Have you ever shopped at a store and it forever changed your world?! That is a little dramatic but let me tell you, my life and my bank account were forever changed when I put in my first order at Fat Quarter Shop. 

I ordered two 10in stackers – Pirate’s Life by Shawn Wallace and High Adventure 2 by Designs by Dani, both for Riley Blake Designs.  I could not believe I had just spent a FORTUNE on fabric, literally held my breath as I hit submit on my order.

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The stackers came, I fell in love, and the rest is history. I have even replaced the original stackers as I now know how much more I can do with them!  The High Adventure fabric also has a main print with buffalos on it. So you know, I have to have it always!

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Well, years on down the road I am now an avid supporter of all things Fat Quarter Shop, including the wonderfully hosted quilt and stitch alongs.  I have dabbled in a few – got about 10 blocks from finishing the Sewcialites series before I got behind, will have to finish that soon – and have happily subscribed to a few block of the months. 

What I like about the Quilt/Stitch Alongs with Fat Quarter Shop

• They are free – who wouldn’t love that?
• Require few supplies – can use what you have in your stash or buy new
• 4-5 weeks long – that is fast and very manageable time wise.   You do not have to invest months and hours upon hours of time.
• They offer free tutorials – New to the hobby? Not sure how to complete a step?  FQS has a wonderful YouTube channel where they walk you through the steps!  I mostly watch just for fun but learn a thing or two along the way!

When the Mystery Bats and Boos Quilt along was announced, I immediately downloaded the“I’m In” graphic and posted it to Instagram. How could I not?!

Then I thought about what fabric I would use.  I had most of a fat quarter bundle of Stacy Iest Hsu’s Ghouls and Goodies left from last year, that I absolutely am obsessed with, and some yardage to go with it.  I would use what I had and wing it! 

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Here is What I Used:

• Ghouls and Goodies Fat Quarter Bundle with yardage for border/backing/binding
• Blossom Black yardage – Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake Designs
• Riley White yardage for the background – Riley Blake Designs (my go to white solid)
• Olfa Rotary Cutter with endurance blade
• Olfa Cutting Mat
• Creative Grids Rulers – various sizes.
• Juki Sewing Machine – TL-2010Q
• Aurifil Thread – 2024

When the quilt/stitch along is a mystery, a certain block or section is release one week at a time.  In this circumstance, a specific block was released each week.  Here is how it went…

Bats and Boos Quilt Along Week 1 – Let’s talk Bats!

I chose a grey and black print for the bats, each of which had been slightly used in a previous project, so I did not have quiet enough to complete all 4 bats if it were the main fabric. So, I put my thinking cap on and used the Black Blossom as the bats body, used the grey bat print as the bat stomach and black bat fabric as the corner stone piece.  It worked out wonderfully!  I also did not originally plan for the bat fabric to be in the bat block, I was going more off color than print, but it worked out so beautifully!

Week 1 was super-fast and super cute.  I was easily done with all 4 blocks, start to finish, in under two hours.   

Bats and Boos Quilt Along Week 2 – Pumpkins!

I used the main orange print from the fabric line to make the pumpkins. The print was a little larger than I would have liked, but hey, I was working with what I had!  And when all is said and done I really like how the pumpkins turned out.

Anywho, there was a ton of snowballing and many steps to complete the pumpkins.  I set up an assembly line of sorts and was able to chain piece multiple steps at the same time.  This is definitely not recommended if you are a beginner, but the more you understand patterns and the steps to make the quilt block the more comfortable you will become doing more than one step at a time.

The key is to triple check to make sure everything is placed and being sewn in the correct direction!  

The pumpkins required a bit of labor, many trips back and forth to the iron,  but the effort was definitely worth it!

Bats and Boos Quilt Along Week 3 – Star Block!

Prettiest center star ever! Star blocks are my favorite, getting the points to match up just so is fabulous!   So, when you see a start that has snowballed edges all the way around, you know it is going to be good! I again created my assembly line for chain piecing and went to town. 

I was able to use the coordinating prints from week 1 to create this awesome star.   I was also able to use up the remainder of the scraps from the bat blocks. Double bonus!   

The star came together so quickly and I only had to make 1!

Bats and Boos Quilt Along Week 4 – Finishing

The final week called for sewing the blocks together and adding a 4.5-inch border.  I had a few options for the border as I had 4 different yardage options. I went with the orange/white candy print and will bind in purple! I toyed with the purple border but ultimately thought it would distract from the center of the quilt.

Now to get this guy on the longarm! I will use the Pumpkin Panto sized down for dense quilting.  The quilt is also only a 40 inch square, so I definitely want the quilting to be small and really I am a dense quilting gal.  The binding and done!

Mystery Bats and Boos Stitch Along

I couldn’t ignore my new love of all things cross stitch! Oh no, that would not do! So of course, I pulled together the supplies to follow the stitch along. I again was able to steal from my stash and didn’t have to buy anything new or fancy.

Here is what I used:

• Called for DMC Floor – 04, 310, Blanc, 721
• Icelandic Gray 14 Count Aida
• Size 26 Bohin Needle
• Embroidery Scissors – Gingers are my go to brand!

That’s it!  Part of what I love about cross stitch is how few supplies you need to complete a project. Some projects have a lot of thread colors, but for the most part it is super easy and inexpensive to complete a project.

I traveled with my Bats and Boos cross stitch.  I worked on it here, I worked on it there.  In my car, on my lunch break, before school, after school…you get the picture!  I was able to stay up to date with the weekly releases by stitching wherever and whenever possible and I will eventually turn the finished piece into a small pillow using prints from the collection.

It was an absolute blast to work on this quilt/stitch along with Fat Quarter Shop and the other quilters and stitchers following along.  Seeing other people’s work is so inspiring and fun to explore. Now on to the next…All the Trimmings Quilt/Stitch Along!

Happy Quilting (and Stitching)!!!