Do you have a favorite Halloween animal? Would you welcome a bat into your yard? Bats are actually wonderful creatures that eat insects - which in essence, protects you and your garden!
Honestly, I have softened my feelings towards bats after seeing a family of bats living in our old barn and having their own little bat babies there. They truly are fascinating creatures. Here is some advice from a bat:
Trust in your senses.
Spend time just hanging around with friends.
Get a grip.
Enjoy the nightlife.
Sometimes you just have to wing it!
-Ilan Shamir
So when I saw Melissa Mortenson's Spooky Hollow fabric for Riley Blake Designs, I knew I had to create some wonderful bats with her collection! This fabric is really too cute to spook! Melissa has illustrated some really adorable characters and lovely winged bats in this collection! The fantastic double stripe makes perfect leggings for the Bat Doll. (I have a weakness for stripped leggings).
Did you know that Spooky Hollow fabric also is embellished with silver sparkle and is glow in the dark? Making this fabric such a festive Halloween fabric. It is really so much fun to sew with and is a must have in your Halloween fabric stash. You can't help but smile when you play with these colors and illustrations.
I wanted to dress this Bat Doll but knew she could NOT wear a skirt. After all, bats spend so much time upside-down. I also knew she needed an outfit that wouldn't creep up her legs or affect her flying ability... so I created the Gathered Romper Shorts in both a sewing machine and embroidery machine pattern. I am really so excited how this pattern turned out! The Bat Doll pattern has been such a popular pattern and it comes in BOTH sewing machine and embroidery machine versions. The pattern has fully illustrated, step by step instructions to walk you through all the details from the stitching on the wings, to inserting the ears, to embroidery stitches to how to stuff the legs. I am looking forward to seeing the bat dolls you create. I know they will be too cute to spook!
When I was sewing with this fabric, I couldn't resist showcasing ALL of the prints. I really enjoy fussy cutting and I knew that my October's Lair Mini Quilt pattern would be wonderful in Spooky Hollow fabrics. I added a single, solid black border to the quilt to help frame it and bound the mini quilt with lace binding! I am pretty excited about the binding. I am not sure if others have used lace for binding before... but I feel like people really should! lol... I just LOVE how this turned out. It has a spooky, elegant feel and I even made a little video linked below if you would like to try using lace for binding on your next mini quilt! The October's Lair Mini Quilt Pattern is a traditional tumbler quilt with a twist!!! The color blocking and placement turns these tumblers into the cutest little coffins. If you want to keep your Halloween decor out for longer than a few days, this pattern is sophisticated enough that you can enjoy and leave it out all season!
I even quilted this mini quilt with a variegated purple thread and used my favorite spiderweb pantograph called Spiderweb by Cyndi Herrmann for Intelligent Quilting.
Hope you have a wonderful day and can spend some time just hanging around!
Patterns:
Fabric:
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