Monday, October 3, 2016

Gwennie Inspired Medallion QAL - 5th and Final Round: Something Fishy

This is the final round of the Gwennie Inspired Medallion Quilt Along.  
First let me say just how much fun this has been!!  I am so glad I decided to jump in.. despite my resistance to joining any monthly groups this year, and that I was able to stick with it!!  
Wendy at the Constant Quilter (see her blog here) chose the final border: "Something Fishy".  
Really?? <blink...blink>
Don't get me wrong.. I love fish themes.  In fact a lot of my original designed quilts and patterns are underwater themed. 


Here is a sampling of some of my fish quilts.  My header of my blog is a underwater quilt I did for someone years ago.  So this theme is not foreign to me.  You'd think this would be perfect....
But I looked at my GIM quilt.. with its modern/vintage feel...and I just couldn't see "Something Fishy".  As with the other themes, we can interpret this as loosely as we wanted. :-)
Soon I had a plan....

Can you guess?
A spiky sawtooth border I am calling a Shark Tooth Border!  Of course!
These are fun to make, as with most things Liberated!  Just put one rectangle askew on top of another background rectangle (I decided to go with the gray and pink dot again) and stitch.
Press the print to one side, flip and trim around your background fabric.
 You can then go back and trim that extra background fabric to your seam allowance to reduce the bulk.
I made about 120 'teeth', all different heights and widths, which went pretty quickly.  Soon I had borders ready to pin to my quilt.
And the first border was being stitched in place.  Unlike a traditional pieced border, when you reached the end, you can just lop off the rest!  So liberating!
Here is my finished quilt.  It is almost too large for my design wall.  It measures 55" x 55".  I started out with no idea of what I wanted my final quilt to look like and I love how this turned out.  AND it has been so much FUN!!!  Thanks Lori for getting us started and sponsoring, and Katy, Cathy, Cynthia, and Wendy - for your themes each month!  I would have never had made a quilt like this on my own without the inspiration from Gwen Marston and this wonderful team of quilters.

Happy Stitching!
Deb

Check out all the other Gwen Inspired Medallion quilts at the linky party at Humble Quilts.  Thanks, again Lori!


41 comments:

  1. Oh my God, you were very inspired with your fishes...I love your terrific border and yes...I love your quilt !!
    Congrats ! :)

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  2. Oh my word! This is the funniest and most clever border yet! I love it! So much fun! I adore your solution, it really finishes the quilt beautifully. Kudos!

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  3. A very creative ending to your medallion quilt. Good choice of design.

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  4. I love it!!! That final border really finished it off nicely!!!

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  5. Spikey Business (Lynn Harris' term) for Gwen's Elongated Triangles -- LOVE THEM. Your top turned out REALLY well - Fun mix of colors and terrific design choices. Congrats!!

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  6. I love how you interpreted the theme for the final round. Your quilt is beautiful. Hugs

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  7. Splendid! I especially like how the dot fabric pulls everything together.

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  8. I LOVE your quilt - it is one of my favorites out of so many great ones! I'm so glad you joined along and stuck with it. Shark tooth border - genius!

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  9. Love those shark's teeth! And your quilt is magnificent! Everything about it makes me smile!

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  10. Wow! What a clever idea for that last fishy border...sharks teeth. It just makes me smile. Your quilt is whimsy and liberated all away around.

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  11. So pretty. The shark teeth are really creative. The quilt is very colorful as well.

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  12. Love your sharks teeth border and how you came to that idea. I also struggled with the concept but found not one but three solution in the end. I was sure it was going to be an appliqué border for the final round, how wrong was I!

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  13. Hi, Deb! I can't believe how cohesive your quilt turned out based on the random themes you were given to work with. I knew you would come up with the "something fishy" and the Shark Teeth did not disappoint!! What a terrific job! Eileen P.

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  14. Perfect! It's all in the name, isn't it? I love the repetition of the dotty border, and all the lovely pastel colours and modern fabrics. Everyone's quilt is so unique! Great finish!

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  15. Very fun idea and effective on the quilt. I thought of a gold fish pond sort of theme which would match the garden and flower themes.

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  16. waves, scallops, fish and salmon and now teeth! Wow - you ladies are creative geniuses. Love your fish border - perfect for your quilt which is a beauty.

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  17. Brilliant solution to the design challenge! Everyone's quilts are turning out so well. You'd never guess they could, given the diverse prompts we received!

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  18. Inspired finish, Bravo! All these have been so much fun to watch as they developed!

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  19. I love your finished medallion, the border is fantastic!!

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  20. What a great, fun border, Deb. I like that you used the same grey background that you used in a previous border and similar colors that you'd used throughout the quilt. It looks so unified -- like you'd planned it all from the beginning. Beautiful!
    --Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)

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  21. Beautiful Debra and I love your shark teeth border!

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  22. the shark tooth border really sets the quilt off to perfection great imaginatioon and I can see me making teeth like those in the future, thanks for sharing

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  23. Oh my goodness, what a difference a grey makes... love love your Gwennie quilt!

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  24. Awesome thinking out of the box! And now you have a beautiful quilt that will tell a story all it's own! Nice.... :)

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  25. Love your interpretation! That border was the perfect finale!

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  26. Love your finished top, the shark teeth, and your underwater quilts. Your color palette against the polkadot is perfect -- great job!

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  27. This is brilliant! I love that shark tooth border! It is perfect!

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  28. The shark tooth border is perfect! I absolutely love your quilt!

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  29. The shark tooth border is perfect! I absolutely love your quilt!

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  30. The sharks teeth are very clever and the perfect touch to finish your medallion--love it!

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  31. So much fun to see these quilts come together! Love your spiky border!

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  32. Your colors are fantastic and to bring back the grey polka dot was brilliant. I just love how it all came together!

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  33. what a lively and delightful quilt!!

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  34. wow so many comments! The shark teeth border was inspired. Really! And it repeats the idea of the inner border. Great job totally. Jealous I didn't play along, what fun you had. It's so cool that you wouldn't have made this without the prompts too. LeeAnna

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  35. The sharks teeth are perfect and your photos are hysterical. Thanks for sharing this fun final border. I have really enjoyed this quilt along. So much inspiration!

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  36. Absolutely perfect, beautiful quilt.

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  37. I love the border you came up with ♥

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  38. Oh your shark teeth made me literally laugh out loud..in a complimentary way!! LOL!! Oh I soooooo love this finish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  39. I love your "sharky" border! So very Gwenny, and so much fun. It's perfect for your beautiful quilt.

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