Archive for Medallion Quilt-along

Reporting from allergy central

September 1, 2008 at 4:59 pm · Filed under Fabric, Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts

Sheesh, when did I become allergic to pollen? And when did I begin to care what the pollen forecast is? I guess the answer would be “in the last few years.” I’m hoping you’ll pardon my brain fog. Did you notice that I’m blaming the pollen and not the dust or dog hair??? Oh well. Better to point the finger at the things you can’t control, I say.

So, I finished up round four for the Medallion Quilt-along today. I do love Anita’s zig-zag border! During August, I thought I might take off the last brick border and switch my fabrics. Well, time’s a’wastin’, so I left it as it was and added the zig-zags. Fine and dandy!

This is a very satisfying project. I appreciate Anita leading us through this Thanks, Anita! I am gaining a new appreciation for seams pressed open, among other things.

In other news, all of my block of the month packaging is complete. Seems to me I should address the minor detail of starting to add the vine so people have a visual idea of what they’ll be doing. Hmm. The day’s not over.

Amidst the dread, some nervous knitting happened:

How did that happen??

All righty, school starts tomorrow. I’m off to re-fill my cup with fizzy medicinal diet Pepsi, keep an eye on Gustav and think about that vine.

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Another round

July 25, 2008 at 1:55 pm · Filed under Everyday Things, Fabric, Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts

I just discovered that I’m slightly ahead of the game in the Medallion Quilt-along. Yea! Although I’m not sure I like the colors I used:

Yes, and I’m going to have to find another design foot stool upon which to photograph it after the next round. In my head, I was thinking I would do bricks of similar color–like a variety of yellows and creams.  I changed my mind at some point and now I wonder if I should go back to the original plan. It seems like it would give the previous round a little more emphasis and would give the eye a little break. What do you think?  Frankly, I’m only considering this because the round is made up of glorious rectangles! If triangles had been involved, it would be staying. hee hee

In the don’t count your tomatoes before they’re hatched department, I bring you this sad sight:

Blight me! And this on the hardy Roma plant. I thought Early Girl would be the first to go. I wonder if she will be catching this whatever it is also.

Instead of ending on that note, I’ll leave you with a hydrangea photo:

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Cutting it close

July 24, 2008 at 9:41 pm · Filed under Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts

OK, I caught up to the first July medallion round. I used Jennifer’s superb directions.

Due to some unforeseen (?) carelessness, I had to do a bit of a re-doing. Of course. I blame Renee Zellweger and her Miss Potter and those cute little rabbits she was painting. My motto? Always have an alibi. I had hoped to get the next rounds of bricks added today. Still might get it done. Let’s see.

In my travels around the house this morning trying to solve the sock knitting mystery, I found some likely candidates for future rounds. See, I collect fabric for posterity and good uses. I just know it will all come in handy for the perfect project some day.

Hmm, for some reason, my medallion quilt-along category keeps disappearing…dandy.

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Well, that took long enough

June 20, 2008 at 10:03 pm · Filed under Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts ·Tagged , ,

I’m not referring to the amount of time it took to finish the first round of the medallion. I’m referring to the amount of time it took to get to work on the first round of the medallion. Sheesh. Well, the park isn’t going to play itself, now is it? There has been driving around to be done, eyes and bodies to be checked, friends to be played with, math to be practiced. Today, however, we stayed at home and took a small child hostage, er, I mean, we invited a friend to come over and play. And I worked on the medallion.

I took Anita’s recommendation to press seams open on the square in a square blocks. It so greatly reduces bulk, but it also seems to require open seam management skills that I don’t “seem” to have. It was kind of like having to drive in the roundabout to a far-afield doctor’s appointment the other day–too many things to pay attention to and I’m not sure I’m in the right lane and hey, what’s that guy doing? I have it on good authority that our roundabouts are a little different than most others. Aha, apparently I have a more international feel for the roundabout. I knew there was something wrong with ours.

Anyhoo, I digress and all is well with the medallion but I may have to do a tiny bit of easing when I PRECISELY do the next round.

I thought about doing a little tutorial for you, but I wasn’t quite sure you’d be interested. If anyone wants to see how to eat a hole in the middle of a cucumber slice without breaking the slice’s “circle,” let me know! Although there could be a week’s delay in bringing you this information as the instructor is going to art day camp all next week. I hope this won’t be too problematic for you.

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Start in the center

June 9, 2008 at 8:44 pm · Filed under Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts

And work your way out.

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Have a Bloomin’ Friday

June 6, 2008 at 8:49 pm · Filed under Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts

I’m going to dedicate this blog post to Anita. I’m working on my medallion center today:

It won’t actually be set on point. It just looks like I have more done when I look at it on point than when I photograph it straight on…optical illusions and all.

And then the UPS man arrived with some COFFEE. As I am always up for trying recommended coffees, I ordered some that Anita mentioned. Since it’s 90-something here today, I immediately put it on ice with an umbrella straw for added festiveness (I hope Zoka can forgive the Starbucks mug).

Mmmmm….delicious.

Thanks for the fun, Anita!

Oh, and we had a very proud parents evening last night. We got to see and celebrate a sea of 2nd to 6th graders who did what they were supposed to do all year long. What a great bunch of kids! We are especially proud of one child in particular!

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I’m workin’ on it

May 29, 2008 at 6:12 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Medallion Quilt-along, Quilts

Today was the day to start on the medallion quilt center. I decided to go with this as my guide:

I thought it would be a little more direct than the curvier option. Hmm…

Here is the template for one of the “accent” dots:

Penny for scale.

Here is where we are at this point:

Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Reproduction fabrics. Ooooh, that’s something new around here.

I’m thinking of adding a wedge-y circle in the center square. It would appear, however, that the wedge-y ruler doesn’t go that small. I believe there is a small Marti Michell wedge-y ruler around here somewhere.

I’m not sure how much further I’ll get today. I had to walk down the street and buy a diet coke today (which I promptly spilled on the top of my dresser). That says something about the desperate state of my sinuses (may your nasal steroid not fall off the formulary). Yes, diet coke can be used for medicinal purposes–it’s all in the fizz.

Oh, and I think I have found a way to quiet down the Pots & Dots quilt–some black to frame the busiest parts.

That’s it for now. That dog isn’t going to walk herself! (The singular “dog” means that I’m not fighting with the other dog to get her harness on today. Someday I will have to get a video of the harnessing ceremony–first, flatten yourself down as much as possible; if couch cushions are available, dig yourself between them as tightly as possible; darn, someone shut the crate doors before we started this; OK, now turn yourself over on your back and pull your front legs in; if the worst happens and the harness is on, DO NOT leave the house; if you do get pulled out the door, look for an opportunity to run back inside while she reaches to pull the door shut…lather, rinse, repeat.)

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