Fossil Quilt - October OMG

This is still a work in progress, but I thought I might share some pictures of the previous stage as it represents my minimum goal for October - making the blocks for my fossil quilt.

This is the final (hopefully) layout and I have already started putting them together using the quilt-as-you-go method. Sorry for picture quality - I couldn't take it all off my design wall and the light in the room is not good enough.

I had a lot of fun quilting the blocks. Some are based on photos of real fossils (with a lot of artistic license), others are pure art)))

I also made three "geological strata" blocks which work nicely bringing together the colors on the FMQ blocks.

I also included a pieced butterfly block, just because I'm obsessed with pieced butterflies)) Anyway, it ties in somewhat with the "natural history" theme.

I think I might still finish it in the remaining October days, or in early November, anyway)). My work got interrupted by piecing Forest Friends blocks and also making Halloween costumes for the girls.

I didn't actually make the witch dress from scratch, instead I bought a nice "occasion" dress and covered the skirt and collar with the Halloween fabric - raw edges, no fuss ))) Will do for the holiday, and then she'll still have the nice dress to wear for Christmas or New Year parties.

The Witch and her Kitten went to school like this on Thursday, because next week is their mid-term break.

Happy Halloween!

Linking up to:
October OMG at Red Letter Quilts
Free motion Mavericks at Lizzy Lenard Vintage Sewing
Fabric, Thread and Yarn at France Nadeau
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina-Marie
Finished or not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts

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Tips and Tutorials Tuesday - Pumpkin Candy Holder

This tutorial will be linked to Tips and Tutorials Tuesday - a roundup of wisdom from around the net hosted by Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl - visit and learning something new and interesting.

Also make sure you visit Handmade Halloween linky party hosted by Bernie @ Needle and Foot for some spooky inspiration, there's still time to make your Halloween projects.

I'm excited to show you a fun Halloween (or just autumn decor) project, with a cheerful bit of color and practicality all in one.

I call it the Candy Holder, but obviously you can use it to hold any odd stuff (including sewing supplies), or probably to store your Halloween decor elements from one year to the next.

I'll let you in on a secret - it's not really full of candy, there's fabric stuffed underneath actually...

My inspiration for this came from this tutorial for a cute fabric tea-pot, which can also be used for storing stuff and makes a nice present. Last year I tried to repeat it small-scale with orange fabrics and made these cuties that my kids now use as trinket boxes:

This year I decided to go big and made the pumpkin about life-size, it measures 7'' tall about 8'' across the bottom. I adjusted the pattern for the larger size increasing the number of segments and changing the shape somewhat. I tried out the first draft of the pattern with another pumpkin, which I didn't like shape of, so I now have quite a harvest:

And I put together a tutorial with tons of step-by-step photos. This is my first sewing tutorial, so I welcome all critical remarks and corrections, and I'd be absolutely thrilled if you made your own pumpkin and shared in the comments!

Pumpkin Candy Holder Tutorial

You can download my version of the pattern here (it's free!):

Pumpkin pattern pdf to download

To make a Fabric Pumpkin Halloween Candy Holder you'll need:

• about 1/3 yard of fabric for the "outside" (or various orange scraps to that amount)
• about 1/3 yard of fabric for the "inside"
• a scrap of green fabric
• card-stock (or plastic) for the bottom and the lid (about A3 page in all, I recycle boxes for that)
• cushion filling (hollowfiber) or batting scraps to stuff the shape
• matching thread

Here's what we do: