Friday, April 3, 2009

Log Cabin Medallion Quilt Finished

Its been ages since I last posted: I've been totally obsessed with machine quilting this log cabin quilt!

I've mentioned before how this quilt was pieced years ago and then sat in the closet: now I know why-I think I just couldn't figure out how best to quilt it. I finally decided to quilt the log cabin medallion simply in the ditch using free motion...I'm happy with the result! I usually don't use alot of quilt- in- the- ditch in my quilts, certainly not as the "default" pattern but it really worked well on this quilt.

After I got the log cabin done, which took much longer than I thought it would! (the quilt is 80" x 96" so all the quilting took longer than I thought it would!), I couldn't decide how to quilt the pieced border-I'd always thought that I would quilt diagonal lines following the squares and in the end that is what I did with some extra diagonals added and a little quilt in the ditch again.

The pieced border is made up of two blocks-a double 9-patch and a Jacob's Ladder. (On the left is the double 9-patch which is a little hard to see because the blues have blended a bit in the pix) I got the idea from a quilt in Nifty Ninepatches by Carolann Palmer (its from the early'90s). When I started this quilt, it was going to be simply a Chimney and Cornerstone Log Cabin but when I tried different fabrics for the border I just didn't like anything. Then I thought of trying the double 9-patch/Jacob's Ladder in the border and I loved it! I love how the Log Cabin just seems to float on the border.

I also really like all the diagonal squares across the border picking up on the squares in Chimneys and Cornerstones. I always like to see what happens when I put two different blocks together-usually something interesting shows up.
All of the fabrics in the log cabin have been repeated somewhere in the border, two blue fabrics have been added as the "background" fabrics of the border squares and the red was added to give a little zing.
Its turned out that I finished this just at the right time. Yesterday my friend Maureen of the O'sheehan Quilt Gallery called and asked if I had a quilt for the new exhibit she's having at the Gallery! I think this quilt will fit in with the theme-an overview of the different possibilities with quilts-from traditional to contemporary.
If you're a member of the AQS, you may remember reading about Maureen's gallery and B&B and the quilt shop, the Quilt Center in the Fall 2007 issue of the AQS magazine. It was a great article with pictures of the gallery and quilt shop (and even a picture of me teaching a Baltimore Album class :)

15 comments:

Micki said...

Your blocks are gorgoues as is your machine quilting. You did a great job!
Micki

Susan said...

Fantastic quilt, Miri. How do you keep it all together when you're assembling it. Do you have a design wall? I am amazed with the intricate pattern. So you've been quilting all this time.

Bea said...

What a beautiful, colorful quilt. How wonderful to find it in the closet and then actually FINISH it! I bet you feel wonderful. And, now it's off to be viewed by a lot of people, that's pretty neat. :)Bea
//dog-in-the-hole-studio.blogspot.com//

Marjorie (Molly) Smith said...

Your quilts are fantastic, so very pretty. I just wish I had the patience to do these. I love looking at and admiring yours.

Heather said...

you did a lovely job. Great choice of adding the red as an accent.

Threeundertwo said...

I love how that turned out! What a beautiful setting! That must have been many many hours of piecing and quilting.

annemariesquilt said...

What a beautiful quilt you have finished and you have quilted it yourself I am very impressed.
Happy easter to you!!

Eileen said...

This is absolutely stunning.

What an honor for it to be in the gallery! I am thrilled for you!

Dionne said...

I love your log cabin, it's simply stunning!
Cheers,
Dionne

Millie said...

Miri, first of all your quilt is gorgeous. You did such a good job on the machine quilting. Well, as a quilt teacher you are the expert in piecing and quilting.

henny said...

Your quilt is wonderful, Miri!
Since I was a beginner in this, should we used different foot (at sewing machine) for quilting? What's the name? Meanwhile I used usual foot like I used for piecing fabrics.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I can understand why you'd want to keep working away at it. Barbara

Roslyn said...

What an unusual treatment,Miri I LOVE it, so clever I will have to remember that!

Neabear said...

I am catching up on your blog here. You did a beautiful job on this quilt. I bet it felt really good to get it done!

Rose Marie said...

This is absolutely stunning! YOu've inspired me with this quilt to think outside the box.