Designing a Medallion Quilt

It has been a long while since I last made a medallion quilt.

I made  a Marcella Medallion by Alexia Abegg in 2014 for a fabulouc friend who turned 40. The quilt is being loved and used by my friend and family - including the dog!

When I finished the quilt I had plans to make another medallion quilt for another friend who also turned 40 in 2014. But I had run out of mojo and inspiration by then ,I couldn't find the right fabric and pattern. It felt like I was wading through design treacle!

Then I saw the Blueberry Fabric by Karen Lewis, and I was totally smitten!

I bought some grey Kona - Silver, Iron and Steel to be exact. I like the contrast in the brights of the pink/red and the grey. I then bought the plain Kona fabric to match the Blueberry Park and the Fog pattern from Blueberry Fabric. Now I have bundle of fabrics, both solid colour and patterned.

But what about a quilt design?

I wanted a central star again and I found the wonderful paper piece patterns by Wombat Quilts. If you have never visited Wombat Quilts you are in for a treat. Cath Hall as has gathered a fabulous collection of paper pieced patterns for anyone access. I love this one:

It is called Ellen's Snowball and there an instructions for 12" and 16" blocks. I have chosen the 16".

Next up was getting the quilt designed around the central block... for this the amazing app TouchDraw comes in very useful!

There is a mixture of simple sewing, paper piecing and some blocks I am still figuring out how to piece...

So the journey begins with a central star.... hopefully it will end with a finished quilt by October 2016 when my friend turns 42!