Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Happy Halloween Door Quilt

Decorating the house for Halloween is almost as fun as decorating for Christmas! Outside we've got light up spooky eyes, glowing ghosts, a spider web, and creepy hands reaching out of the ground...

But I also love a good door quilt. 

And, let's be honest, a fast door quilt, because I'm usually in the mood to sew something just a few days before said holiday. 


Thanks to fusible web letters, this door quilt goes together quickly. My favorite part? The spider webs I quilted into it! Find your favorite Halloween prints and get started.

You'll Need:

  • 1/4 yard orange pumpkin print
  • 1/2 yard haunted house print
  • 1/4 yard yellow spiderweb print
  • 1/2 yard black solid
  • 5/8 yard backing fabric
  • 22" x 30" batting piece
  • Fusible web


Cutting:
Orange pumpkin print:
Six 2-1/2" squares
Reserve remainder for applique

Haunted house print (mine was directional):
Two lengthwise 3" x 12" strips 
From remaining piece: two 4" x 26" strips


Yellow spiderweb print:
Six 2-1/2" squares
Two 1-1/2" x 12" strips

Black solid:
One 8-1/2" x 18-1/2" piece
Twelve 2-1/2" squares
Three 2-1/2" x 42" strips for binding


Step 1: Download the pdf of "Happy Halloween" letters template page here. Trace the appropriate number of letters to spell out "Happy Halloween" onto the paper side of fusible web. Fuse to the wrong side of the orange pumpkin print, making sure the pumpkin faces are oriented correctly.

Step 2: Cut out each letter on the drawn line. Remove backing, position letters on the 8-1/2" x 18-1/2" black piece and fuse in place. 

Step 3: Draw a diagonal line on the back of each yellow and orange 2-1/2" square. Note: The orange pumpkin print is directional, so make sure you have all the orange squares oriented the same way when you draw the line.

Step 4: Pair each marked square right sides together with a black square. Sew 1/4" away from each side of the marked line. Cut on the line and press HST units open.

Step 5: Trim HST units to measure 2" square. Make 12 black/yellow units and 12 black/orange units. Sew 6 black/yellow alternating with 6 black/orange units to make a top border as shown. (Choose the using the black orange units with the pumpkins oriented up when the black triangle is positioned at the bottom of the HST.) Repeat to make a bottom border. (The remaining black/orange units will have pumpkins oriented up  when the black triangle is positioned at the top of the HST.)

Step 6: Sew the HST borders to the top and bottom of the black center piece. Sew 1-1/2" x 12" yellow spiderweb strips to opposite sides, press, and trim excess. Sew 3" x 12" haunted house strips to opposite sides, press and trim excess.

Step 7: Sew 4" x 26" haunted house strips to the top and bottom of the quilt. 
Step 8: Layer the backing right side down, batting, and quilt top right side up. Baste the layers together. Quilt the quilt however you like. (We used a spider web motif for extra spookiness!)
Step 9: Use the three 2-1/2" x 42" black solid strips to bind the quilt. Add a sleeve to the back side of the quilt so it can be hung like a banner on your door or wall. 




*Tutorial originally featured on Fabri-Quilt's blog featuring Trick or Treat fabrics.

Don't miss my trick or treat bag video tutorial! Find it here.

Visit my Etsy shop here
Find me on Facebook
Find me on IG @lisaerin1121
Sign up for my newsletter in the righthand sidebar

Friday, October 23, 2020

The Owls Are Coming to Visit! *Tutorial*

I love pulling out my fall/Halloween decorations every year. This year, a couple of our plastic light-up ghosts took a beating during installation (thanks, boys), and our spooky skeleton fence no longer lights up. 😥
And that's why I love fabric/quilty decorations. They don't break, and they don't stop lighting up. If you've been saving fabric with cute little creatures to fussy cut, this door banner is perfect for you! A couple easy-piecing patchwork rows, a little fusible web, and your owls/ghosts/hedgehogs have a place to shine.


Fussy-cutting the owls for this project is so much fun! The hardest part? Deciding which ones to use!


Finished project size: 27-1/2" x 28-1/2"

Materials:
1/3 yard white eyeballs print
1/4 yard green swirl
1/4 yard orange owls
1/4 yard black solid
1/3 yard black trees
1/3 yard gray swirl
1/2 yard purple owl print
1 yard backing fabric
32" square piece of batting (optional)
Fusible web

Note:  I finished this door banner pillow-case style and left the batting out, but you can just as easily finish it using a quilt sandwich. If you do so, you'll need 1/2 yard of binding fabric (cut four 2-1/4" x 42" strips).

Cutting:
From the white eyeballs print:
Three 6" squares
One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the green swirl:
Three 6" squares

From the orange owls:
One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the black solid:

Two 2" x 27-1/2" strips

From the black trees:

One 8" x 27-1/2" piece

From the gray swirl:
Two 4" x 27-1/2" strips

How adorable are these fussy-cut owls?! Have fun choosing which ones to use!


Step 1: Draw a diagonal side on the wrong side of all 6" white eyeballs squares. Layer each marked square right sides together with a 6" green swirl square. 

Step 2: Stitch 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut unit on marked line and press both halves open. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of three half-square triangle units. Position a marked unit right sides together with an unmarked unit, positioning fabrics opposite as shown, matching the seam line. 


Step 3: Sew 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut apart on the drawn  line.

Step 4: Press units open to create an hourglass unit. Trim to measure 5" square. (Tip: To ensure you center your hourglass block, line up the 2-1/2" ruler mark where the triangle tips meet in the center of the unit. Make 6. 

Step 5: Sew the hourglass units together as shown.

Step 6: Cut the orange owl and white eyeball 3-1/2" x 42" strips in half. Noting orientation, sew half an orange owl strip to the top of half a white eyeball strip, making sure owls are oriented correctly. In the same way, sew the remaining half orange owl strip to the bottom of the remaining white eyeball strip. Press open, and press toward the same fabric in each strip set. Cut five 3-1/2" wide segments from one strip set and four 3-1/2" wide segments from the second. Note: Making two separate strip sets like this ensures that all your owls will be facing up in the checkerboard row!

Step 7: Noting owl orientation, sew the segments together to make a checkerboard strip. 

Step 8: Roughly cut out your favorite 6-8 owls from the purple own print. Adhere fusible web to the back of each rough-cut owl, and then cut out on owl outline. Arrange owls as desired on 8" x 27-1/2" black trees piece and fuse in place. Use a straight or decorative stitch to applique if desired.


Step 9: Sew together the two pieced strips, the appliqued center strip, two 2" x 27-1/2" black solid strips, and two 4" x 27-1/2" gray swirl strips to complete the quilt top. 

Step 10: Finish the door banner as desired. We used a pillowcase finish (can be done with or without batting) and then stitched along the length of the solid black sashing strips to secure. You can also layer the quilt top with backing and batting and quilt, and then finish with a binding strip. 


Add a hanging sleeve to the back of the door banner and hang to enjoy!


*Tutorial originally featured on Fabri-Quilt's blog featuring Nite Owls fabrics.


Visit my Etsy shop here
Find me on Facebook
Find me on IG @lisaerin1121
Sign up for my newsletter in the righthand sidebar

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Sew an Easy Trick or Treat Bag!

Depending on where you live, Halloween might look different this year. At least around my house, one thing that won't change is the candy. I'll still be buying it. :) 

Milky Way, Reese's Peanut Butter pumpkins, Mounds bars...wait, what was I talking about?!

Anyway, we're still deep in costume negotiation here, but I've already pulled out our trusty trick-or-treat bags. I sewed these for the older two boys back in 2013 and added Ben's a couple years later. I love them--they're easy to make and durable, and 1000x better than a plastic grocery bag. And now, I've created a video tutorial for making these! Head over to my YouTube channel and check it out.



All ready for candy!


I sew these bags using two child-size t-shirts, so a fair amount of the cutting and sewing work is done for you just from the shape of the t-shirt. You can design your own jack o' lantern face for the front. 

Look at that sweet face!


Find the tutorial here



Visit my Etsy shop here
Find me on Facebook
Find me on IG @lisaerin1121
Sign up for my newsletter in the righthand sidebar

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Wonk Around the Block - Month 5

We're in the home stretch! Just two months more on my Wonk Around the Block pattern.

Wonk Around the Block is my new Block of the Month quilt pattern combining traditional and wonky piecing. You can purchase the pattern on my Etsy shop and receive one section per month for 6 months. I hope you'll come sew with me! 

Here's my Cotton Shot version after Month 5:

Month 5 includes the easiest improv block ever--the confetti block. One cut, two seams. Perfect to get your feet wet on improv. There's also another pieced row for a splash of color along the top, and a few more borders to set the quilt up for the final two pieced sections coming in Month 6.



If you'd like some support as you sew this quilt, I'm also offering video demos for each month - I'm super excited about this! In the videos, I'll walk you through each step of the process--almost like a class! I also include additional tips and tricks for putting the quilt together. If you're new to wonky piecing, these video demos will augment the detailed diagrams in the pattern to help you master this technique. 

The group of six videos (I'll be adding one each month) can be purchased in my Etsy shop for $10. You'll receive a link with access to the current videos, and that same link will work for future videos. Click here to purchase.

 When you purchase the pattern, you'll receive the Introduction pages, which include yardage for the entire quilt, a page of tips, and a black-and-white line drawing so you can choose your own color placement. You'll also receive Month 1, which is the center wonky star and a few borders. Each month afterwards will include the specific yardage, cutting, and piecing instructions for the sections being added. We'll assemble as we go, so by the end of Month 6, your quilt will be complete!

Purchase the pattern here


Here's a quick look at the fabric requirements. These are generous to ensure that you have plenty of options for switching up colors as you piece. 


Visit my Etsy shop here.
Find me on Facebook
Find me on IG @lisaerin1121