Happy Halloween Blog of the Month, Part 2a

Happy May everyone and welcome to month 2 of the Happy Halloween Blog of the Month!

Well, I did some calculating and decided that in order to have this quilt made in time for Halloween we need to make 3 blocks each month. This month we will be working on Mr. and Mrs. Monster and the Bat. These blocks are a bit more complicated than the first two, but I'll walk you through it. Feel free to ask questions (click on comments). Chances are if something is unclear to you it is unclear to someone else.

I like to consolidate my pieces when I'm drawing the patterns. By squishing pattern pieces closer together and placing smaller pieces inside of larger pieces you will use much less LSAS2. You can see how I did this on Mr. and Mrs. Monster. Keep any large unused pieces of LSAS2, like those around Mrs. Monster, in a zip-lock bag to be used on another block.

All of the bat pieces are such strange shapes that you can't do too much squishing. Do not draw any pieces inside of the Bat's tummy, because I have a special hint that I learned and modified this week to help us press down large shapes such as the ghost's body from last month.

As we did last month, cut the shapes out leaving about 1/4" on either side of the penciled line, except for the smaller pieces and the bat's tummy.

For the bat's tummy or any other large piece, cut the shape out with the 1/4" on either side of the penciled line, except, leave the paper attached in a few places. You can see that I left the inside shape attached for about 1" at the top and bottom of the shape.

Keeping the shape together will help you press the LSAS2 down without distorting the shape. Press the shape carefully making sure not to press the inner part. Cut the inner LSAS2 away when you know that you will not distort the shape.

Bond the fusible shapes to the fabric. If you don't like the fabric we chose, feel free to choose something from your own stash. I used the wrong side of the aqua fabric for Mrs. M's bolts because I wanted them a little lighter than her face. Remember to line your light fabrics. I used lined fabric for all the eyes, Mrs. Monster's hair stripe, and the Bat's teeth. Depending on how dark the background fabric is, you might need to line other fabrics.

Build smaller sections on the Applique Pressing Sheet before combining them together. For Mr. M bond the eyes, nose, and eyebrow as a section, the shirt and v-neck as a section, and the bolts, head, and hair as the final section. This makes it easier to complete the face accurately. Be sure to mark the detail lines using a lightbox or a sunny window before bonding the head to the background fabric-notice that I forgot this step. Mr. M is bonded to the darkest fabric.

Again, build 3 sections for Mrs. M on the Applique Pressing Sheet--the eyes, lids, and nose for the first section. Bond the hair stripe to the hair for the second. The bolts, face, and collar make up the third section. Mark detail lines before bonding to background. Oops, forgot again. Mrs. M is bonded to the 2nd to the lightest fabric.

The sections to build for the Bat are the eyes and lids for one section. The second section consists of the tummy and the wings. The third are the ears, inside ears, and head. After assembling them all together, add the teeth, and mark the detail lines-yes, I forgot again. The Bat is bonded to the lightest background.


Okay, we are ready to applique. Stay tuned, because I will have more hints in Part 2b.

These blocks are soooo cute and pretty darn easy!

Lynda

PS, It's not to late to work along with us and have a wonderful quilt ready to display in October. Patterns and kits are still available. Click on the HH Blog of the Month logo on the sidebar to see all lessons.