GAME ON! Month 3

Game On! is the 2026 Block of the Month quilt designed by Becky Goldsmith exclusively for THE QUILT SHOW: find Game On! information here. Join as a Star Member to get all the patterns and all the videos FREE. Membership is just $49/year and provides access to over 18 years of shows and tremendous additional content. Join HERE

This is the BIG month! We will assemble the Center Medallion, the heart of this quilt. 

My SOLIDS center

MY TIPS:

1. WATCH THE VIDEOS: there are 8 of them, less than 35 minutes total. I recommend you watch them ALL first, before you start, as this will show you the process and you will know which videos to return to when you get to that part of the  assembly process. 

2. CUTTING RECOMMENDATION: don't cut the Inner and Outer Sashing strips until the center is complete. If yours is short, you can widen those strips to insure your Center Medallion with seam allowances is 36.5" square. This is VERY IMPORTANT as we move on to the pieced borders next month.

3. I changed a few colors in my Solid Kit. The Corner Circle are not Yellow and White. And outer sashing is not brown. It's your quilt, YOU get to decide.

4. FOLLOW the INSTRUCTIONS: in addition to the videos, the pattern Instructions take you step-by-step through the process with photos. Take time to read them as you work.

4. APPLIQUE: I used vellum to print the two Placement Overlay pages. I could see through it, no need to put marks on the quilt and I didn't have vinyl. Becky's applique technique always uses vinyl, she invented this method, I believe, so if you have it, you can use it. 

5. SETTING the MEDALLION TOGETHER: Step 7 shows how to draw pencil lines on the WRONG side of the corners, right at the edge of the paper pattern. It is important to do this BEFORE REMOVING the PAPER.  (NOTE: for those using Freezer Paper, I wrote on the FORUM last month the need to do this BEFORE removing the Freezer Paper.)

Since I remove the paper before I assemble the center, I drew these lines as soon as the corners were complete. Becky shows doing this AFTER the pointy parts are sewn to the corners.

Mine

In addition, I drew crosshairs 1/4" INSIDE that outer pencil line to show me exactly where the corners are. These lines replace the DOT on the pattern papers--since I removed the papers BEFORE assembling the Center Medallion:

6. TAKE YOUR TIME: the process of adding the 4 points to the 4 corners and then INSERTING the Center Circle takes time, patience, and forgiveness. You might try machine basting as you insert the center block. Go slow, watch the seam allowances you can't see under the needle, take it easy.  BE SURE the center "hole" where the center block is inserted is 6.5" on all 4 sides.

7. HOW TO FIX THE CONNECTIONS: if you are not happy with the "corners" surrounding the center square I have a solution: cover them with a circle.

When I got the Solid version together it wasn't that great. It had been a long day so I stopped. The next day I "fiddled" with all those places, re-doing as necessary, until I was satisfied enough with the result.

BUT laying in bed that night I thought "What am I going to do if I can't get this right?"  The "cover up my mistakes" method was born!

I use Karen K Buckley's Perfect Circle method. This is about the size of a dime. It is the same color as the top circle I used in the outer corners.  I have shown this to many friends and all agreed this is a good solution. It looks like it is part of the original design, in keeping with the other circles in the Center Medallion and no one but you knows what it looks like under there:

Now that I have made two of these Center Medallions, I can tell you it isn't easy to get those corners nice and pretty but it can be done. Becky says inserting the center block into the middle is the most difficult part of this whole quilt--I quite agree. You get to decide how perfect your quilt is. 

8. BE SURE the CENTER MEDALLION IS 32.5" square once assembled. Becky has excellent instructions and a video to help you. Once it is, cut and add the two sashings. If it is short, you can increase the width of one or both of the sashings to get the FINAL size correct--it MUST BE 36.5" SQUARE, including seam allowances when Month 3 is done. 

9. CELEBRATE the completion of MONTH 3! You earned it. Now we move on to the most fun and easy parts--adding borders.

10. PLEASE add your PHOTOS to the FORUM--we want to see all the progress. If the photo doesn't upload, it's too large, resize it smaller and try again. Google taught me how to do that.

My Prints version, through Month 7

Let's quilt.

Barbara