Halloween is Coming
and October Free Quilt Block Patterns

Greetings -

The Halloween Quilt will be finished before Halloween 2010 - really!

I'll readily admit that it's taken weeks to get back into the swing of How-to-Quilt quilting.

With the San Diego Quilt Show right on the heels of my wonderful vacation, it's been difficult to settle in for the Fall.

But, this last week, I think I finally am fully back here in San Diego - ready for Fall and Winter quilting.

Last week, I finished editing some video showing all of my best machine quilting techniques.

It was a much bigger project than I had imagined. There are tons of clips showing specific techniques and how-tos, taken from several of the video quilts.

It ended up being 2 DVDs, and I am working on pulling together the added information you need in order to make your machine quilting easy, more fun and (of course) more beautiful!

You'll be hearing more about this later this month.

And then, having moved my Trick or Treat at the Haunted House quilt around the house for a few years now, Friday, I decided it was TIME.

I loaded up the quilt top, along with a small Christmas star wall hanging, and headed to my local quilt shop.

Every once in a while it pays to wait - even for years!

This year in the Halloween fabric, there was some green-ish (ghoulish) brown fabric that looked like wood shingles from an old outhouse (well, maybe not exactly).

Anyway, it is perfect for the border of this quilt - which is what was stopping progress.

A narrow inner border of black and gold fabric, the shingles, and a purple kitty fabric for the back, and this quilt will be finished and really ready to hang on the wall.

I'll have pictures next week - the fabric is in the washing machine - getting ready to cut.

Frankly, I can hardly wait! I think m. mouse may enjoy that quilt, too - if he isn't scared away by the bats, spiders, pumpkin and witches.

You can get the patterns and instructions showing how to sew the blocks together:

Trick or Treat at the Haunted House Halloween Quilt

Happy Quilting!

Master Quilter

m mouse is getting ready for Halloween - not to worry, the hat is just a figment of his imagination

Are You Ready for Halloween?

Now You Can Make a Fun Halloween Quilt That Will Have Your Family and Friends Asking Where You Bought It.

This Quilt is So Easy to Make, It Can Easily Be Finished
Weeks Before Your Trick-or-Treat Doorbell Rings.

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.

I'm not sure whether it's the notion of dressing up and pretending to be something different, or watching while others get roudy and have fun.

I'm certain it isn't the candy. A trick I learned from my mom - put the candy in the freezer and wait for the kids to ask for it. (After they enjoy a few pieces after the Trick-or-Treat adventure.)

In any case, to me Halloween is just fun, and a great excuse to make a kind of goofy quilt. (Not in the Disney sense.)

When I finally decided to create a Halloween quilt, I chose a bunch of different blocks, made them, and then realized that they weren't the same size.

Some were 9 inches, some 8 inches, and one or two were 12 inches. Thus, the challenge of putting them together into a quilt.

After some consideration, I decided to put them together by adding fabric on two sides, thus creating an Attic Windows effect, and the Haunted House idea.

Now, you can get the instructions for making each one of the blocks, adding the window frames, sashing and candy corn borders.

This is an easy quilt to sew together, and it makes a fun wall hanging or quilt for a sofa - it's about 40" by 60" without and additional borders.

Here are the blocks, and as you look above, you can see how they are sewn into a quilt.

Check it out: Halloween Quilt

This is on sale only during the month of October!

Popcorn Quilt Block	Candle Quilt Block	Cats and Mice Quilt Block
Broken Dishes Quilt Block	Ghostwalk Quilt Block	Snail's Trail Quilt Block
Spider Quilt Block	Pumpkin Quilt Block	The Bat Quilt Block
Witch Quilt Block	Crowfoot Quilt Block	Toad in the Puddle Quilt Block

October Events for Quilters

The month of October is full of events to celebrate. Some quilters may even want to celebrate by creating a special quilt just for the occasion.

For example, October is Class Reunion Month. It would be a great idea to craft a lap quilt using your alma mater’s colors or mascot to give away as a door prize. Contact your reunion planners and let them know so they can include the give away as part of the reunion activities. If you don’t have a reunion planned for this October, use the month to create a quilt for your upcoming reunion.

October is also Women’s Small Business Month. A lot of quilters are women, maybe even women who are thinking of starting a small business related to their craft. If you are hoping to start a quilting business, hook up with a mentor this month to help you reach your goal. If you already own a successful business, consider offering your tips to someone just starting out.

Technically, you could combine both of these monthly recognitions to start a business making quilts for class reunions. It just might be the niche market you have been hoping to find!

Pastor Appreciation Day is Oct. 10. Put together a special quilt for your preacher or priest. Wouldn’t it be fun to create a sampler using Bible inspired quilt block patterns like Rose of Sharon, Jacob’s Ladder, etc.?

National Teen Read Week is Oct. 17-23. I know most teens these days like to read the books about vampires and werewolves, but there’s a quilting book they just might like too. It’s chock full of projects that are quirky and cool. See this month’s book review for more information about Boo Davis’ new quilting book.

St. Jude’s Day is Oct. 28. I’m pretty sure this is for St. Jude the saint, not the children’s hospital. But, what better way to celebrate than to create a quilt for St. Jude’s hospital. The hospital serves many children who would love to have a quilted gift or patchwork doll created with love. Check out Hancock’s Fabrics for their line of St. Jude fabric and quilt program.

And, of course there’s Halloween on Oct. 31. There are all sorts of free patterns online for pumpkin and jack-o-lantern quilt projects. Use your own creativity to make a witch, black cat, ghost, or other scary motifs!

There is plenty to keep us quilters busy this month!

Quilting in THIS Economy!

Everyone is on a budget these days, but that doesn’t mean all your quilting “luxuries” have to be put on hold. As a matter of fact, quilting is quite a utilitarian skill and very resourceful as you probably already know.

If you want to save a few dollars here and there, here are five tips to get you started:

• Don’t throw away those flannel backed vinyl table cloths. Even if the spaghetti stain couldn’t be cleaned away, the back side is great for holding quilt blocks. Thumb tack it to a wall, vinyl facing the wall. The flannel will hold your cotton quilt blocks in place so you can experiment with layout.
• Use one of the free refrigerator or file cabinet magnets you receive in the mail or from local businesses to hold your needles. Lay it magnet side up and your needles will cling right to it. Don’t do this if you use a computerized sewing machine though. Strong magnets can erase elements of a computer hard drive or disc. Quilters with computerized machines need to stick with the standard pin cushion.
• Just because a product doesn’t claim to be “great for your sewing room” doesn’t mean it isn’t. Tools are tools. Look around your garage or workshop. You just might find a tool that can be a tremendous help in your quilting. Laser levels can help you line up quilt blocks. Small dowel rods are great to help you turn tubes of fabric right side out, and small flashlights are a big help when it comes time to thread those machine needles!
• If sitting at your sewing machine is causing you back pain, try raising the back of the machine a little. Tilting the machine toward you will reduce the length you have to reach and stretch over it while sewing. It doesn’t take much tilting to offer some relief. Two small blocks of wood about 2 inches thick and big enough to securely fit under your sewing cabinet’s back feet should be all you need. Don’t tilt it too much. You don’t want it to fall on you! By using scrap pieces of wood you already have around the workshop, you won’t have to buy anything for the project. And, you’ll save money on doctor and chiropractor visits…and on bottles of pain reliever, too!
• Recycle clothing for fabric whenever possible. Even if those jeans have a hole worn through the knee, I’m sure there is some fabric above or below it that’s worth saving!

Postcard Quilts for the Troops

Christmas Roundup Next - Deadline November 18!

Home for the holidays?

Those soldiers who are still in the Middle East will be missing the holidays, and you can do something about it - create a tie to their homeland by making a tiny fabric quilt.

That's right a fabric postcard in keeping with the year-end holidays is all it takes.

A few minutes of your time can make a world of difference to a soldier who is hanging out in the middle of a foreign country.

Diane sends these cards to soldiers who don't get much mail from home, and they are much appreciated.

We want to keep Diane doing the Penny's Postcard Posse project, but she is terribly allergic to smoke. So, if you can be sure that your fabric postcards are smoke-free, it will be much appreciated!

Check out the postcard patterns on www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com I will continue to add designs, and patterns for the fabric postcards are always free.

To make the Holiday deadline, get your cards to Diane by November 18

Please send your cards to:
Diane Malaznik
14215 Westmore St.
Livonia, MI 48154-4149

Diane is doing a fabulous job keeping the pictures updated, and if you have sent cards in, let your friends and family know that they can see pictures of them here: www.Fabric-Postcards.com

Remember you can get FREE postcard patterns at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com

Last week, the Sugar Bowl quilt block pattern was left out of the packet - whoops! It's there now - so if you missed it, just click to download again.

These free October FREE quilt block patterns will make your summer quilting fun. These quilt blocks include easy blocks as well as some that are a little more difficult.

Click here to download your October FREE quilt block patterns

Basket Weave	Bat Wing	Crow's Nest	Duck Tracks
Fish Tales	Fox Chase Biloxi	Leap Frog	Pinwheel Square
	Spider Web	Turkey's Dilemma

Click here to download your October FREE quilt block patterns