Groovy Ghosties

I’ve got a cute wallhanging finish today. 

This is from Michelle Lander Cain’s new book Not Your Typical Jellyroll Quilts. She has been hosting a quilt along on her blog From Bolt to Beauty using the Five Little Ghosts table runner from her book. You can make the runner or an entire quilt (she has a free PDF for how to extend the pattern). I thought the little ghosts in the quilt on pastels was so cute that I couldn’t resist making just one block. 

Adorable right? But what would I do with just one block? A pillow maybe or a placemat... maybe a hot pad...or... I could make another... After all, this first one went together in a snap. 

Before I knew it I had a banner. 

Isn’t that border fabric absolutely PERFECT?! It’s a Hoffman International Fabrics piece called Compliments, another in my stash from forever ago, bought with the idea of using it as a background in a Paula Nadelstern kaleidoscope quilt. It’s such a cool fabric, but sadly I got away from kaleidoscope quilting and it has mostly languished, just a couple of chunks cut out of the .5 metre... There was enough for the border but sadly not enough for a backing.

The only Halloween fabric I had in my stash was a 6" x 14" piece of tiny bats fabric left over from Brady's Halloween quilt, Jack and Friends that I made him (gulp) ten years ago! Might have got a little misty re-reading that post. I did remember a chunk I'd bought to use in MacGyver's Skulls on Fire quilt which never did get used. Would it sort of jar with the front pastels? Perhaps. But gosh I think it is cool fabric and so I went for it, and I'm so glad I did!

Black widows, black feathers, skulls, ravens, love. And it doesn't read Halloween, more goth imho.

I quilted it on Avril, layering it with a chunk of flannel. I really like using flannel for smaller projects. I used Aurifil for all the quilting, a 50 wt white for the straight and waving lines, and a purple and an orange 40 wt for the borders.

Avril was handling the change in thread weight just fine, until she had indigestion after the orange thread, and lost her tension. So I pulled the runner off and finished one side of orange and then the purple straight lines on my Bernina. She can handle any thread. I love the effect of doing the two colours in the border.

Michelle embroiders little red eyes in her ghosts, but so far I've left mine hollow.

I thought the Alison Glass Sun Prints, 'Bike Path' would make the perfect binding, and it does. This was not even a fat quarter left from one of my nephew's quilts, and thankfully there was enough with not even two 5" squares left. 

As I said on Instagram, I don't do much of anything for Halloween these days, forgot to even put out my little pastel ceramic pumpkins for Thanksgiving! Halloween is even less. I usually hang up the wooden bats which are about 30 years old now (god) and my little witch hat quilt on the mailbox (need to do that tomorrow). Well now I have an adorable door banner!

Quilt Stats:

Size: 13" x 33.5"

Pattern: Five Little Ghosts by Michelle Lander Cain
Fabric: scraps and stash

Batting: 100% cotton flannel

Backing: after dark by De Leon Design Group for for The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection

Quilted: on Avril: 5905 stitches and finished on my Bernina

Threads: pieced with Gütermann cotton; quilted with Aurifil 50 wt cotton and 40 wt cotton; Bottom Line in the bobbin

There’s still time to join in! The linkup is open until November 4.

Linking up

From Bolt to Beauty

Songbird Designs

Quilty Girl

My Quilt Infatuation