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Are you ready for Round 2 of the Moda Bake Shop QAL? For this week’s adventure I chose Path A: Four Points.
This is a pretty straightforward border–but really sets off that center block. I went with two different sets of four patches and alternated them around the border.
Some people were wondering why there were instructions to put the background border around the center block. There are a couple of reasons for that. First, in order for the math to work out for the next round of pieced blocks, you sometimes need to add that border. You often can’t just size up the blocks to compensate. The second reason is that even if you could get the math to work out, medallion quilts tend to be busy, and that skinny inner border gives the eye a place to rest, and visually separates the design, so that it doesn’t just all run together.
I made quick work of these four patch units with strip piecing. I love this Shape Cut ruler from June Tailor–you can cut a bunch of strips in no time! I just sewed together one long strip of gray and one of blue. Then I trimmed those into 2″ units and sewed them together, nesting the seams.
I encourage you to check and recheck your scant 1/4″ seam allowance, so that these borders fit!
You may even want to size the inner borders up a 1/4″ or so, and then trim them down to whatever you need for your blocks. For instance, say that the after the background border, your quilt should be 20.5″. But your seam allowance is a bit off and yours is coming out at 21″. After you make your next round of blocks, just measure how long your block border is, and trim your inner border to match your block border.
For those of you that are following along, I hope that you are having fun at camp! Did you know that there is a Moda Bake Shop Bakers Facebook group? I just learned about it and it’s very active and filled with lots of inspiration. You will meet all kinds of new campers there–many who seem to be making two versions of this quilt! You know, for those who just can’t decide. 🙂