I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying, “I’ve got you back”. Oh, my word. That is exactly how I feel. I feel like all of you have my back. I was flooded with fabric over the last two weeks or so. It’s hard to believe at that time I had zero Halloween fabric and today, I am loaded.
On Friday I decided to start tackling it as all of the envelopes and boxes had to be opened before I could make a quilt!! Here was the first batch. Keep in mind that under all of those envelopes is a whole slew of small letters!!
The dining room table was covered too!! Oh my. There is a reusable shopping bag on the floor that was entirely letters that is on the floor and didn’t make it into the picture.
It came quickly to me that I needed a system to tackle this.
It took me hours to go through it all…
I got caught up in reading all of the notes from you…like this one…
You all know how to make a girl feel good. I loved this note.
Check out this note. Someone’s Great Grandfather is buried in the cemetery where Kramer is buried here in town. Right now the cemetery is covered in snow and not walkable but I want to make sure that I go there this spring and hunt down this grave. Isn’t that so cool?
Then I got notes like this that had me all teared up. I have a HUGE soft spot for all you out there who are caregivers to a partner who is ailing. I know how hard it is. I was so fortunate that Kramer could do so much of his own care right to the end. I have no idea how many of you do all you do.
Karl came and checked out some of the notes I had set aside. Karl is my biggest cheerleader ever. He kept saying, “See Mom, you are a HIGHLY successful blogger.” That’s his standard phrase he says to me when I am second-guessing myself. You all had us both smiling.
I seriously wish everyone could get a tribute as you all gave me.
This one had me giggling. YEP, in all of the Halloween fabric was one strip of red fabric!!
This note made me smile. I’m honored to have this piece!!
This is a small tiny portion of all the notes that were included. There were many homemade beautiful cards. It was a joy to open them all.
I often say that I sometimes feel like we all are in a one-sided relationship. I know little about you all…you know so much about me. Getting some of these cards and seeing the beagle of a reader, photography of a blog reader and a reader’s church really made me feel more connected. I love it.
There were many who included money for the postage fund in their packages. Suffice it to say, postage is covered for January and February. YAHOO!!
I wasn’t the only one who was treated. Rosie was too!! A reader included snacks for Rosie. She was so happy.
I ended up sorting the fabric like this…
This is the 2 1/2″ strips that were orange and black. The picture is deceiving as this was a big box.
This is the purple, green and yellow. I hadn’t asked for yellow but you all sent some and I included it. I’m so glad I did!!
Two different readers send partial jelly rolls of Halloween prints. They are in this bag.
This is a box I set aside that needed to be trimmed or that I had similar prints of. If someone sent me four strips, I only picked one of their strips and put the rest in this box. I wanted to include as many people as I could in the making of this quilt.
I also had this under the bed tote heaped full. The picture shows the width of the tote, not the length. Holy Halloween fabric friends!!
So many of wrote if I needed more to let you know. I’m here to tell you, I have more than enough!!
As I sorted I picked out my favorite prints. These are the ones that I picked. SO CUTE!!
Opening the packages took an hour in the morning and the entire afternoon.
In the early evening, I went into the garage and found that the box from Moda with the backing and background fabric had come. Yahoo!!
Saturday morning I went into full mode Halloween Quilt!
I made the decision to cut an 11″ piece off each strip to use for the strip piecing of the center blocks. Again, I wanted to include as many people in the quilt as I could.
For the triangles, I cut them with my easy angle ruler. I cut only two triangles from each fabric. It took a lot longer that way but again, after all, you have done to help me, I really wanted to include as many fabrics as I could.
On Saturday when the mail came there were 17 more pieces of mail from all of you!!
I rushed those pieces upstairs to try to get them included too.
I’m doing really well on the quilt and I’m sure I’ll have it together in a couple of days. It’s really straight forward sewing on this…
Aren’t the prints cute?
I fussy cut the witch. Isn’t she a hoot!!
I was up early this morning and got in an hour or so of sewing before two showed up to catch the bus at my house. I brought my finished block down to show them…
We had fun playing “Eye Spy”. It was so fun!!
I can’t tell you how thankful I am to all of you who sent a piece of fabric. Oh…I forgot to take a picture and tell you that three people sent jelly rolls of Halloween fabric!! One gal is from Australia and wanted to join in on the fun so she ordered the jelly roll from Missouri Star Quilt Company and had it sent to me. How Sweet!!
I have to say, I’m really feeling the love. Thank you. My children are teasing me and wondering how many Halloween quilts I will be able to make with it all!! I know for sure I could make MANY!! I’m going to have to buy some more totes to keep it all but that’s all good. Maybe I’ll be known as the lady who makes Halloween quilts. Who knows?
I hope you all didn’t gift all your Halloween fabric to me so you will be able to make one yourself when American Patchwork and Quilting publishes the pattern.
I’d like to do a HUGE shout out to Moda for supplying the background and backing fabric. It’s from the Midnight Magic II line that will be out in stores in May. I really do think the background fabric with the stars is perfect for it so get some in May when it comes out if you are thinking of making the quilt.
I haven’t been to the mailbox yet today…I’m betting there are even more pieces of Halloween fabric there for me!!
Once again…thank you so-so much. I’m so blessed to have you all in my life!
I am so glad that I could send you a bit of fabric and help out with your project! It is looking wonderful already! Thank you so much for letting us in on the fun!!
Wow! Amazing! You’ll have Halloween fabric forever! We all love you! I need a sew with Jo day!! When is your next video?
Hi Joy. I have shot another video but Kalissa and her family are in quarantine. She is the one who edits and loads them all for me!! Maybe we can video chat and she can walk me through doing it…or maybe it might be better if we just wait for her to be out of quarantine.
Hi Jo, I think I saw one of the fabrics that I sent :) It had to be just so much fun opening all of the packages. Your postal carrier must have wondered what had caused such an influx of “squishy’s” :) The fabrics are so fun. It will be great watching this quilt come together. I might just need another after I finish tricky checkers. That moda print for the background is just perfect.
Oh my, what wonderful fabric you have received. I so wanted to send you some but all my fabric is packed away as we are currently living in a tiny house as we wait for our new home to be built. I will definitely make this quilt when it’s published, it is adorable! I love Halloween prints. Enjoy all your bounty, your readers are so generous! I can hardly wait to see the finished quilt. Happy sewing and thanks for your blog. I love it!
What fun to see all your mail! I’m sorry I didn’t have any Halloween prints to send, but I think you got plenty. This will be a very special quilt because of all the people represented in it.
Thanks for including us in the fun! I love reading your blog – your family is so lucky to have you. And your quilts and cross stitching are beautiful.
Awesome! That is just how much you are loved!
All I can say is “LOVE IT”!!!!!
How fun! That’s quite the Halloween mail call! Love all the variety! Enjoy!!!
Wow, so fun seeing all the strips! I recognized my card. I didn’t have Halloween fabrics either, since I’m in my RV, so I sent strips of the colors you requested. I think it is a blessing for all of us!
You have 5 children so–5 Halloween quilts–1 for each family!
Great idea! Looks like you could make one for every grandchild, too! LOL!
Thanks so much for sharing, Jo. Your quilt reflects what Halloween should be: fun! Love all the bright colors. So appreciate you and your blog.
It’s so wonderful to see how much Halloween fabric you ended up with! I wanted to write a nice note with the strips I sent but knew if I stopped to do that I wouldn’t get it out in the mail in a timely manner. I was worried it would never get to you on time. Mail has been so weird as I just got my sister’s Christmas card today! She sent it before Christmas and she’s in Colorado and I’m in Utah. Crazy! I can’t wait to get the pattern when it comes out. I bought a bunch of Halloween fabrics years ago and could never decide what to do, but now I do!
My eyes leaked just a little reading all this.
So much going on.
This is wonderful.
This is awesome! I see one of the fabrics I sent in your blocks :-)
Can’t wait for the magazine to come out.
I didn’t have Halloween fabrics but what an assortment of fun ny crazy prints. The backing fabric is so lovely. My only question is how is it for Halloween it is so super lovely
I didn’t send any Halloween fabric because I don’t think I have any, and I knew you would be receiving Lots of fabric from everyone who had some. And so you did! How wonderful to read from others how much your blog means to all of us who read you every day!!
I wanted to send out some Halloween fabric but I have been with my mom. I was not surprised to read you got so much that the mailman had to make a special trip to your house. Looking forward to see the finished quilt.
I am enjoying your opening of fabrics too. Almost as much fun as receiving it myself!
Yay! I’m so tickled that you were so blessed with fabric!! I only sent a couple strips but I saw my note and my orange cat fabric so I know you got it!
Thank you so much for all you do…Karl is right to be your cheerleader. You deserve it!
Yay! I’m so tickled that you were so blessed with fabric!! I only sent a couple strips but I saw my note and my orange cat fabric so I know you got it!
Thank you so much for all you do…Karl is right to be your cheerleader. You deserve it!
As much as I’ve wanted to make a Halloween quilt, I don’t think I would want to make as many as you are going to be able to create with all of that gifted fabric!!! :o))
Oh my what fun Halloween fabric!! Can’t wait to see your finished quilt! I’m sure you will come up with another Halloween quilt. Love your blog Jo! ❤ Thanks for all that you share with us! Have a great week!
Jo, I don’t think I’ll ever make a Halloween quilt, but I love the block you made. The kids at the table are just too cute in those hats! I’m trying to figure out where you put all your fabric!!???
Your block is so neat. I love that you received so many fabrics. Maybe you can make your mail carrier a little quilt or potholders or something. I’m sure they would appreciate it. Have a great day! Happy sewing!!
Wow, how exciting! So much fun reading your post. I feel like I’m part of a virtual quilting bee. Thank you so much for all the inspiration.
Any idea when this pattern will appear in the magazine?
I’m making a Halloween version so I’m guessing the September or October issue.
Oh, your post made me so happy! We all love you–can’t wait to see the finished quilt. God bless!
When you have time, please tell more about the easy angle ruler you mention. I looked it up on Amazon and apparently there are two sizes. Which one do you recommend? Thanks! Love being on this Halloween quilt journey. The background fabric choice is brilliant.
I’m so happy for you! What fun! I was happy to send you leftovers that I would never use again, including Tula PInk1
Seeing all those packages and envelopes is just heart warming. I cant wait to see this quilt published and I hope to make one with some Halloween scraps that I have left over, may have to buy some Moda fabric for my neutral backing. What fun during this lock down. I hope you can do a sew along video to release after the pattern is out there and then all of us can have a sew along with Jo while making this quilt. The fussy cut witch is adorable. You are truly appreciated and I love reading the blog like so many others.
Hi Jo!
WOW! Wonderful response to you request for Halloween fabrics. As I told you in my note, I don’t do Halloween usually, but do have a great collection of fabrics that “feel” Halloween. Thanks to you, and your upcoming pattern, I now know what I am going to do with them.
Thanks for all the inspiration, and for all you do!
Hugs to you all!
The Halloween fabric haul is amazing :) !!! I found my gold & black motifs triangle under the fussy cut witch, can’t wait for the pattern to make my own. Thank you again for all you do for us!
Love the block and all the fabric love!!! You will need to keep track of all the quilts you make with the Halloween Haul!!! I think you will be able to get 10 quilts, throw-sized, out of that haul so far (probably wrong and the correct number is closer to 20!). Perhaps you will need to design several Halloween quilts for the magazines and they’ll be covered for Halloween for several years! Love the fussy cut witch and the kids playing eye spy is exactly what you want to happen with this amazing quilt-in-progress!!
Nice blog, plan to explore it when I have time!
Jo, How much background fabric and how much backing is needed for your Halloween quilt/
I am SO glad you received so much – and though I never make Halloween quilts, I was able to contribute some to your quilt. I felt like I was a part of it, even just a little bit, and I’m sure everyone else did, too! Looking forward to seeing that quilt later on this year – it will be fantastic, I’m sure!
Wow! I found your site looking at quilts on Google and from one picture I thought, “Gee, that looks like an Iowa house.” So I read the “about” section on your blog and found out you are from my hometown! Well, I am from Little Turkey, but we share the same ZIP code. Isn’t that crazy? I live in Boise, now. You have a great blog and I’ve enjoyed reading it tonight!
Oh Lisa that is so fun. What’s your maiden name? When did you live in the area? We came in the early 90s and lived in Lawler first-then on Achen farm the first one south of TV school. Now in Waucoma.
Oh wow! My maiden name is Ball. Jared is my brother who lives right out of Little Turkey and my mom and dad are Doug and Kathy. I graduated in 89.
Lisa. Jared worked Achen Farms when he was in highschool and my husband Roger worked there. How fun!! Small world. Kim is my chiropractor! Small world for sure.
I wanted to send you some Halloween fabric but I figured you would be overwhelmed with fabric. I always look for you in the bloglovin when I get my email. My mother’s last name was Kramer before she and daddy got married. Thank you for everything you do for me. Keep up the great work, you feel like one of my friends.