Spooky Halloween {Finished Table Runner}

My October Island Batik Ambassador challenge is complete!

For the machine applique stitching, I used a simple blanket stitch in black thread for all of the blocks.

I then pieced everything together and layered it with backing and batting, only to realize, that yes, I was a couple inches short on backing length using a single width of fabric. Oops.

To remedy my problem, I added a strip of black fabric approximately 5" wide to my backing to get the necessary length.

Here's my quilted table runner, after trimming and before adding the binding:

In the block backgrounds, I used black thread to free motion quilt meanders around the applique sections; I did not do any quilting within the applique sections. In the strip pieced sections and in the black cornerstones, I used orange thread to quilt loops and swirls.

I used the same color in the top and the bobbin throughout; here's a peak of the backing with the pop of orange thread:

For the binding, I also used the black solid batik.

This is ready to adorn my dining room table!

Thank you to Island Batik (as usual) for providing me this lovely fabric!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Halloween Spooks table runner
Pattern: Halloween Spooks by HBD
Fabrics: Island Batik fabrics -- scraps and black solid
Techniques: machine applique, strip piecing, free motion quilting
Quilting: free motion meanders, loops, and swirls in black and orange thread
Size: 45" x 18"
Batting: scrap batting
Started and finished: October 2019
Future: seasonal decoration

Sharing at Peacock Party, Finished or Not Friday, and Brag about your Beauties!

Topping it off {October Island Batik Challenge}

This month's Island Batik Ambassador theme is "Top It Off" -- and we are making seasonal table toppers! There have already been a number of adorable projects already posted, too!

I decided to make another Halloween themed table runner -- using our Halloween Spooks pattern! I actually made one table runner using this pattern and some fun non-batik fabrics in May!

This time around, I changed up the color scheme slightly -- I decided to use solid black batik in place of the green prints and use some of the other applique designs included in the pattern.

This time, I decided to use the pumpkin and candy corn applique templates. The color scheme is "candy corn" and black!

I used various orange, yellow, and white fabrics for the scrappy piecing. I strip pieced the sections and placed my fabrics sort of randomly, but used slightly more orange fabric than yellow and white.

Now comes doing the machine applique stitching of my applique blocks and putting the table runner together! One slight wrinkle will be the length -- the pieced table runner is 45" -- so I will probably need to piece the backing.

This weekend was full of activities so I was not doing a lot of sewing, so hopefully this week I can squeeze in a bit more sewing.

Sharing at What I Made Monday and Moving it forward Monday!

Halloween Spooks in Faboolous Fun {Autumn in the Air Hop + Giveaway}

Today I'm the hostess for the Autumn in the Air blog hop!

I'm more of a summer girl myself, but I love sewing for fall! This time around, I picked the Faboolous Fun line to sew up a new version of our Halloween Spooks pattern, which can be used to make a table runner or a wall hanging.

I really loved the green prints in this collection, so I decided to use that as the main background fabric. Oh, and guess what! This fabric GLOWS! (I'm not a photography wizard, but I did figure out a way to show the fabrics glowing in the dark!)

The pattern itself has options for scrappy piecing or strip piecing, and I chose the strip piecing methods. I used my own solid scraps to do the applique sections. I picked the cat, two bats, and the witch hat. I chose these because the black solid shows up so nicely against the lime green star print. I used black thread to do all of the machine applique stitching using a blanket stitch.

This is actually the first time I've made this pattern, despite it being one of our "original" Honey, Bunny, and Doll patterns.

A general applique block top: if you struggle with applique distorting your base fabric, cut your base fabric pieces a 1/2" or 1" larger than necessary and then trim down before assembly. This also can help you should your appliques shift and end up off-center!

I used black thread to do the quilting; I did squiggly lines interspersed with stars. The backing and the binding uses a web print and I used orange thread to top stitch the binding.

Get your own copy of this pattern here!

Now onto the giveaway!

Benartex will be giving away a bundle of 8 fat quarters from this collection to one lucky winner!

To enter, leave me a comment telling me all of your feelings about machine applique -- do you prefer traditional applique? What's your favorite fusible? What's your favorite stitch to use?

I'll close the giveaway on Monday at midnight and pick the winner Tuesday morning!

The giveaway is now closed and the winner is ShirleyC!

Don't forget to also check out the other stops on this week's hops!

Autumn in the Air Hop Schedule

Lisa @ Love to Color My World using Harvest Berry by Cheryl Haynes

Debby @ Debby Kratovil Quilts using Harvest Gold 

Sandra @ Mmm! Quilts using Thankful by Amanda Murphy

Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts using Faboolous Fun