Marcelle Medallion Center Block

Marcelle Medallion Center Block MRL Style

Enormous thanks to Jess for letting me use her paper piecing template to make the center block!  To learn how to create your own paper piecing template pop over to Penny Poppleton and read this post which is part of the Marcelle Medallion QAL.  

If you notice my scrawl above I labelled all the little triangles at least for the first two sections in order to keep it all straight in my head!  I knew exactly what fabrics I wanted for the very center (lime green as if there was any doubt as to my favorite color), border (teal, keeping that tertiary love going), and the part I see as the star (pink, of course) - but as I got further along I went through some major auditioning to find the right neutral gray.
I seriously think I spent 30 minutes or more debating the right shade and pattern of grays.  I went through a whole stack, took a ton of photos, put each photo in black and white to check value and contrast.  I mean, I am not kidding when I say I auditioned these babies...  

Ultimately I was really happy with my choice of the Les Amis gray...however...if you are considering your own fabric choices for this pattern I would advise thinking twice before picking a fabric with a direction as I ended up going through a lot of fabric to get it all going in the right direction!  I love the result, but I probably would've had an easier time with a dot.

At this stage, where the pattern is finished off by the last four corners, I sewed the quadrants in Jess's pattern together in order to have a solid fabric piece for each corner.  This is because I just knew I had to use the last bits of my crown fabric.  Sigh.  If this is going to be another *mine all mine* quilt I had to give it that bit of fabric that really became a signature part of this quilt.

I had an epiphany about my next border...one of those dancing around the house saying to my husband "I just had a great idea, no, really, it is a really really great idea!"  I don't want to share it yet because I think it will ruin the overall "ooh" and "ah" moment when I have it sewn.  But, I am really really excited about my choice and think it is so MRL!

While choosing the fabric has been the biggest challenge of this pattern it is also the best part of this quilt.  I want my quilt top to scream making rebecca lynne and so far I think it does that...the test will be keeping that energy going.

If you haven't already you should really check out the Marcelle Medallion Flickr Page and be wowed by all the amazing quilt tops out there.  Also don't forget to check out #mmqal or #marcellemedallion on Instagram.  I am hard pressed to choose a favorite because they are each inspiring in their own way.

- rebecca lynne