Monday 19 September 2016

Witches and Castles - Crafted Appliqué Magic

I'm a member of the Irish Patchwork Society, which is going to have its AGM in early October. The challenge for the meeting has the topic "Witches and Castles" and a size limit of 15''.  So, the way my brain works (do as you're told) I squeezed both witches and a castle into 15 inches and here they are:

Halloween mini quilt

UPD: You can check out the other challenge quilts (including the winner!) in this post. I'm also linking this post to the Handmade Halloween linky party hosted by Bernie @Needle and Foot. Make sure you visit it for Halloween inspiration!


I played with several variants of the scene, basically Little Witch + Cat, Big Witch + Cat and Little Witch + Big Witch

My husband chose the two witches variant, but I found a way to sneak a cat into the picture, as he brings a feeling of Drama (or should I say Doom?) with him - because you know what's going to happen next, right?

Another source of inspiration for me was our last year's Halloween window display (for which I found inspiration somewhere on Pinterest):

DIY Halloween decorations

My idea called for intricate detailing to make the silhouettes look interesting and I knew I had to master the Crafted Appliqué technique for that. I had heard a lot of buzz in the quilting blogland about it and finally got to try it myself. You can see my rehearsal piece here. Fortunately, this idea meant that only one piece of fabric had to be treated, so that wasn't a problem (incidentally, the two fat quarters for this project were bought in Limerick, as well as the backing fabric).

Halloween mini quilt

You can see that the method worked - the edges are crisp, although I stitched quite close to the edge.

Halloween mini quilt

The busy detailing in the bottom half left the upper right corner rather empty, so I filled it with a ghost...If you didn't see it immediately, it's OK, that's often the thing with ghosts...

Halloween mini quilt

It twinkles mysteriously, being quilted with gold metallic thread, and seems also to be up to something mischievous... That left very little background free, so I did some quirky quilting to fill in the gaps.

Halloween mini quilt

I'm pleased with the result, as it has a kind of glow and a kind of mischief - season appropriate))) And I also consider my #BraveQuilter challenge and September OMG completed, so the post will be linked to these link-ups at the end of the month. It is also a New to Me in 2016 technique, so I'm linking to Celtic Thistle Stitches.

I couldn't wait till the end of the month to show it, so I'm also linking up to Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts and Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River )). Lara Buccella, the author of Crafted Appliqué book, also has a linky party on her blog for the projects made with her method, do check it for more inspiration!

21 comments:

  1. I love it! Your background creates a dramatic effect that is perfect for Halloween. And you gost is a clever detail.
    I have a question... How did you make your window display? Are the silhouette made of paper with a white fabric in the background? I would like to make something like that. :-)

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  2. What a great little quilt. And you are right it does seem mischievous. I'm going to have to see what that technique is. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. I really enjoyed seeing your sketchbook! I think the cat does bring a sense of mischief into your piece as he might just know everything over - he has that look like hes up to something!

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  4. Amazing, I relly liked how it came together!

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  5. Beautiful quilt - the colors, the composition. Very cool!

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  6. You have created a wonderful quilt. The black silhouettes are stunning on the orange batik.

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  7. This has one wonderful detail after another Lena! I love the suspense the cat adds too. I thought it couldn't get any better and then you shared about the ghost! Loved seeing your sketches.
    I'm so happy too that you liked the Crafted Applique method! I sew very close to the edge on my pieces too, because they won't unravel. You did a very wonderful job, but then you always do with your work! Thank you for the shout out and for linking up!

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  8. Extremely beautiful! I can only dream of having half your talent! Congratulations on creating such a lovely work of art!

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  9. What a beautiful design and perfect for Halloween! The Crafted Applique method is neat to use!

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  10. Those witches are so pretty and details are great! Brilliant design!

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  11. What a wonderful quilt and a great advert for the crafted applique technique! Thanks for linking up to New to Me too

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  12. This is beautiful! I love the little witches, and I'm glad you pointed out the ghost because I missed him! Fantastic finish!

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  13. That is absolutely fabulous! When I saw it on the monthly goal linkup, I had to come straight over and find out more. Just a wonderful quilt, thank you for the close-ups and the explanations of the process. This will be a hit at your meeting.

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  14. Fantastic! Absolutely adorable, and I love that you sneaked the cat in! I love this method, your edges really look nice and neat! Linkup with Needle and Foot on Wed., this is perfect for Handmade Halloween!

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  15. Fabulous. Don't you just love Lara's technique?

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  16. That's some pretty impressive quilting!

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  17. How amazing...I can't quit looking at all the details. I would love to see it up close! Happy Halloween!

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  18. How creative! I'm on a Halloween kick myself, and love the silhouette. You have indeed met your #BraveQuilter challenge, and I look forward to seeing your next!

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  19. This is adorable!! Thank you for sharing your process - I always enjoy reading how the artist got from idea to implementation to finish. The story is both interesting and inspirational. I have been seeing lots of people using the Crafted Applique method - I think I need to take a look at that book.

    Thanks also for linking up at Handmade Halloween!!

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  20. I love this! You did such a beautiful job. Thanks for sharing this with us today.

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  21. Wonderful Halloween quilt! So unique and great fabric choices and quilting too.

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