Moon Portal Quilt Pattern: The Cover Quilt
Today, I am sharing all about the Moon Portal Quilt Pattern cover quilt. It’s truly the most snuggly quilt I have ever made! Aaaaand it’s my absolute favorite. It looks modern with pleasing flow and movement throughout.
The Quilty Techniques
The Moon Portal Quilt Pattern is made for the intermediate or adventurous quilter. The techniques used include curves and inset circles. Each phase of the moon is pieced and then inset into a background square.
I tried a number of quilting and piecing techniques, including quarter circles and half circles. In the end, I decided on an inset circle for each moon phase. Even though it took some time and effort to figure it out, I liked the look of inset circles the best.
Fun fact: I learned how to sew curves while designing this pattern. So if you’re a beginner quilter and want to give this pattern a try, I encourage you to do so. With a little practice and a willingness to try new quilty things, you’ll be a pro in no time!
The Moon Portal Quilt Pattern contains private video links for the advanced techniques such as sewing curves and inset circles. I’ll show you how to trim your fabric at each stage to ensure accuracy. And, I’ll teach you how to troubleshoot each step of the way.
Practice Projects
Learning how to sew curves and inset circles was a daunting task for me. I wasn’t sure what the technique was called. So I had no idea what to google! Have you ever experienced this? Just sitting at your computer and doing a brain-dump-and-google until you find what you’re looking for?
Since I had not sewn curves, I started with paper templates and rulers. I traced a plate for a circle and added a seam allowance by hand. Then I wasted a lot of fabric (but don’t worry, I did not use my Rae Ritchie fabric stash for this).
When I thought I had the technique down, I decided to make a low pressure project. A practice project! It’s a great way to learn something new before tackling a quilt. Try making the potholder suggested at the end of The Moon Portal Quilt Pattern. It uses the same techniques as the Moon Portal Quilt. But it is less of a commitment. Before you know it, you will be ready to tackle the Moon Portal Quilt.
The Fabric
Rae Ritchie is my very favorite fabric designer. Her magical mix of forest creatures and witchy themes are a perfect match for my quilts.
Once I designed the Moon Portal Quilt Pattern, I knew I wanted to use my hoarded stash of the Magik and Ghostwood fabric collections. The little ghostie forest animals and magical stags captured my heart. I only wish I could buy more of these two fabric collections!
I still have some left, but don’t tell anyone!
Fabric Arrangement
The Moon Portal Quilt Pattern contains three suggested color palettes, or fabric arrangements. For the cover quilt, I used a variation of the 7 color Nightshade Palette.
There were so many magical prints to choose from, I opted to use more than seven. I had an idea of which fabric I wanted to use for each moon phase. If I was unable to choose, I used more than one background fabric for each phase and just alternated them in the quilt layout.
Be sure to make your Moon Portal Quilt your own. Use your intuition to help you choose fabrics. When in doubt, go with something you like and want to see in your home. Otherwise, try using darker background fabrics for the full moons. Gradually shift colors or values ending with the lightest background fabrics for the new moons.
Or, go completely scrappy and use all the colors everywhere!
Moon Phase Meanings
The Moon Portal Quilt Pattern is near and dear to my witchy heart. It offers a modern quilty take on my favorite tarot card, The Moon. This tarot card often features a moon portal. The moon portal is represented by the full moon over a body of water with towers or structures on either side. In tarot, The Moon card can be interpreted a number of ways, but it can represent intuition and seeing past illusion.
I’ve included the meaning of each moon phase in the Moon Portal Quilt Pattern. The phases of the moon in this quilt pattern represent change and growth. As you make this quilt, be like the moon. Embrace intuition, growth and change in your life.
Quilty Mishaps (or Why I Quilted It Myself)
Speaking of embracing change… allow me to share a little story with you. I originally sent this quilt off to be longarmed. I chose the 4 inch Hammersmith pantograph by Keryn Emmerson for the quilting.
When I received my quilt back, guess what? The pattern was the 9 inch version, not the 4 inch I requested. There were a few tears, more than a few swear words and numerous adult beverages.
I ended up ripping all of the quilting out and re-quilting it on my sewing machine. It took FOREVER. But I did it. Needless to say, it will be a while before I send another quilt to the longarm.
But I love this quilt even more for all of the literal blood, sweat and tears I put into it. With all of my favorite Rae Ritchie fabric and all the care I took, this is truly my favorite quilt. It’s FernThe Quilt Tester’s favorite quilt, too!
