Before I headed out of town though, I made sure to finish my latest medallion quilt just so I could add it to my trunk show. My, oh my! Quilting this was quite an undertaking.
When I say that it was an undertaking, I mean that I spent 24 hours over the course of three days on the quilting. This is undoubtedly the most detailed quilting I have ever done, and I absolutely love the result.
In the center, I quilted a free motion flower, and continued the petals into each part of the rainbow, including three petals in each part of the scalloped border. In the negative space, I echoed the shape of the center and I like the way the straight(ish) lines play against the softer petal quilting.
In fact, throughout the entire quilt, I chose to quilt straight lines against curved designs to make sure that each part of the medallion really stood out (just an FYI- the entire quilt was quilted with free-motion, even the straight line designs).
On the Greek Cross blocks, I opted for a very small crosshatch quilting to follow the shape of the blocks. With the curvy edges of the scalloped border against the straight edges of the Greek Crosses, at first I was unsure how to quilt the negative space between the two. I should have realized that my very favorite free motion motif would be a perfect filler! I opted to quilt tiny, micro-stippling there. Just for reference, the spacing between the stippling lines is only 1/8-1/4".
Even though I like the end result, the Square In Square blocks were my least favorite part of the process. Those square spirals took FOREVER, and I will say this- it's a good thing I'm okay with "organic" quilting lines.
In the border surrounding the Square In Square blocks, I quilted figure-eight loops. This is actually the first time I've quilted this motif on such a large space, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it went. Rather than having the loops span the entire width of the border, I added an echoing line on the top and bottom to give the design a little more definition. Since I wasn't sure how to carry the loops around the corners, I decided to quilt petals there.
The triangle border got quilted with tight swirls, and I added pebble quilting to the corner stars. I have quilted pebbles in very small spaces before, but never this much, and I'm pretty happy with them. Echoing lines give great definition to the outer edge of the quilt.
A rainbow of Aurifil 50 wt. thread complimented each color section perfectly (along with white, of course). Instead of using a consistent thread on the back, I always like to keep my top and bobbin threads the same, so there is a lovely rainbow on the back of the quilt as well!
I pulled fat quarter pieces straight from my stash for the back. I arranged the fabrics as close to a spiral rainbow as possible, which proved to be somewhat difficult with such large pieces. I still enjoy the warm/cool effect created though.
There was really only one choice for binding this quilt- a rainbow! Color-matched to each section, of course. Since I bind all of my quilts by machine, sewing them to the back of the quilt first, I had to really do some planning to make this happen. The rainbow of thread on the back of the quilt really helped keep me on track though!
I am in love with the way this quilt turned out, and even more than that, I am really proud of it! This quilt finishes at 72" square. I am still working out the details, but I am considering writing the pattern and offering this as a Block of the Month QAL in 2019. I'm still thinking though the details, but I'll be sure to keep you posted!
