Progress on the Harry Potter Quilt

My goal for April was a pretty simple one, to make some progress on my Harry Potter Project of Doom - aka the Bookshelf Quilt - which I started late in 2012.

I had nine blocks complete and I'm pleased to report I've done another nine this month. I still have twelve to go but none of these paper piecing blocks are too fiddly and some are really very simple. It's been a fun opportunity to play with different fabrics to my usual style, finding the perfect matches for the Harry Potter theme.

  I am refusing to pack up my sewing machine or these fabrics until I finish all 30 blocks in this quilt. Then I have to embroider book names onto the book, which I do by machine. I found a list of all the books mentioned in the Harry Potter book series, so it's fun to choose the ones I want to put on the shelf.

 
My only drama is that somehow my blocks are coming up different sizes. Initially I may not have selected actual size when I printed the PDF and my early blocks are 1/2 inch smaller than expected. So then I printed the newer blocks the same way but I am using the pattern that is now on Craftsy and these ones are coming up 1/2 inch smaller again. It's a little frustrating but not the end of the world - fortunately these are the kind of blocks where I can trim a bit or add a bit more background fabric as required to make it all work. 

I was also pleased to find a great fabric for the border and backing, a yellowy-gold print with stars on it, for a measly $4.99 a metre at Spotlight - then I got it at 40% off, making it a very cheap quilt back. 

I'm looking forward to getting this quilt on to the finished list!

Linking up with the ALYOF April Finishes Party over at Sew Bittersweet Designs

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Friday Finish: The Low Volume Rainbow

I actually finished this baby up a few weeks ago, but life has been crazy and Friday has slipped past numerous times without me posting.

This finish was my February goal for ALYOF and while I didn't get it done in February, it was finished in early March.

This was my first real go at improv piecing, and I love it... it was a fantastic way to use up loads of scraps and hard to use fabrics.

The quilting took forever. It was straight line quilting, but I used seven colours of thread, one for each colour of the rainbow. I took each colour over the corresponding band in the piecing, then into the low volume either side, and horizontally along each band. I love the effect, and how each low volume section is quilted in the colours either side of it. But the thread burying.... OMG. That took forever and ever and ever!!!!

I ended up totally overestimating how much of the low volume improv piecing I'd need for the strips on the front and had plenty left over, so I paired it with some grey solid for a pretty pieced back. Which meant no fabric purchases for the back too.

The only issue I have with this quilt is that it's not totally square, I have no idea why since I squared it up with a ruler when I finished quilting, but I guess the improv nature means it's hard to gauge that it's perfectly square. I'm trying to decide if I unpick some binding, trim and rebind, or if I just accept the fact that it's imperfect, like those people whose shoe sizes are a whole size different.

I'm linking this up with TGIFF over at Blossom Heart Quilts and Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Have a fantastic Easter, and I hope the bunny is kind to you.

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ALYOF - April Goal

I'm getting in on the skin of my teeth again... life is crazy busy here and to be honest I was thinking of skipping ALYOF again this month. But that does nothing to keep me on track, so I decided that I'm going to work on my Harry Potter Bookshelf quilt again.

I started this over a year ago and haven't made much progress, and while I don't think I could possibly finish it this month, I'm sure I can make some progress.

This is where I was at:

This pattern is from Fandom in Stitches, and is available for easy and free complete download at Craftsy. Awesome!!

Linking up to ALYOF... now I'd better get to work!! 

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Friday Finish

I'm struggling big time with the whole "February is Over" concept... seriously, where did it go? My February's are always manic, between back to school, back to work and all my kids having birthdays this time of year. I am quite glad to be seeing the back end of this month, to be honest.

I have one measly finish for the month, which I finished a few weeks ago, then never got as far as taking photos of (did I mention February is also a rainy month here?). This is a long standing UFO that I never really felt the love on. I am not really a shabby chic person AT ALL but I got what I suspect is part of a layer cake in a scrap pack and decided to put them together into a lap quilt. I paired them with cream for a very simple block. I quilted in a simple stipple that took only about an hour from start to finish.... gotta love that!

I do really like the finished product, it's turned into a sweet little lap quilt.

Because I am trying very hard to not buy fabric I decided to back it in the cream homespun as well. And I had *just* enough of this dusty pink solid to make the binding so that was meant to be.

This little quilt will be gifted a bit later in the year. Considering I started it with no intentions, I am pleased to have found a good home for it.

I have been working hard at my low volume rainbow quilt for ALYOF, but I'm just not going to get there in February, sadly. I have almost all the quilting done but I have had a headache and been very under the weather this week so I didn't quite get it finished. But I am pleased with the progress I've made and hope to get it wrapped up very soon. I am loving how ALYOF is keeping me focused on finishing particular projects, it really is what I need!

Excitedly, I am starting to feel a bit more like a finisher. As I am getting through the piecing side of things I am making a concerted effort to baste and quilt straight away. In the past I've very often put finished tops aside for a while, and we all know how that turns out... (a bit like the nap I took yesterday afternoon after work lasted until 7pm).

Linking up with TGIFF over at Mila and Cuatro, Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

Hope you all have a productive, fabric filled weekend.

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WIP Wednesday - Low in the Rainbow

Once upon a time, about a year ago, before I'd even heard the term 'low volume', I hit upon the idea of using up lots of bright scraps and lots of that pesky-multicoloured-fabric-with-white-backgrounds-that-is-pretty-hard-to-use (yes, that is the technical term) to make another rainbow quilt.

I worked at it for a while, then in typical fashion, shoved it aside, all but done, rendering a whole stack of fabric out of action for any other project and adding to my WIP list. My goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes in February is to get this top, which I absolutely love love love, finished and quilted. I have plans for the quilting, once I get over the hurdle of how to back it.

I love that this is low volume, but kinda not... a bit low vol at the carnival, perhaps. But overall, it reads as low volume. And since I reorganised my stash (more on that another day), I am itching to play with my low volumes a bit more.

I love the whole hot mess that is the improv piecing process too... perfect for this time of year when I am super tired from having lots of newbies at work (oh, the crying!) and just want some mindless sewing at the end of the day.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday, Sew Cute Tuesday and A Lovely Year of Finishes too!

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