Throughout the month of October 2020 we will have a quilt along! This auspicious month contains a blue moon on Halloween, and we will use #BlueMoonQAL and #MoonImpovQuilt to share our work with daily posts all month.

This is our schedule for the QAL, you may want to include it in your first post.

How to Quilt Along!

Post on Instagram every day in October, using the above prompts. The days with an * are for specific steps in the Moon Improv Quilt, and on those days you should tag me @heidi.parkes and use #MoonImprovQuilt and #BlueMoonQAL. On days without an * you can just use #BlueMoonQAL and tag me @heidi.parkes
For each prompt you can post about things you’ve already done, things you plan to do, things you might do, and things you’re doing ‘now.’ Make the prompts work for you! You can post one photo, multiple photos, text, or video.
The prompts relate to the 16 steps in the pattern, the 8 moon phases, and a few extra topics too. Four of the moon phases happen on specific days: full, new, blue, and quarter moons. The waxing and waning crescent and gibbous are transitional phases in the moon that each last about a week. Those phases are marked in the QAL at convenient moments within each week.

The First 16 Days Explained:

Here are the extra details explaining the prompts for each day. Have fun expanding on these prompts and making them your own.

Full Harvest Moon, Intentions: Post your intentions around joining the QAL and introduce yourself. Each moon phase has a special meaning, and you can learn more about them here. We began setting intentions for this QAL with the new moon in September, and now is the time to reap the rewards, and see the reality of those intentions.
*Gather: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. *The Harvest Moon’s light is traditionally known for helping farmers gather their crops into the night.
Waning Gibbous, Gratitude: This moon phase is a time of gratitude, sharing, and enthusiasm. How can you reflect this moon phase? Highlight a gifted fabric. Offer to share or trade fabrics with other makers. You may be feeling full of love and abundance at this time, is there a cause you want to donate to? Is there someone you want to thank? Is there perhaps something that you’ve learned from me already that you’re grateful for and would like to share with the other makers in the QAL?
*Navel: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. Or, share an interesting story about navels, feeling at home, or a homey fabric. Share the story behind your approach (anticipated or past tense!) to this step, or perhaps share a technical tip.
Workspace: I’m curious to hear about your workspace! How do you make room, store things, etc? Today at noon Central I’ll ‘go live’ on instagram to share about my workspace, and answer any questions about the start of the QAL.
*Birth: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. This is the only step where we literally depict the moon. Have you always known the moon phase of your birth? I became aware of the moon phase of my birth in a Jyotisha Vedic Astrology consultation with Dr. Katy Jane, and she’s recently started sharing insights about the moon each Monday on her YouTube channel here.
Rulers: The birth step asks you to use your body as a ruler. When else do you use your body as a ruler? Years ago, I learned a lot about sewing from a woman named Maria in Prato, Italy. She knew that her right hand to her nose (looking to the left) was exactly one meter, and it was very useful when shopping! Share a time when you use your body as a ruler. Do you know the location of an inch or a cm? How about the perfect pinkie width seam allowance, or a thumb’s gap between two rows of quilting?
*Inside: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. Share a photo of your body! Or, perhaps you have a good story about an internal space? Or, especially as we’re still in the waning gibbous phase of the moon, is there a particular space in your body where you feel love? Your chest, throat, palm, etc. I know I feel extra loved when I’m inside an armpit…
Go: Tell us about quilting/piecing on the go! Do you pack a special go bag so you can sew outside, at a friends home, in the car, in a waiting room, etc? Where’s the strangest place you were ever sewing? Can you sew in a public place today?
Last Quarter Moon, Release. Today is an auspicious time for letting go. We are a quarter through the moon phases, but the moon appears as a half moon. Is it half empty or half full? We are moving towards less than half full, and this is a great time to let go of anything stagnant. Can you part with anything physical? How about the non-physical? Letting go of limiting beliefs is a very powerful thing to do. I used to have limiting beliefs around my quilting: no visible knots, no overlapping lines of quilting, and no quilt patterns! Letting go of these three limiting beliefs was huge for me. Identifying your limiting beliefs can be one of the hardest parts. This 12 minute Ted Talk from Chiropractor Dr. Irum Tahir is a helpful way into understanding this idea. This 17 minute video from Teal Swan approaches the idea of changing a limiting belief from a spiritual point of view.
*Nurturing: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. Show us your plant! In a photo, video, drawing, or the quilt in progress, we’d love to see your work. Also, how do you connect with the plant? Episode 20 of the Medicine Stories Podcast where Amber Magnolia Hill interviews Kami McBride was a powerful moment of learning for me about family ancestry with plants, listen to this episode titled Herbalism, Menstruation, and innate-knowing.
*Cycle: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. There are so many ways to tell time! You could mark the moons or the days of the QAL. You could look at the decades of your life. You could make mealtimes, sleep times, learning times, sharing times… This prompt is not just about menstruation, all people have ways of marking the days, and you can share a way or cluster of days that matter to you here.
*Multitasking: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. What a great occasion to use #VisibleHandPiecing on insta! Also, do you like to multitask when quilting? How about quilting projects? I used to prefer to monotask one quilt at a time, but now I’m a multitasker with quilts too- what other quilts are you working on during the QAL?
Waning Crescent, Soften: This moon phase is all about surrender, gentleness, rest, and softening. Is quilting ever a time of rest for you? What is your favorite phase in the quilting process? Also, do you have a favorite non-square quilt? Have you ever made a non-square quilt? How do you feel about these soft-shaped quilts?
*A Soft Shape in a Square World: Share your approach to this step in the pattern. What shape will your circular quilt expand into as you add corners?
The New Moon, Begin Again. Today is the new moon. Do you know that if a month has two new moons in it, the second is called a Black Moon! This month has two full moons in it, and the second will be a Blue Moon. According to Ayurveda, as described here, the new moon is an ideal time for menstruation, and traditionally, the light of the moon has aligned women with this time of the month. This moon phase is also a time for rest and quietude. What does it look like when you’re resting and snuggled up in a quilt? Do you have a quilt that’s extra cozy, that you love to use in quiet moments?