We hope you enjoyed April Rosenthal's bonus block from last week. It was fun to mix it up a bit and not have 3 different sizes of blocks to make.

Now it time for week 6. We are tackling 2 blocks, Crown of Thorns and BIrds in the Air.

First up – Crown of Thorns.  

 If you are a history buff and want to learn some more about the crown of thorns quilt block, visit Barbara Brackmans' blog. This is just one reference about the name of the block and a few surprises on how many blocks have the same name or are derived from other blocks.  

 

Next – Birds in the Air.

 

 

This is the week of tiny scary Half Square Triangles (HST). INSERT SCARY MUSIC HERE.

Tammy made these blocks following the directions in the book. Cutting squares, marking the diagonal line. sewing on each side and squaring them up. But remember Tammy is an expert at efficentcy especially with miniatures.

We asked her to share tips for efficentcy on small pieces and she suggested triangle papers.

Things to keep in mind-

- Papers come in all different sizes and are printed on different weights of paper and available from several maufacturers.

-Papers are labeled by the finished size and not the trim size.

-Tighten your stitch length when sewing triangle papers, so the needle help perforate the paper. This helps remove the papers easily, much like tearing a piece of paper from a tablet.

    

For the three sizes of blocks this week you will need ¾”, 1” and 1-1/4” finished.  If you are  just starting to try triangle papers, Lisa Bongean has a sampler pack with these sizes of papers, but you will need 2 packs to make the 36 HST's. 

One thing Tammy does is make all the triangles the same size and then trims down to the sizes needed. This makes the process faster and more accurate and keeping a few sizes of triangle papers sizes on hand for any project. Remember, sewing is our form of therapy so some mindless, repetitive sewing comes in handy no matter how intricate the pieces.

  

Tammy's best tip is pressing seams open really helps the most when working with so many HST's.  

By pressing all of the seams open, there is less bulk and your blocks will lay flat. 

     

 A little practice and these will be a treat to make. Keep going. Be sure and share your progress using 

#modamidnightmoonqal. Next week there may be some prizes involved.

Wishing you a great week!

If you're sewing along with us and you're on Instagram and/or Facebook, be sure to share your blocks using the hashtag - #modamidnightmoonqal.

If you missed any of the posts about the Midnight Moon Quilt-along:

• Midnight Moon - Week 5 – Bonus Batty Bat

• Midnight Moon - Week 4 - Bear's Tracks & Buzzard's Roost

• Midnight Moon - Week 3 - A chat with April Rosenthal / Hidden Star & Pinwheel Geese

• Midnight Moon - Week 2 - Fool's Puzzle & Capital T

• Midnight Moon - Week 1 - Album Blocks & Churn Dash

• Midnight Moon QAL - Introduction

• Midnight Moon QAL on Moda's Inspiration+Resources Center