Sister's Choice Quilts

Putting Midnight Moon Away For Awhile

Midnight Moon is a sew-along I have joined where we make blocks in Halloween fabrics from Carrie Nelson's great book "Summer Moon". In the book, the instructions call for making each of the 28 or 30 blocks in THREE different sizes. The blocks are then framed with half square triangles for the very unique setting. I thought that was too much work, so I opted to make my blocks only in the 6 1/2" size. It's been fun and I have enjoyed making the blocks and think this will be a terrific Halloween quilt.

I planned to set the blocks on the diagonal with an alternate plain block (or maybe blocks that would form a chain-I hadn't decided). 

What I hadn't factored in is how small the finished quilt would be when made up in 6-inch finished blocks. Seriously? If I had 30 blocks and set them in a 5 x 6 setting with an alternate block, my unbordered quilt would measure 42 1/2" by 51". Now I'm wishing I had gone for the larger size block.

So, here's what I think I will do. To get a decent size quilt, closer to the size of the top of a queen-sized bed, I'm going to need at least 49 pieced quilt blocks. A quilt top without borders made in a 7 x7 diagonal setting would end up being 59 1/2" by 59 1/2". By the time I added a couple of borders it would be the size I have in mind to use as a lap quilt or to fold at the foot of my bed.

Ok, wake up now if you fell asleep during the math. I need 19 more quilt blocks to make the quilt I have in mind. I have a fat quarter bundle I haven't even touched of the fabrics I've been using, so I am good there. I also have scads of the background and some likely contenders for the border.  Over the next few months, I am going to make the additional blocks for the quilt. There are plenty of patterns for 6 1/2" quilt blocks, so that won't be a problem either. 

I won't worry about finishing the quilt for this Halloween. It will be an ongoing project. It is going to rest for now in its project box, but I promise I will keep working on it. Time to focus on a couple of other tops I started this summer and get them wrapped up.

Rediscovering Quilts

Do you ever forget about quilts that you have made? I keep mine in my walk-in closet, on two high shelves. Since I need a ladder to get them on or off the shelves, I don't spend much time rummaging around looking at things. Typically I have a specific quilt in mind that I want to use seasonally or for some occasion. I just make a beeline for that one and pretty much don't register the others.

Last week my friend Barbara H. emailed me about a Loose Change quilt she was making. A light bulb went off in my head and I recalled that I had made a Loose Change quilt a few years back. My quilt is more of a lap quilt, too small to use on a bed, and I have never really used it. Now that I pulled it out I sure wish I had made more blocks and could use it as a bed cover. I love the way it looks.  

This is a picture of it before it was quilted. 

The different shades of tan and cream I used really make the eye move around over the surface of the quilt, don't they? This was a true scrap quilt, using bits and bobs of leftover scraps I had leftover after making numerous Civil War reproduction fabric quilts.

While I was pulling Loose Change down, I rediscovered this pretty Stars and Baskets quilt. This was a Moda kit from 2016 or 2017. I pulled that one down too and am really enjoying it now that I have put away all the red white and blue July quilts.

Not the best photo, but we have all the blinds drawn because it's over 100° outside. Here's a picture of it before borders and quilting. I think you can see the colors better.

So, what's on your bed? Do you like to switch up your quilts with the seasons or when the mood strikes you?