I know.  I’m all over the place with this quilt (these quilts).  If I’m going to put this much hand work into something, I want it to be pretty and something I’ll actually use.

I realized that while I’m very excited about the process of learning and practicing all of the techniques, I’m not crazy about the pattern itself.  It’s a lovely pattern, it’s just not for me.  I’m not a super-flowery person and it wouldn’t go well with my decor (hence the outright rejection of color and trying to go black/white/grey with it).

I was also iffy about the embroidered row that we start next week.  I don’t like the dogwood “jewels” and I’m pretty sure the dense rows of dashes in the triangles would be boring and possibly take more time than I have.  I’m also worried that if I used it as a couch blanket that the stitches wouldn’t hold up well with use (especially little-kid use).

I also ended up hating both of my choices of fabric for the central medallions.  My solutions are pretty simple, though they involved more freezer paper and ironing, which I did not love.

Ta da!  A new central motif.  I’m going to use it with the black-on-white leaf fabric as the main focus.  Since it’ll be broken up into the little windows, the main focal point will be that black circle in the middle, which I can embroider/quilt some concentric circles in and all will be well.

I’m also going to replace the embroidered dogwood “jewels” with some more paper piecing and likely the other embroidery with HSTs.  I’m going to try some curves for the first time!  So I’ll still be learning and doing new techniques, but ones I’m excited about now.  (The embroidery isn’t a new technique for me–I’m sure I could execute it well, but I’m not looking forward to it, which is reason enough to skip it).

I’m only going to do one quilt and I’m going to use all three of the prints I’ve previously shown, as well as the greys I mentioned earlier in the week.

I’m feeling a lot better about this quilt!

Welp, this quilt (or these quilts, as the case may be) is not going well at all.

Sure, I have both medallions done.  I did a bigger stitch than Rachel’s pattern calls for, but those pointy inside corners are ugly.  I did a true blanket stitch on the patterned one and the white does help set off the black in the pattern a little from the black of the background, but neither is good.

And see that bright line in the upper left-hand part of the white blossom?

Yup.  It’s a cut in the fabric.  I have no idea how or when it happened.

I used some Fray Check on it then darned over it, which I thought was a better solution than appliqueing over it since I still want to do some dogwood embroidery and quilting on the white field, but the whole thing’s a disaster.  The only good part is that I really, really like the Q-Snap frame.  I’d only used wooden hoops before and this thing is a dream.

One more good part: I really like sewing with these needles and the pearl cotton.  They slip right through the fabric and the cotton is glossy and smooth.  I’d crocheted with it before but it’s really nice to sew with, too.

So now I have two centers that I hate (well, not HATE exactly, but they’re far from ideal).  I did cut some greys and white for the next rounds, so I guess I’m pressing forward.  I’ll only do the embroidery round on the white-center medallion (which I’ll likely call “Mended Heart” for obvious reasons) and make HSTs (half-square triangles) for the patterned-center medallion.

I’m not loving the reverse applique process so far, but I’m learning a lot.  Let’s start with a cool image.

This is my black background fabric with the freezer paper adhered to it.  Remember this image, since I came to a realization about it further along in the process.

You really, really need that little brush for the starch.  I’m glad I had one handy.

See those terrible corners, inside and outside?  Yeah, I really didn’t like doing this.

More pictures of the ugly, please excuse the shadows:       

Look at them with the “feature” fabric inside:

Not terrible, but not great.  Why?  Because it’s a MEDALLION quilt and the very central fabric has to be outstanding, not necessarily a busy print, but it has to draw your eye, like the black center in the first photo above.

Duh, I said to myself, but I wasn’t about to jump ship and change plans.  That’s why you’re looking at two medallions.  I did the plain white one first, thinking I’d spice up the inside with embroidery and/or quilting (like a real dogwood blossom–lines on the petals and circles in the center), but it wasn’t grabbing me so I used the biggest black and white print I had, but that print’s not special enough to be the main focal point of the quilt.

I think I know how to fix them, but I need to get them stitched together first.