Man, I wish that were true! Imagine the possibilities! There's been some talk of going to Scotland next year with Hunter and Carmen!!!! Which led to talk of taking a ride on The Jacobite Train, which of course is the Hogwart's Express. Yes! I know! I've barely slept since they told me! Any who, I was inspired to get my Harry Potter Bookcase done at our latest Mascoutah retreat.
The Sorting Hat is the size of 2 blocks.
For some reason, I forgot to print 2 pages of this pattern and couldn't finish it at our retreat. His eyes are a little freaky, if I'm honest.
Naturally, I chose the Hufflepuff's flag. When the Sorting Hat says you're a Hufflepuff, then that's how it is. You feel me? I love the bottom book in this one. Little eye balls.
The Monster Book of Monsters was a real beast to work on. See what I did there? I really struggle with what color should go where when I'm using PP. I made several mistakes and barely had enough of the hairy fabric to finish! A mere 3 hours on one block. Almost as bad as Hedwig!! I did think it was clever to use butterfly fabric for his mouth. Now it looks like he's eating bugs.
After that, I needed an easy block. Not crazy about my boring color palate on this one but next to all the others, you don't notice it.
Then, an even easier block. Much more interesting color choices. I still haven't decided if I'm going to embroider book titles on to them. I've seen them done on embroidery machines that look amazing but you know, I'll try to do it by hand. I'm worried that the wild patterns I've used will make the lettering unreadable which would just be a waste of time.
I struggled and struggled with the velum paper again. Hated every damn minute of it... I finally took Chris Y's advice and ordered some news print. Went home and finished the Sorting Hat with the news print and it was wonderful!! Such a difference. My stitches weren't uneven, the paper came out really easily. Night and day! Maybe I don't hate paper piecing after all! I have 7 more blocks to go. Then, I have to decide how to finish it. Fancy, old, scrolls on my bookshelf? Modern with a dragon resting on top? Maybe a Nibus 2000?
I actually had a day all to myself on Tuesday. It was magnificent. Rich was at work and the remaining kids both had classes. It was just me and my pal True. We made a t-shirt quilt for Carmen's mom. An actual quilt in a day! Don't think I've done that before, maybe a baby quilt. This is the second tractor t-shirt quilt I'm making for Carmen. I'm really loving this modern layout. Hopefully, Jill will like it. The art work in her home is pretty modern/ mid-century. Lots of fun.
Even with all the excitement over The Jacobite, I think I'm going to choose Ireland. (yeah, they're letting me choose!) It's more my pace. Scotland is pretty rugged and there's lots of heights and bridges involved. Neither are my favorite things. So, next up a green fairy quilt? I did the Irish Triple Chain last year. Do you think I can find a charity shop with tons of old Irish buttons? Dang it, now I won't sleep for another week.
