Super Fussy-Cutting Shortcut!

The beauty of a medallion print? You can create a complex-looking quilt with much less work, with just a little fussy cutting. Diane Nagle did just that, making Lili-fied's medallions the star of her quilt, Mandy's Garden, which is featured in the June/July 2013 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts.

"Mandy's Garden" by Diane Nagle;
featured in McCall's Quick Quilts June/July 2013

Diane combined the warm and cool colorways of Greta Lynn's contemporary collection for Kanvas to make an eye-catching design that even beginner quilters can make. Keep reading to learn more about Diane's quilt.

What attracted you to the Lili-fied fabric collection?

I love color!  Blues/greens and pink/corals are among my favorites.  It was a contemporary, happy fabric line.

Why did you decide to mix the two colorways? 

I've always loved to combine warm and cool colors together.  I didn't realize that I was doing it so much until someone pointed it out to me.  I think they balance each other well.

How did you come up with the design?

The large medallion print was begging to be the focus of the quilt; I just couldn't cut through those beautiful images. By fussy-cutting the medallions (shown below), I could keep them whole and use them for the best advantage. I tried to keep the beginner quilter in mind when I designed it as well.  The medallion print meant it could look difficult, even though it was easy enough for a true beginner!

How did you decide on the size/type/color of borders to use?

I wanted to bring in the large pink print, and repeat the darker blue that bordered the five center medallions.  It also gave a nice boundary between the pink and the outer border, which was my favorite print in the line, as well as helped tie the outer border to the center of the quilt.

How did you machine quilt it? 

I am a long arm quilter, and I could have custom quilted this quilt, but the fabrics were so busy on their own, that you would never have seen the quilting. Sometimes an overall pattern keeps the focus on the quilt design better.

See the entire Lili-fied collection by Greta Lynn for Kanvas here.

See more of Diane's work here.

Find another quilt pattern Diane made using Lili-fied here.

Find the kit for this project here.

Find McCall's Quick Quilts here.