Thursday, July 21, 2016

Metro Medallion Finished.

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Okay, first off - sorry about the lame presence here on the blog.  I have been so busy!  I can finally breath and hopefully will have more time to spend on here.  But, what a better way to come back to the blog than by sharing a finished quilt!?!

So, I have wanted to make a new quilt for my bed for a while.  My mom made me a beautiful quilt 5 years ago and I have loved it and used it this whole time, but I am up for a change and I decided that Sew Kind of Wonderful's pattern Metro Medallion would look amazing on my bed. I have made this pattern before using the Quick Curve Ruler - it's really an easy pattern and it got easier with each block I made. Don't be afraid of the curves!

Isn't the quilt fantastic? It is huge!  It is 102 x 104 inches which fits my bed nicely - you will see that later in the post. I definitely made the quilt larger than the pattern directions show, but that was just a matter of buying more fabric.  Who doesn't like to buy more fabric?
The fabrics used in my quilt are from several manufacturers and designers.  I just pulled colors that I like and put them together and I didn't write them down, so please don't ask me what each print is...pretty please! ;-)

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This quilt took me several months to make, but mainly because I was busy writing my second book which comes out in September - so I was pretty crazy.  It also took me a while longer because I wanted to add the squares on point in the white Metro Medallion blocks.

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I ended up changing the shape of the square on point - the original design has a diamond, but I find it easier for me to piece with squares.  So the blue polka dot fabric was a 3 1/2" square sewn along the diagonal line, trimmed and then the inside aqua fabric was a 2" square sewn along the diagonal line and trimmed. I was going to use different colors for the inside square, but changed my mind because it would have taken me a lot longer to place the colors.
As you can see the bright fabric color placement is random, but also on purpose - if that makes sense.  I always lay out my quilt blocks and play around with them to figure out the perfect placement.  I didn't pre-plan how many colors of each block I would make - so that is why I needed to play with it before I sewed the quilt top together.
 
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Originally I was going to quilt an allover design - I know, gasp! - I didn't want to spend as much time as I usually do on this quilt because it was going to be used for my bed. But then I thought a lot about it and knew that I couldn't just quilt an allover design, so I came up with this simpler quilting design.  I threw in some fun custom designs on a few of the medallions like the one above, but for the most part, the blocks were quilted with fast, free-motion fills.

I was able to quilt the fun curves in the navy blue fabric using the QCR Curvit longarm ruler - it was my first real attempt at using a curved ruler and it was fun!  I think I see more curves in my future.  Don't you love the beads in between the curved lines?  I do - the look is just perfect. 

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When all was said and done, I did have to go back and add another curved line in the navy blue fabric.  Compare this block above to the picture before this and you will see what I am talking about. Even with all of this - my crazy detailed self would love to redo this project and go to town on the quilting detail, but I am honestly happy with the results. It was a new challenge for me to limit my quilting.

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Um yes, thank you diagonal striped fabric for being the perfect fit for the finishing touch on this quilt. Don't you just love it?
Oh, and before I forget - I used Glide thread for the top and bottom and I used only one layer of 100% bleached cotton Hobbs batting.

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I love the texture on the back - you can see I tried several different designs - not all of them are perfect, but it was good practice for me since I have been traveling a lot and not quilting as much as I would like. It seriously was a lot of fun.
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I started the quilting with this block design above, but I am so glad I decided against finishing the whole quilt with this design - I would still be quilting it!

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Okay, so here is my room before Metro Medallion.  This is the quilt my mom made for me and I absolutely love it still!  The colors are exactly what I loved 5 years ago and I still love, but I just needed a change. I think we all need a change every now and again. It was also really fun going to Home Goods and buying new stuff.

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I changed out the drapes - they are a lot brighter now and the room will feel brighter.

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I also bought new pillows and new bedside lamps.  It really goes well with the quilt.

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I love the little details in the quilt top that I will be able to enjoy from now until I have a hankering for a change.  Another 5 years I am sure.

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So I made the quilt long enough to cover our deep mattress and box spring. I didn't want to worry about making a bed skirt, so a bigger quilt was the answer to that dilemma.

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This picture shows a little of the mattress, just to give you an idea of what I mean about not making a bed skirt.  The quilt, if pulled just right fits perfectly to the frame of the bed on both sides of the bed.

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So, here is my room and I absolutely love it!  It's perfect for me.

By the way - it's always this clean.  Hahaha, just kidding!