2015 Halloween Projects Finished

Halloween Mug Rug

When Witches Go Riding Cross Stitch

Cinderella Pumpkin Quilt

Halloween Bunting

Halloween Bowl Fillers 

Chillingsworth Quilt

Spiderweb Table Mat

Monster Movie Table Runner

Crochet Owl

Jolly Halloween Quilt

All in all, a pretty productive month for me!  Have a great Halloween and I'll see you in November.

Finished for Friday: Jolly Halloween Quilt

Hooray for my last finish for October!  I started this one two years ago, so it's nice to get it off my UFO list at last.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.

I did a simple outline around each of the embroidery pictures and filled in the blocks with fluffy swirls.

The blocks are pretty cute.

The alternate blocks were just stitched in the ditch.  I chose a vintage print from American Jane for the outer border.

It was interesting to make a black and white quilt but I do look forward to working on something with some more color.

Have a great Halloween!  Don't miss my big post tomorrow.

Haiku Wednesday: Spooky

My Halloween quilt

Suddenly much scarier

When I look close up

Jolly Halloween Almost Finished

Today I spent some time quilting my "Jolly Halloween" quilt.  I hope to show the finished quilt to you on Friday.  I'll get it done just in time to pack it away with the Halloween things.  That's okay though, I'll enjoy it even more when I unpack it next year.

I'm putting recipes together for our big Halloween party.  This will be the last one with kids in the house - they'll all be off at college next year.  Everything is going to feel so different next year.  

Except I'll probably still be making last-minute quilts for the holiday.

Finished for Friday: Monster Movie Table Runner

I finished my monster table runner!  I put it on my little coffee table in the family room.  I still have some of the poster fabric left over and Jungle Boy tells me that I should make some placemats out of it.  Maybe next year.  I'm on to other projects now.

I used a nice ghastly green for the inner border and sashing strips and a black spiderweb fabric for the outer border.  I did meander quilting all over with monofiliment.  I found the cute bowl at a thrift store a few years ago.

This will add to my cozy setting where I watch my old monster movies throughout the month of October.  They're silly and campy and I love them. 

Linking up today with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Tomorrow I will post the final set of instructions in my series on UFO management.  Let me know if you're implementing the program yourself!

Harry Potter quilt block for today: the Marauder's Map!

Beneath it is a book with a tiny broom - probably "Quidditch Through the Ages."  The map fabric is available on spoonflower.com.  I love how the piecing makes it look like it's unfolded.

Have a great weekend.  Are you getting ready for Halloween?

Spiderweb Table Mat

I've already confessed that I'm fidgety when I watch television.  It's hard for me to just sit, so I do a lot of crochet.  This was another simple project that I did this week.  It worked up pretty quickly.  For now, It's at the center of the table holding my napkins (which have their own spiderweb holder) and my mummy salt and pepper.  I was never going to be one of those people who bought silly salt and pepper shakers, but these were on sale after one Halloween and my resistance was low.  When I throw my big Halloween party at the end of the month this table mat will work well under a big bowl of something.

If you want to make your own - I promise it's a quick project! - you can find the free pattern at Red Heart Yarn.  A smaller version would make a cute potholder.

Next up for the Project of Doom blocks for October: Butterbeer!  Another one that was a lot of fun to make.

Of course, Drama Girl was concerned that the frothy beer would damage the books.  I'm sure there's some spell to clean that up.

Linking up today with Heather at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday.

Monster Movie Table Runner

I cut apart another panel that I have of the monster movie posters.  I picked this up last year and I liked it so much that I got extra.  Good thing, because I gave away the first quilt so now I can make another.  I played around with this rough layout on the floor.   Two of the images are larger than the rest, so I thought I would put them at the ends.

It wasn't until I had all the smaller posters put together that I realized that the two end pictures ave very different sizes.  Centering them on each end would just involve so much math.  I convinced myself that they wouldn't look good being so asymmetrical, so opted to go with a runner with just the smaller pictures.

Then I got on a roll putting it all together.  Merrily sewing and pressing.  Getting to the last green border and. . .

. . .the bobbin thread ran out just inches from the end.  Happens so often you'd think I'd fill bobbins in advance.  But no, I seem to like the frustration of stopping everything to refill a bobbin.

Then it was time to select the outer border.  This is what I'm thinking right now:

I'm going with spiderwebs.  Figuring out how wide I want to make it.  This should be finished up pretty quickly.  I do love keeping to a crafting theme during the holidays!

The next block in my Harry Potter Project of Doom quilt is Hedwig:

I love how she turned out!

Linking up today for Design Wall Monday with Judy at Patchwork Times.

Caturday: Nap with Pumpkinhead

I love my flannel "Pumpkinhead" quilt.  It's draped over the back of a sofa right now and Hestia seems to think it's a pretty good spot for a nap.

Happy Caturday!

Day 10 of my Harry Potter bookcase quilt.

This is a set of the Standard Book of Spells for each grade.  They're arranged the way teenagers put away books on a shelf.  Each is a different hand-dyed fabric.

Finished for Friday: Chillingsworth Quilt

I finished my Chillingsworth quilt last night while watching "Son of Frankenstein."  I just love how it turned out.  The border is from the Michael Miller "Nevermore" collection.

I used a peach colored Aurifil thread to outline the skeleton and quilt all of the interlocking spiderwebs.  I thought white thread would be too bright and orange would fade into the background too much.  The peach color has a nice glow.  I also did some stitching around areas within the skeleton, if you look closely.

I did a loose, loopy feather pattern in the border in the same color.  Because the border is busy, it doesn't stand out too much and it was a good place for me to practice.

I held up a corner so you can see the back - it's really cute purple wallpaper type fabric.  I used the same fabric for the binding.

This is my new favorite quilt.  I just love it.  It's hanging in my dining room now. 

Harry Potter quilt reveal day 9: Errol, the little owl who looks like a flying bit of lint.  I love the fabric I found in my stash for him.

Linking up today with:
Crazy Mom Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Quilt Matters
A Quilting Reader's Garden

WIP Wednesday: Chillingsworth

Here is a sneak peek at my latest quilt.  It uses the "Chillingsworth" panel from Andover fabrics.  I was hoping to get to this last year but I ran out of time.  Good thing we have Halloween every year!

I got the idea for the quilting from a video by Leah Day.  The spiderwebs are all pretty free-form and messy.  I chose a peach color of Aurifil thread.

I added a little spider near the bottom and only noticed later that somehow I only gave him 7 legs.  I can go back and fix him but I sort of like him this way.

Day 8 of October means day 8 for my Project of Doom show-and-tell.  I need to hurry up and start putting these blocks together.

Here is Harry's wand, leaning up against a book with some weird hands on it.  I love all the strange fabrics I found in my stash to use on this quilt.


Linking up today with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Halloween Bowl Fillers

 Here is the bowl in my front entry.  I really enjoy working on small projects throughout the year and switching out different themes for different seasons.  It's easy to find links to lots of free small patterns online.  I have a whole Pinterest board full of Halloween cross stitch patterns.

Day five of my Harry Potter "Project of Doom" quilt is another block of books.  I like the way some are designed to lean. 

  Keep checking back while I finish putting this quilt together this month.

Easy Halloween Bunting Tutorial

Isn't this cute?  It's a great Halloween project to enjoy for years to come.  Here are my instructions for working with this great preprinted panel called "Sew Scary" from Quilting Treasures.  I knew as soon as I saw it in a shop that I had to have it.

• Make a decision:  You can use all of the fabric and create nine flags that have preprinted fronts and backs OR use your own fabric for the backs and make a longer bunting or even two separate strands of nine flags each.

Bear in mind, that you can see one fabric through the other, so if you make it two sided, it will look cute hanging in the middle of a room, but you may want to add a layer of muslin in between the layers to cut down the see-through effect.  I know mine will probably always be against a wall so this didn't bother me too much.

Cut apart all of the pieces leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.  This includes the long skinny printed strips in the center of the panel.

• Make a decision: Pick which pieces will be fronts and backs and pair them up.  I started with all of the more plain patterns for backs and then (reluctantly) added a few cute ones from the fronts pile to make them even.  If you're using a different fabric for the backs, this isn't an issue.

With your front piece on top, pin a pair together on one side matching points and sides.

Sew along one side, using the printed line as a guide, then pin the other side the same way.  Handle these bias edges carefully.

Now trim the points and turn it inside out.  I used a chopstick to help make the point.  Run the chopstick inside along the side seams to help them flatten.

Trim the little "ears" at the top. Make all of the flags this way and press them. (I hadn't trimmed them yet in the following picture.)

Join the two long skinny strips end to end, matching the printed line, and trim the seam to 1/4".  Press the seam open.

Press the white seam allowance to the wrong side of the strip on both sides.  Then press the whole strip in half the long way with wrong sides together.

Finally, I've done the math for you.  Leave 8" on each end of the strip, and one inch between each flag.  Arrange them and pin them inside the fold of the strip you have just pressed.  I pinned each in the center as well, just to keep it from shifting around.

Fold in the end to close it up as you sew very close to the edge down the length of the strip.  Fold in the last end as well and enjoy!

For now, I've secured the ends of mine with painter's tape to the back of a vintage painting I have in the living room.  It hangs above the spooky town the kids and I made a few years ago.

I hope this was helpful.  We were all novice sewers once and I know I appreciate the tutorials I've used over the years.

And finally, to continue with my month-long reveal of my Harry Potter "Project of Doom" quilt, here is block 3:

The purple fabric is from Africa, and I thought it could pass for some international Wizards stirring a cauldron.