Mountmellick is a beautiful design but takes time to make each part of this 2014 Mystery Quilt. I have now finished the Medallion and Borders 2 and 3!
The directions called for the quilter to make a grid of 2” squares and then applique a circle on the 48 squares. I followed the directions, but after appliquéing all 48 circles on 2” squares, I realized that the 2” square drawn needed to be 1 7/8” in order to yield a 1 3/8”. When making a ‘test’ block, it appeared to be fine with the cutting instructions of the HSTs. BUT, I had to square each 2” block down to 1 7/8”!!!!! That was just too much fun.
During the process of sewing the border strips together, on the 2nd set, I found 4 of the circles that had to be removed and re-appliqued because they were not centered.
It was at that time that I realized that I would have saved a LOT of time by putting the borders together and THEN sew the circles. So anyone thinking of making this quilt should consider doing this.
I was hoping to finish this portion of the quilt by this last week-end but I had to take a break from the project. It is intense and does not allow for any mistakes.
When selecting fabrics for my quilt I followed the Medallion very closely and used Dutch Chintz fabric and will continue using the fabric on the next border. For Border 3, I studied the picture of the quilt very carefully for color placement of the circles. Di Ford used 6 different colors for the circles and I used 3 different shades of reds and 3 shades of blues. But on the HSTs she added a variety of fabrics to effect a scrappy look.
Because I am not a big fan of ‘scrappy’ quilt I used a black background from Pam Buda’s Conestoga Crossings fabric line which has tan, black and red in it. The fabric used in Border 1 has black in it so I framed the Medallion in black to showcase that color.
It is a good feeling to have achieved success with this quilt! I will have my RF treatment on my back tomorrow, so the next 3 days will be hand work only while resting!
Have a great week and enjoy stitching!
Chopin - A Passionate Quilter From Texas 
I tried to comment but WordPress doesn’t recognize me iPad.
She is looking beautiful, great job!
Sent from my iPad
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Well, it worked – Thank you Gretchen! Appreciate it
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It’s going to be well worth all of your efforts. It’s beautiful already!
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Thank you. I am taking this one slow because I want it to turn out perfect!
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Di is a BIG fan of scrappy.
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She has such beautiful designs. Have both of her books! Projects waiting….
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I like scrappy, but a controlled scrappy! Thx for your comment.
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That turned out just beautiful! You really do amazing work. Yes, don’t you HATE to find out after-the-fact that you could have saved yourself so much time and effort? Oh well, live and learn right? Gorgeous!
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Thank you Becky. I had pondered over this in 2014 when I was going to start the quilt, but gave in to saying, ‘well, do it her way’!
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Well, trying to reply using an iPad will make one throw the iPad! Thank you Becky. I had a funny feeling ever since the pattern came out about how she wanted all to do the circles!
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Wow! This is quite beautiful – nice work!
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Thank you Susan
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I love your choice of fabrics. The darker border is stunning.
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Thank you so much Regina. I am really enjoying this quilt!
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Thank you Regina! I did it want to make it as scrappy as Di Ford’s
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Wow, that’s a beauty, and very time intensive! You are progressing very nicely!
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Thank you Kathy!
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I like the black border with the circles. It really enhance the design. Great work.
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Hi Nancy – we had 2” of snow! Yea nice winter so far, even if it was late in coming. Thank you for the nice comment
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I was posted as anonymous. Sorry
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Your black print is striking – very pretty in that position. Yeah, I can see how it would be far easier to applique the circles onto a completed border. This quilt top is looking so nice, though – it’s definitely worth the work you’ve put in.
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I fussy cut the corner squares – they have little bouquet of flowers.
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Wow – very nice.
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Thank you very much!
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