Say hello to Quarter Moon! I originally designed this quilt nearly 10 years ago so it may very well take the cake as one of my longest-running ideas. The original version was part of a design and pattern-writing exercise — my approach to writing my own patterns was very much “learn by doing” — and I never actually made the quilt. It’s been sitting in my “maybe” pile ever since…
But when Karen Nyberg shared swatches from Earth Views – Oceans, her third collection with Robert Kaufman, I revisited a few older design ideas to find something that might fit her new fabrics — and knew very quickly that Quarter Moon would be a great fit. The blues and creams in this collection cover a wide value range which meant I could create a subtle gradient across the quilt top, and the moon theme of the design loosely ties in to the fact that her fabrics are based on photos she took from orbit during her time on the International Space Station.
(I revamped the construction from my original design for this updated version, and will be releasing the full pattern in June!)
The only catch? The quilt needed to be done by early April, and I was about to head out on an extended spring break trip! This made for some relatively fast and furious sewing between getting home from Utah on March 24 and providing photographs the finished quilt to Robert Kaufman by April 7. Thankfully several hours of advanced planning/design iteration before my trip made it easier to quickly organize the cutting and piecing, and I managed to avoid any cutting errors or major sewing pitfalls!!
I went from a stack of fabric to finished quilt in about a week. It was the first time I had turned on my sewing machine since early February, and the first time I’d used my longarm since January, and it felt so nice to get back to both of those things. I chose the Good Vibrations Offset pantograph — one that I’d been wanting to try for a while! The rolling waves seemed a good fit for the ocean themed fabrics, and orienting the quilt so that the waves run top to bottom helped reinforce the vertical orientation of the piecing and gradient.
Charlotte helped me with the “glamour shot.” I loved how her outfit coincidentally matched the quilt! Shortly after finishing the quilt, Robert Kaufman requested it to use in their booth at the upcoming H&H trade show so I quickly shipped it off to them. When I get it back, I’d love to take it for a fun photo shoot by the water.
The stats:
- Quilt measures 47″ x 63″.
- Fabrics and binding are Earth Views – Oceans by Karen Nyberg for Robert Kaufman.
- Backing is Moonscape wideback fabric by Dear Stella.
- Batting is Quilters Dream wool.
- Pieced with Aurifil 50 wt thread in dove.
- Quilted on my APQS Millie with Glide thread in light turquoise.
- Pantograph is Good Vibrations Offset by Patricia Ritter via Urban Elementz.
Wonderful!
I love it and can’t wait for the pattern!!
It’s great design to showcase Karen’s new fabrics, and I love knowing that you designed this years ago and were able to find the right time to finish the pattern!
The other nice thing about having it percolate for so long is that my sewing skills are better and I could make the quilt in a different/better way than I originally intended!
I like the puffy look with the wool batting. As you know, I’ve always liked wool batting. It looks great here with your quilting.
This is only my second time using wool I think! I really like the puff/texture as well. I did learn one thing — the Quilters Dream wool cannot take high heat. I accidentally flattened one corner when I was pressing the binding and let the iron sit for a while. Oops!
I so very much admire this one! Stunning with the wavy stitching.
Thank you! I really love how it turned out.