September 27, 2003
Notes:
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If printing these pages on a printer and you notice the edges to the right are cut off, then adjust your printer settings so that it prints "landscape" rather than "portrait".
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When printing, the border to the left will not print on paper.
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Be sure to read the guidelines at the bottom of this page.
Do you need a quick wallhanging for the Halloween season? Do you have a few scraps to get rid of? Do you have an itch for another mystery? If you answered "Yes" to all of these, then this is the project for you!
Index
This is a cute wallhanging that would be great on a side table or hanging from your front door.
This wallhanging is made up of several appliqué patterns. How many you use is entirely up to you! You can use more than I have or fewer than I have. The method you choose to appliqué is also up to you, however the instructions given in this mystery will be for the button-hole stitch. Tips are also provided on this site to help you in your choice of appliqué.
The finished size of this project is approximately 25" x 32", without borders. If you wish to add your own borders, you can make it larger.
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Double-Sided fusible webbing, such as Wonder Under® or Steam 2 Seam®
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A marker that will write on the fusible webbing
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Iron
This can be made from scraps or planned fabrics. If planning on fabrics, Halloweenish colors would look great, such as: Blacks, greens, oranges, yellows, grays, whites, etc. Regardless of what you choose, you will need six colors for the top: A blackish color (for the background), a dark black (or gray) color to contrast to the background black (but still be blackish), a green (grass green), a yellow, purple, and an orange.
Here are the colors I am using for the wallhanging:
| Background |  |
| Dark Black/Gray |  |
| Black |  |
| Green #1 |  |
| Green #2 |  |
| Yellow |  |
| Purple |  |
| Orange |  |
| White |
|
| Lettering | (Unbleached Muslin) |
| Binding | (Your Choice) |
| Backing & Batting | (Your Choice) |
If you aren't making this "scrappy", here are some approximate fabric requirements:
| Fabric Color | Needed |
| Background | 17" x 23" |
| Dark Black/Gray | 1/3 yard |
| Black | 1/4 yard |
| Green #1 | 17" x 2.5" |
| Yellow | 9" x 9" |
| Purple | 1/4 yard |
| Green #2 | 1/4 yard |
| Orange | 10" x 10" |
| White | 10" x 10" |
| Lettering | 6" x 8" |
| Binding | 1/3 yard |
| Backing | 30" x 40" |
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Cut your background piece to 17" x 23".
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Cut green #2 to 2.5" x 17".
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Using the dark black/gray, print the following patterns: 1 large tombstone (8.5" x 9.5"), 2 small tombstones (3.25" x 4.5" each), and 2 ghosts (4.75" tall). Sizes of the full patterns are given in parenthesis; enlarge or reduce to get as close to these sizes as possible. Also note that these patterns are for one-half of the pattern only. Fold your fabric in half and place the "fold" of the pattern on the fold of the fabric. Cutting this type of pattern in this way makes them more symmetrical.
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Using the patterns, trace the pattern pieces onto a light-weight, double-sided fusible webbing, being careful to trace onto the paper side of the webbing. Tip: When tracing, I paperclip my fusible webbing to the pattern, so that it doesn't slip!
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Cut each pattern piece out. It doesn't matter if you cut precisely at this point; it can be a fast, rough cut. Be sure to use paper-cutting scissors and also be sure to cut out the whole pieces and not just half!
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Press each piece onto your fabric, being careful to press to the wrong side of the fabric and to also leave at least 1/4" around the edge, for trimming room Follow the instructions on the fusible webbing when pressing.
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Cut the pieces out of the fabric, being careful this time to cut precisely.
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Lay the background piece flat. Position the large tombstone at the bottom so that the bottom of the tombstone is flush with the edge of the bottom of the background fabric. Place the tombstone approximately 1" off-center to the right (you can reposition this later to get the "look" you like). Do not press in place yet!
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Slip a small tombstone underneath the large one on the left. Do not press in place yet!
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Slip the second small tombstone underneath the large one on the right. These smaller tombstones do not have to be "straight". They can be tilted in either direction a little (just as you might see in a cemetery). Do not press in place yet!
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Slip one of the ghosts (set the other ghost aside until later) underneath the edge of the large tombstone. You can position this anywhere you wish. Notice in the picture below how I positioned mine so that the "arm" of the ghost is hanging over the tombstone? It looks like the ghost is resting on the tombstone!
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Once you are happy with your layout, press these four patterns into place.
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Sew the green #2 strip at the bottom of the background piece, as shown:
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Using the large bat pattern, the dark black/gray (or another batty fabric of your choice), and the fusible webbing, prepare one bat for appliqué. When printed, this bat should measure approximately 6" from wing tip to wing tip.
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Using the moon pattern, the yellow fabric, and fusible webbing, prepare the moon for appliqué. The size of the moon can be adjusted so that it suits your background.
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Press the moon in the upper right corner of your background fabric. Press the bat somewhere over the moon (you can position this to your own taste!). The corner of your background should look similar to this:
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The background medallion should now look similar to this:
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This is the final appliqué for the top: The tree. Although the tree pattern comes in three pieces, it will be cut out of the black fabric in one piece. Print the following patterns: Tree Part 1, Tree Part 2, and Tree Part 3. Make the tree as wide as you want for your background; my tree is approximately 2 inches wide. Check the size of the trees put together with the amount of space you have for your tree on the background fabric. THIS WILL VARY, so it is important to trim your tree so that it fits on the background.
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Lay the tree pieces on the tree fabric and then fuse the tree together as a single piece of fabric. It will look similar to this:
You can see where I have overlapped the fusible webbing, but still used a single piece of fabric! -
Cut the tree out as one piece and then position it on the left side of the background. This is where you will know whether you sized it correctly in step 1! Do not press it into place yet.
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Remember the extra ghost we had from step 11 in Getting Started? Well, position it somewhere beneath the tree. The location of your ghost is entirely up to you!
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Fuse the full tree and the ghost to your black fabric. When fused, it should look similar to this:
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Print the mirror image of the RIP pattern.
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Press the RIP letters to the fusible webbing, then fuse to the muslin (or another fabric of your choice).
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Cut each of the three letters out individually.
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Press each letter onto the largest tombstone. These do not have to be "straight". Placing them randomly makes them look better, I think!
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This finishes pressing all of the appliqués into place! The top should look similar to the one shown below:
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It is now time to appliqué the entire top. Directions for learning how to button-hole stitch can be found on this site, if you need them. Once appliquéd, your top should look similar to the one below.
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Cut 4 - 4.5" x 4.5" squares from the Orange fabric. My orange fabric had nice and scary black cats on it, so I made sure to "fussy cut" each square so that a cat was centered in each square.
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Using Green #2 and Purple, cut 3 - 2.5" strips of each.
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Use 1 of each strip and sew them to one another using a 1/4" seam allowance, right sides together. Do this with all three of each strip so that you end up with 3 sets of strips.
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Press the seam allowance to the darker of the two fabrics on each of the 3 sets.
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Cut each of the 3 sets into 2.5" segments, as illustrated. You need a total of 40 segments and will have about a half of a strip set left over.
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Using 2 of the segments, place them right sides together, but facing opposite directions, as shown:
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Line up the seams so that they "lock" into place and then sew the four-patch, using a 1/4" seam allowance, as shown below:
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Repeat step 7 until you have 20 sets of the four-patches.
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Sew 4 of the four-patches together to form border 1.
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Sew 4 of the four-patches together to form border 2.
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Sew 6 of the four-patches together to form border 3.
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Sew 6 of the four-patches together to form border 4.
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Sew 1 of the 4.5" orange squares onto one end of border 3, as shown:
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Sew 1 of the 4.5" orange squares onto the other end of border 3.
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Sew 1 of the 4.5" orange squares onto one end of border 4.
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Sew the last 1 of the 4.5" orange squares onto the other end of border 4.
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Next, find the mid-point of the side of the quilt top, and place a pin there, as illustrated below:
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Find the mid-point of border 1 and line it up with the pin in step 17, as shown below. Sew this border on.
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Now find the mid-point of the other side of the quilt top, and place a pin there. Then find the mid-point of border 2 and line it up with the pin in this step. Sew this border on. The top should look similar to this:
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Press the borders so that the seams go toward the border.
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Next, find the mid-point of the top and the mid-point of border 3. Line these up, then sew the top border on, being careful to match the seams with the squares to the seams of borders 1 and 2. You may have to gently ease this in. I first found the mid-point, then pinned each of the seams at the squares next, then eased the rest in.
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Repeat step 21 for the bottom border.
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Press the top and bottom borders toward the borders. The top should look similar to this:
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OPTIONAL: Appliqué a cat using the cat pattern in the lower left corner, so that the cat is positioned over part of the border and tree, as shown:
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Sandwich the top with batting and backing, then quilt as you desire.
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Cut the binding fabric into 2.5" strips, then bind as usual, as shown below:
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Last, but not least, label your quilt! Here is a photo of my finished quilt:
For more information, please contact quilting@quiltingpassion.com
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