Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

Halloween is a favourite holiday for my two daughters, and even though we don’t decorate the house much (unless we’re throwing a party), this year I decided to make something Halloween-themed.

I don’t have a big collection of Halloween or Autumn fabrics—just the Lewis & Irene Castle Spooky Fabric layer cake (bought at Festival of Quilts 2022!), two pieces yardage remnants, a Moda scraps bag, and miscellaneous spooky scraps.

Quilt 1 

I wanted to keep the layer cake pieces as big as possible because the Castle Spooky range is so cute. I found a picture online from Nancy Zieman website and made my own template to cut the pieces out of 10” blocks. I then arranged the pieces so the same two fabrics wouldn’t be next to each other. The blocks came together quickly since they were nice and large. After making all the blocks, I sewed them together using my favourite netting technique to get neat seams between blocks—though if they weren’t perfect, it wasn’t a big deal. 

For the backing I used leftover pieces from a purple sheet and some leftover layer cake squares.  Onced loaded onto the longarm, I quilted it with an Urban Elementz pantograph called Star Sparkle, using Glide Anchor Grey thread on top and bottom. I finished it with a plain black binding, sewing it onto the front and hand-stitching the back. 

Nancy Zieman Big Blocks Spooky Castles

Whilst it is currently adorning our sofa, my eldest daughter has already claimed this quilt as hers to have in her room after Halloween. 

Quilt 2 

Since I loved the Spooky Castle fabric I also bought some remnant yardage in both the Purple and Grey Cobwebs and Cats designs. The Moda scrap bag with jelly roll strips of different sizes and lengths, was perfect for this quilt. It was designed on the design wall using a trial and error method! I contrasted the purple and orange prints (I didn't mind that the fabrics didn't match), added some small black sashing, and finished with a large border of Japanese black print. 

The backing is Black Glass Beads Fabric from Empress Mills. The quilt was then custom quilted with ghosts and cobwebs, and so I didn't detract from the main Cobwebs and Cats design, I traced the leaves in stitching. To finish it off, I used a simple Moda Charcoal Grunge binding, sewn on the front and hand-stitched on the back. 

This one’s my favourite, but the cats have already claimed it. 

When I turned off the lights the other night, it was a surprise to discover the Lewis & Irene fabric actually GLOWS in the dark — yay! 

Table runner 

While renovating the garage into a quilting studio, the kitchen table area was used to store stuff from the laundry room, old craft room, and garage. Not having somewhere to sit for family meals was driving us all a little mad, so finally, during the summer holidays, I cleared it out and set the table back up. I’m not usually into seasonal décor, but I’ve grown to really like having a runner on this table. 

Without following any pattern, I made a stripy table runner using scraps from the two quilts and the scrap bags. The backing is a fun grey cat fabric from our local store, Cutting Edge Fabrics. I quilted it with an Urban Elementz pantograph called Halloween Fun, though I tweaked it a bit by swapping out the candy corn for more stars. Once quilted, I finished it with a black and white polka dot binding, sewn on the front and hand-stitched on the back. 

I’m really happy with how the runner turned out, and it’ll be on our table all through October.

Just want to give a quick shout-out to two awesome companies where I got my adorable Halloween decorations: Willow and Blooms Florist (Pumpkin and Mushroom flower arrangement), and the Dragon Lady UK , who creates magical dragon-themed gifts (tiny ghost cloche diarama).

Happy Halloween, 

Sarah