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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WIP Wednesday: the Domestic Bliss quilt

You know those quilts you've been working on forever, plodding away, making slow progress? This was one of those quilts. I started it in May last year for our bed. I have been working on it while I was at quilt group, which amounts to a few hours a month. 

Slow going. 

At quilt group last Sunday I finally started to see it coming together, I had half the stars pieced and it was all starting to make sense.Since I am on school holidays for two weeks, when I got home I decided not to pack it away. I was determined to get it done.

Three days of solid piecing later, I'm still going. There was so.much.pinning. So.much.pressing. So.much.chain piecing. But we have rows, I'm happy with that. I can see the finish line.

I am loving the secondary pattern of the yellow and white snowballs. A nice place to rest the eye as this baby is busy!!

I started with some of Liz Scott's Domestic Bliss fabrics for Moda. I absolutely love the saturated hues of this line. I wish I'd been able to get some more of the yellows, didn't know those ones existed!

Because I don't like to use just one line in my quilts, I pulled additional fabrics that played nicely with the colours in the Domestic Bliss.

The pattern was a freebie from Moda Bakeshop called Nough Said by Cindy Sharp. I sized it up to a queen size quilt, just to make it a little more challenging. And worked from a black and white print out with pencil scrawl on it, because I love self-torture!

I do have one little problem though. I bought a Denyse Schmidt print at Spotlight which seemed like it would be the perfect border, but now I'm really not so sure. I like the solid yellow sashing, and the striped binding, but the border print seems too busy and too orange. I have enough of it for the backing and I'm fine with using it for that... just not sure as a border. I may need to go shopping to see if I can find something a little more subdued.

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday and WIP Wednesday.

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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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WIP Wednesday - Polaroid Rainbows

I was part of Kristy from Quiet Play's Say Cheese Polaroid Block Swap, and while she's just sorting most of the polaroids now, I was lucky enough to get mine a few days early because we are in the same real life quilt group together, so she brought my swaps to the meeting.

Can I just say first that I Spy prints are waaaaaay cuter than they ever used to be. Just looking at these cute little fussy cut morsels had me giddy with delight!When I cut my 50 squares for the swap I cut myself an extra set and then crossed my fingers I wouldn't get any doubles back, with a plan to having 64 blocks to work with in an 8x8 layout. I also decided I was going to rainbow strip my background, and while I have a zillion other things I could be working on, I couldn't help but start playing with these cuties right away.

And I am so, so in love with the results (which are looking a little fuzzy here, but I took a zillion shots and none of them were completely in focus. Waaah!).

Check out some up close polaroid goodness:

We used this tutorial to construct the polaroids, and when I got them back I just trimmed up the sides. I was totally lazy and didn't even measure them to make sure they're all the same because I knew I was going to frame them again and precisely cut that block. 

But just in case you need some tips on wonky framing, here's a mini-tutorial. 

You will need about 18 inches of 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide sashing to border each block. This is a great opportunity to use up little scraps you've had around for ages. While I used solids, I totally think this would work in tone on tones or blender prints - think background paper for a scrapbook page if you will. 

So take your 1inch (rough cut) strips and chain piece them to either side of your blocks. I like to chain piece as much as possible, chain piecing is your friend! It doesn't matter if you go top and bottom or left and right here. I actually did half each way for easier piecing down the track. Cut them apart and press open.

Trim your sashings to the edge of the white. Now chain piece the other two sides and press.

I have just got myself a 4 1/2 inch ruler and it is soooo handy, and perfect for this job. If you don't have a square, then you can cut a template for one, but this is a great investment. They're also useful for squaring up components of larger blocks.

Say hi to my cute little foxy friend, whack your ruler on top in whatever wonky shape your heart desires, and trim. Tip: If you do this standing up you're more likely to be able to do all four sides with your dominant hand and no tricky block turning.

Now pair up your squared up blocks. Make sure the wider polaroid piece is at the bottom. This is where the alternating directions of sewing on the sashing comes into play - if you did this then you'll find you have four vertical strips that are all one piece which will go through the bottom layer of your machine easier. Totally not compulsory, but it does make a wee bit easier.

Chain piece your row together.

 Then stitch your finished row to the rest of the quilt. And of course you can totally leave that to the very end and sew all the strips together at once, but that's my least favourite part, so I prefer to do it as I go.

Now, in exchange for that maybe useful tutorial, I need YOUR help. I have basted and we are ready to quilt. But I have NO idea how to quilt it! Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

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WIP Wednesday - the quality control team

Every quilter needs a quality control team. Diligent testers who will monitor the process from the purchase of fabric right through to the ongoing suitability of the quilt for its intended purpose.

These boys are my sewing room quality control team - Flash and Bolt. No fabric is left unfurred. All finished quilts are laid upon on a regular basis.

And while I am quilting my latest project - which is actually not from lately at all, but rather an unfinished quilt top from about 9 years ago. It's an Improved Nine Patch in 1930s reproductions from an Aunt Grace anniversary collection.

I'm not sure why I held off on this project so long. At first I thought I wanted it hand quilted, then I realised I just don't get time to hand quilt these days. I decided to stipple it because with all those curves the piecing isn't perfect so I wanted a forgiving pattern. I am a little nervous about the scalloped binding... maybe that's why I've been putting it off.

The boys are carefully checking it's suitable for fighting on, washing on and ignoring each other on.

Bolt is also inspecting my quilting progress and ensuring it stays where I leave it between quilting sessions.

Do you have any little helpers in your sewing room?

Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

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WIP Wednesday - The BOM Bonanza

I am excited that I'm almost totally caught up with block of the month quilts. I've been doing the Blogger BOM and the Craftsy BOM and both of them finish with the block making side this month. I was a couple of months behind, so this week I've made three Blogger blocks and five Craftsy blocks (still have one to go).

Blogger BOM, in cool scraps.

Craftsy BOM in Hoopla by Moda

This means that when the setting/ quilt top construction details come up next month, I'll be ready to go! Yay!
I'm not sure how I feel about BOM quilts, I have learnt a lot doing these, but I don't really like having projects on the go for so long with fabric in reserve for them. Maybe I'll feel differently when I get my WIPs under control.

I am feeling a little better about the epic WIP list (thanks for the reassuring comments, good to know I'm not alone!), and I just plan on taking it one baby step at a time. What more can I do, right? I might start laundry listing them in future WIP Wednesdays, if that's not too scary!

I recently signed up for a polaroid block swap, totally a 'all the other girls are doing it' moment, because I need another I-Spy quilt like a hole in the head, but the blocks are sooooo darn cute! I've decided to make a little wallhanging when I get the blocks back and donate it to the preschool where I work as a raffle quilt.It's good to have a potential home for that one.

And I've been working on a rainbow/low volume scrap quilt for a while now with no particular purpose in mind, but I'm desperate for a quilted chair in my sewing room (because everyone needs one of them, right?)  and I have the perfect chair for the job... sounds like a match made in heaven!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

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