Goblins and ghosties and things that go bump in the night

As an Aussie, Halloween is not really something we do.  My Mum spent many years railing against the Americanisation of our country when Halloween started to become more of a thing here.  But now, as an adult, I am finding it hard not to be sucked in.

In my local neighbourhood all the little children are now old enough to get into trick or treating and it has made me nostalgic for the sense of wonder that events like these inspire in little children.  So I determined last year that I was going to go all out and decorate the house and find a costume.. all the jazz! (PS I totally did and it totally rocked.  Now I need to up my game for this year... what have I gotten myself into!!)

It so happened that a cute quilt pattern had came out which fit with both my desire to decorate for Halloween, and my Calendar of Quilts project.

The Ghost Quilt by Then Came June (in collaboration with Pen & Paper Patterns) was released in April (along with some other very cute patterns that you might see pop up on the blog in the coming months... and by might, I mean, I am onto my 4th of these modern holiday quilts). At the time, I earmarked it as something I might, very possibly want to make.

A quilt-a-long got underway, but I wasn't quite in the headspace to join in so I happily stalked the hashtag, until one day I decided, bugger it, I'm in. Before I knew what was happening I'd hit purchase on the pattern and was off to Spotlight, credit card in hand.

The block is simple, but a little fiddly.  If I did it again, I'd try to find ways to do more strip piecing rather than cutting in advance and then having to line up up my little pieces properly to make them fit.  I'm lazy, I don't measure properly and my 1/4 seam is clearly all over the place, but it is what is is, yo #noapologies #nojudgementzone 

And, of course, I made this pattern more difficult for myself by using a sparkly metallic fabric for the face details.  You can't even really tell unless it's in certain lights, so I'm not sure the effort was worth it. It frayed like all get out. By the time my piecing was done I was a little bit over this quilt. 

But then I put it all together and have little ghosties swooping around, and I love it again.

The background is a grungy black and the white is just simple Kona Snow.  I'm a traditionalist at heart so white ghosts on a black base was the only thing that worked.  If I made it again, I could possibly be talked into doing different colours.  Over on insta there are some gorgeous combinations. Ah well, be true to you, I say.

I had the amazing Fiona (@quiltedbyfiona) throw it on her long arm and she covered it in spiderwebs, which I just adore.

In typical Erin fashion it was not finished in time for the quilt-a-long, but that's ok with me, because it's finished now!  That's right! My Bump in the night quilt was one of my 2018 finishes. Huzzah for me :-D

Also: how cute is that backing fabric!!!  It makes me think of an old haunted mansion - perfect!! It's also super comfy to snuggle up against, so double win.

It's bound in the same purple as my Swarm quilt, just because that's what I was in the mood for!! And I also did a proper label, so that's 3 in a row that are actually finished properly, as they should be.  look at me being a grown up *pats self on the back

And, as a bonus, this is another quilt to add to my Calendar of Quilts so I'm super duper happy about that :-D  I'm ticking away at the Calendar and inching closer to having an around the year quilt extravaganza!

Spooktaculalry yours,

E xx