Modern Medallion

Island Batik challenge is finished!

This month is a Medallion. Generally a medallion quilt is a central block or motif surrounded by several or many borders.

I loved the fabrics I used last month for the Inspired by nature challenge, so I continued using them for this months challenge.

Here is a modern look at a medallion style quilt. This one is 56" by 59" and will be used as a wall-hanging.

The fabric line is from Tamarinis and is called Just my Type. It is available in your stores now.

Electric Quilt is the perfect companion to designing quilts.

I wanted to use the half rectangle die from Accuquilt as well as the orange peel die, so that is where the design process started. Modern quilts generally have some negative space to allow some really interesting quilting, so I designed with that in mind.

I pulled all the fabrics from the line and used almost all of them, adding in a blu-ish background and a dark green for the borders and binding.

I got this half rectangle Accuquilt die over the summer and could not wait to use it.

This orange peel die was already in my collection, so I used this for some of the border. Applying fusible to the fabric before cutting the shapes makes it very easy to work with.

I fused and appliqued the orange peel shapes onto the background and machine stitched them.

I love my Janome M7 for the machine applique. I used cotton Aurifil thread for the stitching. I matched each piece with both top and bobbin thread.

The piecing is pretty quick for this medallion. That may have been taken into account when designing for a December project!

When I am done piecing a quilt, I hang it over my Long Arm bars to let the ideas of quilting happen.

I also draw and doodle. I can bring a pic, or the EQ drawing into Whiteboard on my surface pro and I doodle. And doodle and doodle.

It became clear this was not going to be quick, and Christmas was coming.

I have had MANY customer quilts in the que so had to plan when this could happen.

Hobbs Heirloom batting is my go to for most all quilts, and this quilt is no exception.

I began with stitching in all the ditches on the whole quilt. I also continued the quest for perfect quilting ideas.

I added straight lines that created diamond illusions in the center area for come creative fills later.

Several rulers were used in the creation of this quilting.

I prefer to add this stabilizing stitching because it just makes a crisper look for the quilt.

Throw in some beautiful designs from Wasatch Quilting , along with a square spiral that came with my ProStitcher and the quilting starts to come together.

I wanted this to stitch out as one item in the side triangle parts, so I created this fill, then cropped for the selected area.

I did not try to make each corner match, I would rather it be a bit random.

The orange peel design was repeated in this border.

The outside border was also a custom design for this quilt.

I added some freehand fills in the center around the main diamonds as well as behind the orange peel area.

My intent was to leave the green small borders alone, but they really needed something. The orange peel design was repeated here as well.

The details:

I worked on the piecing on and off for a couple of weeks, knowing I wouldn't have time in December.

The quilting took the better part of a week.

There are 7 different threads used for quilting and a total of 180,000 stitches. The texture is really fun on this one.

Disclosure: The products featured here were provided to me free of charge by Island Batik, Aurifil thread and Hobbs Batting.

Be sure to visit all the Island Batik Ambassadors:

Carolina Asmussen ~ Carolina Asmussen

Pamela Boatright ~ Pamela Quilts

Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Vasudha Govindan ~ Storied Quilts

Joanne Hart ~ Unicorn Harts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for Quilts

Carla Henton ~ Create in the Sticks

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs

Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood

Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

Sally Manke ~ Sally Manke

Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack's Blog

Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs

Gail Renna ~ Quilt Haven Threads

Sharon Riley ~ Sew Riley Designs

Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde

Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

Jennifer Strauser ~ Dizzy Quilter

Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

Alison Vermilya ~ Little Bunny Quilts

Sandra Walker ~ mmm! quilts

Suzy Webster ~ Adventerous Applique and Quilting

Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore

In the light of current events, we really need to find some joy. The bright colors and act of creating with fabric can bring so much joy in a stressful time. I will continue to create in the next few months while I am at home not traveling and teaching. Follow me on Instagram to find more fun and colorful quilt projects (and some gardening and cooking too!). Follow me on Instagram @bestquilter .

#islandbatikambassador #islandbatik #iloveislandbatik #hobbsbatting #aurifil #aurifilthread #accuquilt #doyoueq #janome