Tuesday 25 March 2014

MQGI Medallion Quilt-A-Long update

 

It's been 3 weeks since the last update on the Baby Medallion quilt, where did those weeks go to?  At this point we should be finished border #3.  Even with the extra week given to us by Cindy I'm only just finished border #2 and about to start border #3!  Now it's not all bad news, it's coming together nicely if a bit slowly.  All the math's are working out so far and paper piecing the diamonds turned out to be a good decision as they are all so straight and pointy!

And I got my clouds made


And my balloon stitched down!  Just need to add some tails to the kite and the centre panel will be finished at last!


We are following Melanie's guidelines (Catbirds Quilts Medallion series) and she suggested to take the time between borders 2 and 3 to make sure everything is squared up.  This turned out to be great advice.  After the first checkerboard round things were a little stretchy.  Adding the plain frames to grow the dimensions to a number divisble by 3 for the diamonds really helped.  I trimmed back the inner border to 2.75" all around and added the pink 1.5" strips.  I made sure the length cut was correct for the width and height and used a lot of pins to add this frame.  It eased in any stretchiness (?) and pulled the quilt into a more rectangular shape.  I have to admit I was a bit nervous making the cut hoping I hadn't gotten the math's wrong but sometimes you just have to do it and see what happens.  All worked out in the end ok, so now round #3!

I had great intentions at the weekend but then ended up a tad under the weather and did nothing for the whole weekend!  So this is where I'm at:


The plan for this round of borders is to add flying geese!  86 of them + 4 more hearts!  I bought a charm pack and a layer cake of Hubba Hubba by Me and My Sister and this will be used for the next 2 rounds.  I've used a lot of scraps from Me and My sister fabric ranges in this already and their designs are really child friendly, bright and happy which is what I'm going for here.

Only question now is which method of Flying geese do I use to make them?  Flying geese are traditionally twice as wide as they are high.  (Quilters cahce and Instructables have nice explanations of these methods with diagrams and step by step instructions if you are interested in making your own.)  I'm looking at using 4" wide x 2" high for this border.  I'm not sure what the quickest method is. 
A is charm pack friendly, has a little waste and requires sewing them all up individually
B has no waste and does make 4 at a time, all identical and will need them sewing up individually
C, Foundation paper piecing,  makes them up in strips as you go along and guarantees perfect pointiness, but will inevitably have more waste.

I'm leaning towards C.  What do you think, what's your preferred way to fly?

Linking up to  Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
Sew Fresh Quilts

20 comments:

  1. Looking great. Love the soft colour. For flying geese, I would do B because I don't need anymore scraps and drawing paper piecing is always bothers me. Good cutting and piecing are always the best.

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  2. Your Medallion quilt is coming along nicely, Ruth. You are doing a great job! I don't have a lot of experience with flying geese. Plan A looks like the best use of Charm Squares. But all I know is... I wish those (Canadian) geese would get flying back up here and to bring spring along with them! Please!

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  3. I'm a fan of option B - it looks quicker :) This quilt is coming together beautifully!

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  4. You have quite a combination of quilting styles working here. The hexie balloon looks cute!

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  5. Your quilt looks fantastic! I love B method for flying geese although I tend to use A more often.

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    1. Thanks lorette, my default is usually A but I like the idea of makign 4 at a time!

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  6. I love the EPP and applique you have used on your quilt - its so lovely :)

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    1. Hi Emma, the hexies took quite a bit of time to sew together but they are great for scraps and I've had fun playing with the colours and seeing what shapes can be made! Surprising how many different things you can make out of them!

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  7. I love your baby quilt. I'm glad you got it squared up. That was my great problem a couple on months back with a medallion quilt, and the longer it goes unsquared the worse it gets.
    On the subject of flying geese I saw a great video on-line at [ McCallsQuiltingdotcom/BBW ] with a foolproof and NO-WASTE method (no flip & sew corners to cut off) which starts off as your option B. You end up with two identical geese, which shouldn't be a problem in such a large border. Upside is you don't have to cut anything away, and the maths for different sizes is explained.

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  8. This is looking great! Its nice to see this quilt from design to making phase!

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  9. Very pretty! Before you add your third border, I think there might be a block upside down in the bottom left corner. Between the two blue diamonds, the pink square faces out, and it's the only one that does. I love your center panel! Adorable. And that cloud is perfect. :)

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    1. Great eyesight there Rachel. It's not the first time I've pieced something in upside down. Thanks!

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  10. It is looking really good!

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  11. Oooh! It's so pretty! These are very much my colours (and there's no babies here! *g*) I use method B when I need loads. I figure even though there's 4 identical geese when it's a medallion that's still one per side so there's still lots of variety if that's what you are going for!

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  12. Wow, well done. It looks great so far��

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  13. This is such a fun quilt! I love the balloon! I don't have a ton of experience on flying geese, so I look forward to seeing how you end up doing this! :)

    Would love for you to stop by tomorrow and link this up to Fabric Frenzy Friday!
    -Lindsey
    Fabric Frenzy Friday

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    1. thanks for the invite Lindsey- would be happy to participate!

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  14. I'm really impressed -- you're doing a great job! I can't wait to see what happens next!

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    1. Thanks! It's a fun project and turning out quite a bit bigger than I originally thought!

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