, next time you plan a trip turn the page on the calendar and see what else is coming up!

But no worries, I’d have a whole week to finish my Modern Medallion. Ha! I woke up on Sunday with the beginnings of the cold that the little man had been doing battle with. Damn it, Janet!

By the time we got home from Melbourne and I woke on Monday I was well and truly the contagion monkey. It’s always the way!

No matter, it was time to pull one from the hat and sew like my life depended on it. I used every available minute that the Little Man was in bed to cut, stitch and press. But in three days I’ve managed to get it done (sans the final border). I give you “The Improv-able Dream”:

One of the great things about a pattern like this is there’s plenty of opportunity to make it your own. I decided that I wasn’t going to put the final border on because I really love the (as I’ve been calling them) big arse triangles and I wanted to finish on those.

They were by far my favourite border and they remind me of bunting. I’m going to bind the quilt in a black and white stripe fabric and so I felt there wasn’t a need for the final border.

I also didn’t do the wavy border, which I’m in two minds about. I had a plan for how to do it, but being sick I just didn’t have the patience or desire to battle curves.

One of the things that got me excited about making this quilt was the ability to really put my mark on it through the use of colour, solids and having fun with the block pattern. The pattern comes with a really handy (and makes me wish they all did) line drawing of the quilt so you can photocopy it, get your coloured pencils and go to town planning it. Which is what I did. However this quilt looks nothing like I’d planned – there’s a lot of improv in piecing, construction and fabric choice in this quilt.

It’s such a bright quilt – this rainy, foggy morning photo doesn’t do it justice. The colours really make me happy when I look at it. I’m going to send this one out to be quilted by someone else (because I’m a proud topper), so in a couple of weeks I will be able to reveal the finished product.

So, now the bit I’ve been looking forward to all week – time to link up your pretties and share with everyone your progress.  There’s some amazing versions of this quilt. Ah-maze-ing! If you haven’t seen them, go – click the links and leave some comments for the makers (comments keep the quilty fires burning!). Enjoy!