Quilt top finish - 2012 Designer Mystery BOM

I finished up this quilt top a couple of weeks ago, but didn't have time to post it until now. The pattern directions for each block were extremely well written. I only deviated in some parts, for instance, where the directions were for flip-and-trim flying geese, I used the four-at-a-time no-waste method.

I saw that Fat Quarter Shop just posted the 2019 Designer Mystery BOM. So tempted, but I already signed up for the Fig Tree Farm House Mystery Sampler BOM. It was a bit pricey, but I'm glad I signed up, as I see that it is now sold out.

Piecing instructions for final round of Medallion Quilt now available!

I spent today preparing the instructions for the final round of the medallion quilt. The instructions includes yardage information, piecing instructions for the Summer Winds block, and finishing instructions for the final round. You can click on the picture above for the PDF of the instructions, or click on the tab above for the Medallion Quilt home page, which will include all the information you will need for the entire 72" quilt. Enjoy!

Designer Mystery 2012 Sampler Blocks

And just like, autumn is here. It was a dry, hot summer. I think the Portland metropolitan area broke the record for most days over 90 degrees -- I think it was 29 days in the summer of 2015, but I don't know how many days we had this summer.

One of my goals for 2019 was to make up at least one of the quilts kits on my shelf. Thus for the month of August, I focused on the Designer Mystery Block of the Month kit from 2012. Yes, I am almost six years late. I just finished the 12th and last block yesterday morning, so here is all twelve blocks, in no particular order. The putting together of the quilt will have to wait, as next weekend is busy with my only nephew's wedding!

Finished Quilt - Four & Eight Grid Sampler

Here are the finished quilt photos -- lots of them!

The quilting took me SO SO long to do on my domestic. But the Janome is a workhorse and was up to the task. I finally cleaned it yesterday, and, wow, there were some giganto pieces of dust in there.

Old grey goose:

Border detail:

Hour glass II:

X-quartet:

As you can see, I tried to carry some of the quilting motifs over several blocks to provide continuity. There were many times when I almost quit, ready to put the project away. But I stuck with it, and about 1/3 of the way through, it started coming together, and I started getting excited. So glad I did, because I think it turned out rather well!

Full instructions for quilt can be found here, or under the tab at the top of the page.

Free Motion Quilting Progress

Slowly but surely, I'm getting there. It took me a bit to get used to free motion quilting on a domestic sewing machine. It's not perfect, but it will do. :) I am about half-way done, four more blocks and the final border.

I took a little break from the quilting and put together this sweet little block. I am somewhat sheepish to confess that it is the first block from Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Block of the Month 2012. One down, 11 more to go!

Medallion Quilt Finish!

I am so excited over how this quilt turned out, especially for a first stab at a medallion quilt! I think I also completed it in record time.

The final block is called Summer Winds, and is 12 inches finished. I made a total of 20 of these blocks for the last round. Here is a EQ7 mock-up of how it will look once the binding is attached.

I now have three completed quilt tops. Time to start basting!

Medallion Quilt - Round 4, Summer Winds

I am done with about half the blocks for this round, but here are pictures of one of the sides attached. As you can see from my last post, I also attached a four-inch border around the Friendship Stars round.

This was going to be the final round, but I think I need one more border to tie everything together. My husband suggested something blue, and I think that's a good idea.

Here is a close-up of the block. It is called Summer Winds. Fabrics are from several Art Gallery collections, except for the background fabric. This is a blender I picked up from Fabric Depot from Studio E's Cream & Sugar VII collection. I will post piecing instructions for this block soon!

Friendship Star Border Piecing Instructions

Here you go, as promised! Click on the Friendship Star block for a copy of the piecing instructions. For this round, you will need 3/4 yard for the background, and 1/2 yard for the stars. For more information on this round, go to my original blog post here.

Round 2: Friendship Star - Make 24

Round 2, Medallion Quilt: Friendship Star Border

Friendship Stars are so easy but satisfying to piece. There are a total of 24 of these blocks in the second round, but they went super quick. Each Friendship star finishes at 6 inches. This round added 12.5 inches to the quilt, so now it should measure 42.5 inches.

The fabrics for this block are both from Art Gallery. The star is their Pure Elements solids in Honey, and the print is from the Indelible collection by Katarina Rocella. I didn't have time this week to put together the piecing instructions, but check back soon.

Bow Ties, a Leaders and Enders Project

I am pleasantly tickled at how this turning out. In fact, I LOVE (yes, all caps) the way the blocks came together.

I started sewing these bow tie blocks as leaders and enders quite a few years ago. I had a bunch of them sewn, but then stopped because I didn't have the wherewithal to organize and cut scraps for more blocks. In my resolution for 2018 to finish WIPS, the stack of blocks I had collected was one more project to tackle!

What I love most about finally putting the blocks together is to think back and remember the quilts I've pieced, as represented by all the different fabrics. There was no organization to this -- I just pulled bow ties out of the box and started sewing them together, four at a time, to create an eight-inch block.

After all that, I only had enough blocks to make final quilt of 32" x 32". You know what this means? It means I need more blocks. So back to my scrap basket to cut more bow ties!

UPDATE (7/20) - I was going to prep a quick block tutorial, but I found instructions for a four-inch bow tie on the on the Moda Bakeshop site this morning. You will need four bow ties for one eight-inch block. Click here to go to the block instructions.

Round 1, Medallion Quilt - Checkerboard Border

Easy to piece, but it packs a big wallop! After attaching the checkerboard border, the quilt should now be 30 inches.

Round 1 - Checkerboard Border

The orange print is by Allison Rhodes, from the Wanderer collection for Art Gallery. The cream solid is also from Art Gallery (I think).

Click on the image at left to go to the piecing instructions for the checkerboard border. You can find instructions for past rounds by clicking on the tab above, or through this link: Medallion Quilt.

A New Project: The Medallion Quilt

Having been homebound this past week on account of my knee surgery, what better way to spend my time than starting a new quilt project? Although the design for my medallion quilt is pretty much set, I am still struggling with fabric choices. Thus, the final quilt will look different than the EQ7 schematic I initially posted. Here is what I came up with for the center block:

Medallion Quilt - Center Block, Wyoming Valley

This block is called Wyoming Valley and finishes at 24 inches. I am very pleased with how it came together, kinda earthy and dry, based on my memories of my brief visit to Caspar, Wyoming, but with just a pop of color. Fabrics in this block are Art Gallery collections by Katy Jones (Priory Square, background and green) and April Rhodes (Wanderer, mustard and brown).

The PDF of the piecing instructions can be downloaded by clicking on the block at left. I also created a home page for this project, which I will update as new rounds are finished. The home page can be accessed by clicking on the tab at top, or through this link: Medallion Quilt.

Four & Eight Grid Sampler - Finished Quilt Top!

I finished piecing the quilt top on July 1st, and had a plan to spend a couple of vacation days from work over this Fourth of July week at a local longarm shop, quilting this top and the Memory quilt. Alas, life got in the way in the form of an unfortunate event on Father's Day, resulting in knee surgery this past Tuesday.

BUT, I didn't want to wait to at least post the finished quilt top! I was so excited to finish this and post all the instructions.

I started this project in 2013, worked on it very sporadically. I only started dedicating some time to it this past June, as I made it a point to get a little more familiar with EQ7 and Adobe Illustrator, which have made the writing-up portion much easier.

Everything came together smoothly in the end. All the information on this quilt, in addition to downloadable PDFs instructions for each block and the quilt finishing instructions, can be found by clicking on the quilt image below, or clicking on the "Four & Eight Grid Sampler" tab at the top of the blog.

PS. I didn't do a separate post for the last block in the center of the quilt (Square Surrounded), but you can find the PDF instructions by clicking on the image below as well.

Finally, I have a project to link up to the 2018 Finish-A-Long!

Plans for a new quilt project - medallion quilt

I have never done a medallion quilt, but there are so many out there that are so inspiring. Here is what I have so far:

The center block is 24 inches and is called "Wyoming Valley." I have only ever been to Wyoming once, on a cross-country road trip right after college. We stopped in Caspar, and watched a rodeo that evening. The block on the outside is called "Summer Winds," so I am tentatively calling this "Winds over the Starry Wyoming Valley."

Arrow Crown: Block 8 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

Love, love, love this block! There are a lot of pieces, but with a 16-inch block, pretty easy peasy. Enjoy!

Block 8 - Arrow Crown

Click on the image to the left for the printable PDF of the piecing instructions. Click here for the rest of the blocks for this quilt: Four & Eight Grid Sampler.

Crown and Star: Block 7 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

This is one of my favorite blocks out of the nine that I pieced for this quilt. It's a relatively simple block, but has lots of impact visually.

Block 7 - Crown and Star

Click on the image to the left for a PDF of the piecing instructions. The rest of the blocks in this series can be found here: Four & Eight Grid Sampler Home Page.

Ruins of Jericho: Block 6 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

More than half-way through. Here is the sixth block, called Ruins of Jericho, in the Four & Eight Grid Sampler. Like the other blocks in this series, it is based on Judy Hopkin's 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks but super-sized to a 16-inch finished block.

This one was easy-peasy and doesn't really need any explanation. Again, fabrics for all blocks are from Denyse Schmidt's Shelburne Falls collection. Click on the block below for the PDF of the piecing instructions. 

Block 6 - Ruins of Jericho

 I decided to make things a little easier and created a single page for all block directions in this Sampler. Click on the full quilt icon below to take you to the page, or click on the tab for "Four & Eight Grid Sampler Quilt" at the top of the page.

Click for all blocks in this series.

Old Grey Goose: Block 5 of the Four & Eight Grid Sampler

I spent a little more time preparing the PDF of the piecing instructions for this block. I am using a combination of EQ7 and Adobe Illustrator. I am definitely not an expert at either software, and there is somewhat of a learning curve. Hopefully the extra time paid off!

I love this block! I am not altogether sure if I see a goose, maybe the head of a goose? Well, I will add this to one more of life's mysteries to ponder. Click on the block below for the PDF of the piecing instructions!

Block 5 - Old Grey Goose

Here are the links to the piecing instructions for the four previous blocks in this series:

Block 1 - X-Quartet 

Block 2 - Dutchman's Puzzle 

Block 3 - Hour Glass II

Block 4 - Fox and Geese

The Four & Eight Grid Sampler Quilt Mock-Up with Shelburne Falls Fabric Swatches

I am having so much fun messing around with EQ7! Here is a better mock-up of the Shelburne Falls Four and Eight Grid Sampler, this time using true fabric swatches from the collection. The prints are not to scale, but it still pretty cool!

The Four & Eight Grid Sampler Quilt - EQ7 Mock-Up

So all nine blocks are done! OK, I had high hopes for 12 or 16 blocks, but reality prevailed, and I won't let myself start on a new project until this one is done.

This is a mock-up using EQ7. The color renditions of each block are not ideal, but I tried to approximate. The final quilt size will be 68" x 68", with sashing and a border. I will continue to post block piecing instructions, and final instructions for putting the quilt together. Stay tuned!

Block 4 of the 4/8-Grid Sampler - Fox and Geese

I do have most of these blocks done, but have been VERY slow in getting them posted and drafting the PDF patterns. But I'm getting back on track! Here is the fourth block: Fox and Geese. Enjoy!

Block 4 - Fox and Geese

Here are the links to all four blocks in this series so far:

Block 1 - X-Quartet (blog post)

Block 2 - Dutchman's Puzzle (blog post)

Block 3: Hour Glass II (blog post)

Block 4 - Fox and Geese