Moon over the mountain question

If you like curved piecing and maybe a Y-seam, I guess you could piece the block, but that sounds like an awful lot of extra work. I get my best circles by making a light weight cardboard template of my circle, gather the edges of the fabric with some hand basting, spray starch the edges, remove the cardboard template and then machine (or hand) applique it in place. Then machine applique the mountain over the moon. Here's one block I made for a hug quilt. Yeah, I went a little bit overboard! VBG

No, dear Leslie, I do *NOT* like curved piecing and am only recently starting to make friends with Y-seams by machine (by hand they are easy-peasy).

I guess I am worried about the layers of fabric. But I also don't relish cutting away the 'behind' fabrics. Maybe I will make some test blocks using different circle techniques. Your method does seem to make the best ones but not the fastest ones. OK OK, its not a race ... must remember, its not a race.

BTW, your Moon block is adorable.

PS Is Sierra still collecting 'furrin' money? I ran across a couple of Mexican banknotes the other day.

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Leslie & The Furbabies > If you like curved piecing and maybe a Y-seam, I guess you could piece the

Yes! Sierra has an amazing collection and it is still growing. Any and all bits of 'furrin' money is very gratefully accepted! Thanks!

If you do the basting on the circles while you watch tv or riding in the car or something it's pretty mindless work and you can get a lot done without even realizing it. If you are going to machine quilt, then the multiple layers really aren't a problem. If you hand quilt or really find those layers to be offensive, save the scraps from the cut-always. If you don't want to mess with them, there's always a LOT of takers for batik scraps here in this group.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Rose, got any really lightweight, non woven (more like really thin paper) interfacing? i'd draw round a circle on interfacing, then sew(by machine) to the 'right side' of the moon fabric exactly on the line, trim, slit interfacing enough to turn it round to the back, gives you clean edge to applique down and isnt a worry to leave there. i use this method for applique by hand whenever i can. most designs work for me unless really tiny. looks like its been done by regular needleturn. works for me, tho i've not done a moon over mountain. fwiw, jeanne

I've done that method but with irregular shapes where it doesn't matter much if you get a bit wonky. Maybe by going v e r r r r y slowly, I could do that. But I will be appliqueing this one all by machine since it will be batiks on batiks on (maybe) batiks! NOT what one wants to hand sew through.

Gonna make a couple test blocks to see which method works best for the "perfect" circles.

Thanks Jeanne.

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nzlstar* wrote:

I will probably machine quilt this because, while I love the look of batiks I do not love needling them. As I told Jeanne, I'll probably make some test blocks and see which method makes the best circles. The test ones can always become dorm pillows after all.

Watch your mailbox in the near future.

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Leslie & The Furbabies > Yes! Sierra has an amazing collection and it is still growing. Any and all

Some of the blocks. I made the quilt to fit a California King bed, so there were LOTSA blocks.

I machine appliqued the pieces and did cut out from the back. Machine quilted myself, basically SITD and some echo quilting.

I'm thinking that I had a pattern for the pieces from a magazine. It was 2004 maybe?

joan

Damnation. Still trying to figure out Flickr!

Ah, yes, Joan's Moon quilt. My inspiration to do one of my own using this pattern! I use used dryer sheets to sew to right side of the moon and mountain, then turn them and get a crisp edge to applique down. It is a portable project with no timeline. Using mostly batiks.

I will be using one of my blocks for an Ami Sims Alzheimer's Quilt project donation. Leslie's photo just gave me some ideas!

G> Thanks for showing me Joan. How did you go about making the circles?

Thanks for showing me Joan. How did you go about making the circles? Needle turn? Leslie's method of drawing up around a template? Jeanne's method of using light interfacing? Something else?

I like the echo quilting in the moons ... gives me ideas :-)

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joan8904 >

And a dressmaker's trick: if you're concerned about a smooth edge to your circles. Use a shorter stitch length and layer the trimming - one about

1/8" and one just a thread or two more. Clip notches lots - at least every ¼". Put a scrap of batting in your lap for the notches to cling to and toss it when you're through making such a mess. Since batiks are usually tightly woven, the circles can stand the severe clipping and will round out beautifully. Polly

I'll be honest, the details of that project have backed almost complete out of my conscious thought. I seem to remember freezer paper templates, turning the edges under and actually using a zigzag stitch along the edges. I then slit the back to remove extra fabric and to remove the freezer paper.

joan

Rose, A few ideas to add to the excellent advice and photos already posted. A quick and easy way to cut circles is with the Olfa Circle Cutter, product # CMP-3. I've used this for cutting circles for machine appliqué. I am delighted with this product, but NAYY.

Here is one way to handle layers of appliqué design. The pieces can be applied to each other, and some fabric removed, befoer the group is applied to the background. This can be done on SM or by hand. Example: apply the mountain to the moon, then cut out the little wedge of hidden moon; next, apply the moon/mountain unit to the background. This leaves just two, not three layers here. You may find this is enough, and avoid trimming away large pieces. (I think you, or some one else mentioned not wanting to trim out.)

HTH. PAT > I want to make this pattern for my niece's hs graduation quilt and would

the Olfa circle cutter is great, but WATCH YOUR FINGERS!

joan

NAYY.http://olfa.com/CircleCuttersDetail.aspx?C=15&Id=149>

A friend of DH's asked me if I had any idea how dangerous my cutters could be. "Not dangerous," I said. "Mine only have the blade out if I am actually cutting". He showed me that the cutters could be locked open. Wonder how he knew that? Do you suspect that he had borrowed one for cutting window screens? Polly

'S OK Joan. I just did a search in Flickr for your screen name and found the right photo. I think this is the quilt I remembered that got me thinking about doing this pattern in the first place. Thank you again :-)

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joan8904 > Damnation. Still trying to figure out Flickr!

Oh Polly! Thank you for the batting idea. Since my sewing studio is also my home office, I need all the help I can get keeping it tidy :-)

Yes, notches all around, clip the bejeezus out of it. Should work.

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Polly Esther wrote:

Wonderful idea Pat -- applique in steps, yes, I can do that. I did wonder if trimming out would be necessary/good/recommended/futile but do want to keep the number of layers to a minimum if possible.

Thank you :-)

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Pat > Rose,

Keep your eye on that man!! :-(

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Polly Esther wrote: