Harry Potter Quilt - Finally Finished

 

The monster project is finished!  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would take me a whole month to complete this quilt.  I'm pretty happy with it overall, which is good, because there will likely never be another one.

 

 

My husband said that no Harry Potter quilt would be complete without a 9-3/4 block.  But all quilters know that you can't just add one block.  And if I replaced a block, who would I want to do without?  So a whole new row it had to be.

In addition to 9-3/4, I added Quiddich of course....

And Harry's Patronus...

The Deathly Hallows....

And the Hogwarts Express.  The colors here are very orange because the light in my room after dark is pretty orange.  It has rained the WHOLE month of August, it seems, and since I had to go back to work within a day or two after I finished the quilt top, there hasn't been time to get a good photograph.  

Hopefully, when things settle down at school, I'll get a chance to get a photo.  Nevertheless, I'm very glad it's done.

Harry Potter Quilt - The Last Blocks and Finishing Touches

 Today I thought I'd share the last few blocks of my Harry Potter Quilt.  The kids come back to school tomorrow and who knows when I'll get another chance.

First up is Sirius.  I saw someone else clothe this dapper dude in plaid, so I thought I would follow suit.  I'm wondering if his plaid vest matches maybe a bit too well?  And once he was complete, I saw that his moustache needed a bit of trimming.  Why do I never see these things in the photo, but not IRL?

 

Next was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  I have to admit that I put him off because I wasn't excited AT ALL about making him, but honestly, once I got started, it was fun.  I really enjoyed putting Nagini together.  I loved that I found the perfect snake fabric in my stash.  He's a pretty big block at 14x14.

Luna was an absolute blast to put together.  Almost everything she is wearing came from my scrap basket.  It was fun finding pieces that clashed so well together.

And then there's Dolores Jane.  Again, I was lucky enough to find the purr-fect fabric in my stash.  

 

Bellatrix was kind of a nightmare with her pointy hair, but I thought she turned out OK.

More points.  The dementor is a very large block at 16x16.  I'm pretty good at points now.

The castle is actually two blocks.  This is the right side.  I'm glad I did it first, because it was a booger.  It's pretty big too at 12 x17 or something like that.

The left side of the castle was much easier.  Once the windows were done, it was a piece of cake.  

That was the last of the blocks, but there were some details to take care of.

I had somehow missed a point on the merperson's tail.

And Sirius needed a quick visit to the barber for a trim.

Ron went to the chiropractor, so now he has his head on straight.

 

And then there were some details to take care of...

Harry needed glasses, of course....

And Mad-Eye had to have an eye...

And of course, Luna needed her spectraspecs.  Speaking of Luna, I read a sweet article about her the other day.  You can read it here.  I don't know if you'll need to create an account or log in, but it points out that there's a reason she's one of our favorite characters.

So that's all the blocks.  The next trick was to put it together.  I'll save that for the next post.

All You Need Is LOVE

Last Saturday, while I was at the Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild meeting Kira did a paper piecing lesson using kelbysews wonky alphabet pattern. 

Many of us, including me, I'm proud to say, completed the L-O-V-E under Kira's helpful tutoring.  I brought the letters home, and they were just sitting there on the cutting board.  Last night I decided that if I didn't do something with them by Valentine's Day, I probably never would.

So I sat down at the sewing machine and put together this pillow, just in time for V-Day.

The fabric is the leftovers of a FE bundle BD#1 picked up for me at Sample Spree in May of 2011.  I am always amazed at how far a little bundle of fabric can stretch.  I have already made a quilt from this bundle!  I had the fabric for the backing and binding left over from the Simple Merry Christmas quilt.  And the outer sashing was 1-1/2 inch strips left over from yet another Ruby project.

The quilting was fairly simple - straight lines in the sashing and hearts (or attempted hearts, anyway) in the letters.

So, on this Valentine's Day, I hope that your life is filled with LOVE.