EEK! Halloween Topper/Wall Hanging Tutorial

Hello and welcome back! Are you like me and wait until the last minute to decorate for holidays? I do it for almost everything, with the exception of Christmas, because there are more people involved (and begging) for the tree to go up.

Well, for Halloween this year, I wanted to get a little jump on things (a little less than 2 weeks away isn't too bad, right?), so I made up this wall hanging.  It would be adorable on an end table too.  It wasn't a long project, so I thought I'd show you exactly how I made it. :)

This all came directly from my stash.  I just used leftover, uneven pieces from other projects, so I'll give you the cut pieces needed, instead of yardage required.

What You'll Need:

Black (EEK!):

(4) 1.5" x 4.5"

(4) 1.5" x 3.5"

(2) 1.5" x 2

(1) 1.5" x 6

(1) 1.5" x 3

(1) 1.5" x 1.5"

Yellow (background):

(1) 5.5" x 5.5"

(5) 1.5" x 4.5"

(2) 1.5 x 2"

(4) 1" x 3.5"

(1) 1.5" x 1"

(2) 1.5" x 18.5"

Border:

(112) 1.5" x 1.5" of various fabrics.  The more fabrics...the scrappier it will be.  I suggest reading through the directions on the border before you start cutting.  :)

Backing:

Approximately, 25" x 13".  You might want larger or smaller, depending on how much wiggle room you like for your quilting.  I pieced together scraps leftover from the front.

Binding:

A fat quarter will do it with some to spare.

Batting:

25" x 13" - I used Warm & Natural batting...it's low loft and easy to work with.

Letters:

Let's start with making the center letters.  For the E, you'll need:

Yellow: (1) 1.5" x 4.5"; (2) 1" x 3.5"; (1) 1.5" x 2"

Black: (1) 1.5" x 4.5"; (2) 1.5" x 3.5"; (1) 1.5" x 2"

I like to lay the block out beside me, so I can see where everything goes...this keeps me (well, makes it less likely anyway) from mixing up the strips.

Next, sew the 4.5" strips together, the top black and yellow 3.5" strips, the 1.5" x 2" strips (along the 1.5" side), and the bottom yellow and black 3.5" strips.  Then press open.  It should look like this now:

Sew the horizontal strips together next, and press open.

Finally, sew the vertical strips to the side, and press open to complete your first E!

Repeat for the second E.

I used a short tutorial found here to make my K.  It's a little fiddly, but this way makes a larger section, then we cut it down to be exactly what we need.  Here's how it's done:

Take the yellow 5.5" square and cut it along both diagonals.

Then take the black 1.5" x 6" strip, 2 black 1.5" x 4.5" strips, 1 yellow 1.5" x 4.5" strip, and 3 of your newly cut yellow triangles.  Lay the block out like this:

Sew the diagonal 1.5" x 4.5" black strip to the first triangle like so, and press open:

Sew the 6" strip to the long edge and press open.

Sew the last 2 triangles onto the black strips and press open.

Next, fold the piece in half, from top to bottom, and crease it, so you have a center line.  Then measure 2.25" and trim on either side of the line, so that it is 4.5" long.  This should give you a nice .25" on the outside of the "limbs" of the K, so that once you piece it to the next strip...you'll have pretty points on your K.

Sew the vertical black 4.5" strip to the left side.

Finally, Sew on the yellow 4.5" strip and press open.

On to the exclamation point!  For this one, you'll need 2 yellow 1.5" x 4.5" strips, 1 black 1.5" x 3" strip, 1 black 1.5" square, and the yellow 1.5" x 1" piece.  Lay the block out like this:

Sew the column that makes the exclamation point, then sew the yellow strips on either side.

Your letters are done!  Now sew them in a row and press open!

Attach one 18.5" strip to the top...and one to the bottom, then press open, and your center is done!

Border:

To make the border, you'll need a total of 28 scrappy 4-patches that measure 2.5" square.  To do this, you can individually cut 112 1.5" squares and stitch them up.  Since I was using only 4 fabrics for my 4-patches, I cut 1.5" strips from the width of each fabric piece I had.

I stitched the black and orange together, then the purple and green.

I lined them up on my cutting board, like in the above picture, then I trimmed them up even, and cut 1.5" sections.  I ended up with a stack like this:

Next, pair up your strips.  I suggest turning them so that your seams are facing opposite directions. I pressed mine to the purple and black.

Then I just stitched them together in a line and pressed them all open.

For the next part, I suggest laying out your center and playing with your border.  You'll need 3 4-patches on each side, and 11 across the top and 11 on bottom.

Once you have them where you want them, sew together the 3 middle blocks on each side.

Then the top and bottom rows.

Attach the sides to the center first:

Then the top and bottom...I used pins for the first and last 4-patches on each row, so that my corners all matched nicely.

That's it for the top!

Finish:

Next up is basting and quilting however you desire.  I stitched in the ditch around the letters in black, then free-motioned bats around the outside.  I think it would look just as cute with an all-over stipple or even cross-hatched lines.

Now, I knew I wanted to hang mine on the door, so I took 2 leftover 5" squares of the orange polka dot, pressed them in half, diagonally.  I pinned them onto the top back corners BEFORE binding.  I'll be able to just pop a dowel rod in there to hang.  If you want a table topper, just skip this step.

Bind it and you're finished!  I did all machine binding on this one, but you can do whatever method is your favorite.

Finished project measures 22.5" x 10.5".

If you make this or something similar, I would LOVE to see it!  Have an awesome day.  <3

I'm linked up with Friday Fabric Frenzy!