“The only thing that really scares me about Halloween is running out of candy.” —
Melanie White
Inspiration for the Halloween Quilt
Hubby and I recently attended a local Horror convention where we giddily explored isles of nostalgic merchandise, 80s and 90s figurines, and original artwork. Some of the items that really caught my eye were the handcrafted Halloween quilts elegantly sewn by a fellow fiber artist. Unfortunately, I did not catch her name (which I regret immensely), but we shared our growing love for quilting, which to this day is unfortunately looked down upon as a “granny hobby.” First off, grandmas are awesome. Secondly, I’ve recently gained an all-new respect for quilting after discovering “Art Quilts” and the “Quilts of Gee’s Bend”. Quilting is so rich with history and cultural significance.
Art Quilts
by Kimberley Pierce Cartwright
by Jackie Hillman
Art Quilts are quilts that digress from traditional blocks and geometric shapes. Instead, they embrace a more mixed media feel, utilizing unorthodox patterns, implementation of paint, and unique plays on texture. Art Quilts are also typically created for the sake of artistic expression over functionality. They helped me expand my definition of art beyond flat paintings and drawings.
Gee’s Bend Quilts
by Della Mae Bridges
by Annie Bendolph
by Agatha P. Bennett
Gee’s Bend Quilts on the other hand, are a unique discipline of their own. They originate from the small town of Gee’s Bend, an African American community along the Alabama River. Several families and communities there quilted to keep their families warm. They utilize piecing quilting techniques that made bold use of geometric shapes and contrasting colors. Today, the quilts earned their place in the art community as prized contributions to American culture. The many people who live there have seen their quilts grace the exhibits of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and even inspired First Lady Michelle Obama’s dress design in her portrait by artist Amy Sherald.
The combined experience of meeting another young quilter and discovering that you can do more with fabric than just sewing it inspired me to create a functional yet artsy piece with Halloween in mind. I had this vision of cozying up in a spooky quilt with Hubby while we have classic horror movie marathons. I’ll make my Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate and Classic Pumpkin Pie for the occasion. Quilts have the power to absorb memories, from actual stains and normal wear, to summoning moments from the past.
Halloween Quilt Design Process
When it comes to Halloween, my style is a bit rustic with elements of the occult. As I continue to experiment with me-made designs, I’m finding that my style is a bit more grungy and unsettling than I initially realized. I enjoy that farmhouse look, but with a touch of spookiness and the macabre (we have skulls and Thing on our fireplace mantel, after all).
I adore earthy, dark colors with rich purples and pops of warm orange. As a result, I drew inspiration from pumpkins, skulls, mushrooms, and leaves. Since Halloween does have an edge to it, I also ventured into metallic features. Dagger-like metals and iridescent gleams snuck their way into my project, so some of the black fabrics have metallic patterns. I wanted the purple fabrics to take up the majority of the space, so the pops of orange were used sparingly to attract the eye just enough to create interest.
Jelly Roll Quilts in a Weekend by Pam and Nicky Lintott
I used a book by Pam and Nicky Lintott called Jelly Roll Quilts in a Weekend. This amazing book helps you knock out quilts in a single weekend using only jelly rolls. However, since I am still a new quilter and I did not use jelly rolls for this project, this quilt actually took me a month to make. I’m a control freak when it comes to choosing colorways for my projects, so I decided to pick up some Halloween themed fabrics in dusky autumnal shades instead of using pre-packaged strips. I also combined them with some fabric remnants from other projects. I had to cut everything out, so it definitely did not take me a single weekend. 😅 But, of course, this was self inflicted torture.
The pattern I chose to replicate is the “Sundial” pattern. You can use either dark or light contrasts, or color contrasts to get the effect of a pinwheel. Then, you create an easy square border and bind it all together. I love this pattern because it looks more complicated than it actually is. You don’t need to cut any triangles out; you simply sew three long strips of fabric together to create a long rectangle, then cut 6.5 inch or 16.5 centimeter squares out of them. Cut each square into tringles, then sew them all together, alternating the contrasting triangles.
Quilting is not a walk in the park…
The hardest part about creating this quilt was maintaining my creative stamina. I never realized how intense quilting was until I decided to make a quilt that transcended beyond squares. Although there are different techniques available that can cut the cutting and assembling times in half, it is still a labor of love as well as precision.
I’m not going to pretend that my quilt is perfect. I ended up running out of fabric colors, and some of the patterns are facing the wrong direction. There is also a little bunching in spots, and I rushed sewing the boarder together. I am going to pretend that a lot of Cleopatra’s fur did not get stuck between the batting and backing. Her favorite projects to interrupt and tangle herself in are my quilting projects.
The backing is made up of black flannel with a random large red patch because I ran out of backing and I did not want to spend any more money to buy more flannel. Interestingly enough, Hubby loves this poorly executed feature because to him the more “homemade” something is, the cozier it is. My heart melted when he told me this, and I imagined the thousands of grandmothers over the centuries painstakingly quilting their blankets, literally fusing their blood, sweat, and tears into the fabrics—mistakes (or features) and all!
End Result
I laid the quilt on the floor in the living room. While the afternoon sun shimmered over my quilt, I watched it in awe. The quilt sort of glows, and the metallic details shimmer. I added purple embroidery to the corners to complement the boarder. I adore the mixture of orange, purple, and black. There are parts where the fabric gathers and pulls in odd places, some of the squares and not aligned, and there’s also still that big red square in the back.
But, it’s my quilt, and there’s nothing like it in the world.
After a good wash and dry, Hubby and I laid the quilt over our laps while we sat on the couch. Cleopatra planted herself between us. With plates of sautéed chicken and gravy with mashed potatoes and broccoli in tow, we ate dinner with our quilt while watching creepy documentaries.
Breaking in a quilt for the first time is pretty exciting. We love using it every night. I know I made it for the month of October, but something tells me that this is going to be a forever quilt for every season.