As most of you know, I was asked to participate in the Mad for Solids 2018, hosted by Paintbrush Studios, using their Painter’s Palette fabrics.  Thank you for all who voted for me to send me out of the first bracket into the second.  Today is the day for the voting for the second bracket, so if you are inclined, the info is at the bottom of this post if you want to vote again in this second bracket, titled “Elite Eight.”

But as I really don’t like blogs that pitch one thing after another — and fearful that I was becoming one of those blogs — I decided to tilt this post a bit different way, and show you how having to choose my colors, then come up with a design led me to my progress on my medallion quilt, which I’m calling Northern Star Medallion.

I was allowed to choose eight fabrics, and as is my usual, I like to see what colors are trending, so I head to the Fall Fashion write-ups to see what colors are coming up on the runways.  The range of colors was all over the map, but I really liked the collection from Emporio Armani for Fall 2018, as it was in icy crystalline tones, matching the images of the Northern Lights we’d recently seen in a movie.

So I called my collection Northern Lights.  Then I wanted to use the colors to move me to the process of designing a quilt.  Of course, it had to have a star in the middle.  So when I was exploring in my quilt software, I noticed they had a grid that had an eight-point star.  I loved playing around with it, and came up with the 24-inch star you see at the top of the post. I could stop there, but I still had more fabric, so I found out that I can design Medallion Quilts in my software.  I’ve had that for over 15 years, and am now just getting to this?  That idea — of running in a rut — can apply all over my life, so I’ll leave it right there.

So I thought I would, with each bracket I move up in (or not), add another border to my quilt.  I added a teal band, then a light aqua dashed border, then a midnight blue band.  I sat down last night and appliquéd on the four corner diamonds, and the center circle.  So here it is: Version 2, all gussied up for publication.  I am taking notes, so this may become a pattern, but for now, I just wanted to play in the northern sky colors.

It is kind of fun to see all the stacks people have chosen for their color schemes (some are repeated, and mine is really similar to a couple of other stacks). Good ideas for quilts, if you need some inspiration. If you want to send me to the next round (I promise another border on my medallion), please go here to vote:

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