Tuesday, May 12, 2015

One Step At A Time: Stop One on C&T's Blog Hop ~ and GIVEAWAY!

Helloow!  And welcome to the first stop on C&T's "The Modern Medallion Workbook Blog Tour!"



C&T has just released The Modern Medallion Workbook, and I am so so so very happy to have my One Step at a Time quilt be a part of it!


When I first found out about this book, medallion quilts were just coming back into vogue, but I admit that I had NO clue what a medallion quilt was! So, if you're like me, wondering what makes a design a medallion, and if it is even possible to make it look modern, here you go! :)  Here's my definition: a medallion quilt is one where the center block is a point of interest, maybe a star, maybe a basket of flowers, maybe a swirl of hexagons, and then each border radiating away from the center is different, and unique.


The novel concept behind THIS book is that it truly is a workbook. If you are making your own modern medallion quilt and like the center block from one quilt, and then like the third border another quilt, but don't like the rest of the borders, just pull it out and incorporate it into your quilt! Easy peasy! You are literally able to resize and redesign any quilt you want by taking bits and pieces from all the quilts and making it your own! I love that idea! :)

Or what if you love a design, but don't love the colors the designer used? Well, you are in luck! There are coloring pages at the back of the book (and my oldest daughter is very interested in these!) :)



And as an added bonus, there are loads of techniques highlighted in here. Pieced curves, applique, paper-piecing...not only can you make beautiful quilts, but you'll become a more talented quilter along the way! Jackpot!

It's a great book. It really is. Again, I feel so humbled to be included in a publications with the likes of Latifah Saafir, Becca Bryan, Erica Jackman, and Janice Ryan (our fearless leader), to name just a few!  And not only that, but the quilts they designed are really, truly, STUNNING. Stunning. Those ladies have got some real talent! :)

So for me, when it came time to design the quilt, I started with a sketch using grays and yellows, but that was too dreary. And I didn't want to be a TOTAL broken record and design ANOTHER rainbow quilt, so I went with a color scheme I think is truly fresh and modern and delightful -- cool greens and blues with a pop of coral. One of my favorite outfits from 8th grade was a navy blue skirt and a kelly green sweater with blue trim. I loved this color combination then, and I love it now!
                          
For my medallion, I went with a swirl of hexagons. I do love me some hexagons! I used an invisible thread and my blind hem stitch to applique them to the background fabric.
                            



And then, each border is a different method of creating a chevron. There are four unique chevron borders on this quilt, and I think each one would make a lovely quilt!

(In fact, the border that started this whole thing is the Palace Steps border, which I designed for this quilt that the Faith Circle of the do.good stitches bee made for Restore Innocence in 2013)

                                  Palace Steps ~ finished.  


When it came time to quilt it, I wanted to quilt each section/border in a way that was reflective of that border, if I could. And frankly, I kinda made it up as I went along. :)

In the center, I quilted a swirl of feathers...if you could call it that? I just wanted to mirror the hexagons, and I like how it turned out!

                            
Then in the first border, I quilted half-flowers in each large triangle space. Maybe I should call it a fan? I don't really know! :)

                          

And the corner treatment:


                             

In the green quarter-circle border, I quilted what reminds me of a fern frond. There is a "stem" that curves through each "leaf" section, and then blades that are quilted on either side of that stem.
                            


 The third border is quite possibly my favorite because I had a vision, but it was complicated, and then I came up with a method to create the border with a lot less trouble than my original idea! I love it when that happens.  Anyway...I quilted it with gentle waves.                         
And in the final border, I quilted more waves, but in both directions, as the steps went up and down.

                        


And now for the true truth: this was hard for me! Even though I had the design, and had the skills to create the quilt and to write the pattern, this was possibly the hardest thing I have done as a quilter.  The perfectionist monster inside of me came out in an ugly manner more than a few times! I don't like that. Maybe if I were to submit another quilt to another book, I would be a little less wound up about it, I don't know, but this was HARD!! :)

Don't get me wrong, I am very glad I did it, and Janice was a PHENOMENAL asset to the completion of this book, she was on top of everything, encouraging the authors to get their stuff in on time, and patient as a dove with me in all my insecurities. She is the rock and the glue and the life that made this workbook really come together.  (FYI - in case you are wondering why I'm mentioning Janice so much, she and Beth split up the list of contributors so I didn't really hear much from Beth since Janice was my team captain.)

This blog hop continues for another 10 days, so please visit the other contributors and read about how their modern medallions took shape!

May 13thAmy Sinibaldi- nanaCompany.typepad.com

The giveaway is closed. Annmarie from Wisconsin is the winner. :) Thanks for all your lovely comments!
 

Now to the GIVEAWAY!!  I personally HATE Rafflecopter, so i'm not going to go that route.

C&T has offered to give one copy of the book to one lucky recipient here. If you win, and you live in the US, you will receive a hard copy of the book. If you live outside the US, you'll receive an electronic copy of the book.

So...to win, I would like you to leave one comment with what your favorite modern color combination is right now. :)  It's that simple! (Giveaway will close at 11:00pm MDT Friday the 15th of May)</s>

And then, tomorrow, go visit Amy's blog. ;)

Have a great day!

62 comments:

  1. Congratulations!! The quilt is beautiful and my favorite color combination now I would say blue and green, it's calming 😉

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  2. Congratulations on your book. My favorite modern combination right now is mint green and navy blue.

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  3. I love the quilt! It is fun hearing more about the back story too. I love mustard, black, denim blue and cream lately.

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  4. Thanks for sharing the story of your beautiful quilt, and your experiences in getting published. And congratulations! My current favorite color combination is green and purple.

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  5. I enjoyed reading about your journey in making this medallion quilt. My colors are bright pinks, greens and turquoise.

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  6. My current favourite colors are grey together with red and purple. Modern? Well, some time in the future I guess it'll be modern!;)

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  7. Fascinating insight into your quilt. I'm in love with teal, mustard and navy

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  8. Right now bright fresh green is wining, somthing todo with spring finally arriving and a touch of raspberry too.

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  9. My favorite color combo right now is aqua, peach and gray.
    ktsquiltdreams [at]gmail [dot]com

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  10. Favorite combination? Deep blue with turquoise. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  11. My favorite combination is gray and yellow. Thank you for the give away. I will keep my fingers crossed.

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  12. I love radiant orchid with gray! Thanks for the giveaway. I love hexies too!

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  13. Your book looks great! I enjoyed reading about how you created your masterpiece. One color combo I like right now is the peach/aqua mix - soothing spring/beachy/take-a-break colors. Ah!!!

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  14. My favourite combination is blue and gray.
    maureeneh52@hotmail.com

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  15. Lime green and bright blue. Looks like a great book.

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  16. Black, white and red have been playing together lately.

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  17. I love teal and coral together :)

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  18. l'm loving bright apple green and aqua!

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  19. Blues and purples with a touch of black and white. chocolatewiskers@aol.com

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  20. Right now I'm loving mustard and eggplant. I think all colors should be named after foods, lol! Thanks for the chance to win!

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  21. My all time favorite combination is red, black, gray, and ivory. You did a great job quilting your quilt! Thanks for the chance to win a copy of the book. It sounds great.

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  22. Love red and turquoise together :) Thanks for explaining - I didn't know what a medallion quilt was either! x

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  23. I really like the Bright Purple,Lime green,and Turquoise (more blue)

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  24. I love red white and black.
    THanks for the giveaway and for not using rafflecopter.

    merryorganic@gmail dot com

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  26. HI, I really like aqua and reds together!
    Thanks for sharing a neat giveaway!
    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  27. Hi I'm new to putting fabric, but I really love orange, purple and green

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  28. I am moving more toward using secondary color (or rather, colors kind of off the main primaries). E.g., corals, where I would use red, yellow-greens, teals, purples.

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  29. I really like aqua, coral, red, and navy.

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  30. I'm liking pink and orange together at the moment. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  31. Congrats on the book. I like red and aqua.

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  32. Hi Melissa! Congrats on this! So exciting. My fave color combo lately is plum/purble, teal, mustard, and grey.

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  33. It may have been the hardest thing you've done as a quilter, but you should feel so successful! It's beautiful! My latest favorite modern color combo is lime green and gray.

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  34. My favorite color combo is pink, blue, yellow, green with a pop of red! I'm in the good ole USA!

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  35. Turquoise and grey are my favorite!

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  36. Grey and pink would be my choice. Thanks!

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  37. Seems we have a whole line of like minded thinkers. I too love the greys right now. And they look great with purple, pink or any bright color.

    determineddebby at gmail dot com

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  38. Fun question....purples, yellows, greens, and reds...Mardi Gras-like colors.

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  39. Love all the info you shared..Thank you so much! & thanks too, for chance to win this Awesome book! :)

    Right now I am loving Purple, Green & Yellow....as in Spring& Summery shades....

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  40. I really like bright colors so maybe greens and yellows.

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  41. I like aqua, navy, coral and mustard. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  42. I like aqua, navy, coral and mustard. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  43. I love that navy blue has made a come back! It's one of my favorite colors!

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  44. I love navy blue with lime green.

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  45. I am just learning to quilt. So my start is with a sew along. I cried through my first block (type A personality😓😔😝 thought I know it now on my second block, then pulled my hair out on the third block. I can't imagine your "hard" on this quilt. Can only say you must have felt like you could breath when you finished it.

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  46. orange and grey is my favorite colour combination

    erin2470@hotmail.com

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  47. It's an odd combo. Purple and orange.

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  48. I think pink & green with a touch of brown is the cat's meow!

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  49. I'm loving gold/mustard, teal blues and pink reds the most right now.

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  50. I love pink and orange/
    THanks!
    larslaura27@gmail dot com

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  51. *Thank you!* for sharing your journey, for a beautiful quilt, and for the inspiration for my next project!!
    I'm loving shades of blues and greens against white for my modern quilt, too!

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  52. I have to admit that I am really attracted to the blues and greens with a little black thrown it!

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  53. I like purple, yellow and grey. Thanks for the giveaway! jacklynnsteven at netzero dot com

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  54. I am so happy for you Melissa! My fav combo right now is lime green and gray!

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  55. congrats on your fab quilt in this great book. Oh how I love medallions - and oh how I hate that evil perfectionist monster. He's a devil, ain't he? LOL. My favorite color combo at the moment is gray/lime/yellow. Thanks for the chance to win!
    - sunshdws at yahoo dot com

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  56. This is such a beautiful book. I am loving pink and orange together for my summer sewing.
    Thanks for a great giveaway.

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  57. Lovely book with awesome quilts!

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What are you sewing?