Nite Owls Hop: Door Banner

Who's ready for a little fall fun with some cute owls? We have several blogging designers working with Judy Hansen's Nite Owls line and we're excited to share their projects! Today we're sharing a fun door banner, perfect for some fall decor! At the bottom of this post, find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls to play with yourself! Don't miss any of our Nite Owls tutorials!

Fussy-cutting the owls for this project is so much fun! The hardest part? Deciding which ones to use! We finished this door banner pillow-case style and left the batting out, but you can just as easily finish it using a quilt sandwich. If you do so, you'll need 1/2 yard of binding fabric (cut four 2-1/4" x 42" strips).

Finished project size: 27-1/2" x 28-1/2"

Materials:

1/3 yard white eyeballs print

1/4 yard green swirl

1/4 yard orange owls

1/4 yard black solid

1/3 yard black trees

1/3 yard gray swirl

1/2 yard purple owl print

1 yard backing fabric

32" square piece of batting (optional)

Fusible web

Cutting:

From the white eyeballs print:

Three 6" squares

One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the green swirl:

Three 6" squares

From the orange owls:

One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the black solid:

Two 2" x 27-1/2" strips

From the black trees:

One 8" x 27-1/2" piece

From the gray swirl:

Two 4" x 27-1/2" strips

How adorable are these fussy-cut owls?! Have fun choosing which ones to use!

Step 1: Draw a diagonal side on the wrong side of all 6" white eyeballs squares. Layer each marked square right sides together with a 6" green swirl square. 

Step 2: Stitch 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut unit on marked line and press both halves open. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of three half-square triangle units. Position a marked unit right sides together with an unmarked unit, positioning fabrics opposite as shown, matching the seam line. 

Step 3: Sew 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut apart on the drawn  line.

Step 4: Press units open to create an hourglass unit. Trim to measure 5" square. (Tip: To ensure you center your hourglass block, line up the 2-1/2" ruler mark where the triangle tips meet in the center of the unit. Make 6. 

Step 5: Sew the hourglass units together as shown.

Step 6: Cut the orange owl and white eyeball 3-1/2" x 42" strips in half. Noting orientation, sew half an orange owl strip to the top of half a white eyeball strip, making sure owls are oriented correctly. In the same way, sew the remaining half orange owl strip to the bottom of the remaining white eyeball strip. Press open, and press toward the same fabric in each strip set. Cut five 3-1/2" wide segments from one strip set and four 3-1/2" wide segments from the second. Note: Making two separate strip sets like this ensures that all your owls will be facing up in the checkerboard row!

Step 7: Noting owl orientation, sew the segments together to make a checkerboard strip. 

Step 8: Roughly cut out your favorite 6-8 owls from the purple own print. Adhere fusible web to the back of each rough-cut owl, and then cut out on owl outline. Arrange owls as desired on 8" x 27-1/2" black trees piece and fuse in place. Use a straight or decorative stitch to applique if desired.

Step 9: Sew together the two pieced strips, the appliqued center strip, two 2" x 27-1/2" black solid strips, and two 4" x 27-1/2" gray swirl strips to complete the quilt top. 

Step 10: Finish the door banner as desired. We used a pillowcase finish (can be done with or without batting) and then stitched along the length of the solid black sashing strips to secure. You can also layer the quilt top with backing and batting and quilt, and then finish with a binding strip. 

Add a hanging sleeve to the back of the door banner and hang to enjoy! 

Want to win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls for yourself? Make sure you follow our blog (email and blog reader sign-ups in the right hand sidebar) and leave a comment letting us know you do, as well as telling us which owl you like best in this door banner. (They're all so cute; it's hard to choose!) This giveaway is open through Monday, November 2nd at 11:59 pm EST. 

Catch all the days of our hop!

Day 1: Halloween placemats by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl

Day 2: Throw pillow by Connie at Freemotion by the River

Tutorial: Halloween Door Banner

It's October, so Halloween is fast approaching! 

Dressing up isn't only for kids--dress up your front door with a Halloween banner. It's easy enough that you'll be able to finish it before trick or treating begins, so you'll be ready to welcome witches, goblins, and ghosts who come knocking! 

Start with these fun Halloween prints from our Trick or Treat collection: spooky haunted houses, golden spider webs, and tiny jack o'lanterns:

Supplies:

(See our entire Trick or Treat fabric collection here)

• 1/4 yard orange pumpkin print
• 1/2 yard haunted house print
• 1/4 yard yellow spiderweb print
• 1/2 yard black solid
• 5/8 yard backing fabric
• 22" x 30" batting piece
• Fusible web

Cutting:
Orange pumpkin print:
Six 2-1/2" squares
Reserve remainder for applique

Haunted house print:
Two lengthwise 3" x 12" strips 
From remaining piece: two 4" x 26" strips

Yellow spiderweb print:
Six 2-1/2" squares
Two 1-1/2" x 12" strips

Black solid:
One 8-1/2" x 18-1/2" piece
Twelve 2-1/2" squares
Three 2-1/2" x 42" strips for binding


Step 1: Download the pdf of "Happy Halloween" letters template page here. Trace the appropriate number of letters to spell out "Happy Halloween" onto the paper side of fusible web. Fuse to the wrong side of the orange pumpkin print, making sure the pumpkin faces are oriented correctly.

Step 2: Cut out each letter on the drawn line. Remove backing, position letters on the 8-1/2" x 18-1/2" black piece and fuse in place. 

Step 3: Draw a diagonal line on the back of each yellow and orange 2-1/2" square. Note: The orange pumpkin print is directional, so make sure you have all the orange squares oriented the same way when you draw the line.

Step 4: Pair each marked square right sides together with a black square. Sew 1/4" away from each side of the marked line. Cut on the line and press HST units open.

Step 5: Trim HST units to measure 2" square. Make 12 black/yellow units and 12 black/orange units. Sew 6 black/yellow alternating with 6 black/orange units to make a top border as shown. (Choose the using the black orange units with the pumpkins oriented up when the black triangle is positioned at the bottom of the HST.) Repeat to make a bottom border. (The remaining black/orange units will have pumpkins oriented up  when the black triangle is positioned at the top of the HST.)

Step 6: Sew the HST borders to the top and bottom of the black center piece. Sew 1-1/2" x 12" yellow spiderweb strips to opposite sides, press, and trim excess. Sew 3" x 12" haunted house strips to opposite sides, press and trim excess.

Step 7: Sew 4" x 26" haunted house strips to the top and bottom of the quilt. 
Step 8: Layer the backing right side down, batting, and quilt top right side up. Baste the layers together. Quilt the quilt however you like. (We used a spider web motif for extra spookiness!)
Step 9: Use the three 2-1/2" x 42" black solid strips to bind the quilt. Add a sleeve to the back side of the quilt so it can be hung like a banner on your door or wall. (If you need help making a sleeve, see this video tutorial.)