Medallion Magic - The QAL Version

I'm so happy with how my Island Batik quilt along version of Medallion Magic turned out! As you know if you've read almost anything here in the past couple of years, I love working with Island Batik fabrics!

Click here to get the Medallion Magic pattern 😊

These are Paisley Park fabrics with Almond for the background. The Paisley Park fabrics are available now, so check your favourite quilt shops to see if they have them in stock. Almond is one of the Foundations fabrics that are always available.

The rich purple is my favourite.

I put off quilting this one for a long time because I just couldn't decide how I wanted to quilt it. I kept thinking that it would be a shame not to do custom quilting, but the original Medallion Magic was custom quilted and those designs were the only ones I could think of using. I didn't want to just recreate the same quilting, though.

When I finally settled in my mind that I'd do an all over design, I then couldn't decide which one. Aaargh! I scrolled through Pinterest, then through my books and I finally decided to use a design called Bangle from Christina Cameli's book Step-by-Step Free Motion Quilting.

Since I was going to do an all over design, I knew I wanted to quilt it with white Aurifil (2024) so I wouldn't change the simplicity of the background, but would white thread detract from the beautiful colours in the fabrics? I was especially concerned about the purple as I thought the white might be too distracting.

Finally, with the quilt basted and the need to finally quilt *something* I unwound a few feet of the white Aurifil, laid it out on the purple in a rough approximation of the quilting design and stepped back to see how it would look. It was noticeable, obviously, but I felt like I would be okay with it, so I started quilting before I could question it anymore. Sometimes you just need to start, right?

I love how it looks! The texture is amazing, with the large partial circles and the smaller pebbles mixed together and catching the light and shadows differently.

 Yes, it is quite noticeable on the coloured fabrics, especially the purple, but it doesn't bother me like I thought it might.

The backing is one of the Paisley Park fabrics and I love how the white thread doesn't really stand out, but the texture does.

I chose to bind the quilt with the purple. (My machine binding tutorial is here.) I used Aurifil 4225, which matches the purple fabric perfectly.

I'm just sneaking in at the last minute to link up with my own QAL finish linky party, lol. Click the link if you'd like to see the other quilts that were made during the QAL. They're beautiful!

Thanks to Island Batik for providing the fabric for this QAL Medallion Magic. I had a lot of fun creating this new version that is so different from the original and I'm already looking forward to when I get a chance to play with the scraps left over from this one! 😊

 If you'd like to make your own version, click to get the pattern here. What colour would you use for the background?

Feel free to pin this!

I'm linking up with Sarah's Show Me Something with Stars party.

Medallion Magic QAL Finish Linky Party!

Whoohoo! It's time to link up your finished Medallion Magic quilt or quilt top! I am so excited to see how your finished quilts look 😊

The linky party will remain open until the end of the month, so there's still time to finish if you're not quite there yet.

If you haven't been sewing along, you can always start now! The pattern is available in my Etsy shop, so click the link to buy your copy today.

I'm still working on quilting my QAL version after an abundance of quilting indecision, so I'll be linking up my own finish once it's done. Why is choosing a quilting design so often the hardest part of making a quilt? Here's what I finally chose. It's called Bangle and it's from Christina Cameli's book Step by Step Free-Motion Quilting.

There are some great prizes available, from these wonderful sponsors.

Kristy at Quiet Play is sponsoring a year's subscription to the Quiet Play Pattern Club

 Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts is sponsoring winner's choice of 2 PDF patterns

Make Modern magazine is sponsoring a 6 month subscription

Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts is sponsoring winner's choice of any printed pattern (in the US) or PDF pattern (international).

Tish at Tish's Adventures in Wonderland is sponsoring copies of her patterns.

Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl sponsored winner's choice of 2 PDF patterns, a prize which was awarded in a previous month.

And I'm sponsoring winner's choice of 2 PDF patterns as well 😊

Prizes will be awarded randomly from among those who link up their finished quilts or quilt top (excluding my own, of course) after the linky closes. 

Thank you for sewing along with me! It has been fun to see your versions of Medallion Magic as they grew each month 😊 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Friendship Galaxy Pattern Updated

In my effort to get my older patterns ready for printing so they can be carried by quilt shops, I am happy to say my Friendship Galaxy pattern has been updated.

Friendship Galaxy includes 4 size options - skinny mini, wall, baby and throw - so you'll be covered for plenty of gift giving possibilties.

Of all my patterns, this is the one I've used the most myself, probably because I really love friendship star blocks. I've made two of the baby quilt size, the one shown above and this one, which was actually the original.

I've also made two of the skinny mini size. These are both available for sale in my Etsy shop.

It's amazing how fabric choices can change the look of the design, isn't it? I've always thought that was one of the most interesting aspects of quilting.

Thanks to Yvonne Fuchs, of Quilting Jetgirl, for her technical editing, which was a big part of getting the pattern ready for printing.

To reflect the updates, Friendship Galaxy's price will go up on August 25th, but until then it is still available at the old price so be sure to get your copy today. The PDF is available in my Etsy shop and printed copies will be added once they arrive.

Click to buy your Friendship Galaxy pattern today!