Patchwork quilts are a great way to use up leftover scraps of fabric that fall in that awkward area between “too small to use for a project by themselves” and “too big to throw out without feeling guilty.” If you happen to have some scraps of Halloween-print fabric stashed away, this spiderweb-themed lap quilt by Life in the Scrapatch is a brilliant way to use them up.

She made a small version in 2013, detailed here, and then followed up with a larger version the following year. Her instructions are easy to follow, and there are lots of helpful photos.

She uses a couple of tools that you may not have lying around if you aren’t a dedicated quilter, but it’s possible to improvise substitutes (such as using the edge of a plate instead of a curved ruler). I do wonder, though, how a construction method which differs from hers would work out. Her method involves sewing square patches into a pyramid shape, trimming the edges into a triangle that represents a whole “wedge” of the quilt, and then cutting the triangle into pieces width-wise to sew in the black borders. This allows the same fabric to appear on both sides of the border, which is pretty, but if you don’t care about that I’m thinking that it might be easier to work outward from the middle: Cut a small triangle, sew a black strip to its wide end, cut a trapezoid and sew its narrower end to that strip then sew another strip to its wide end, and so on until you’ve built up a full wedge. (This will also give you straighter black borders instead of her curved design but if, like me, you loathe and fear sewing curves it’ll also make your life easier. The spiderwebby vibe should still be clear enough.)

Be sure to check out the rest of the site as well; there are some other great ideas for using up scraps, like this trick-or-treat bag (which would also make a nice tote bag) and this September quilt which features pretty autumnal fabric.