Moonlit Bat
No Gothic garden would be complete without a resident Bat, circling through the darkening trees at dusk before retreating to the Gatehouse attic to wait out the winter. You can find the block here.
We will be using techniques that we've explored in previous blocks - snowballed corners, dresden fans and simple embroidery - but this block does differ in one respect: it's constructed asymmetrically to accommodate the wings, so some of the units will look slightly lop-sided when you make them. But all will be revealed when we assemble the block.
EDIT: Although the sew-along has finished, you can still use the weekly posts as a guide and sew with a group of friends. You can find the Spellbound Sampler pattern book here and on Amazon, or the PDF Pattern Bundle here.
CUTTING...
Follow steps 1-3 in your pattern
For this block I decided to use scraps of my dark background for the Bat's body.
PIECING THE BAT'S WINGS...
Follow steps 4-11 in your pattern...
If you managed to make all your dresden fans last week, then hurray. If not - and you need to refresh your memory - my detailed photos are on last week's Merveille du Jour post, here.
Remember that each wing unit is assembled differently and that you are making two mirror-image units.
I pinned my wing in place, but glue-basting is also a good option.
PIECING THE BAT'S HEAD & TAIL...
Follow steps 12-16 in your pattern...
These are fairly simple units to make, especially now you've mastered the snowball technique. Keep an eye on fabric placement and all will make sense when you start...
...ASSEMBLING THE BLOCK
All of the elements of my block laid out and ready to assemble
Follow steps 17-18 in your pattern...
You can find my tips for adding the simple embroidery to the Bat's face on the Moon & Star post, here.
The back of the fully assembled block, showing seam direction
Don't tell the other blocks, but this one is my favourite.
I made my test block from my Liberty lawn stash and loved the result so much I used to test another pattern: a little drawstring backpack that eventually became the Happy Wanderer bag.
So I'll certainly be ready for trick or treating this Halloween.
We're now two-thirds of the way through our blocks: doesn't time fly?
Nicola xx