The Magic Continues: More Harry Potter Paper Piecing!

Howdy y'all, just stopping by to check in! I've been sewing quite a bit lately, but nothing really worth sharing I feel like. Today has been a pajama day, drinking hot tea and hiding from the cool weather that has descended. That means lots of sewing, thank goodness! I finished up another block for the HP Project of Doom and figured I would share my progress since last time. I really like having this long term project to work on. It keeps me on my toes if I need a challenge, but doesn't demand to be worked on when I'm not feeling up to it. Plus, it's a perfect use of my stash and scraps, which is how all my sewing has to be for now.

First up, a grindylow! This is the block I'm most proud of so far! If you follow me on Twitter, you already saw this one, which I shared as soon as I finish because I was in complete awe. Lol. I'm planning to make this guy look like he's in a jar and set him on top of a little cabinet beside the  bookcase.

Next up, a crystal ball. I don't think I would be one for Divination if I went to Hogwarts, but it does make a lovely knick knack for the bookcase. :)

What Harry Potter project would be complete without Harry's glasses?! I'm really proud of getting all those little pieces to line up as well as they did!

Although I already have a candle, I couldn't resist making the little blue flame that Hermione can carry around in a jam jar. I really liked piecing the little flame, something about it was so soothing. :)

And lastly, the block I just finished this evening, is a mortar and pestle, along with a jar of some mystery substance. Remember the little cabinet I just mentioned? I envision it as a little apothecary cabinet with plenty of jars and what-not, so I needed a mortar and pestle! :)

All these patterns are available for free at Fandom in Stitches - check out the Harry Potter Bookcase page, along with the regular Harry Potter patterns. There are a ton to choose from!

The Quilt With No Name: A Finished Quilt Top

Howdy y'all, and happy Friday! I'm excited to unveil my latest finished quilt top! You saw a sneak peek of it on Wednesday, but here it is in all its glory! :)

The lovely Belle, back and ready to continue her quilt modeling. :)

As I said on Wednesday, this is a pattern of my own design, though only because I couldn't find one that suited my idea. I couldn't find an on-point square that fit the image in my head, so to the drawing board I went! It was easy enough and I'm thrilled with the result. Funnily enough, the design idea came to me back in the winter while playing video games with my husband. We were waiting for a game to load and the loading screen really struck me. I doodled the basic image in my notebook and hung onto it for inspiration to strike.

Those little intersection squares finish at 1 inch square! :)

That inspiration struck with my Alison Glass fabric! But what to pair it with? If you've followed for a while, you know I admire Kitty Wilkin over at Night Quilter. She really has a way with color, especially rainbows! And she really made me want to use Essex Linen in a quilt. For my birthday, I splurged and got, not regular Essex Linen, but a METALLIC Essex Linen. Oh. My. Goodness. I was giddy when I opened it and saw the shiny!

Depending on how the light hits the linen, it can appear metallic or flat. Makes for interesting pictures! Lol.

To my surprise, I plan on hand quilting this one. I know, weird for me, right?! But the buzz from hand quilting Technicolor Galaxy: Pocket Edition seems to have hung around because all I can see is rainbow hand quilting when I look at this quilt top. I figure I'll wait until the quilting is done to trim off the excess fabric around the edges, even if it looks funny right now! Lol.

This one really shows off the shimmer!

I had hoped for a better photoshoot for this top, but alas, not all wishes come true! So I took it with me when I went to my parents' house to do some work. I tried hanging it on the clothes line, but eventually just spread it out in the yard. The girls, Belle and Jasmine, couldn't help but get involved! Belle, of course, thinks she's a quilt model after I told her how much everybody liked her last time! ;) Now it's just time to dig through my batting pieces and hope I find one big enough for this!

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday, TGIFF, and Finish or Not Friday!

WIP Wednesday: Be Still, My Heart

Y'all, y'all, Y'ALL! I'm so beyond excited to show you what I've been working on! The thing is, I'm so close to finishing the top, I'm just showing a sneak peek today and saving the full reveal for Friday. You may remember that I got a bundle of Alison Glass for Christmas and I was beyond excited about it. I've been slowly but surely getting a quilt top together, savoring each stitch like a fine wine. But I'm so close to getting the top together, I might be speeding up a little out of excitement! This is a pattern of my own design, but it's so simple that I'm sure quite a few people have already written it up, I just couldn't find one when I looked. More details on Friday when I unveil the finished quilt top!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Small Quilt

Howdy y'all! Here's my second entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side! You can see my first entry here! I debated for a while about what my second entry would be before picking Peels of Patience. This quilt is so me: low volume, bold colors, and you know I love me some orange peels! :) I still miss having these orange peels to sew on while waiting at doctor's offices and what not. I may have to start another one soon... You can read more about this quilt here!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Trying Something New!

Howdy y'all! I hope your Monday is going well! Today, I'm doing something I never thought I would do. I'm entering two of my quilts in a show! That show is the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side and anybody who wants to can enter. For me, this a HUGE step out of my comfort zone. But after much hmm-ing and hah-ing, I decided that this would be a good thing. The online quilting community is amazingly supportive, so I couldn't think of a better time to enter my quilts into a show. :)

First up, I'm entering Technicolor Galaxy: Pocket Edition in the Mini Category. I've never been prouder of a little quilt than I am of this little beauty! As you could probably guess, this was directly inspired by the Technicolor Galaxy Skill Builder that so many have taken part in. I made this in a swap with quilty friend Jenn @ A Quarter Inch From the Edge and I fell absolutely in love with it as I made it. There are precious bits of my Alison Glass fabric mixed in that rainbow! :) You can read up more about this little mini here!

Rainbow hand quilting makes my heart sing!

Belle, the lovely Jack, for scale purposes. :)

Pretty in Pink: A Baby Quilt Finish

Happy Friday, y'all! I'm glad I finished this baby quilt last weekend because I have barely sewed at all this week. It's been a tiring one, that's for sure! This is the result of some of those squares I showed you recently. I had originally planned for this to be a quilt to donate, but part way through sewing, the quilt told me that wasn't the plan anymore. Isn't it funny how a quilt knows where its heading, even before us sometimes? :) My husband's cousin is due to give birth any day now and what kind of quilter would I be if that baby didn't have a quilt when it came into this world?!

Pink and gray, all the way!

I used the paper bag method for sewing the squares together - I just picked random squares and sewed them together without abandon. I'm sad that the bottom left is very pale/low value compared to the rest, but I'm sure baby won't mind. :)

Even Elvis was covered in glitter due to this fabric! Lol.

I went with simple quilting for this one. Straight lines about 1/4 inch from the seams in every direction. It was a nice change from my usual FMQ!

A simple label and a good view of the stripey binding!

The backing was a leftover glittery rainbow print and some scraps to make it big enough. This whole project was made from the stash, including the batting! Now it's just waiting for the baby to make her appearance. :)

A washed out quilt roll, ignore my cluttered patio! ;)

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday. go check out all the quilty loveliness that's being linked up this week! :)

Technicolor Galaxy: Pocket Edition

Howdy y'all!  When quilty friend Jenn @ A Quarter Inch From the Edge asked if I wanted to swap a mini mini, I jumped at the chance! Of course I do! Swaps always make me nervous but excited - a great combination for fun ideas!

Technicolor Galaxy: Pocket Edition!

So I contemplated ideas for a while, but I kept coming back to Jenn's WIP, Technicolor Galaxy (that's her latest update, it is coming together so well!). It's a phenomenal skill builder, go ahead and check it out, I'll wait. :) I kept wondering how to make such a big, complicated looking quilt into a mini mini. My answer, of course, was "Eh, I'll wing it and figure it out!" Some things just don't change, do they? LOL

Precious bits of Alison Glass found its way into this, as well as some Kona and other random bits!

I wish I had taken progress pictures of this little bit of sweetness, but it was actually pretty simple! I improv pieced the low volume background and starched it for good measure, something I had never done before. I appreciated the stiffness while working though!  Each colored pieced was placed onto the background individually with Heat n' Bond, then stitched on with a tiny zigzag stitch! That was the hardest part of the whole bit, especially with the tiniest pieces! I pondered over quilting for a while before settling on simple hand quilting. I kept with the rainbow theme and switched thread colors with each little quadrant. And because it looked unfinished, I added the same treatment to the binding. :)

Teeny weeny zigzags!

I had to head out to my parents the day I had planned to mail this out, so I snapped some pics on their porch and with my ol' girl, Belle. She's blind now, so she doesn't mind sitting in the grass to model a mini mini. Back in her prime, she would have grabbed it and ran off! :)

Belle is practically Vanna White. ;)

And just for fun, I snapped a pic of a momma and baby deer wandering by behind my parents' garden. Little baby still has some spots even! And of course, my parents' puppy wanted to be in the spotlight too, so a quick picture of Jasmine to tide her over. ;)

Pretty momma deer and her baby

This is as still as I could get Jasmine. Her tail was, of course, a blur! LOL

I had so much fun with this swap and I'm really proud of what I made! Jenn made me a lovely kitty cat mini to look just like LBC, which you can see here! I love it to pieces and have it hanging on my mini wall front and center. LBC has even been snoozing underneath it, so he must love it as much as I do! :)