Elisabrat's Medallion Style Quilt Along!
 

MEDALLION STYLE QUILT SEW ALONG BY ELISABRAT

Hi! I have decided it would be so much fun to make a medallion style quilt with all of you. Each month we will be working on one new round to circle our center medallion. The starting center will be 12.5 inches to 24.5 inches of your choice or follow along with the pattern that I post. Each subsequent month there will be two choices of rounds for you to sew one easy one a bit more challenging. This way each of us can make a round that is closer to our personal abilities. I will be working up the easier designs and Jaba will be making the ones that are a tad harder or labor intensive. With so many choices we will all be making a medallion quilt yet the possibilities of such a variety of quilts that can come out of this are amazing and you will find out how addicting these things really can be!

I hope that many of you chose to sign up. Its a great way to explore new borders and possibilities for your quilting experience. We will learn new tricks with each other and share our projects. Posting pictures is so much of the fun and the chatter is just as exciting. I will be posting the new rounds on the 1st of each month by 9 am Mountain time. So join in on the fun with me and lets make some amazing quilts! These quilts will have one center and six rounds each round being anywhere from 3.5" to 9.5" inches wide. So the larger your center the larger your quilt will end up. Please count on at least 3 yrds of focal fabric and an estimated 3 yrds of coordinating fabrics to finish a larger sized lap quilt. This is a great quilt to make scrappy if you like scrappy or coordinated scrappy. We will discuss this all together at the beginning of the quilt along in more detail. See you January 1st! Elisabrat

ps the nice thing about this is there is no shipping involved as we are working on our own quilts, you will end up with something that you love in your own fabrics and well it is a good place to learn before you sign up for a round robin with a group. I am so excited to get this party started!!!

This sounds fun, I have not done a Medallion style quilt before. I think I will start looking for something. I have a few panels that I got for doing fractured quilts, I bet I could use one of them for this. Will look over the weekend.

Sounds like a great idea. Not sure I have a medallion I'd like to use, but I'm sure one of the quilt stores does. I'll look after Christmas. See you in January.

I am so in on this. I have two materials that I bought in New England that are for center quilts and I do so want to make them. I may do two at a time. thank you Elisabrat for doing this.

I hope to participate in this one too! Thank you for organizing this...

I'm in. Love to learn new quilting design ideas :thumbup:

Elisabrat: I am so with you on this. As I've said before I have wanted to do a medallion for years. Attached is a Dover design I had blown up years ago, it measures 34 X34 but I still think I could use it if I made the boarders smaller or even used fewer. What do you think?

Forgot to mention I would applique the design.

Sounds like something new for me to learn. I will give it a go. :thumbup:

Emma that would be beautiful!! roseirish it doesn't have to be actually a medallion, any quilt block that you want to use it fine or a panel. Just remember the sizes and it will be easier for you to add the borders on each round. If any of you have a favorite border let brat or I know, then everyone can enjoy it and we can make it all together. I have a couple that I am making for a center so will post later on today, looking for a panel that might work also. Then I'll have to make up my mind which one :thumbup:

It's your quilt Emma you could use the larger center is you want a bigger quilt, just make the size divisible by 3 1/2" so your borders will be easier.

Jaba: Thanks for the tip. Was concerned about how they would fit around the center block. Easy just make 35 inches finished.

jaba and Elisabrat, thank you girls for doing this, I've never done a medallion quilt before. I'm excited to be learning something new.

If you go to member swaps there are quiet a few round robins going currently: bluebirds, hummingbirds, blue jays and they are all medallion style round robins. I am running one here also called the road runners round robin and we are almost finished. Tlambing has been kind enough to post one of the group shots along the way so you can see how a center starts and progresses throughout the round robin. There are only 9 pages so its easy to see the whole process. Your center can be anything you want. I would say make it easily divisible by 3.5 or 6.5 (I prefer 4.5 and 6.5) so you wont have to be too creative on your corners. some designs fit easily into a round and others run short where you will get adventurous and perhaps put a block in the center to break it up so it hits the corners nicely if you have an odd sized center. Does this make sense? trying to explain this better.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...a-t227970.html

I hope all of you ask any and all questions. No such thing as a dumb one :) this is really a fun thing to make and to see how you can really change up a quilt by using the different borders. I was always using sashing and solid borders now I think wow this could make a very simple looking quilt pull out a very complicated look (fairly easily too) . I am making mine out of fabric and scraps I already own, mixing them with white so they all pull together and it should be a fun sunny quilt (I HOPE!). I will finish my center today and post a pic so you can get an idea of what I will be using. I think there are lot of pretty panels you can trim down to a size that works with this. Also one can put their center on point, to turn the quilt into a much larger one just note that you will be making a whole lot more blocks the bigger the quilt. a 12.5 inch quilt will end up probably around 48" square plus minus depending on the size round you add on. ALSO: at any given point if you feel that your quilt is getting really busy you can chose not to do a round that month but add a simple sashing all around to calm it down .. I like these between the rounds at times so it breaks it up? its all up to you. Get crazy! get wild, throw your hat in the ring and play along with us!

The center that you are planning to share, is that pieced? Think this would be good for Christmas fabrics? I've been thinking I would like a Christmas quilt.

It would need to be 36 1/2" unfinished, then it is divisible by 3 1/2, 4 1/2 or 6 1/2"
Here's 2 of the centers that I have together and need to decide which one or none and start over.[ATTACH=CONFIG]452033[/ATTACH]
One is 24 1/2" the other is 18 1/2" square

I understand now. The 3.5 size is the unfinished size. Thanks for your patience in explaining.

I plan on participating using the peacock embroidery blocks I got from Robert in the monthly block swap.

I will be doing pieced if you chose to do applique that is ok too, I think at least one round with some applique looks quiet stunning I personally am not so grand at it so thus no applique for me. I will be posting a simple center to use as an option and you again will be able to use any center you chose. There are a couple ideas for 24.5 inch blocks and oodles for 12.5 inch blocks in quilterscache.com. Also aboutquilting.com has quiet a few 12.5 inch blocks that you can easily double the size and make a 24.5 inch block. If you chose to do a panel some are rectangular.. you can work with that if you make sure you start with divisible block. If you take your square center and at some point want it to end up rectangular you can add a wider border on top and bottom and thus changing the shape. We will discuss this more about the third month in. Choices choices choices! if you like you can do as Jaba has done and come up with a couple options. Jan, I love that blue indian colored center. It really pops out at you when you show it like this in a picture. I saw it today said it was so pretty and the other on instantly caught my eye. Now seeing in photo print wow its the sure fire winner. You would love playing with that! and I would love watching it grow into a full grown quilt!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]452063[/ATTACH]

this is one center I have made, a theme based on my Moms favorite things.. memory quilt. these were her favorite flowers.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]452065[/ATTACH] this one could be a quilt for my grandchild, a .. sunny day quilt :)

so you see you can chose to do a very difficult center if you like or you can do something simplier. its up to you! and you can use a panel which pretty much couldn't be easier if you wanted it to be! so play to your own ability. I know that round after round even a simple center can be very detailed and colorful. I said before scrappy might just work great. I am using scraps in the yellow quilt, mixing them with white and think I can come up with a pretty rainbow quilt for my grand child. The other one will require some fabric purchases to get the desired combinations. I will have to ponder which one to use here and which to use in another round robin I am in.

Please count me in. I will follow along and post when I can. I may not start exactly on the 1st. But I will look at my fabric and make a block and post it when I get it finished. Thank-you both for having this quilt along. Bye for now and happy sewing.

This sounds like fun! I'm going to join in and see what I can come up with too :) Thanks for this 'Brat and Jaba :)

I like the yellow one too brat, it could be stunning! After you left today I found this funky blue. I've never done a blue and "green"...what do you all think?[ATTACH=CONFIG]452067[/ATTACH]

Oh my goodness just saw this I told myself I was not going to start any new quilts in 2014 as my UFO list is out of hand but this sounds so fun. I am in can't wait until January 1st now decisions I have a couple of ideas we will see which one is the chosen starter.

welcome Christine! we cant wait to see what you might come up with!

Jaba wow that is one cool block. I think its so wild it could really work. however, wishing you would use that blue and brown jewelry southwestern quilt block that one just says USE ME! lol ok do two what the heck. or three you move so fast you could have three going at one time..

Thanks for the confidence brat, Bill just looked at them and told me that turquoise and gold medallion type quilt WAS staying at this house. I was surprised, think he likes it a lot too!! After all, when we went to Billings the other day and were in the Bernina quilt shop, he picked out the gold and brown fabric and said you need to get this too. So nice to have a hubby that likes your hobby!:thumbup:

I would love to join in too. I've just been looking at your earlier thread and the quilts are beautiful. I was thinking a panel but after seeing the gorgeous centres used I'm going to make my own too.

I love the idea of this pink one, but have no idea how to make it as far as size of each square of half square triangle. This one finishes to what size? Love it

jaba, love the funky blue and green block! I think it would make an awesome medallion quilt!!!

I would have started this group earlier but thinking Christmas is way too busy for everyone and well a new year a new project .. and it really is amazing how these things grow. I bet you could get all three of those done Jan and wow what examples you could share :) I wonder if you could share with us the name of the border book you just got, it had a red and white binding edge? I loved the options in there. Now to find how to get those borders free here on the internet so we can all use them :)

I'm in on this one. I have some "practice blocks" that I can choose from, but might just try something different. I have a quilting buddy that I will try to work with as well.

I want to try this one. Looks very interesting.

Love this idea!

I would like to sign up. Is there a special spot to sign-up at?

I would love to join in. I have a batik painted panel of zebras that I really want to use in a wall hanging.

Count me in too. I already have a center medallion type block that I don't know what to do with, so this might just be the incentive to get it used & finished.