Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Christmas Medallion Finished!

Before we get too many months into the New Year I want to catch you up on my most recent Christmas quilt named "Christmas Medallion". It measures 69" x 76".

 
Beginning with a desire to use up my red and green scraps, I started with a rough idea of strip piecing my red scraps in a large rectangular ring around a central block and then adding my green scraps in a way to be determined. I began piecing this quilt early in December 2019 but then holidays, a December graduation, and family visits took priority and my red strips languished on the wall.


Enter January 2020! Champing at the bit, I got back to it. Okay, too late for Christmas 2019 but early for Christmas 2020, right?

After some red strips were put into place I began looking at the Greens.  I found a wonky tree idea by Karla Alexander called "Crazy Christmas Trees" that I liked and made a large freezer paper pattern. I pieced one to see if it would fit the bill. It was rather a painstaking process and I decided the fabrics I used were not enticing.....at that point I was just too impatient to move on rather than try another tree version although I am keeping that tree pattern in mind because I love the wonkiness.....it may show up in another quilt someday.

Wonky tree pattern minus the trunk

Trying to figure out the next ring.....

So, what next? The scrappy quilt was looking folksy and homey so I defaulted to old-fashioned, simple, free-wheeling log cabins (one was already in the center) and started piecing them randomly. From a distance they kind of reminded me of Christmas wreaths with red berries! They formed the third ring and then it was time for a final border.


A couple red fabrics from clothes I've sewn for myself many years ago are in this top! 

When I showed my 'quilt in progress' to my sisters (who are not quilt makers), one of them said “just the reds would be nice” and another commented that the Greens “seem not to have been invited to the party”. What? It’s a Christmas quilt....so red and green naturally, no? I was committed to my original vision but gave the second opinion a bit of thought and altered the central red rings a bit to extend an 'invite' to the Greens.....can you tell what I did? Not sure if it makes any difference!

I machine-quilted it on my domestic Viking with straight lines....lots of fun because I got to travel across all those lovely colors again and twice enjoy them! I had that wonderful red backing already in my stash. (It's also in the quilt front.) My daughter helped me choose the correct shade of green for the binding....and that was the only fabric that I had to purchase at the quilt shop because I didn't have a big enough piece of just the right color. And now it's signed and ready for Christmas 2020 festivities!



~EYSchmitt
@piecingpassion on Instagram

24 comments:

  1. Love seeing your creative process. Funny somewhere in my sewing room are some red and green slab pieces that need to go into Christmas quilt. Maybe I should play with them on my design floor.

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  2. This is absolutely charming! I love how you kept the overall value of the piece high and light .... not an easy thing to do at all, since red and green, left to themselves, are visually dense, heavy colors ... you've transformed that potential for dark and heavy into light and cheerful -- a lovely, lovely piece of artistic creativity here ... it's a happy, lighthearted quilt!

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    1. Thank you, Sharon, for your kind words! I did want it to be a happy quilt and I'm so glad you see that!

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  3. Now that is the spirit, get a head start early on next Christmas!

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    1. That's right! I am always in the mood for red and green though...even if it' not Christmas!

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  4. Fantastic finish! Such a cheery looking Christmas quilt!

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  5. Love it!!! The improv strips and the outer border of the improv log cabins just melt into each other beautifully. Congratulations on a super finish!

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    1. Thank you, Mystic Quilter! Reds and Greens seem to love each other in my mind!

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  6. LOVE it! A great non-traditional Christmas quilt!

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    1. Thank you! What is so wonderful about quilting is that we can make a quilt any way we like!

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  7. It is perfect and such a great pattern for using up scraps. A beautiful quilt to enjoy this coming Xmas.

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    1. Thank you! It's always a pleasure to use up scraps, isn't it?

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  8. In my book red and green do go together, Christmas or not! What a lovely finish! I love those little red squares unifying crazy log cabin blocks for the borders.
    By the way, I love my one stitch viking machine for general quilting too.

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  9. My goodness! I haven't visited in FOREVER. I'm so very sorry to have lost touch with you. I suppose the best way to make it up is to go back and read a few posts to see what you've been up to. I do like this quilt! It makes using scraps look easy.

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  10. Your Christmas quilt is so much fun. What a great use of scraps. I loved reading your sisters' comments. And you just sounded so joyful working on this quilt. Amazed that you did the whole thing, in what, three months? Outstanding.

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  11. Every one invited to the party!! :D I absolutely love it!! What a fun quilt to pull out at Christmastime!

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  12. I love string Quilts!! Great finish

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  13. I would add a bunch of little hearts to my comment, but can't figure it out this early. I love it! It's so nice to have a quilt full of favorite scraps, and I think Christmas quilts are special. We don't get to use them very long during the year if you're really committed to a Christmas season per se, but who says this can't be pulled out in July? Really impressed with your use of color in keeping those medallion rounds separate. It works so well!

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  14. Oh, my, how did I miss this wonderful quilt??? It is my kind of comfy holiday quilt...perfect!

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  15. Very festive - you have a great red and green stash.

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  16. It is a happy Christmas quilt. Love it.

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  17. What a beautiful quilt. You made lovely decisions.

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  18. Of course you need red and green in a Christmas quilt, and the way you worked it has come together beautifully. It was interesting to follow the process too.

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