I have numerous holiday kits and decided to get this one out. The pattern, Haunted Cottage© by Jain Barrett , was available at one of the local quilt shops. The basic method is fusble applique with numerous opportunities for embellishing, which I did not take full advantage of. GO ME for not over-thinking this.
For the fusible, I used Misty Fuse®. I really love this product. It doesn’t add weight to your fabric, you can lift it up if need be, and it doesn’t leave any gunk on your needle. None! Plus you don’t have to reverse the pattern when tracing. If you’ve never tried Misty Fuse®, I suggest you do. Basically you trace your shape onto parchment paper, place the Misty Fuse ® between your fabric and parchment paper and iron. This process transfers the pencil onto the fabric. GENIUS!
The fun begins when you get all your pieces cut out and then start placing them. A few years back, I taught a technique where you prequilt your background before appliquing. This pattern is so fun to look at so it didn’t need anything extra. I used a very narrow zig-zag stitch for this process. I didn’t follow any lines, just enough to hold it together. This is a wall hanging; not a quilt that is going to be washed on a regular basis.
Once the shapes were fused onto the background, I begin stitching. This stitching also served as quilting. I used a small blanket stitch. I could have stitched down each piece before fusing the next, but I really wanted to practice my blanket stitch and didn’t want to add bulk. (I have a big fusible project on the tarmac and perfecting, well at least improving this skill will come in handy.)
I had fun digitizing some of the pieces. The spider web was stitched with Glow in the Dark thread; the fact that I actually remembered having this product is in itself amazing. I must tell my daughter; she sometimes thinks I’m losing my mind. The cat and pumpkin were done with Bernina’s DesignWorks and the owl, tree, and bats are machine embroidered that I digitized.
The pattern showed squiggly lines on the prairie points, so I spent a little extra time doing that. I love how a basic stitch like a zig-zag can add so much whimsy to a piece.
I’m giving myself a pat on the back for getting this done well ahead of Halloween.
