Welcome to my Birthday Bash Month. I will be sharing fun things with you the whole month of October, like new patterns, giveaways, tutorials and more. Yes. It’s true, I was born on Halloween. Although my mother wished, hoped, and most likely prayed that I wouldn’t be born on that day, I was. She feared that I would be called a witch, or worse, so she proactively dressed me as a pumpkin for the holiday. I grew to love my birthday and all it had to offer. Things like candy, funny songs, school carnivals, and dressing up as something other than me.  I still love the holiday! I love decorating my home. A quilt is a great way to spread that spooky feeling. You can put them over the back of a couch, hang them on the wall, put them on the table (like a tablecloth), even at the bottom of a bed. They are perfect because they are easy to take out and put away. I have just the Halloween quilt project for you, a free pattern for my Gone Batty quilt. I hope you love it!!

The fabric used in this Gone Batty quilt is Cats, Bats and Jacks. My Minds Eye created it for Riley Blake Designs. The line features everything in its name and so much more. Cats – the cat head fabric (as a total cat lady this is my favorite); Bats – bats in whimsical flight; Jacks – fun vintage Jack-o-lanterns. The line also has skulls and crossbones, rough and random dots, and a fun text print. Some of the prints have a great surprise to them . . . they glow in the dark. I can see the whole line used in bags, pillows, costumes, and even a cycling cap (my hubby’s request).  I love its simple palette. The traditional Halloween blacks, grays, and oranges lend themselves to a vintage feel. That is my favorite part about the line, the way it blends to perfection.

Gone Batty Quilt

I created the quilt as a project for Cheryl Brown’s website, Quilter Chic. I just wanted to give her a quick shout out. Thank you, Cheryl, for featuring me on your blog. The quilt is a revisit to a past Halloween project. I used a different size of this block in a table runner tutorial. I loved the block and have always known I would make a quilt pattern based on the bat block. And this year I finally did it. I feel like it it kinda looks like an Irish chain quilt. What do you think? The bat block has half square triangles in it and quarter square triangles in it, as well as traditional piecing. You definitely won’t get bored making this block.

For your free copy of the Gone Batty quilt click here. The pattern includes a throw size quilt and a queen size quilt.

The Quilting

On a four hour drive where I was alone with my thoughts and quilting podcasts, I thought of the perfect way to quilt the Gone Batty quilt. Spiderwebs and a crocheted effect around the bat. It was perfect as a concept, however when I attempted to actually quilt the quilt, it was a bit of a mess. The spacer block was a little too large for me to make lines without shifting the fabrics and making a small pucker on the front. After I quilted the outside out a few bats and two spacer blocks, I had had it. I took it with me to my sister’s house (four houses away) and we pinned the sandwiched quilt to the longarm and it worked. On the longarm, I quilt all the spacer blocks. Then when I was back home, I quilted the bats on my domestic machine. I am totally disappointed because you don’t really see the quilting. The dot fabric takes away from the quilting. I should have done something a little easier, but the back looks incredible and another great lesson was learned.

The Spook-tacular Giveaway

Now let’s talk about the giveaway for the Gone Batty quilt. The prize: a 10″ stacker of Cats, Bats and Jacks; a 10″ stacker of Confetti Cottons Halloween solids; a Halloween project book; a quilt notebook; Riley Blake Designs Tote; Clover clips and Aurifil floss . To enter, head over to my Instagram page. Like the giveaway photo, follow me, follow Riley Blake Designs, and after you have done these three things tag a friend or as many friends as you would like. Each tag will get you an entry into the giveaway. Once a random number is generated, I will make sure that you have liked the photo and follow both Riley Blake Designs and Brown Bird Designs, and once it has been verified a winner will be announced. For a bonus entry, comment here and tell me what your favorite Halloween memory is. Make sure to add your Instagram handle so I get the entry correct. The winner will be announced October 15 on Instagram. Good luck everyone!!