Just to stay in the loop

A few more blocks from the past.

Bottom left is the Goblet of Fire... it was wooden in the book, so I used the wood look fabric.

Why is it that the upper left shows so dark? So here is a better picture of the Whomping Willow.

 

Going to the Folsom Quilt Show today. They have a Fashion Show each time. This is probably my 14th year going to this guild's show. It's really fun. - I'll take some pictures if they allow it... and show some here on the blog.

 

Hugs,

Terri

A Paper Piecing Start...

The pattern (Dobby, the Houseelf) from Fandom In Stitches

 

Cut out the pieces (save the section that tells the sewing order.)

 

Choose fabrics - dark brown for the eyes, flesh tone, a spotty beige for the pillow case he wears, the dark blue for the background, white for the whites of his eyes, and a spotty brown for inside his ear.

 I like to start by cutting and pinning all the #1 spots. Hold it up to the light to make sure all the seam allowances are covered. (Also, notice I skipped a step in the pictures and wrote the color on all the different shapes. That has saved me soooooo many times. (Once the pieces are cut apart you can't tell what color something should be. Is this an arm or a nose?)

Here another #1 on a different piece. Yup, it covers.

Hold the #2 fabric next to the #1 and sew along the line between them.

Put the needle down into the top of the seam annnnnnnd

swing the new addition into place so there's enough seam allowance. (Your fabrics are right sides together, that means that #2, or the fabric being added this time, is right sides up.)

After sewing

fold it back into it's rightful place before cutting off the excess. (I wish someone had told me this part. I cut soooo many wrong when I first started.

Luckily this light color covers the darker... now press the seam and flip and press it out into its permanent position.

If the seam allowance shows some of the dark seam allowance under the light colored fabric - grade your seam allowance. Cut the darker color smaller than the top, and you won't get a shadow of it showing through your lighter color.

A couple of other shapes  added now, and I'm done with this piece.

Another piece - this brown triangle is going to show through the fleshtone...

so I cut the brown seam allowance smaller than the fleshtone seam allowance.

partly cut

 Cut off - with scissors - quicker than the blade, and I can cut one piece different than the other piece of the seam allowance.

See? Now the brown won't shadow through.

After pressing - no shadow.
Just continue adding pieces - in a sequential way. Just follow the numbers, and apply the correct colors. I'll show how to put the pieces together tomorrow.

Have fun... if you really mess up a piece, you can always printout another and start over with that one piece. I've done that... saves on picking (and sanity), and well, picking might not be the solution if you have too little fabric.  I know it doesn't look like much in these pictures, but it will once they are all  pieced together.

Hugs,

Terri

Tip A Day on Paper Piecing....

Good thing we picked the shortest month of the year to do this Harry Potter Paper Piecing thing. I sat down to sew, and have written up a bunch of tips, but they aren't in a good order yet. I've got 18 tips that I've been using through lots of paper piecing quilts. I'll start that feature on Monday. Meanwhile...  Here are another 6 that I've made previously, and you have probably seen before.

And in case you can't see the Gryffindor Sword as good as the others, I took another picture - see below.  The blade is some shiny silver from Halloween time, and grey with the red stones at the hilt.

I'm back to working on Dobby and trying to make a step by step for you. See you tomorrow.

Hugs,

Terri

February 1 and it is Harry Potter Paper Piecing

So I guess we are off to a slow start here... Hey, Cheryl. Hope you are not nursing the flu at your house.  Cheryl and I were going to do this, but we aren't very organized. She is going to work on the Project of Doom from Fandom In Stitches (once you get there select the Harry Potter button and you will find the PoD and other patterns for free usage... You can't sell the patterns or anything you make with them because of licensing and copy right laws.)  I'm just going to make more of the blocks. I use some to make get well cards, and well, I just like making them.
Here are a few I've made before...

Crookshanks (the cat) is not an easy starter project, but Hedwig is not too hard. Actually, all the ones on the right are easier than the left side.  If you need help with paper piecing, check out Jennifer's instructions on the Fandom In Stitches site. I have some tips that have helped me, but there are 27 more days this month. ---- And that does it for me today.  I'm going to try the houseelf, Dobby, tonight. I've got some "flesh" colored fabric for him.

So have a wonderful weekend. It's supposed to be 60s here and sunny. We are going to trim back the roses, and hope they don't notice that I should have done it a couple of months ago.

Hugs,

Terri

 

P.S. The banner has been updated with all my newest palm blocks, and orange notations where I have a few more blocks to make... I know it doesn't look that filled out, but I've been working like a fiend on it, honest.

Announcing HPQuilt Along...

Hello Followers and other Friends,
Starting on Feb 1, Cheryl of Cheryl's Teapots2Quilts will be paper piecing quilts on a Harry Potter theme from the free patterns at Sewhooked.  We haven't planned much.  Go over to Cheryl's, here's a link, to see what she has written.  You might like to check out Fandom in Stitches to see the patterns and the tutorials on paper piecing that Jennifer has there. She has other fandoms there you might enjoy, too.
In other news ~ we are home from our trip - sick as dogs! This is the most exertion I can manage today... and I'm gonna take a nap shortly.  For all you other sickies, stay hydrated and warm and rest!
I think our being sick is a blessing, really. Gives us something other than our trip to think about.

Here are some of the blocks I have made in the past from the Fandom in Stitches site.

Now off to a nap!

Hugs,

Terri

New Banner...

Dear Friends,

Thank You all for your kind words of comfort. The memorial for my Chrissy will be next weekend, and I will be away a few days before and a few afterwards. It has been a week of agony and heart ache, and I can't say that I feel better (especially because I'm crying right now, and will for the rest of my life) but I have started to push myself to get back into life - like my Chrissy would want me to do. She was not a crier - mostly cause she never wanted to be like me. I cry watching toothpaste ads.  I'm fat, she was always beautifully thin. She always shared her sunny side, I'm trying to learn that. I can cook, and tried to teach her, but her brothers were merciless in their teenage teasing. She didn't learn at home, but from her hubby, who was a cook when they married. She never learned knitting or crochet, or any of the old granny pursuits, that I like to do. She did start to quilt, mostly because I found so much peace with it, and because she liked to do volunteer work and wanted to make things to donate. She made a few beautiful items for her kids and the pets, then her illness shut that down. She was waaaay more social than I am, she had lots of friends in all the places she has lived.  And we all are missing her so much.

I got all kinds of pictures of her together this week. A friend of hers lives quite near us, came to get them and will put together a video for her memorial and we will all get a CD, so I don't have a picture to put here, but I will try to get some on in a week or so.

I have started to sew again.  There are more blocks of the palms (on the banner) done, but I didn't want to futz with a picture of the new ones. I still don't know if I'm picture-abled again. We'll see in a week or so. 

Thank you for your loving comments. I appreciate your time and the soothing words.

Hugs,

Terri

My Chrissy has passed

I know a number of you have been praying for my daughter, Chrissy. She passed in her sleep this morning at 8:30 AM at the Hospice where she was admitted yesterday. (She would have been 40 on her next birthday in May.) We were lucky to see her for a few days before the New Year. She was talking and sitting up and seemed nearly like her old self. It was wonderful...
Thank you for your prayers. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Hugs,
Terri