INSIDE: How to Make a Bewitching Halloween Spider Mini Quilt in an Afternoon
I have this unrealistic fantasy of one-day creating fabulous quilts, bags, wall hangings, and any number of things using up all of my sewing scraps. I occasionally dream of sewing them all together to form new fabrics that I’ll cut up into applique designs.
While I haven’t quite gotten around to creating a fully fleshed out plan on how to achieve this grandiose dream, I have made a teeny, tiny dent in my stash.
I’ve created the Bewitching Halloween Spider Mini Quilt, a super easy Halloween quilting project that makes good use of a few scraps and can be made in an afternoon.
How to Make a Bewitching Halloween Spider Mini Quilt in an Afternoon
Of course, y’all know I’m crazy about black and white. And, I’m also pretty fond of appliqué.
It started like this. One of our vehicles needed a repair which meant I was stuck at home without a car for two days. For a while, I have been wanting to create some sort of project with a Halloween theme. This would be the perfect opportunity to find a pdf pattern and sew something from scraps.
After searching online for a bit, I gave up because I couldn’t find anything that I liked. Most of the projects I came across were not my style or required fabric I didn’t have laying around. No car ~ no-go-to-store
Then I squashed a spider in my entry hall and inspiration came to me. I would appliqué a black spider onto a white background. It would match my style and I was sure I had enough fabric for a mini-quilt.
Hmmm. I thought it might be fun to create an improv spider by sewing some of my black fabrics together to create the appliqué fabric.
And that’s exactly what I did. I just started sewing the black and nearly black fabrics together until I had a piece large enough for my spider design. Then I ironed some fusible web to the back of the patched-together black fabric, traced the design, cut it out, and ironed it onto a piece of white-on-white fabric.
Click Here to Download the Spooky Spider Appliqué
Using a very small zigzag stitch I stitched around my spider. Nothing really difficult at all. For about half a second I considered doing some free motion stitching around my spider, but decided against this. Feel free to embellish your spider in any way ~ possibly even using orange thread.
I decided to do the quilting with a spider web design. I thought about using orange thread for the quilting but I wanted to stick to the whole black and white theme.
For my back, I had this piece of fabric left over from the Arrow Quilt. I also had a perfectly sized piece of wool batting that was sitting on a table.
All in all, it took me an afternoon to conceive the idea, create the design, appliqué, quilt, and bind. It was a great way to use scraps and make something fun. I know it’s not one of those projects that will grace the pages of a quilting magazine, however, I was looking for something that was simple and could be made in an afternoon
Mission accomplished.
Post Update:
Well, I spoke too soon. It turns out that this design was featured in the 2016 Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Crafts magazine.
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Subscribe to The Seasoned Homemaker for FREE and receive clever sewing tips, quilting inspiration, and a dash of this and that.
PLUS, I'll send you Chapter 1 from my eBook Appliqué Made Easy.
Patti says
September 14, 2015 at 4:39 amFun mini plus almost instant gratification, my kind of project! Thanks for sharing!
Cathy says
September 14, 2015 at 7:39 amThat is a fabulous spider mini quilt! It looks just like our Black Widows and we`ve had a lot of them this year. Thank you for the tutorial!
Eleanor Baughman says
September 14, 2015 at 9:00 amHow fun! What a cute Halloween idea!
Mary Goodman says
September 14, 2015 at 9:34 amNeat! I’m not into spiders, even for Halloween. I would like a bat. Hopefully I will have time to create one before Halloween. Thanks for the great ides. Your mini quilt does look great!
Carole @ From My Carolina Home says
September 14, 2015 at 4:06 pmVery clever! Quilting the web is really a cute idea.
GabiP says
September 16, 2015 at 7:21 amLove it! Classy and fun. Great job making the quilting a spider web. Love the black and white theme.
J T-S says
September 16, 2015 at 5:25 pm‘Love the improvising while car-less! What are dimensions of your creative spider piece?
Leslie says
September 16, 2015 at 5:53 pmI think it’s about 18″ x 18″. It’s now hanging in my daughter’s home so I can’t be exact. I used a fat quarter for the background, so you can make that a starting point.
Kathryn says
September 17, 2015 at 11:18 amThanks!!! I really don’t like applique, but your tutorial really inspired me. I posted photos on my Pintrest page https://www.pinterest.com/pin/416090453050955455/
I used different size bowls to mark the spider web; after I stitched the “spokes” I made 3 circles using large bowls then used smaller bowls to make the connecting lines.
Leslie says
September 17, 2015 at 1:38 pmI love it! Especially since you added your own touch and experience.
MElissa says
September 20, 2015 at 3:27 pmI love this idea for an even smaller project such as Halloween pot holders! i’ve never done applique but this is inspiring me as an easy step into it!
Brenda says
September 20, 2015 at 5:10 pmWhat a fun quilt! It turned out so neat. Would love this for my house! Have a great week:)
Caroline says
September 24, 2015 at 10:17 pmI love it! and your quilting is perfect. xoxo
Maryam says
June 1, 2016 at 2:11 pmI soooo want this for a pillow for my 4yo son who loves spiderssss… :-<
Leslie says
June 2, 2016 at 2:57 pmThis pattern will soon be in the Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts magazine.
Debrah says
September 15, 2016 at 8:47 pmI love it! Do you have any tips on how to make the Web look so nice?
Leslie says
September 15, 2016 at 9:03 pmI will be updating the pattern to include better web instructions. This design is in the 2016 Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts.
Lois Black says
September 17, 2016 at 10:11 amCongratulations on your success!!! I hope they pay you well
Kay says
September 17, 2016 at 7:41 pmDo you quilt the quilt and THEN sew the spider on or see on the spider and then see the web ..?
Leslie says
September 17, 2016 at 9:56 pmGreat question. When I originally made the quilt, I appliquéd the spider, then quilted. If I were remaking it, I would probably quilt first, then sew on the spider.
Cheryl says
September 17, 2016 at 11:49 pmI wonder how it would look with a little trapunto on the spider’s thorax (?) .
Lisa G says
September 18, 2016 at 5:56 amThis is adorable! Congratulations on getting into the BHG magazine – so exciting! I have to buy the magazine, if only to say, “This is from one of my favorite bloggers!” 🙂
Sandra Lanter says
October 8, 2016 at 12:43 pmThank you…love the spider and little project.
Kelly S says
October 11, 2016 at 10:34 pmLove this idea and quick projects are a nice break from big quilts and what a fun design. Thanks for sharing!
Jinger Snapp-Laplace says
October 25, 2016 at 6:35 pmThank you for this quick, fun project Leslie! I am sharing my version of your Spooky Spider Mini-Quilt on my blog, giving you due credit and sharing the link to your post.
Breezed says
August 20, 2017 at 11:14 amI loved making this quick, easy, and fun idea! Thank you.