10 Reasons Fabric Is Better than Candy

This is worth a re-post every year!

10 reasons fabric is better than candy:

10 Cute Halloween Ideas!

Looking for some fun Halloween ideas? Here are 10 of our favorites--decorations, costumes and treat bags, and clever snacks. Find more ideas on our Pinterest boards!

1. A candy corn button picture--one candy corn that you'll just have to resist eating!

Find the link here.

2. Dinosaur sweatshirt to keep warm in the fall or be a costume!

Find the link here.

3. Trick or treat bag with spiders that move

Find the link here.

4. Find your favorite orange print for a sweet pumpkin onesie

Find the link here.

5. Pair your favorite orange and black prints for a spooky silhouetted wall hanging.

Find the link here.

6. A new take on gingerbread cookies--skeletons!

Find the link here.

7. Witch's hat cupcakes

Find the link here.

8. Beautifully decorated spider web cookies

Find the link here.

9. You don't have to carve--try these painted pumpkins

Find the link here.

10. Spoooooky white chocolate covered ghost strawberries

Find the link here.

Follow us on Pinterest and check out our Feels Like Fall and Spooky Halloween Ideas pinterest boards for more Halloween ideas!

Getting in the Halloween Spirit: Orange & Black Prints

With Halloween around the corner, it's time to grab some orange and black prints and do a little sewing! Door banners, trick or treat bags, a table runner, or even a quilt...with the right fabrics, you can have so much holiday fun!

Here are some of our favorite orange and black prints:

Top row: Truck Stop, Nite Owls by Judy Hansen; Middle row: Sea Turtles, Changing Seasons by Ro Gregg; Bottom row: Bear Hugs, Marblehead Global Brights

Top row: Nite Owls, Marblehead Gemstones Jewels & Quartz by Ro Gregg; Middle row: Marblehead by Ro Gregg, Graphix 3; Bottom row: Marimba, Sea Turtles

Ask for them at your local quilt shop!

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.)

Make no bones about it...*

Do you ever have something come through your Facebook feed (or see something on a Pinterest board, or receive an email, or--if we go really old school here--actually see something in person at your local quilt shop or guild meeting) that you just HAVE to share?

That's how we felt when we ran across the image below on Facebook the other day:

Photo credit

Shanell Papp created this anatomically corrected crocheted skeleton, which was then featured on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

As fellow fiber artists, we can appreciate the amount of planning and work that goes into such a project. And just in case you're not into yarn or crocheting, we looked through our Marblehead prints to find coordinating fabric colors. Because we know you want to sew a skeleton like this! The only bad news is that you'll have to come up with your own pattern for the skeleton.

Suggested fabric for bones:

We won't try to identify the organs and body parts you see beyond the skeleton--anatomy class was a long time ago--but you can match these Marblehead colors to the coordinating areas of the skeleton photo above.

Looking for a less labor-intensive Halloween sewing project?
While we may not be sharing the steps to make this skeleton, be sure to stop back here later this week for two easy-to-sew Halloween tutorials! 

*Wonder where the phrase "Make no bones about it" came from? Read about it here.

Are you ready?!

Fall may not officially start until September 22, but with September here, Labor Day come and gone, and school starting, the retail world is looking ahead to the next holiday.

How do we know? 

Well, there this pumpkin-themed deliciousness, from Tim Hortons Cafe and Bake Shop:

Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte:

And "Pumpkin's Back" at Dunkin' Donuts:

Don't forget the gourds appearing at farmer's markets and grocery stores, and the harvest and Halloween-themed decor popping up in craft stores. Despite what the calendar says, it's time to start thinking about all things fall! 

So as you sip your pumpkin-flavored drink and and start stocking up on trick-or-treat candy(!), keep an eye out for these fun Halloween prints from our Trick or Treat collection. They're perfect for a trick-or-treat bag, wall hanging or table runner! What would you use them for?

See the entire Trick or Treat collection here and ask for these prints at your local quilt shop.