Witching You a Happy Halloween

Look at what is brewing at Cotton Cuts with this month’s Java’s Inspiration mini quilt. October is here with all the Halloween decorations popping up everywhere! The Java Membership has the perfect assortment of batik fabrics to make some great seasonal projects like this wall hanging/table topper. The batik fabric is ideal for raw edge appliqué because it is a tightly woven cotton that tends not to fray.

Materials Needed:

• October Java Membership Assortment of 12 Batik Fat Quarters
• Aurifil thread from Chroma Membership
• ½ yard backing fabric Purple Moda Grunge
• Batting

To get started I found some free clipart of witches feet, a bubbling cauldron, and some black cats with witches hats. I printed these out to use as my pattern pieces. I used the light purple fat quarter as my background fabric to build the design.

It is fun to play with the different fabrics and see what looks best in the design. I like to trace around the template with a chalk pen, then cut it out with a pair of sharp to the point scissors like the Karen Kay Buckley brand of scissors.

You may need to do some enlarging to get the pattern pieces to the right proportion to fit on the 18x22” background fabric. I laid out the paper pieces as I built the design to check the proportions before cutting out the fabric as I worked on the design.

After cutting your pieces use a fabric glue stick to hold the shapes in place. It is easy to move your pieces around to get the best look until the glue stick dries.

Then using a free motion attachment with the feed dogs down stitch around the shapes in coordinating Aurifil thread. Sometimes I touch up the thread color with a fine point Sharpie to blend with the fabric.

At this point I decided to add some glitter gold acrylic paint to the shoe buckles to make them stand out more. It is easy to add some paint with a Q-tip to selected areas. You will need to be careful not to iron over those areas if you do be sure to cover with press cloth.

I planned to add the top and bottom borders after I added the words. It is easier to work with a 3.5” strip by itself before sewing it to the 18x22 background fabric.

I printed out the words and traced the shapes of the letters with a Frixion Pen. It is easier to make a change if needed using these heat erasable pens. Once I was pleased with the letters I outlined them using a permanent Micron pen.

Then I chose a dark purple crayon and colored in the outlined shape of each letter.

Place the fabric between several layers of paper and press. This will melt the crayon permanently into the fabric. Just be careful as you press from this point on that the words are covered with paper so it doesn’t get on your iron or pressing surface.

Sew the 3.5” borders to the top and bottom with a ¼” seam allowance. Add 1.5” borders to the sides.

You are now ready to layer the top with batting and backing to make the quilt sandwich. I like to use spray baste to hold the layers together.

It is a good idea to start in the middle of the quilt and secure the layers by stitching around the center shapes. I then stitched in the ditch along the border seams.

I like to add some of the planned free motion quilting with a heat removable Frixion pen ahead of time to give me a visual of where to start stitching. I drew in the spider and the spider webs ahead of time. It is fun to just go with the flow changing thread colors as quilted the different areas.

I cut my binding at 2.25”, cutting 5 strips then sewing them together on the angle to create one long piece.

Start in the center of one of the sides. Fold the binding on an angle and start stitching about 2” below that point. Stitch all the way around with a ¼” seam. When you get to the end tuck it into the folded section you started with and sew to meet the beginning of your stitches.

Fold the binding to the back and clip in place. I like to stitch in the ditch with a coordinating Aurifil thread on the front. You can also hand stitch the binding in place from the back. This was a fun project to make and will be a fun table topper or wall hanging for October.