Spooky Season Sampler

This year, I'm thrilled to be part of the Spooky Season Sampler team, a collaborative sew along featuring nine FREE quilt blocks from nine pattern designers!

Day 5 of the sew along is the Graveyard Shift block, where you'll choose between two gravestones. Choose silly spooky with the epitaph block or scary spooky with the vampire block!

The initial design included four gravestones in one block but truth be told, it required more attention than I was able to give at that time. I also wanted to make sure there was a secular-friendly option, so I picked two of the four gravestones and scaled them up. This leaves the decision-making to you! 

Since I was in need of some Halloween decorations, I decided to hang these two blocks in the living room window. No matter which gravestone you choose for your quilt project, these babies are quick to make. Plus, the intentionally simple designs give you the rein to personalize your gravestone. Feel free to hone your embroidery skills and add some pizzazz! For my epitaph block sample, I hand stitched a classic pun name: Chris P. Bacon. 

Riley Blake Designs kindly provided their Shades fabric collection to make the samples. If you're interested in using matching thread for hand quilting, I used DMC thread size 8 (3799, 351, 310, BLANC) as well as size 12 (211).

Prefer an alternative look? The Graveyard Shift block allows you to "shift" things around by swapping out the top units. What's more, you can also replace the cross using different fabrics for a scrappy look! 

Speaking of a scrappy look, below are a couple of samples using prints. I'm thinking of turning these into trick-or-treat tote bags, but we'll see if my children’s Halloween costumes can coordinate with these. 😅

Behind-the-Scenes

The epitaph block option was inspired by fond memories of reading the silly gravestones while in line at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride. We went a few times when I was a kid, and I remember it being the only line I didn’t mind waiting in. For the scary vampire block, I tapped into one of my first formative movies: 1992's Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was really young when I saw it for the first time, and it left quite an impression on me. I’ve only been brave enough to rewatch it once since then: Gary Oldman, why are you so terrifyingly good?! 😭

Check out the 2024 #SpookySeasonSampler tag on Instagram for a look at the rest of the blocks! Thanks for stopping by xo