Oakshott Medallion Quarter Quilt

Happy New Year! It feels good to be getting back to normal after the festivities and I am delighted to share what I have been working on over the last week or so.

Back in August the lovely folks at Oakshott  Fabrics asked me if I would like to design something using one of their Fat 8th bundles in colours of my choosing.

Of course I said yes! I immediately chose this ‘Typical Jo Colours’ bundle which has been sitting calling to me from the corner of my sewing room since September. I finally got to undo that pretty ribbon and start sewing over Christmas.

As I’d had plenty of time to mull it over I knew exactly what I was going to do with the 8 different shades.  My idea was for a ‘quarter medallion’ with a mixture of piecing and needle-turn applique to make a bold modern mini quilt. The finished size is 29″.

I’ve used Oakshott shot cottons for a few projects in the past and I’m always so pleasantly surprised with how easy they are to use for quilting. They offer very little fraying, no slipperiness and perfect stability.  They also work equally well for the machine piecing and the hand applique.

And just look at these gorgeous intense colours!

I opted for straight line quilting using my walking foot and randomly spaced lines to give a sort of plaid look. For a change I used a 40wt Aurifil thread in a cream shade to give some extra impact. The faced binding helps give the effect of a medallion quilt that has been cut in to quarters.

I couldn’t resist mocking up a full medallion version using the ‘Layout’ app on my phone. The pattern would need a little adaptation to make this work but it was fun to see the effect.

I will be writing the pattern for this quilt which will be available soon from either myself or Oakshott along with the bundle.

Meanwhile I whipped up another Modern Japanese Rice Pouch with the left over scraps.

I improv pieced a panel adding some organic shaped applique and hand stitching detail (using Aurifil 12wt wool thread) before making it into the pouch. The pattern is by Karen Stevens and is available here.

This was the sixth Rice Pouch I had made in 2019 and I am sure more will be coming along in 2020, I just love how different you can make them.

It feels good to have started the year with a tick on my long project list! Right on to the next one…