Two blocks.  Three of each.  How did you do?  

Fool's Puzzle.  The pieces in this block have bias edges, so we're going to fool those bias edges into behaving, into staying flat.  After cutting the square twice on the diagonal, don't handle the pieces any more than absolutely necessary.

When the bias triangles are picked up for sewing, start with the straight corner edge under the presser foot, not the point.  Then let the feed dogs on your machine pull the fabric through, don't try to push or pull it.  

Press the stitched seam to set it, then gently press the seam toward the darker fabric.  That will prevent a ghoulish-looking center.

Here are the fabrics for Fool's Puzzle:

Capital T blocks.  Flying Geese and directional prints.  

First, the Capital T fabrics.

The first thing to note is the Candy Corn fabric - it's directional.  I like it when the print is aligned in the same direction, so I take the time to check my fabric placement to make sure the finished triangles are going in the direction I want.

You can see in the block picture that the candy corn are all aligned in one direction in the finished block.  To make that happen, two of the geese units will have the candy corn aligned vertically, and the other two will have the candy corn aligned horizontally.  Standing up and laying down.  

The trick there is to take a peek at the corner square fabric to see which way it will be when sewn.  Taking the time to get the squares placed, then lining them up for stitching helps me keep from getting a square turned the wrong way.

When you add the second square, it will look like it is going in the wrong direction.  If you flip up the corner, you'll see that it's not.  

I use Cluck Cluck Sew's Diagonal Seam Tape for guiding the pieces through.

Tip: After stitching the first seam diagonally across the square, stitching a second seam approx. ½" away will yield a stitched half-square triangle.  Simply cut the square apart between the two stitching lines, leaving a ¼" seam allowance on each side.  The HSTs can be pressed and trimmed to size later.

When pressing the small triangles, overlap the geese units.  

The heat - and steam - will go through all of the layers of fabric and really set the seams.

I also recommend using a wool pressing mat, they can make a big difference in how flat and smooth a seam lays after pressing.  They're available in many sizes, but the 14" x 14" and 17" x 17" squares are office favorites for a reason.

If this is your first week here, this is what you need to get caught up:

• Fabric.  We're using Midnight Magic II by April Rosenthal.  The yardage requirements for this collection can be found here - Midnight Moon QAL Fabric Requirements.
• Summer Moon book from It's Sew Emma - (ISE927).
• Weekly Block Breakdown - this is the order we're making the blocks.  It also includes the specific fabrics for each block if you're using the same fabrics.

Midnight Magic II by April Rosenthal.

If you're on Instagram and/or Facebook, we'll be sharing blocks using the hashtag - #modamidnightmoonqal.

We'll see you next Saturday!

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

• Midnight Moon - Week 1
• Midnight Moon QAL - Introduction
• Midnight Moon QAL on Moda's Inspiration+Resources Center