A Frightful Halloween Sewing Story

    Things are going seriously awry this FFOctober! Fabric keeps disappearing, Jack the Ripper has struck, and projects are multiplying like rats! (Queue up the music "The Sorcerer's Apprentice while reading for maximum effect.) I’m desperately trying to get this blog post done, in case I disappear next... HELP!

   I started off the month by crushing item #1 on my list, the September Sew Sampler box--until I decided I like it SEW much, I’d make it bigger. Then, Neighbor #5 was coming along nicely, until the backing fabric I bought just disappeared, along with most of the yardage I ordered to complete items 2-9 on the list. A lot of time was spent looking for all of this. It's a big package and I just can't even remember if I opened it. You know the drill-- I am probably looking right at it!

    The only thing that’s stopping me from just reordering it all, is the knowledge that as soon as I do, I will find everything. So I moved all the way down to item #10, the Spooky Box. This is the cutest thing ever-- I love the fabric-- just look at all the cute things and all the colors. It is "Fright Delight" by Lindsay Wilkes from Riley Blake.

   I thought I could make two of them with the usual Fat Quarter Shop excess, but my math has been extremely off lately. I decided to remove all the white jelly roll strips so they wouldn’t compete with my ghosties. I also just want three ghosts in a row, instead of the “B” in "Boo." None of this was factored in my calculations.

    I made strip sets of 3 to expedite all those little squares--a junior jelly roll was provided. I totally forgot I needed some loose squares to make HSTs for the little arms and tail and to round off the corners of the ghosts-- hence Jack’s appearance, as I liberate squares from my strip sets. Then pieces went missing-- 3 ghost foreheads and one body. Does this look like one unhallowed mess so far?

     There’s no longer enough pieces for a second table runner-- not even close, but I do have a “baby ghost” idea in my head as a fallback--another new project. Why? I seem to have an aversion to left over pieces from these kits. Instead of trying to do math for the baby ghosts, I’m just waiting see what I have left when this thing finally gets worked out. I am totally not opposed to just sewing squares together for a set of cute Halloween mug rugs. I do love this thing, though! I may never have made it to this piece this month if my house was in order.

    The Summer Memories baskets fell by the wayside this week, at the point where I have only eight baskets to go. At least I know where everything is for this project! I did need to order sashing fabric at this point-- I’m almost ready for the huge assembly job. The original Susan Ache quilt had a stripe, then Kimberley Jolly used a stripe, so every one pretty much used a stripe. So I picked a stripe, oddly staying with the herd for once in my life. I also needed quite a bit of yardage for the border, and just 1/2 yard for little red cornerstones between the blocks.

     While I was looking at the fabrics I have left to see what else I needed, I noticed I pulled out all the white jolly bar pieces from three jolly bar packs-- so I now have an entire jolly bar of white. Too many leftover pieces for my comfort, again! That's how the idea came they’d make a fantastic star quilt. 

    The Sew Sampler box originally came with this pattern: 

     So while ordering fabric to finish Summer Memories, I bought even more to make the Berrylicious Star! The dark blue is going to make the HSTs with all my left over whites, and then the teal blue is going to be the large areas behind the star. 

   So out of one tiny box, with a table runner pattern I have managed to dream up a king size quilt and a large throw. My name is Carol, and I have a problem.

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   Can we all please say a prayer there isn't enough left for so much as a mug rug after all of this?

   So nothing checked off this week for "FFOctober," but we do have a "New Projects" list!

1. Large September Sew Sampler Box Throw
2. Baby Ghost Table Runner

3. Berrylicious Star

    In a moment of truth, the Bluebird of Happiness visited our bird feeder-- I am never as happy as when dreaming up new quilt projects and I've now redubbed the month "UFOctober!" 

Join me!

xox

Carol