Pony Club quilt with a twist
 

I have finished my FW Pony Club quilt top. I swore I would never do one, no, no, no, never. With gentle encouragement, QuiltE had me wavering. Then I realized some sage spider web batik fabric would make a versatile constant. Now the search was on for Halloween batiks and Never Say Nevermore was started. I even made 3 of my own batiks.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]509145[/ATTACH]
I found an Edgar Allan Poe cross stitch to use as my centre square. I have stitched it on a shimmering pale sage Aida.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]509146[/ATTACH]
There are a total of 35 squares, including the cross stitch centre. 34 use different Halloween batiks.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]509147[/ATTACH]
This gives you a better idea of how the blocks look. The orangey/yellowy/sagey raven on the top left of this last photo is a top candidate for my backing. After all, with a name like Never Say Nevermore, there had to be ravens, didn't there?
Thanks for looking.

Wow that is a great Halloween quilt.

Wow that is super! The fabric choices are inspired. can't believe you found the raven fabric (or was that the fabric you created?)

Great quilt! Love your fabrics!

W4Me ... I am SO proud of you for taking the PC and W4Me-ing it to be all about YOU! :D You already know, that as you worked on it, how you helped others (yes, including me!) see Halloween themed quilts in a different light. That it's not all about bright orange and black, witches, ghosts and the like. That it can be achieved with subtlety, and in a well coordinated manner, not screaming at you. How clever for you to include your other love of cross-stitch. Perfect timing to find that pattern, then adapt it for your quilt, to use as the centre piece of your quilt.

We who followed your progress also benefited from your foresight as to how many colours can be "pulled" from one batik. It was amazing how that one sage constant seemed to change as you mixed and matched with other batiks, like a chameleon. The batiks present great seemingly calm movement, not rolling waves! And what a perfect choice to tie it together with the green sashings/borders to frame it up nicely, and pull together the sampler blocks well.

Congratulations! on a job well done!!!!!!!!!!
It's been a pleasure to be along with you for this journey. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!



........... you won't believe how many ravens she found!
Let alone how many halloween themed batiks she accumulated! :D

I am EXTREMELY impressed!!!! It's beautiful!!!! WOWSER!!!!! I wasn't privy to experiencing this with you, as I' not part of the pony club, but I sincerely appreciate that you shared this with us.

very nicely done!!!

Thank you everyone.

The quilt, other than the stitched centre, is all batiks. It was tough to find Halloween batiks at first which is why I made three of my own (centre square second row from the top-witch hats, far left 3rd row from the top-blue ghosts and 2nd from the right 2nd from the bottom row-witch legs). Then the Halloween batiks seemed to be falling into my lap from everywhere. I think I ended up with something like 40 different batiks and I know there are more out there.

The ravens are Hoffman and I believe were designed for Alaska. They come in 7 different colourways and I just sprinkled 4 simple blocks of ravens throughout the quilt.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]509151[/ATTACH]
I know there is at least one other raven batik in several colourways. It just didn't have the right feel for me.

I knew from the beginning that the sage batik was going to work well just because it was a pale "blender". I was as surprised as everyone else when the sage turned into a chameleon.

At the same time as I was working on this quilt I was working on another one with more "traditional" Halloween colours. What a difference.

And now QuiltE has me seriously considering a Dear Jane quilt, with my own twist, of course.

WOW ... that orange raven (to left) fabric IS really nice.
It could be a perfect backing ... yes, darkish with the black, but if the photo is anywhere near close to IRL< the brightness of the raven would make for perfect colour pops for a backing. I like it!!!!!!!!!!

As for your DJ with a Twist ........ ahem .... why do I always get blamed? :D:D

Wow, Works4Me, you really rocked that twist into a unique one of a kind quilt. Wonderful, delightful, and perfect made blocks that go into a great quilt. Thank you for sharing.

Very cool, I have the book for both of them and intend to make them once things settle down, I love you're quilt.

What a great quilt. I am really impressed you did your own batiks as well to get just the right fabric. The halloween theme is subtle but unmistakable. Very nice! If you send it off to a LAQ there are some fabulous spider and spider web pantos and digital designs out there.

Very nice indeed.

Thanks everyone.

feline fanatic - Thank you. That's what I was going for, subtle but undeniable. :) I will be quilting it on my home machine. I have already designed a single large spider web for it. As well as little dangling spiders for the border. I just hope I can pull it off.

You can and you will!!!!!!!!!! :)

It was a delight to follow you one block at a time along this ride! It came together just beautifully, I love it! I cannot wait to see your spiderweb quilting designs. Congratulations on your marvelous finish! :thumbup:

Nicely done!

I think she said it all ! ! ! ! After all her English is better than mine :D :D :D :D

So now we're all waiting for your first Jane blocks ! ! :) :)

Super. Love Batiks and this quilt is special. BrendaK

Wow your quilt is beyond beautiful, your personal touches make it even more special. Can't wait to see your Jane with a Twist..

Awesome job, W4Me--this has been a lot of fun following along as you made these blocks. When you said "Halloween fabrics" I kind of scratched my head thinking "hmmmm" but it turned out great. Can't wait to see it quilted (not nagging, just anxious LOL).

Thank you. The encouragement along the way has meant a lot.

It won't be quilted for a while as there are a few ahead of it, two of which need to get done in order to be displayed at my local quilt store.

:D:D:DNot Really:D:D:D

You are amazing with your English writing abilities.
Keep wondering, if I would be able to understand your English thru your accent? :)
I definitely am envious of you (or any others that can pick a second language up and do so well.
As for my French ... yikes! Not so!






W4Me ... I'll join the others .... hurry hurry hurry hard (as every good curler would say! :) Just bump those others and do this one first! :)

OMG, this is fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome work of art. Love it!

Wow a lot of great work, and well worth it!!

Wow is the word. It's amazing how the green batik adds another dimension. Now for the final show with quilting; anxiously awaiting the finish.

Oh my that is a beautiful quilt!

Wow, wow, wow! Agree with all the above comments! They say it all! :)

I want to keep looking at your quilt. It is so interesting and lovely.

nicely done

Good for you to tackle this "never, ever, not me" quilt! It is terrific and using the cross stitch as the center...inspiring!!

Thank you all for your kind words. I guess the key is making something your own. I keep seeing something fun every time I look at it. I really enjoyed playing with block choices for each fabric.

I love Halloween and really enjoy cross stitch and quilting so combining them seems natural.

Interesting fabric choices.

Great Quilt !!!!! love it and your middle block !!!

Very nice! Congrats on finishing this one! A true treasure!

Terrific job!

Wonderfully pretty !!

Great quilt...