All the Fall Things

One would think that being a quilter and crafter would mean a house full of handmade autumn decor and accessories, but my house is actually lacking. Most of my fall sewing revolves around making costumes my children wear for a maximum of three hours, dump into the dress up drawer, and promptly outgrow. When my now-12-year-old was one year old, she had a handmade sheep costume, complete with a fleecy hat that had ears and a chin strap. It turned out to be the hottest Halloween I can remember, so she didn't wear it. I never even took a picture of it. Ok, ok, I live in Texas and I knew it was a weather gamble.

I have dialed back on handmade costumes, but all the time I spend on Instagram watching creativity happen has had me itching to make some fun fall and Halloween items that can be used year after year. I resisted as long as I could because we are overflowing with holiday storage in the attic, but I can't help myself with the super adorable fabric lines like Spooktacular Too taunting me.

I saw my friend Gwen's version of Trillium Designs Witchy Toes, and I knew I had to make them! I have sewn quite a few paper pieced blocks and yet I was somehow surprised by the number of sections in this block. It took quite some time to label the pieces and piece them. I thought I might save some time by using striped fabric rather than piecing them. Ha ha. I didn't account for the time it would take to carefully line up my stripes because there are three seams on each side. I will say that I am so, so happy with how they lined up so nicely  - well worth the effort, but if I make this block again I will be sure to piece the stripes!

I really struggled with the back part of the shoes, particularly on the right side. I ripped that side and re-sewed once, but it still didn't line up properly. (watching The Vampire Diaries while I pieced probably didn't help matters) At that point, I reminded myself I was sewing a trick or treat bag for my six year old; she won't care! And is is still super cute. 

My 18 year old daughter helped me select the fabrics for the bag; she has such a good eye for mixing colors and prints. Eva picked the fabric to applique her name - Michael Miller mirror ball dots. The handle fabric, the DS Quilts orange dots, and the glittery bats fabric are all from Joann. The stripes are from Timeless Treasures and the buckle is purple MM mirror ball dots.

This back of the trick or treat bag is Spooktacular Too Scaredy Cat. This fabric is my new Halloween obsession. I love, love, love the vintage feel to it and I want to sew everything using it. It is a large scale print, and I chose the bag dimension to fit every cat on the bag.

To add a little bling to the inside of the bag, I used a glittery bat fabric I found at Joann. It's super cute!

Continuing the Halloween theme, I made a quick bottom zipped pillow cover. Rather than remove existing pillow covers from pillows on the sofas, I used one of the less attractive pillows that matches the sofa upholstery. The bottle fabric is my other favorite Spooktaculer Too fabric.

I'd like to have an autumnal pillow on the sofa through Thanksgiving, so I cut into my precious Hadley fabric by Denyse Schmidt. Removing the blues from the bundle give this line a decidedly autumnal feel. This is the fastest pieced pillow I have ever made. I stacked my fat quarters four at a time, cut strips, and then subcut into 2.5" squares also stacked in groups of four. I tried not to get overly worked up about precise cutting and matching seams as I was cramming this project in between party preparation activities, but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Once I added two pillows to the sofa, I decided we needed a couple more - for a total of two Halloween pillows and two general autumn pillows. A cute foxy print from Joann Fabric and more Spooktacular cats.

                    

My daughter fell in love with the fox print fabric and made herself a little tote bag and pencil pouch.

I have been dying to make a modern maples quilt, but with so many projects I thought maybe a table runner for my formal dining room would be a better project. I absolutely love my blocks, but my background fabric is too white for the rich tones of my dining room. I think I need to seam rip and make something else out of my four blocks, but I have since moved on to Christmas sewing and my modern maples are folded in a closet.