Easy Quilt Patterns: Happy Hall-Whoo-Ween Door Quilt

“By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.

Open locks, Whoever knocks!” — the second Witch, MacBeth, William Shakespeare

The days of colorful leaves and crisp fall air has arrived, and that can mean only one thing: quick and easy quilt patterns: Happy Hall-Whoo-Ween Door Quilt.

Halloween visitors will be knocking at your door on the last night of October. Say hello to your callers with this cheerful owl Halloween door quilt, which has strong neodymium magnets sewn in the corners to adhere it to metal doors. The design layout can also be used to decorate a trick or treat bag that features light reflecting gross grain ribbon to help make your little goblins more visible as they make their nighttime rounds.

You will need:

• 20 inch wide x 24 inch long quilting cotton in night sky color
• 14 inch wide x 20 inch long cotton batik in brown
• fat quarter yellow or gold fabric
• 18 inch long x 20 inch wide piece of tear away stablizer
• muslin
• HeatnBond Feather Lite iron on adhesive
• Applique press sheet
• quilt batting
• two black or amber colored buttons
• embroidery floss
• sewing machine threads: sew all and holographic embroidery
• bobbin threads
• basting spray
• Micro tweezer snips

• Inkjet printer fabric
• neodymium magnets (found at large craft stores or home improvement stores)

Wash, dry and press all fabrics for this project.

Download all the pattern pieces HERE. You may find you might have to resize them. The design layout is intended as a guide only. Feel free to make the layout your own.

1. Use the design layout as a guide to free-hand draw/or trace the tree branch onto a piece of tear away stabilizer. Cut out on the drawn line.
2. Place the wrong side of the tree branch fabric onto the stabilizer. Pin or spray the fabric to the stabilizer. Cut out the branch shape you have traced or drawn, adding 1/4 inch seam allowance around the whole branch.
3. Leave the stabilizer paper in place and fold the edges of the fabric crisply around the edge. Use a running stitch with matching thread to baste all around the tree branch shape and stabilizer.
4. When the whole shape is basted, thoroughly press it. Allow it to cool and then tear away the stabilizer. Leave the basting stitched in place, as they form part of the branch texture. Set this aside for now.
5. With right sides together, pin the gold fabric to the same amount of muslin. Use a large dinner plate to trace a circle on the muslin.
6. Use a small machine stitch to sew the circle all around the traced line. Cut out, ensuring you have a 1/4 seam allowance. Clip curves every 1/2 inch.
7. Cut an X in the muslin. Turn the circle through this X.
8. Use a chop stick or similar to smooth the curves. Wiggle the seams between your thumb and fore finger to ensure they are smooth curves. Press.
9. Pin this moon to the night sky fabric, using the layout illustration as a guide. Pin, and slip stitch to the night sky.
10. Add the branch to the scene. Pin and slip stitch to the night sky.
11. Load an inkjet fabric sheet into the printer, and print the words onto the sheet.
12. Use the cloud template to trace the cloud shape around the words. This is easier to do it you tape the word print out to a sunny window or a light box.
13. As you did with the moon, match the inkjet printout with the same amount of muslin. Sew along the traced shape of the cloud. Cut out the cloud shape, clipping curves.
14. Use pinking shears, or a rotary cutter with a wave blade to cut out the words. Place the words on the lower edge of the moon. Use a tiny applique stitch to attach the word cloud to the door quilt, overlapping the moon slightly.

The Halloween door quilt is coming together nicely. Come back tomorrow when we continue. Owl be seeing ya….