Chillingsworth Halloween Scrap Quilt (#85)

Is it ever too soon for Halloween?  I think not!

This paper pieced coffin template is free, along with other wonderful tutorials from Jeni Baker of In Color Order. I loved it and not knowing how to paper piece wasn't going to stop me ... with the help of YouTube, Google and a love of coffins ... viola!

I had saved a bag of scraps from my other Chillingsworth quilts (here).  Made some 'fake' flying geese with half square triangles.

Every inch of border fabric was cobbled together.  I ran out of the black background after two coffins which worked out fine because my paper piecing skills really need a proper class of instruction.

It's no secret I love Aurifil 50wt. for piecing and quilting.  It melds into the minky I frequently use and I rarely get thread breaks or loads of lint.  What I am having fun with is using brighter thread colors that make even my simple quilting look nice.  On the front is hot neon orange #1104.

And on the back is black dimple dot minky quilted with Aurifil 50wt. #5004 (dark grey) in the bottom bobbin.

When I ran out of scraps the quilt was just too small, so I did cheat and buy a yard of Chillingsworth damask - but seriously, who can resist these tiny little skulls?

And here is the big reveal.  Another "Frankenweenie" quilt whose criteria is to use up every last scrap of leftover fabric from other quilts.  

Something new for me to do is link up with others - but I am pleased to join Scraptastic Tuesday hosted by She Can Quilt which I subscribe to and have enjoyed reading for some time.  Lots of inspiration, tutorials and guidance ... a great site to check out.

Materials:
Chillingsworth / Echo Park
Aurifil 50wt. #1104 and #5004
Warm & White batting
Minky / dimple dot black
Thanks to Jeni Baker In Color Order
Size: 52" x 51"
August 2017

Chillingsworth Quilts (#38 & #39)

A half yard bundle of Chillingsworth fabric made two great skeleton quilts - inspired by a picture from the International Quilt Market, June 2014.

Left:  59" x 69"             Right:  60" x 69"

The quilt tops were cut and sewn at the same time to help me keep track of the layouts. 

They sat finished for a year, waiting for me to learn free motion quilting so I could stitch around the skeletons.  I never learned so it was time to experiment.

I did a grid pattern that was pretty nice - using this video from Nancy Zieman.  She uses this technique on a placemat but I found it also works on something as large as the skeleton panel (24"x44").  My lines are spaced 3" apart and since this panel didn't have an edge to sew off - I just sewed down the side of the panel until I came to a part that needed quilting.  This panel was done with one continuous line of stitching, following a grid made with a Washable Wonder blue marker.

This skeleton panel was done free form using a walking foot - going forward & backwards and around the image ... much harder since my sewing machine was too small for so much minky & batting stuffed into the throat. Never again!

The darker areas of the quilt were sewn with broken zigzags and straight stitching.  Aurifil 50wt. thread was used for piecing & quilting - and worked really well tension wise - the grey stayed on the top, the light sand on the bottom. 

Materials:
Chillingsworth /designed by Echo Park
Aurifil 50wt.
Warm & White batting
Minky / dimple dot beige
July 2015

Chillingsworth ... ready to quilt

Inspired by a picture from Pinterest (from the International Quilt Market), this Chillingsworth quilt top is finished and ready to sandwich. 
The back will be beige minky and quilted using Aurifil 50wt. light sand for the top and bottom bobbin around the skeleton -  and then a combo of light sand & smoke for for rest of the quilt.  I don't want to take any chances that a darker bottom thread might peak through in the light areas due to bottom bobbin issues.

The square blocks are cut at 6" and the Half Square Triangles also started out at 6" - made and trimmed to 5" finished size.