Halloween Quilt

This adorable wall hanging can be completed in just a couple of hours. With just a fat quarter of decorative holiday themed fabric featuring witch’s undies, I was able to make a fanciful border for this lively quilt. Inspiration can be found in some unusual places: To decorate the four squares, I adapted the design on a roll of holiday themed paper towels! This quilt is small enough to complete by hand if you prefer.

Materials

Fat Quarters: 1 Novelty Print for border
4 colors for squares
½ yard for backing
Iron on fusible web (Steam-a-Seam, Wonderunder or similar)
Scraps of black & white fabric
Felt: orange and purple
Buttons: orange (1), white (2)
Thread in black white, purple and green
Quilt batting: 24” x 24”
Pre-folded Bias tape (Wright’s Double Fold Quilt Binding)
Disappearing marking pen for fabric (Dritz)
Iron
Basic sewing supplies

Cut

(4) 8.5” squares
Border (4) 3 x 24” strips
Sashing
“A” (2) 1 x 8.5” strips
“B” (5) 1 x 19” strips
Backing (1) 24” square

Making the Center Squares

To decorate the four center squares, I duplicated the designs from the paper towel by hand using disappearing ink.

1. Trace the basic shape onto fabric.
2. Adhere fabric to fusible web per manufacturer’s instructions. (Usually requires ironing for 5-10 seconds.)
3. Once the fusible is attached, carefully cut out the main shape of each design.
4. Apply fusible to small sections of the colored fabrics to create the details.
5. Using fabric marker, chalk or freehand, mark and cut the eyes, mouths and noses for each design.
6. Position the features and pin in place.
7. Fuse shapes to the 8.5” squares per manufacturer’s instructions.
8. Once the fabric is in place, use decorative stitches to fill in the details and embellish.
9. Outline with straight stitch, enhance with satin or zig-zag stitch. Experiment using scraps to see what kind of effects you can create with the stitches on your machine.

Assembling the quilt

1. Make sure that your squares are 8.5” with 90 degree corners for best results. Trim to size as needed.
2. Determine the position of the four squares.
3. Using scant ¼” seams, sew binding strip “A” between two adjacent squares, repeat with remaining two squares.
4. Join the two sections with one “B” strip of sashing.
5. Sew the remaining 4 “B” strips of sashing one each side.
6. Square the quit top if needed.
7. Attach the borders.
8. Sandwich batting between completed quilt top and backing. Make sure right sides are facing out.
9. Quilt as desired.
10. Attach binding.
11. Enjoy!