The Twilight Quilters Coven is proud to announce that we are planning a New Moon Quilt. We plan to have it display it at the Utah New Moon Movie Premier and auction it off through a silent auction, with the proceeds going to the official TwilightMOMS charity, Alex's Lemonade Stand.

Quilters of all levels are invited to participate. We love to make new friends who love Twilight as much as we do and want to find a way to represent that passion in fabric.

Here is our layout, a group effort


These are the blocks in discussion:
As If I Never Existed, 20" x16" (Iris)
Bella's Birthday Cake, 13 3/4" x 16" (Iris)
Bella's Broken & Mended heart, 6" x 6"(Joyce)
Calendar, 6" x 6" (Joyce)
Cliff Diving, 8" x 10" (Angie)
Conversation Hearts, 3" x 6"(Jerri Lynn)
Dangerous Meadow, 10" x 10" (Joyce & Elizabeth)
Gifts, 10" x 6"(Wanda)
Grand Theft Auto, 10" x 6" (Cat)
Flight Home, 22" x 9" (Iris)
Jacob's Sun, 8" x 6"(Elizabeth)
Japanese lanterns, 4" x 6" (Wanda)
La Tua Cantante, 8" x 8"(Mel)
Meteor, 6" x 6" (Angie)
Motorcycles, 9" x 6" (Elizabeth)
Movie Theater, 5" x 6" (Elizabeth
Paper Cut, 6" x 6" (Cat)
Quotes, various sizes (Jerri Lynn)
The Phone Call, 6" x 8" (Angie)
The Proposal, 6" x 6" (Elizabeth)
The Volturi & Clock Tower at Voltera, 8" x 7" (Mel)
Vote, 6" x 6" (Jerri Lynn)

Please do not take lightly the committment to participate in this quilt. Although it will be a fun project, there have to be some rules. Please read through them before signing up to participate. By signing up, you agree to abide by these rules.

1. You absolutely MUST follow through on your committment. Do not sign up if you do not plan to follow through.
2. There will be deadlines involved in completeing your sections of the quilt. Please abide by those deadlines. Life gets busy sometimes, and we can extend deadlines if the situation demands it, but plan ahead to make sure you're able to follow through.
3. By signing up to participate, you agree supply your own fabrics for the portion of the quilt you sign up for and to quilt by my rules which are these:
a. Wash your fabric before you begin (washing tips are to follow).
b. Use an iron at every step of the process; iron before you cut your fabric, iron after every seam, iron your quilt block as a whole. Ironing helps to keep your quilt blocks neat.
c. Do your best work. We are not expecting perfection, and quilters and sewers of all levels are welcome to participate. But this represents all of us, so each participant is expected to do her best work.
4. The finished quilt will be machine quilted.
5. The amount of time you invest in this project will be soley up to you. If you want to participate, but have a full schedule, you can stipulate that you would only like to complete one block, which would involve a minimal time investment.
6. Open discussion is welcome and even expected. We love to see what you're up to, so please feel free to post with questions, concerns, pictures, etc.

The deadline for signing up and block division is Saturday, August 15th. Blocks must be completed and mailed by September 15th.

Participants:
Elizabeth (LizzieBug): Cordinator
Jacob's Sun
Motorcycles
Movie Theater
The Proposal
Wolf Paws for Dangerous Meadow

Iris (Mama2cjmj): Co-cordinator
As If I Never Existed
Bella's Birthday Cake
Flight Home

Angie (jewah1976)
Assembly
Machine Quilting & Binding
Cliff Diving
Meteor
Phone Call

Cat (HardHatCat)
Grand Theft Auto
Paper Cut

Jerri Lynn (jerrilynn)
Conversation Hearts
Quotes
Vote

Joyce (livethedream)
Broken & Stitched Heart
Calendar
Dangerous Meadow

Mel (Melly)
La Tua Cantante
Volturi Trio & Clock Tower

Wanda (Meredemer)
Lanterns
Silver Gifts

Fabric Selection:
• Use only 100% cotton fabric for your quilt.
• Specialty quilting shops carry the best quality fabric for quilting. However they tend to be more expensive. Their fabric lines also run like clothing lines, they change from season to season and do not repeat, so you have to buy what you think you’ll need when you find it, otherwise you might not be able to get it later. JoAnn’s or other fabric stores carry 100% cotton fabrics, usually arranged together for easy identification as fabrics intended for quilting. Wal-Mart also carries 100% cotton fabrics, and though the price is great, the quality isn’t always the same. Often their fabrics have a petroleum smell, even after laundering. Fabric stores and Wal-Mart generally have a line of fabrics that they keep in stock continuously, so if you run out, you’ll usually be able to find it again. Buy the best quality fabric your budget allows.
• It is best to select fabrics with a print, even it is a tone-on-tone print like white-on-white. This gives your quilt texture and visual interest. Using a solid fabric is rarely advisable.
• When selecting fabrics, “audition” colors and textures as you go. Your fabric selections don’t need to “match” per se, but do need to “go” with each other. If you are unable to find all your fabrics at one fabric store, take what you have with you to the next store so you can see how a particular piece of fabric compares with the rest of your selections.
• Be careful when choosing stripes, plaids and large prints. Consider where you will be using it in your quilt. Stripes and plaids may not match up perfectly depending on how they are cut. A large print may overpower the other fabrics in your quilt block.
• Try something different, something you might not usually consider. Your perspective may change once you see it next to the other fabrics you’ve collected.
• Most importantly, choose what you like. If you don’t like it before you begin to sew, you definitely won’t like it after.

Tips for Washing Fabric:
• Wash your fabrics in cold water. This will help prevent fading.
• If you are using dark or vivid colors, a cup of vinegar in the wash will help to set the colors in.
• Make sure the soap you use does not contain phosphates.
• The warm air in the dryer will cause the shrinkage that pre-washing fabrics is supposed to achieve.
• When you throw your pieces of fabric in to dry, to help them from clumping up against the sides of the dryer, put a ball in with them. The bouncing of the ball will help to toss the fabrics around and let them dry faster. You can use a tennis ball, or I've seen "laundry balls" in the "laundry aids" section of either Wal-Mart or ShopKo (can't remember which, and not with the laundry soap, but on the aisle with laundry bags and sorters and ironing boards and such). I use two jumbo-size bouncy balls (this also works great for bed sheets and blankets).
• Iron your fabric after washing. Use steam and the cotton setting.

Quilting is simply piecing fabric together to make a design or picture. Nearly everything is sewn in a straight line. And although sewing in a straight line is simple, that is the tricky part of piecing -- keeping your lines straight . Marcia Hohn at the Quilter's Cache makes recommendations for supplies to get you started. Here are a few tips I thought might be helpful for those who are new to quilting.

• Be as exact as possible. Careful construction will yield the best results.
• Wash and dry your fabric before beginning construction.
• Cut your fabric on the straight grain. Sometimes the manufacturing process pulls fabric off-grain as it is rolled onto the bolts. After you have washed your fabric, pull the selvage edges together. If the fabric puckers at the fold in the center, it means that the fabric is not on grain. Slide the selvages opposite of each other, but still keeping them parallel with each other until the pucker disappears. You mat have more fabric one layer at the end of your piece than at the other. Cut perpendicular to the fold and selvage edges, and this will put your fabric back on grain.
• When cutting your fabric pieces use your ruler as much as possible to be the size guide, rather than the grid marks on your cutting mat. Place your fabric under your ruler, lining the straight edges of the fabric with the size marking on your ruler and cut.
• Seam allowances for quilt piecing are ¼”. To help keep things on size, sew a scant ¼” seam allowance; that is, sew just a hair’s breadth inside of the ¼” mark.
• Press your fabric at every step. Use the cotton setting and steam in your iron. Press your fabric before cutting. Press your seams before you open out your fabric. Press each seam flat (not open) towards the darker fabric, unless the pattern indicates otherwise.
• Chain stitch as much as possible. That is, begin your stitching on a scrap of fabric. When you come to the end of the scrap, place your first pieces to be sewn together level with the edge of the scrap. Continue sewing off the scrap and onto your pieces without backstitching. Continue adding your quilt pieces to your chain of fabric, until everything that you need to sew has been added. Place your scrap of fabric at the end of the chain and sew off the last piece onto the scrap. Cut the chain apart and press.
• It is not necessary to backstitch at the beginning and end of each piece of fabric. The pieces will be pressed flat, rather than open, which is less stress on the seam. Backstitching adds unnecessary bulk.

Paper Piecing
Paper piecing is like paint-by-numbers with fabric. It can be intimidating, especially on a pattern with lots of small pieces. It is a little more time consuming that traditional piecing, but yields results not possible with traditional piecing. Marcia Hohn has a wonderful tutorial. Her instructions are simple and easy to understand and can be applied to more complex paper piecing patterns. She also has a selection of other simple paper piecing patterns you can try out.

• Foundation paper is recommended for paper piecing. One a personal note, I have mostly just used regular printer paper (20 lb. weight) and have had great results. Most recently, I’ve been using vellum paper and it works really well also. The paper curls a bit when ironed, though, so you’ll have to straighten it out after each pressing.
• When working with paper piecing patterns that have complex designs or irregular shaped pieces, don’t try to cut an exact piece. I prefer to work with strips of fabric, sewing them on and then trimming them down after they are turned.
• Press the fabric with a dry iron after each new piece of fabric is added. This keeps your paper piecing neat.
• Use a blank sheet of paper under your paper piecing blocks when you press. The ink will transfer a bit with the heat of the iron, so you don’t want it on your ironing board cover to transfer later to other projects.
• Allow enough fabric to go beyond the ¼” seam allowance. Once you’ve completed each section of the block, trim it with your ruler and rotary cutter to a ¼” inch seam allowance before sewing it to any other pieces in the block.
• It is sometimes useful to leave the paper in your pieces until completely assembled and sewn into place in your quilt. The paper will help stabilize the many different biases of the fabrics and keep it in place until sewed into your quilt. If you have multiple pieces that make up a block, remove the paper in the ¼” seam allowance after sewing the pieces together.
• If you prefer to remove the paper in your pieces, sew around your block at ⅛” of an inch to help stabilize the bias in the fabric.

Appliqué
Again, I refer you to Marcia Hohn's tutorial for appliquéing. She also has some great basic patterns.

How to post a picture in a thread or a PM

1. Your pictures need to be in one of the following formats: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, tif, tiff, pdf, and must be less than 1.53 megabytes. I have never had an issue with the megabytes and I usually use the highest resolution with my camera.

2. Go to this web-site: Image Shack. You can ignore pretty much everything on there except for the following:
a. Under the orange bar, it says "upload" and then there are three choices. The default is "images," and that is for uploading files directly from your computer.
b. There is a big empty box below that with a "browse" button. Use the "Browse" button to locate the picture(s) on your computer that you want to upload. You can download more than one picture at a time.
c. Ignore the next box that says e-mail (unless you want to register with them, but that is completely optional and I have not).
d. You may or may not want to resize your picture. You have several choices:
1. Skipping the first two choices (Avatar and Thumbnail, which are both very small), 320 x 240 (for websites and e-mail) is the third choice in the dropdown menu and usually the size I do for forums. If you have a high resolution photo, this size works really well and the details are pretty visible.
2. The fourth size choice is 640 x 480 (for message boards). This is a larger size and is great if you really want to show lots and lots of details.
e. Ignore everything else and click the red-outlined button that says "Start Upload" Depending on the size of your image(s), it will take a few seconds to a few minutes to host your picture(s).

3. Once you've clicked the "Start Upload" button, a progress bar will appear. Once the picture(s) has been down new screen will appear.
For a single image:
a. Ignore everything above and next to your picture. Underneath the picture there will be a box that is checked that says "include details." Unclick that box.
b. Highlight the first box underneath that, containing a web address. It says (hotlink for forums 1) next to it.
c. Right click on the highlighted web address. Using the menu that pops up, click on "copy." Go to step 4 now.
For multiple images:
a. A gallery page will appear. In order to get the individual links for each picture, click on the share beneath the picture you want. You'll go to a new screen.
a. Ignore everything above and next to your picture. Underneath the picture there will be a box that is checked that says "include details." Unclick that box.
b. Highlight the first box underneath that, containing a web address. It says (hotlink for forums 1) next to it.
c. Right click on the highlighted web address. Using the menu that pops up, click on "copy."

4. Move to your post and right click in the post where you want the picture to appear. When the pop-up menu appears, click on "paste."
a. If you're doing multiple images, return to the Image Shack site and click the back arrow to access the other images, repeating step 3 to insert them into your post.

5. Voila'! You now have a picture in your post .

Cliff Diving by Angie


The Meteor by Angie


The Phone Call by Angie


Grand Theft Auto by Cat


The Paper Cut by Cat


Jacob's Sun by Elizabeth


Motorcycles by Elizabeth


Movies by Elizabeth


The Proposal by Elizabeth


The Wolf Pack, part of the Dangerous Meadow by Elizabeth

Jacob (russet), Paul (dark silver), Sam (black), Embry (gray w/spots), Jared (medium brown)


As if I Never Existed by Iris


Bella's Birthday Cake by Iris


The Flight Home by Iris


Conversation Hearts by Jerri Lynn


The Vote by Jerri Lynn


Quotes by Jerri Lynn



Bella's Broken and Mended Heart by Joyce


Calendar by Joyce



Dangerous Meadow by Joyce


La Tua Cantante by Mel


The Volturi by Mel


Gifts by Wanda


Lanterns by Wanda

The quilt top in progress:

The finished quilt top:

OK then, My schedule should be a bit clearer from last time so i'll put myself down for one block this time if that is OK. I'm also prepared to help out with patterns if needed (but i tend to only design PP patterns these days)

If you get really pressed, i may be able to do another block but i'm only comfortable with one at the moment and will consider others in the future only time permitting. (i don't want to openly volunteer and then find i can't do it and disappoint everyone!)

Cat

*****including again for anyone new to the thread



All elements except for wolf are attached. (If you don't like the wolf or it's fabric speak now. I tried darker but the darkness of the other fabrics led me to using a "russet" Fossil Fern for it's color and texture....once again, thinking of contrast.

I'm debating the issue of trees. I love the green fabric, but not sure for this block. I like that it brightens the block a little.

Options:

1) use fabric kind of how placed

2) use fusible on fabric, cut out trees, and sew down with thread

3) applique trees kind of like these



4) another idea.....

and to add to the difficulty:

now that we've decided to use the second layout (??) ideas for making the block square: fabric suggestions for setting triangles?

S

Shannon, it looks great! I think that applique trees would be best (picture from pattern book), but that is just my OCD talking .

I still like the tulips. I'm intrigued by the burned silk technique you have mentioned.

I'm happy with the wolf fabric - i like the russet

I'm for applique trees i think

also can you post a reminder pic of what the second layout was?

It would look something like this, with the moon/wolf block probably in the lower left corner.

S

Ok, I've come up for air in the middle of my two month work marathon and am totally lost. I'll have to go back and read all the posts on the other threads and catch up. I'm in for one square for now.

Joyce