Hagatha's House with Island Batik

For July, Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to plan ahead and make something to celebrate "whatever holidays you celebrate around the end of the year."  I chose to interpret "end of the year" broadly and decided on three small projects, one each for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  We don't really decorate for holidays much but I do like to add seasonal flair to my front door with small quilts. I'll be showing off these door-quilts one per week as we move through July.   First, Halloween!

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Schmetz, Hobbs, and Aurifil.

Former Island Batik Ambassador Joan of MooseStash Quilting teamed up with Carol of Just Let Me Quilt to create a Halloween-themed BOM they call Hagatha's House.  I absolutely love the center block designed by Joan and as soon as I saw it, knew it would be my Halloween project.  The center block is no longer free but you can find this month's blocks as well as details about the BOM here.

I still had the lovely blacks and golds of Sundance out from Harvest Vines, so I started with those fabrics as the house and the moon.  I added in some basics from the Foundations collections--the fabrics that are always available and don't cycle out with the collection cycle. The trees are Iceberg, the inside of the house is Sky, and the background is Vino.  I also used the batik solids in black (witch) and white (ghosts).

The Back

I did a combination of blanket stitch and satin stitch around the various applique shapes.  The threads are both Aurifil 50 weight, color 2692 (black) and 5004 (gray smoke).  I used Schmetz super nonstick needles and did not have any trouble with the needle getting sticky from the fusible web.  The batting is a scrap of Hobbs black batting, great for projects with dark backgrounds.  The back is Island Batik's solid gray and I layered the pieces before stitching the applique, so those stitches acted as the quilting and you can see the stitching on the back.  The finished quit is 20" x 24" so I didn't feel that I needed additional quilting.

The colors aren't as true in this door shot but I do like the look of it hanging on the front door.  I'm so glad Island Batik encouraged pre-planning for the holidays later in the year!  Keep an eye out for my two remaining Island Batik projects this month!

 

Napa Valley

I've been woefully behind on pretty much all things blog related, including others' posts and writing my own.  Transitioning back to 100% on site for my job as well as finishing out Fire Monkey's school year and trying to get his summer sorted out took a lot of my mental energy in May & June and I forgot to select a winner for my May giveway of 8 Fat Quarters of Napa Valley.  Using a random number generator, I finally pulled a winner today and it's Kathleen! I will be in touch to get your address, Kathleen, and get these out to you!