Halloween Hoop

I frequently check in with Betz White's blog as she's always posting something fun. She and I generally travel in different worlds - hers is sweater soft. Betz makes all sorts of delightful things from felted wool - pincushions, for example, as shown on the cover of one of her books.


But recently this lovely mix of pretty and creepy caught my eye.


It's a quick project made with simple materials, which to my way of thinking is the very best sort. Just paint an embroidery hoop black, add a piece of lace and a fake spider - you'll have yourself a cleverly elegant Halloween decoration in no time.


If you'd like to recreate Betz's nifty idea with a quilled spider instead of a store bought version, here's my tutorial on how to make this leggy black widow... shudder!


Another blog I'd like to give props to today is i made it so. Ana and I first struck up a conversation via Twitter as she and her young daughter have been learning to quill together. She recently posted a three part quilling series and kindly included my work, but aside from that, I think you might enjoy the variety of topics she features, as well as her engaging way with words.