Halloween "I Spy - Matching" Quilt/Playmat

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.


Finished size: 52" x 52"

(click on photos to enlarge)

🎃FINISHED QUILT:🎃

Front piecing: An 8x8 grid of 5" fabric snowball squares. I used novelty fabrics in fall colors, (playful Halloween and Food themes) and the snowball corners are made from gray-dotted cotton. The goal was to provide a lot of neutral (gray) space to balance the bright colors.

Borders: An interior 2.5" wide border of gray-dotted fabric surrounds the snowball grid. Then a 2.5" shortened piano-key border follows, with a final 4" border repeating the gray-dotted cotton.

Backing: I bisected the awesome gray/blue jack-o-lantern fabric diagonally with more of the gray-dotted cotton so that the yardage would be wide enough.

Quilt Stitching, Pattern: I quilted using edge-to-edge "Pumpkins 2" from Intelligent Quilting.

Quilt Stitching, Thread: I used a lighter "Genoa Gray" (So Fine 50 #503) thread for the front of the quilt, and a much darker "Smoke" (So Fine 50 #409) for the quilt back.

Label: I embroidered a short message right onto the binding, one of my favorite ways to label a quilt. Then, adding an extra personal touch, I handwrote the year using a permanent fabric marking pen.

🎃INSPIRATION:🎃

A fun Halloween gift for my grandson, to be used as an "I Spy - Matching" playmat as well as a cuddly quilt.

🎃PROGRESS PHOTOS:🎃

Construction - Blocks:

Per request, I used fabrics from my stash that were not "scary" (no witches, haunted houses, ghosts, monsters, etc). I quickly discovered that I wasn't going to have enough variety of Halloween themed fabrics, so I decided to add foods that I know the quilt recipient likes, too. Staying in the fall color theme, I was able to come up with 32 different novelty prints, and I used 2 of each print in this quilt to play the "I Spy - Matching" game.

I attached two - 2.5" squares of gray-dotted fabric to opposite corners of each 5" square, creating 64 snowball blocks in total.

I chain pieced when adding all 128 corner squares.

Construction - Block Arrangement:

I began placing the blocks on my design wall, moving some here and there to try to balance the color distribution. Once I started adding the gray-dotted corners, I did a little more rearranging so that no two patterns were too close to each other, so the "I Spy -Matching" game would be just fun enough.

Construction - Borders:

With the snowball blocks all completed and joined together, I began experimenting with borders. I knew I first wanted a gray-dotted inner border surrounding the colorful grid, to provide a neutral place for the eyes to rest.

Then I started making 6" piano key border strips, using the main colors found in the blocks. I built the strips on a thin foundation fabric, pressing after each strip was added.

However, when I auditioned the piano key border next to the quilt, I immediately realized the strips were too long. They were overpowering, and just didn't look right with the scale of the center blocks.

So I placed some neutral gray-dotted fabric over part of the piano key strips, essentially reducing their length in half. Right away I could see that was the answer to the scale dilemma.

I stopped making any more 6" piano key borders, and instead cut each of the ones I had completed in half vertically (after sewing two very narrow stay seams down the centers). Then I joined ends together to make 4 completed borders that were now 2.5" wide (versus a 5.5" finished width I had planned previously).

As I attached the colorful piano key borders, I auditioned various widths of gray-dotted fabric for the outer border, and eventually settled on 4".

Construction - Backing:

The 2 yards of 41" wide jack-o-lantern fabric I had were not going to be wide enough to accommodate the quilt's size of 52" x 52". So I referred to Lynn's tutorial for widening and/or lengthening a quilt back, a technique I've used before in this quilt, this quilt and this one. I inserted a 9" wide strip of the neutral gray-dot, again providing a place for the eyes to rest.

Quilting:

While loading the backing, I roll the loaded fabric back and forth between the back and front bar a couple times, which really helps to evenly distribute tension.

With the batting added, I then float the quilt top, before basting the entire quilt.

I used my ProStitcher software to resize, repeat, and wrap the edge-to-edge "Pumpkins 2" from Intelligent Quilting. I programmed the wrapped rows to 10.5" tall, so it only took 5 passes to complete the stitching. I just love the look of the swirly, festive pumpkins!

Beginning the first of 5 rows.

Very happy with how the pale "Genoa Gray" (So Fine 50 #503) thread stitches on the novelty fabrics without overpowering the colors or prints.

The final 5th row.

Trimming:

I lined up my ruler to cut exactly 7.75" from the outer edge of the inner 8x8 grid. That way the quilt's outer edge will be parallel to the squared center.

Binding:

I joined together several 2.5" strips of a great rust-colored fabric called Revelation Etching by Legacy Studio until I had a total of about 220" of binding strips. Then I ironed them in half.

After the binding strips are ready, but before they are attached to the quilt, I embroider the label directly onto the binding fabric. 

First I attach the binding fabric to the back of the quilt, using my sewing machine and a scant 1/4" seam.

Then I wrap the binding around to the front of the quilt. 

I use a couple of straight pins to get perfectly mitered corners.

I machine attach bindings using my Bernina 240's blind hem foot, which helps to make even, straight seams. 

Washing:

I machine washed the finished quilt twice (cold water, no bleach) using dye trapping sheets (I use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers). I always wash a quilt first before gifting...

...I want the recipient to enjoy the softness and be able to start playing and cuddling with it right away. Plus I love to see all of the scrumptious wrinkles and textures!

🎃QUILT SUMMARY:🎃

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 52" x 52"

Front piecing: An 8x8 grid of 5" fabric snowball squares, using novelty prints and neutral gray-dotted cotton.

Borders: Interior 2.5" wide border of gray-dotted fabric, a 2.5" wide shortened piano-key border, and a final 4" border repeating the gray-dotted cotton.

Back: Festive blue/gray jack-o-lantern print, bisected diagonally.

Binding: Machine-attached rust-colored cotton binding.

Quilting: Edge-to-edge "Pumpkins 2" from Intelligent Quilting. "Genoa Gray" (So Fine 50 #503) on the front, and "Smoke" (So Fine 50 #409) on the back.

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