Friday, October 26, 2012

spiderweb quilting tutorial and giveaway

*This giveaway is now closed*

Have you heard about the Ghastly Gathering hosted by Alice at aldiza?

A Ghastly Gathering!

She is running a fun little link up of all things Ghastly over at her blog, along with tutorials and such.  You should stop by!  And to top it off, she is giving away bundles of Ghastly fabric to participants (and I was lucky enough to win one- thanks, Alice!)!  She asked me if I would do a tutorial for the spiderweb quilting I used on my own Ghastly quilt.  


And as an added bonus, she will be awarding this bundle of the Ghastlies to someone who comments on this post!


So, here goes!


First of all, RELAX.  It is very freestyle, i.e. impossible to mess up.  The less mapped out and linear, the better.  But it helps to do a bit of preplanning.

I took a piece of paper and roughly sketched my quilt size, and decided how I wanted the web to extend.  Instead of centered, I found it was more dramatic offset to one side.  I placed the epicenter at the top right of the quilt.  Then I mapped out the radiating lines from that point.  I liked it best when lines did not cross through the center and keep going...made it a bit more wonky, which suited my quilt.


I basted my quilt and then chose my thread.  I opted to use a thicker thread, Aurafil 12 wt ("normal" is 50 wt), in a coordinating orange/yellow shade so that my quilting was very pronounced.  This thread reminds me a bit of the Perle cotton thread that I like to use for hand quilting, though not quite as thick.

Next I took some time to mark the radiating lines with dressmakers chalk and a ruler.  This will wash out completely so it is great for this purpose.


I started my quilting, following along those lines.


Once my radiating lines were placed, I started the webbing.  Beginning at the epicentre, I made c-shaped connections between the lines, turning the quilt as I went, the curve dipping towards the centre.


Continue until the entire quilt is covered in a spooky spiderweb!


Remember to leave a comment here to enter Alice's giveaway. Winner will be drawn on Sunday October 31!

*This giveaway is now closed*

49 comments:

Gill said...

I love the Ghastlies and your quilting is just perfect! Thank you for showing us how!!

Michelle said...

love the spider web quilting!

Norma's Bag Boutique said...

Beautiful quilt! Ghastlies are cool.

Al said...

Love, love, love the web quilting on this quilt! FAB!!

Leila said...

That is the perfect quilting for your quilt! Love it!

Allison C said...

Love the Ghastlies and love the quilting on this quilt!!!!

Sharmond said...

What a great design for quilting! Thanks for sharing!

Sharmond said...

What a great design for quilting! Thanks for sharing!

Molly said...

i've loved spiderweb designs forever (not so fond of spiders, though!) and i've used them as motifs in a variety of media. using it as the quilting pattern for the ghastlies is genius!
cheers
molly

Unknown said...

The web design finishes off the quilt perfectly! It looks great ^^

Marla said...

I love the web design and you make it seem less difficult than it appears. I would love to win some Gastlies. Thanks for the chance.

Cascade Quilts said...

Love the 'web'!!! and I simply adore the quilt layout and fabrics you chose to go with the gastlies prints! Bravo, a job WELL done!

Cozye said...

Goodness! I love the web quilting, it's beautiful! I'd never thought about doing a design like that. Now look, you're giving me all these ideas for more projects... :)

kcozart05@gmail.com

Staci said...

Cute cute cute! Nice tutorial! I've got a Halloween quilt that would benefit from spider webs, so thank you very much!

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

I love your quilting - that is very clever!! I would have never thought to do a spiders web! Thanks for the chance to win :)

alidiza said...

I want to go make something Ghastly just so I can try this out;-) Fabulous!!!

Angela Bullard said...

I have a Halloween quilt that I'm almost finished with and this will be perfect!

Poppyprint said...

I love quilting with the 12 wt Aurifil. It makes a real statement! Your quilt is so much fun Kristie!

barbara woods said...

love your quilting thanks

Penny said...

That quilting is so creative!! I use plain straight lines... Boring. For now anyway!

Carolyn said...

You quilt looks awesome. What a great way to quilt it!

Rosa said...

Beautiful quilt and the quilting on this quilt is just wonderful!

Julianne said...

I dont have any of the Ghastlies fabrics, would love to win...that spiderwebbing is awesome!

Katie B said...

Well, when you put it that way, it does seem pretty easy!

Tawny said...

Thank you for showing the close up of this quilting technique. It's difficult to see the detailing in the photo and it adds so much character to an already beautiful quilt. Well done sweetie! :)

Patti said...

Those Ghastlies get me every time! Thanks for a great tutorial and the giveaway!

Cathy said...

Perfectly ghastly! And i mean that in a good way!

Beezus said...

I love the orange and purple together on this quilt. And thanks so much for sharing how to do web-style quilting! :)

Rebecca Waddell said...

The web quilting was the perfect touch for your ghastlies quilt. I like the way you had the web off centre. Makes it look realistic.

Cheryl said...

Thanks for sharing how you did the spider quilting, it looks great with that quilt

Nana Fran said...

Ghastlies are great. fran.daoust@yahoo.com

Michele said...

Very cool. Thanks for the tutorial. I love, love, love the Ghastlies and have recently started cutting into mine. I didn't know about the party and will hop over to her blog to check it out.

carla said...

Hi!! Love the ghastly fabric!!! The spiderweb quilting looks really awesome!! Thanks for the tutorial!!!! Thanks for the fun give away!!!

Mary W Quilts said...

Love the Ghastlies. I have used small pieces of the Ghastlies in two Halloween quilts this year, but I want to make one featuring them. Thanks for the tutorial. Mary

Future Quilter said...

Hi Kristie! Great tutorial. I love the quilting you chose for this project -fitting and simple. Also LOVED the photos displaying the finished quilt in your original post. I love that area of our province. Colleen

Unknown said...

I love this quilt and your right! The spider web design does seem very intimidating until you explained it.

Thanks So much!

Samantha
www.midnitehollow.com
www.alessthanperfecthomemaker.com

jane said...

Great tutorial. Makes me want to cut into my stash of Ghastlies.

Linda S. said...

I love this look!

Vikki B said...

I love the quilting! I did this a few days after seeing your original post on a halloween quilt - it turned out great! I even added a little spider to my web!

Vikki B said...

I love the quilting! I did this a few days after seeing your original post on a halloween quilt - it turned out great! I even added a little spider to my web!

MC said...

This is such a great quilt, thanks for the spooky quilting tutorial!

Lori S said...

I love the creativity of your quilting. Very cool.

Shay said...

Thanks for the heads up on how you quilted this quilt. It looks amazing. I don't think I've ever seen this done before !

Carla G said...

Very cool quilt! I love the spider web quilting! :)

Joyce said...

Your quilt is absolutely adorable!

Anne-Marie B. said...

This is one cool quilt you made! I love the Ghastlies!!! Thanks for this giveaway and the turotial!

Susanne said...

I love the Ghastlies! You did a great job on that quilt. :)
Susanne

Michelle said...

Love the quilting, love the quilt, love the ghastlies ;-) Thanks for the tutorial and the giveaway!!!!

carla said...

Hi!! I love the Ghastlies!!! Love the spider web quilting!!! Thanks for the fun!!!