I am happy to say that I have moved on to a new Halloween UFO project! I pulled out my Fig Tree monthly sew-along that I’ve been working on for at least two years. This one is called Halloween Figs. Some of the blocks do involve applique and as you see, I have my units all ready to iron down and machine applique.
Machine applique is one of those methods I don’t do very often, so it is like reinventing the wheel to get up to speed again. I do like to use a material called Heat and Bond, which is a lightweight fusible interfacing that I iron onto the backside of my fabric. I will have traced my shapes onto the interfacing, so once it is ironed on to the backside of the fabric, I cut out my shapes as you can see above. The next step is to peel away the paper and iron the other side of the pieces to the background fabric. I am pretty sure I will do one petal and two leaf units at a time.
These are super simple shapes, so the raw-edge machine appliqué should go smoothly. I use either an invisible applique stitch or a blanket stitch. Sometimes a zig-zag stitch can look nice too. If I can find a thread that is an exact match, I will possibly do a blanket stitch.
This is roughly the placement of the blocks I’ve made so far. There is one random sunflower shaped block with orange petals and a nine patch center that I have no idea what to do with or where it came from. Obviously I made it, but it definitely is not part of this project! After more than two years it is a miracle I could even find this project box, much less get up to speed on its contents.
As with most Fig Tree sampler projects, there will be a gazillion smaller filler blocks that surround the larger blocks. There are a ton of flying geese in my future. Also, after working on the Fig Tree Strawberry Gardens quilt for months and months, I am in no hurry to devote myself to completing another Fig Tree project. I will finish this eventually, and for now I will just see if I can make a few more blocks during the weeks up until Halloween.
Ta Da! Spooks and Spells, a kit and pattern by Stacy Iest Hsu is a finish! I love this Home Sweet Haunt fabric and found the project to be fast and easy. It is only 63″ square, so it’s a small quilt that would be good on the back of a chair or sofa, or perhaps as a wall hanging. I don’t really do wall hangings, so this one just might go out on my front porch love seat during October.
Thanks for all the feedback on how you view my blog posts and whether or not you see the featured top image when you view it. My tech guy says he thinks he fixed the issue, but now I am wondering if you might see duplicates of that top image? Let me know if you do.
One quick personal update. As you know my granddaughter Eva has started high school. She is on the girls’ varsity water polo team and is super busy with after-school practices and all the other demands of high school. One of her classes is Floral Arts, where the students learn floral arranging and other components of plant care and artistic creativity. Every now and then the class has a sale of their amazaing arrangements in the school parking lot at pick up time on a Friday.
Is that not a gorgeous fall arrangement? I chose it not knowing who made it, and it turns out it was not my Eva, but just look at the beautiful fall flowers and the fun ceramic pumpkin they are sitting it! It makes me so happy. The Floral Arts program is for two years and at the end, the students actually earn a certificate of completion that would enable them to get a job with a florist.
Have a great weekend everyone!
18 Responses
Absolutely LOVE the Spooks and Spells – it turned out beautifully 🎉😍
What a wonderful idea for the students to sell their work! And I love the idea of that kind of class being offered in high school. That arrangement is gorgeous.
And they were ridiculously low priced! That arrangement in the pumpkin vase was only $25!
oh.my.gawd.
Love the spooks quilt and I love the “new” old blocks with the applique – it will be so pretty when it is completed. Such a lovely flower arrangement too. What a nice subject at school – we never did that and I wish it did! I’m sure Eva’s arrangement was just as nice.
We live in a rural community and at the high school level there are so many classes based on plants and agriculture. This floral class is sponsored by the FFA (Future Farmers of America), which is a group that focuses on leadership, personal growth, and career success for students interested in all things agriculturally related. The classes focus on hands-on, real-world experiences that extend into careers in business, technology, and science. It is an amazing organization.
I have to get that Spooks pattern I’ve been ogling it for quite some time so I’m buying it today. No kit, but they have some of the fabrics and the panel.
I feel your pain with the Figs pattern and little pieces. I started a basket pattern of hers and I was still too much of a beginner then to handle the little pieces. Maybe I’ll get it out next spring.
For that Spooks and Spells project, the panel is a key element, but I don’t think you will have any problems getting your hands on the fabric you need. Worse comes to worse, the colors in the panel would be easy to match to other Halloween collections.
Stick with the Fig Tree project. They are fiddly, but also great skill builders. I am really getting up to speed with my machine applique!
Halloween Figs will be wonderful, definitely a commitment! Spooks and Spells turned out great, just the right size for decorating for the season. The Fall floral arrangement is beautiful, what a fun option for a high school class.
They sure didn’t have many career focused classes when I went to highschool. Auto shop maybe?
Your finished Spooks & Spells is going to be so much fun to display every year! The Fig Tree blocks are going to take some effort to get to the finish line! I have no doubt that you’ll do it over time, though. The high school floral arranging class sounds really interesting whether a student wants a career or just to have the knowledge & skills. Now if they’d only bring back Home Ec classes!
I took home ec in the 70s. I made my very 1st pie in that class. I can’t remember what else we learned. the curriculum needs to be updated so young people know the basics of cooking, laundry, and finance. ;p
When I took Home Ec the teacher managed to suck all the joy and fun out of it. What a drag. She even made the cooking element boring.
that fig tree sampler is going to be gorgeous….tedious but gorgeous! I got an updated covid shot yesterday so I feel like crap today. I will be spending today sleeping after I get the monster out for his mid-day walk.
I hope your weather is nice. ours is just gorgeous.
Beautiful weather today and yesterday. I did get out with Archie, which he loved. Hope to do it again today. Feel better soon!
Methinks I’d keep Spooks & Spells indoors as it’s so cute it might walk away with someone and that would be a crying shame!
I’m with you on sewing a bit at a time and when time’s up, putting it away. That’s why I have so many UFOs!
I am surprised again that in addition to water polo, the high school has a two year flower arranging course. Did you see Eva’s arrangement?
Hugs!
I have gotten on a roll with the Fig Tree project today. I dove into the machine applique and it came out great! I am thinking I should just do all the applique blocks at once now that I have my rhythm!
Love your finished quilt and what a great floral arrangement! I love when the schools teach practical and fun classes!
I agree. Yay for school teaching practical skills!