Category Archives: Paper piecing

Finishing the Moonglow Quilt

Posted on by
2

I last posted about my Moonglow quilt in November 2020, so this project has been in limbo for a while. I started to post about this quilt in April 2020, and had been working on the piecing for about a year before that, so we’re at five years on this project.

It’s also been two years since I did any machine quilting myself. My goal this spring was to get some things done that have been languishing in my sewing room and this quilt top certainly made the list.

Moonglow Quilt by Jinny Beyer

Here’s that official image of the quilt again, just to remind you. 🙂

When I pulled the Moonglow out this time, I had five blocks left to piece – the four corners and the middle block, which are the most complicated ones. After that, there’s the assembly with the sashing and the final quilting. This one is going to a long arm quilter to be finished up – my plan in March was to keep at it until it was ready to go to the quilter. I did pretty well with that goal!

The idea behind the quilt is that it should take a year to piece. There’s a block assigned to each month, then in month twelve, you piece the intermittent blocks and assemble the quilt. Of course, I didn’t follow the sequence – I did the courthouse steps blocks that go in between the stars when I was tired of paper piecing, so they were done already.

There are two different designs for the corner blocks and you make two of each. I’d already cut out the pieces for the pair that are top right and bottom left, so finished them up first. These are month nine’s project.

Moonglow quilt kit by Jinny Beyer pieced by Deborah Cooke

It’s a dingy day today, so I had to take the pix inside, which means they’re a bit underexposed.

Then, top left and bottom right:

Moonglow quilt kit by Jinny Beyer pieced by Deborah Cooke

And finally, the central medallion – I need to hand-sew the central octagon, so it’s pinned in place here.

Moonglow quilt kit by Jinny Beyer pieced by Deborah Cooke

Next up, the assembly. I’m not going to repiece any of the blocks (I had thought I might, and there’s enough fabric leftover for that) but I am going to restitch one of those central octagons to make a neater job. I’m also going to change the borders on the star blocks so that the seam allowances all press outward. I did that on the central medallion and it makes for a flatter finish. Then I’ll put it all together and take it to the long-arm quilting place.

I’ve never had a quilt quilted at the long-arm place, so I’ll take the dragon quilt to be finished first. This one will make the trip second.

I am pleased with this top and am sure I’ll like the final quilt. It’s a beautiful design and the colour selection is magical. I wish there had been more explanation of why each hue was chosen for each place – I assembled the quilt, but I still don’t understand what makes it work so well.

I did learn in the piecing of this one to step back when I was getting tired instead of pressing on. That’s probably why I wasn’t enjoying it so much at first – I was product-oriented instead of process-oriented. When I slowed down and just sewed for as long as I found it satisfying, the process was much more enjoyable. So, there’s a lesson learned.

I’m also done with kits. Both this one and the dragon quilt top were kits including both the fabric and the pattern. While I like them, I don’t feel the same sense of satisfaction as with the quilts I’ve either designed myself, or the quilt patterns for which I’ve chosen my own fabrics. It certainly could be argued that the designers do a better job of selecting the perfect fabric for each section, but I prefer when my quilts are unique – even if they’re less than optimal!

This one, for example, was also paper pieced, and there are sections that I’d make another colour if I did it again, but I like it better than either of these kits. It’s one of a kind. 🙂

Jumping Jax Flash quilt pieced by Deborah Cooke

The pattern is Jumping Jax Flash by Judy Niemeyer. I pieced it probably twenty years ago. (Maybe thirty. Ha!) It’ll be heading to the long-arm quilter too, but it’ll be third and last to head there.

Three More Moonglow Blocks

Posted on by
1
Moonglow Quilt by Jinny Beyer

I haven’t been working on my Moonglow quilt for a while, so a few weeks ago, I pulled it out again. I’ve always loved this quilt design and thought that when I bought the kit, I’d be obsessed with it until it was all pieced. Not so. It’s been a very fits-and-starts project. I tried to figure out why. (The picture at right is of someone else’s completed quilt.)

I first posted about it in April of this year, although I’ve had the kit for at least a year. Here’s that first post, with the alternating blocks and the first three stars done. In my May post, with the next two stars, I admitted to not loving the process, even though I’d switched to paper piecing.

I figured out that I’m not having fun because I’m disappointed in my results. My blocks aren’t completely flat (they ripple) and the points don’t match as neatly as I’d like. There are a bunch of reasons for this, even though I’m a fairly accurate seamstress. You can paper-piece some parts of each block, but never yet has it been possible to piece the entire block on paper.

Moonglow Block, designed by Jinny Beyer

Many of the blocks have set-in corners, like this one. So, the corner quadrants are paper-pieced, but then have to be set into the central star.

Many (many) seams are on the bias of the fabric, so they stretch.

There are many slightly angled seams, and it’s tricky to pivot at the right point. Under the sewing machine foot, it’s hard to see the point.

So, I used some techniques from dressmaking to minimize the effect of these things. When I have paper piecing, for example, I’m leaving the paper on each piece until it’s sewn in on every side. That helps to stabilize the seams on the bias. I’m also pinning the beginning and the end of each of those seams, then using more pins in the middle, to make sure it doesn’t shift while being sewn.

When setting in a corner, I sew the seam that comes to the corner only as far as the seam allowance and backtack it. That means I can move the seam allowances more readily when insetting the other piece. I’m also sewing out from the point, doing the inset in two seams (instead of sewing in to the corner, pivoting, then sewing out). Lots and lots of pins on these insets, too.

Moonglow template, from quilt designed by Jinny Beyer

When there’s a slightly angled seam, I poke a pin through the paper at the pivot point, leaving a hole. That’s visible when I’m sewing so I know exactly where to pivot. I’m also clipping the paper at those points, which makes it easier to re-align the seams (when the needle is down in the turning point) to continue sewing.

(You can also see in this image how much fabric is wasted in the trims. I’ve been saving these pieces as they’re big enough to cut the corner squares in the sashing.)

And of course, pressing, pressing, pressing. I was pressing a lot before but now I’m doing it even more.

I’ve done three more stars and am much happier with the results. I also enjoyed sewing them more. They’re still not perfect, but they’re better. These three blocks allowed me to complete the second column and the fourth column of the quilt. Here they are:

block for Moonglow quilt, designed by Jinny Beyer and pieced by Deborah Cooke
block for Moonglow quilt, designed by Jinny Beyer and pieced by Deborah Cooke
block for Moonglow quilt, designed by Jinny Beyer and pieced by Deborah Cooke

They all look much better once pieced into the quilt. I have five more blocks to make – the four corners and the middle star. There are two blocks designed for the corners and you make each one twice. The centre star is kind of the big finish, the most complicated block of all.

All my borders are cut and the alternating squares pieced, and many of the fabrics won’t be used again. There’s a lot of fabric left over, which means I’ll be able to redo any of the blocks that really irk me. (And there will still be a lot of fabric left! The cuts in this kit are really generous.) I’m getting close!

In the meantime, I’ve been seduced by another beauty: look at this!

Crimson Poppy quilt design by Judy Niemeyer Quiltworx

This is called Crimson Poppy and was designed by Judy Niemeyer (the designer of Jumping Jax Flash, which I’ve made) and sold at Quiltworx. Here’s a link to buy the pattern for the central medallion – it ends with the red polkadot square. The central block is on point in this version. You can also buy a kit for this larger version, with the four corner extensions and all the fabric required at Quiltster, right here.

On this page, there are a number of colour options and corner additions displayed, also as kits including fabric. You can also (be still my heart) join Quiltster and change out the fabrics online, customizing your own version, then buy your own kit from them. Hello, timesink – but what fun!

Moonglow Quilt – I

Posted on by
3

Moonglow Quilt by Jinny BeyerMoonglow is a quilt designed by Jinny Beyer, using fabrics that she also designed. It was originally made available close to 15 years ago and I’ve always loved it. Last year, I treated myself to a kit, using some birthday money, and this year, I’ve started to cut, piece and sew it.

You can buy a kit from Jinny Beyer Studios, which includes the fabric and pattern, right here.

Mr. Math always laughs when I buy a kit. He builds ship models, so when he buys a kit, he gets little cast cannons and different kinds of wood, etc., as well as the plans. He can spend the better part of a day making sure he has all the bits and ends, and checking that he likes the quality and scale of them. Sometimes he buys different castings. He usually buys different (better) flags. He always looks at online galleries of other people building the kit, to get their tips and tricks. It’s very complicated and it can take weeks for him to get to the point of being ready to start. In contrast, I got a box of fabric and had a link in my receipt to download the PDF pattern to print it out. I put a new blade in my rotary cutter and was ready to go.

I did cut all of the outside borders first and have set them aside. If you look at the image, you can see that there are alternating blocks in a modified log cabin block – it might be courthouse steps. There are actually two different layouts of them, six of each. They look like this:

Moonglow alternating blocks sewn by Deborah Cooke

I took these pictures outside on a dingy day, which means the colours are fairly accurate but the images look less crisp.

Next I started on the stars. Here are the first two, pieced with their neighboring blocks. The one at the top goes on the right edge in the middle, and the one at the bottom in my picture goes on the left edge of the finished top.

Moonglow blocks 1 and 2 sewn by Deborah Cooke

This is block three, which goes at the top center. I made a mistake in this one and cut the triangles with the right side up instead of the wrong side up, which means mine spins in the opposite direction.

Moonglow block 3 sewn by Deborah Cooke

It’s also not as square as I’d like it to be, but I want to make sure I don’t run out of fabric. If I finish the other blocks and have enough left, I’ll do it again. I’m also changing to using the paper piecing for the blocks – those diagonal seams on the bias are hard to get right.

Next up, star four, which goes at the bottom in the middle. I’m really enjoying the piecing of this quilt, even when it challenges me a bit, and I love the colours. What do you think?