Boo!

So...it's August. My nieces were visiting from Philadelphia for a couple of weeks and they were taking up all of my time. I'm not complaining! I love them and they keep me on my toes. But it also kept me from sewing. Here I am. Finally. :)

It's time for Halloween decorating, right? Right?! It's never too early, I say! I'm not a summer fan, not at all. The sooner I can start daydreaming about fall (and then, inevitably, winter), the sooner I can forget about the heat and humidity of July and August. Blech!

My aunt Carol Ann is a marvelous quilter, and she sometimes sends me patterns she thinks I'll love. Most recently it was this Hexed Table Runner from Fons & Porter. She knows I love Halloween, and boy did she hit the ghoul on the head with this one! A couple of years ago, I bought two bundles of Riley Blake's Witch Hazel, and it's probably my all time favorite fabric. It's just so evocative of Halloween and all the fables and rituals associated with it (without getting too ghoulish).  I made this quilt from it...

It's a simple pattern I improvised, because I mostly wanted to showcase those gorgeous prints.

Well, I finally dug into that second bundle of fabric. Don't think I didn't try to talk myself out of it! I love it so much I didn't want to part with it. It was my first time working with hex shapes, but it came together rather quickly.

After I decided on the prints, I took a big gulp and cut them into strips!

Then onto the piecing....

It wasn't long at all before I finished my first hex shape!

Not bad at all, right? The rest was a breeze, and before I knew it I had a pieced top. It took me a bit of time to figure out how I wanted to quilt it. I chose a variegated black and grey thread and did a simple grid of wavy lines that gave the impression of a spider's web. Here's a shot of the back...

And the final product?

I love it! I'd love to keep it out year round and pretend that it's always autumn, but it'll be replaced with a Christmas runner in no time. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy it. :)

Today I'm linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.