Inspired by Halloween

I have finished a slow work in progress in time for Halloween and the Days of the Dead. I'm really pleased to have it finished and on display. It's hard to photograph because it's long and narrow, but here's the whole thing:

It's three inches wide and about 27 inches long (or tall). Here's a series of detail shots, working from the top to the bottom:

A spider charm and fly stitches above and feather stitching and some seed stitches below.

The skeleton is printed on ribbon. The cat is a charm, as is the ghost below.

I do enjoy feather stitching. And the fly stitches look like bats on the wing to me. 😁 

The undertaker print is from a Tim Holtz fabric.

There's a surprise hidden underneath that bit of wide lace. 😉

I went over the major lines of the spider web with 12 wt Sulky thread to give it a bit more definition. There's more seed stitching in the background. 

You can't really tell in the photograph, but I put a tiny roll of batting underneath the skeletal hand to make it stand out a bit from the surface. 

The poison print is another from a Tim Holtz fabric. Not sure which line the scorpion came from.

I have another slow stitch Halloween project in the works but it's far from finished at this point. Maybe next year! 🎃

Scrap Happy in April

 It may be April but I'm not done with Halloween yet! When I completed the last quilt top I still had some 6" blocks left over. Not to mention smaller scrap patches. I used those patches to make more 6" blocks. 

My plan was to use these blocks in the middle of stars that would finish at 12" square. Twenty blocks would give me a kid's size quilt. This also gave me an opportunity to use up more of the remnants of older prints from my stash. I ended up cutting quite a few of those remnants right down to nothing!

At first I thought I would just set the stars side by side. However, when I had them all built and on the design wall they cried out for sashing. There weren't any purples left in my stash in the right hue to make the stars float. Finding something else to use was a challenge, I have to say. In the end I came up with a couple more remnants - because one wouldn't quite go the distance. That's two more older prints used up!

Sorry about the lighting. The top of the photo gets washed out by my overhead lights.

I had the most of this lighter print. I remember it being a difficult print to use in the past. This seemed to be an ideal application for it.

Then I had to find something to fill in the gaps. There was enough of this slightly darker print to use in the four corners of the quilt top.

I also used a trick I learned many, many years ago to get my purples to go the distance. In that star above the background is actually the back side of the fabric. Here's the front:

Too pink for this quilt top! But the back was perfect. 😊

I'm going to stop the top at this point (no borders, just binding). It will finish at about 54" wide by 68" long. I may have to purchase fabric for binding, but otherwise this has been nothing but scraps and remnants. It's very satisfying to be able to create a useful new product out of nothing but scrap materials. That's the premise behind this blog hop that Kate and Gun host each month on the 15th. Kate is in Australia, Gun is in Sweden, and bloggers from the rest of the world participate regularly. Lynn is rejoining us this month, and we're pleased to have Tierney joining us as well!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo, Alissa, Lynn and Tierney

Batty for Halloween

 I have not been having the best of times lately. However, I have been able to put more of my Halloween print scraps to good use. I had a 12" x 12" storage box full to the brim with bits and remnants, mostly of the more juvenile and/or whimsical type of prints. I'm pleased to report that I've reduced that quantity by as much as 80%! Of course, more scrap patches and strips were created in the process. That seems to be the way of scraps. 

I began with an odd assortment of blocks from the Parts Department.

There were a handful of 6" blocks, a couple that would finish at 12," but most of them were 9" blocks. There were some smaller parts too, which I was able to build up to nine or twelve inch blocks. Not to mention the scraps and remnants to make additional blocks.

I figured I'd frame up the 9" blocks to 12 inches. That was accomplished with strips and squares that finished at three inches. Because of the nature of the prints I knew this would be a child's quilt so I only planned for twenty blocks. A horizontal format seemed to work the best for arranging the blocks. 

It was really fun to fussy cut some of the images I found in my prints. I worried a bit over whether I would have enough of something appropriate to use as a final, outer border to frame up this busy top. 

A Moda Marble Swirls in jet black was perfect, and I had just enough for the narrow border and the binding. This quilt will finish at about 64" wide by 52" high. I even used up some old yardage to make the back. 😁 Now it's time to see what I can do with the smaller patches that remain...

Spooky NIghts

We are gearing up for Halloween here in the States. 🎃 

Some of us have been at it more diligently than others. This has traditionally been one of my more favorite holidays to decorate for. I love the colors of the season and enjoy the whimsy and even the macabre elements. I do not do horror or anything remotely demonic. Our decor this year has been seriously lacking however. The smokey air has had a lasting impact. There have been other distractions as well. Daughter discovered that the Halloween themed pillowcases I'd made for the members of her family in years past had been ruined in storage. So the energy I might have spent in getting out our Halloween decorations was put toward making replacements. 

For Mom and Dad I made a pair of cases in this print combination:

Steampunk Halloween

 For the daughters I made a selection, not sure who would choose which.

I did have one of the grands in mind when I purchased the gnome print and, sure enough, that's the one she chose. 😁

 I had other fabrics that had been set aside for pillowcases but had never been sewn up. I took the opportunity to make up a couple of those while I was sewing this bunch. In the end I made 9 pillowcases! (Didn't think to take pictures of the others though.) 

Historically we didn't get many trick-or-treaters on Halloween. The last few years we've kept our porch lights off to discourage the attempt. I just can't handle the scents, even to hand out candy. 😢 I do miss seeing the kiddos in their costumes.

Two Finishes and a Couple of Questions

 The temperatures have been more reasonable since my last post. We've still had to run the AC late in the day. I must look pretty odd sewing down binding by hand, a 60" s 75" quilt in my lap and the fan on the floor blowing directly on me! 

I completed the baby quilt first. I'll share a detail shot because I don't really think the intended recipients ever visit here but I don't want to take a chance on spoiling the surprise in case they do. James had the opportunity to do some outline quilting in the central panel. That was done with a matte finish lavender thread. To make the flying geese that surround the panel stand out he used a variegated trilobal polyester around them. 

It looks great on the black!

In the beginning the second quilt was going to be a gift or donation. Very soon however, I decided I would be keeping it for myself. Some of my favorite Halloween prints went into the blocks that make up the body of the quilt top. 

In the detail shot above there are patches from fabric I've had since the beginning of my quilt making career and a couple of the latest prints I've collected. Here's the whole quilt: 

It hasn't been through the washer and dryer yet but the novelty prints already pop more than they did before quilting. Because the witches in the quilt are some of my more favorite images I'm calling this one BeWitched. 

I very often feel much like this particular witch, more than slightly grumpy.

And now for the questions. Do you read this blog on your desk or laptop computer or do you use your phone or other smaller device? Would it be a benefit to you if I were to make the text larger? Do I need to make the pictures larger too? Your input via comments [or email: sewingmagpie(at)gmail(dot)com] is appreciated. 😊

Halloween Is Always A Good Idea

I have been busy putting bindings on quilts and sewing them down. Because they are smaller quilts than I've made historically I don't want to go to the hassle of hanging them in the studio to take their pictures. But wouldn't you know, when I'm finally ready for a photo shoot the weather turned wet. So I guess you'll have to wait a bit longer to see them in all their finished glory. However, I have a new top I can show you. 😊

This began with some Hourglass blocks/units I started making over a year ago as leaders and enders. I didn't have a clue what I would do with them when I began but just cut some black tone on tone prints and assorted yellows, cheddars, and red-oranges. At some point they got set aside when other projects took precedence - before I had enough to really do anything with them. Then I saw someone else's quilt online that used Hourglass blocks between whole cloth squares. That was the inspiration I needed to move this project forward. My Hourglasses finished at 5" so I cut 5.5" squares of more of my more juvenile Halloween prints. In spite of my best efforts I still hadn't used them all up!

Eventually I had equal numbers of Hourglasses and Halloween squares. The next step was to decide how to arrange them.

You can see here I chose to keep all the lighter, yellow Hourglasses in the center of the composition. I did my best to scatter the prints in the holes. I had several squares of some prints but only one or two of others.

This is what I ended up with:

I debated whether to put a framing border around it before calling it done. Nothing in the stash really called out to me for that purpose though. It will be about 50" x 60" if I just bind it the way it is. I have a wonderful diagonal orange stripe in my stash that will make a great binding. What sealed the deal was learning we are to have a new grandbaby in October. What could be more perfect?! 😁 The child may not be ready for a quilt of this size for a year or so but you can never have Halloween too often or too early in my opinion!

... And A Flimsy!

So, about a week ago I showed you the start of yet another Halloween-themed quilt. Gotta love how quickly a Disappearing 9 Patch can come together!

I had 20 blocks, made of 5" (raw) patches, similar to this one:

Which I then quartered.

The next step was to sort these units into groups according to where the "cornerstone" landed relative to the focal patch. That helped when it came to putting the units on the design wall.

I was surprised at how easy it was to keep all the directional images right side up. When I was making the 9 Patch blocks I rather randomly turned images so they were sideways in the 9 Patch or not. Now that I've made this pattern a few times I have a better idea how things will turn out in the end. Still, I wasn't being all that careful, and most of the patches are directional. There were just enough patches with overall, nondirectional imagery to compensate for those spots where a focal patch wouldn't work right side up.

I took my time getting the units sewn into blocks and then rows. When the bits were all together I decided this quilt needed a narrow inner border and then a wider outer border to finish it off. It took some doing, but eventually I came across two old prints that worked. A lot of what's in this quilt is from the early days of my stash building so that was appropriate.

That's a homespun plaid for the inner border. It looks like black and gold by itself. The jack o'lantern print is actually a coppery metallic. Oddly enough, they work together beautifully.

This flimsy measures about 61" wide by 74.5" long. The next trick will be to come up with backing and then binding. I have my eye on a couple of more recent purchases for those applications. This won't be a finished quilt for this year's Halloween but it will certainly be ready for next year! 😊

Bee, Myself and I in September

I've put the binding on the quilt I've been working on under Carla's challenge for Bee, Myself and I. I've been calling it Botanical Blur because one side is a version of the Rainbow Blur pattern found on the Free Spirit Fabrics web site.

James quilted it with an allover meander because these prints are so busy. He used a variegated thread that blends perfectly with the colors in the blocks.

The other side, the official back of the quilt, was made from a jelly roll of batiks called Pink Lemonade.

I added a few batiks of my own when I made this some years ago. It didn't look like much as a flimsy but with the quilting it suddenly sparkles. Now I don't know which side is my favorite! I've decided to christen this quilt Pink Lemonade in the Garden. I've been enjoying both sides on my bed since I completed the binding.

In just the last few days there's been another project that qualifies for Bee, Myself and I. It began with a couple of Halloween prints that I turned into a pair of pillowcases for our bed.

That inspired me to look for other yardages of Halloween prints in my stash to see whether I could also make pillowcases for the granddaughters. Most of the time I don't buy more than a half yard of any one thing. Of course, when there are going-out-of-business sales or other great deals to be had, larger cuts tend to come home to roost. Lo and behold, two yards of a cute ghost print and two other single yard pieces became these:

Now I'm thinking about pillowcases that could be made to give them for Christmas... 😉

First New Quilt of the New Year

I completely lost my quilt-making mojo as we approached the holiday season. Slowly, slowly it's returning. I haven't been able to commit to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2018. There don't seem to be enough scraps to bother with at the moment. Must be time to make new scraps! (We won't talk about all the blocks I've made in previous years that could be built into quilts!)

I still have yardage (or at least pieces of yardage) that has been around longer than I'd like. Figured I might as well begin with one of my overflowing categories of novelty prints... Halloween.

This isn't even a third of what could be called Halloween in my stash!

I've also had the Disappearing 9 Patch pattern/process in mind lately. It looks to me to be useful for eating up miscellaneous prints while at the same time not requiring a lot of creative energy. I'm sure I could have confirmed that with some online research but I haven't been up to surfing the web this week.

I started by cutting 5" squares from the more juvenile Halloween prints in my collection. Most of them could be considered fussy cuts. My plan was to keep them in the corners of the nine patch blocks so they can be feature elements of the quilt. The math is a little different for the D9P; it took me a few days to figure out how many blocks I'd want for a kid's quilt. Finally I decided on twenty. Of course I didn't have enough of any one print appropriate for what I'm calling the background patches but I did manage to find a couple others to supplement my original choice.

I'm hoping this will help to produce a random, scrappy look in the end product. I find it challenging to be truly random even when I'm working with actual scraps.

I now have all 20 blocks assembled.

Six of the 20 blocks.

The next step is to cut each block into quarters, then scramble the parts and reassemble them into the final block format, which is a four patch block.

A handful of the prints I used to make these blocks were reduced to scraps. It's a small victory, given the amount of yardage that remains, but a victory nevertheless. 😊

Calorie-Free Treats

It's Halloween here in the States. I don't go in for the horror aspect of the holiday but regular visitors to The Magpie's Nest will know that I enjoy the macabre. A couple of years ago when it became apparent that handing out treats at the door wasn't worth the risk involved to my health I chose to make up for that deprivation by leaving my more favorite decorations out all year round. To that end I created this display in a hallway:

I also have this photo of our second granddaughter from when she was about three years old:

No surprise then that we're big fans of Tim Burton's animated movies and Dia de Muertos!

On a quilt-y note, here are some of the blocks I've already sewn up as a result of having cut remnants into patches.

Rather than color (as in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge) I've been focusing on prints that could pass as reproductions of 19th century fabrics, which helped made the decision about block patterns easier. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this palette going but at least it's a place to start. I've moved some things around, emptying boxes that now corral the patches I've cut and haven't used yet. It's all a process, and will continue as long as it's effective!

Time for a Spa Day

Wish I were referring to myself! As much as I would love a day at a spa it would likely make me very ill. No, in this case I'm referring to my beloved sewing companion Phoebe:

I've had to switch the brand of thread I use for piecing and I thought the issues we were experiencing were due to the change in threads. Apparently that's not the case. Phoebe needs a tune up. Truth be told, she's probably been overdue for a tune up for a year or more.

Before she left home I was able to finish up the Halloween quilt top. I think you may have seen it at this stage in my last post...

I added a lovely tone on tone purple across the bottom and the top and then used a fun orange Halloween print to cap off the ends. It was too big for the design wall at that point so we went outside to get a picture:

It was just a bit windy at the time. We were lucky to get a shot in between rain showers though!

I promised you a detail shot of the prints used in the Rail Fence blocks...

Pumpkins, bats, spiders and webs, more stars. All fun. :- )

I made up some blocks out of scrap patches too:

DS was able to get the top quilted for me yesterday. We decided on a simple meander since there was so much going on in the quilt already.

I've cut binding out of black but have to get a bit more to make it all the way around the quilt. This weekend is the annual street fair that's held in conjunction with the Tulip Festival. That will make it more of a challenge to get out and get supplies but my goal is to get this quilt bound as quickly as possible so I can donate it by the end of the month... which is next week!