Halloween is almost here, which means celebration preparations are going on at my house. I absolutely love Halloween, and is my favorite part of the year. It is also one of my favorite things about quilting since Halloween fabrics come out so early. Every year, I try to do at least one Halloween themed quilt, and Bat the therapy cat likes to help out.
Bat likes to help with quilting
During a trip to Illinois back in April, I discovered Bolines Quilt Fabric Warehouse. If you find yourself anywhere around central Illinois, do yourself a favor and stop here. Not only do they have an huge selection of fabric, their prices are amazing. They also have a wide selection of quilt kits. When I’m traveling, I like to get at least one quilt kit from any store that I visit. My first visit to Bolines, I ended up getting two of their half yard kits and one of their five yard kits. (I have since visited again on a more recent trip and stocked up on more kits.)
One of the half yard kits that I picked up turned into my Halloween quilt for this year. The kit consists of six half yards of coordinating fabrics and a simple pattern. This kit was made up of Dancing in the Shadows fabric line by Faye Burgos. I fell in love with it the second I saw it.
The more I worked on this quilt, the more I fell in love with it. The pattern was super easy, perfect for beginners or anytime you want to bust out a quilt top in a day. I was actually surprised at how quick it was to put together. Looking at the pattern on paper, I wasn’t quite sure how much I would like it, but once it came together I was really happy with it. Even when it was on the long arm, multiple people stopped by and admired it.
The pattern was so easy, I ended up doing the other quilt kit at the same time. Not only is this pattern quick and easy, it can be reused and adapted in so many ways. When I first started collecting quilt kits, I realized that most of the patterns I was getting couldn’t easily be reused. I’m all for getting the most out of the money I spend, so any kit that gives me a pattern I can use elsewhere instantly gets a gold star in my book.
Another kit I picked up, this time at Happy Apple Quilts, was this Skull Island Quilt Kit. This is another quilt kit that comes with an easily reusable pattern, the BQ3 quilt pattern by Debbie Bowles. While smaller than what I normally do, I was excited to jump into it because I haven’t done much with angles and the side blocks looked like a challenge.
I was surprised at how easy this was to piece. It only took me roughly three hours to put together. I haven’t decided what to do with this top. I may go on the hunt after Halloween to see if I can find more of the fabric on sale to make it bigger. Or I might just quilt it as is, and let Bat have an new quilt to curl up on.
I hope everyone has a fun, safe and happy Halloween!
