Thursday, August 20, 2015

Phases: A Wall-hanging

I'm not much into studying science but I've always been enamored with the moon. Every time Doctor Who airs a moon episode I get a bit too excited. This shirt amuses me to no end (and no, I haven't bought it yet!). I was pleased to find another moon-loving soul in Renee. We always tag each other and send each other moon quilt pictures/posts.


Since Renee came to visit me and it's her birthday month, I thought it was only fitting to make something moon related as a gift. And since apparently my inner motto is "go big or go home," I made her a very long tablerunner/wall-hanging of the moon phases. I was totally inspired by this picture by Emily Blincoe. She is a photography genius - if you are a quilter, you will LOVE her layouts and her color combinations! Seriously, check her out!


I started by piecing together my dark gray and black scraps (to look like the night) into a long piece (I didn't measure it in the end, sorry!). It was so satisfying to use SO many scraps! I only cut a few special pieces of Lizzy House's black Constellation fabric (below) because it just had to be in this quilt. Because night sky.


I created a full moon template for the center out of cardboard, and I cut it down for each moon (gibbous, quarter, and crescent). Then, I raw edge appliqued them onto the black. I wish I had used Heat n Bond Lite (now I know the power of this amazing substance) but instead I used fusible interfacing to give each moon a little stabilization. The Heat n Bond would have made for less fraying but it's not the end of the world.


The quilting included stars (below) and swirls. I also quilted around each moon several times with Aurifil Dove (#2600) to show how big each moon was supposed to be. That was the most fun part (I used the template again - very slowly with free motion stitching). Finally, each moon was quilted a bit differently; some have lines, some have swirls. Renee loves to free motion on her home machine too (we have the same machine, as a matter of fact!) so I knew the quilting had to be advanced!


I backed it in a teal Lotta Jansdotter print that I knew Renee would appreciate because a) it's teal and b) it looks like moons. I had just bought a yard of it for my stash, and it was gone within a week! That should also give you an idea of how big this wall-hanging is. :P


 Renee received her gift today (along with a bunch of other little goodies) and she loves it! I'm so glad and I hope it brings her happiness every time she looks at it. :) Moon phases rock!

P.S. Check out this cute mug rug Renee just mailed me as a surprise (I was already done with the moon quilt and was getting it ready to send out - I SWEAR we read each others' minds)! It's from the song "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran (who we also love). I'm so happy to be her friend :). And just to think that we met through our blogs!


Linking up to: Needle and Thread Thursday, TGIFF, Crazy Mom Quilts

5 comments:

  1. That is very cool, Jess, and I love that you met through blogland. The phases of the moon are super fascinating, and I like the combination of swirls and stars for the quilting - swirls for the galaxies! Yes! :)

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  2. I love that it was the cookie moons that inspired this! Hahaha. I had been totally thinking of this same layout too...but not I'm thinking I'll do something different. I also love the backing because it looks like stacked rocks and I love rocks, like I should have gone into geology and would have considered changing my major if I wasn't one semester away from a degree in business. I have bowls and boxes and jars of rocks. I love all the quilting you did, and the scrappy background is ideal for this quilt! There is only one place in my sewing room where it will fit, but it would be blocked by my roll of batting...so I was thinking of figuring out a way to hang it from the mantle above the fireplace (which we don't use). I'm also planning to turn my traveling quilting from this year into a fireplace cover to keep out drafts--so they'd be right next to each other.

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  3. What a great project - I love your pieced background - reminds me of a modern "boro" -

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  4. Loooove this quilt! And the story behind it is pretty awesome, too. : )

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  5. Neat! It's great to hear you were inspired by Emily :)

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