TGIFF - Harry Potter Quilt & Bee Blocks

It's my turn to host TGIFF! What an excellent week to be hosting too.. I've finally finished the Harry Potter quilt top!! It still needs to be basted, quilted and bound, but I consider this a significant milestone - 10 days to get it quilted, that's heaps of time right??

Here's a quick update on how it all went together..

Stars sashed, centre section all one piece, top/bottom row still to go

Owl blocks with an additional border to complete top & bottom rows

Sashing complete - quilt top finally in ONE piece!

And finally complete.. approx twin size.

I'm so happy with the way it's turned out.. It has all pulled together perfectly and so much better than I ever could have hoped. Admittedly, had I known quite how much time/effort/planning would need to go into this I probably would have bought the fabric panel I'd seen on ebay in the first place. But if I'd done that I wouldn't have learnt a pile of new skills, I probably wouldn't have been able to convince my husband to buy me the Accuquilt Go! cutter, and I wouldn't have this incredibly awesome looking quilt top to give to my son on his birthday (did I mention it's in 11 days?). It is by far the most ambitious quilting project I have ever undertaken, and I can't wait until it is completely finished!

Mum and I were brainstorming how to quilt it today, and I think I'm going to go with 'ditch' quilting for most of it. I really don't want to take away from the piecing, and all the elements are so different that I don't think that an all over design would enhance it specifically. I also need to coordinate with my husband to make up the quilt label for the back, as he has gone and digitized the Hogwarts crest for use with Daisy the embroidery machine.

I also managed to complete my April block for the QCA bee (hive #2) - Sue requested a Starflower block, a la Ellison Lane / Samelia's Mum. Phillipa and I caught up on Wednesday and managed to get both our blocks completed in and around our other projects. I posted both blocks off yesterday, so Sue should get them early next week.  I think this is a gorgeous block, and I'd definitely consider using it again sometime.

April Bee Block - Star Flower

I've still got my Craftsy BOM blocks to do, I've cut my cardboard templates for the hexies and now I just need to get my paper piecing on the move. I must confess that I've been holding off so that I can work on the Harry Potter quilt though... once that's finished it's going to be a quilty free for all!!!

Anyway, thanks for coming along and sharing in MY finishes.. now it's time for you to link up so that I can see *your* finishes! Don't forget to link back to TGIFF so that your readers can join in the fun too.

March Bee & BOM Blocks..

I've been a bit busy making my sister-in-law's baby quilt so I've only managed to complete one of the March Craftsy BOM blocks so far - but it's only halfway through the month, so I shouldn't be too concerned yet, right? So far I've managed to complete the foundation pieced string block, which was an interesting experience after having recently made paper pieced string blocks for the QCA bee last month. I really liked how the seams are hidden so it's nice and tidy at the back.. but the blocks did suffer a bit from shrinkage because of the seams, so I definitely think if I was doing a whole quilt like this I'd want to use a thread like the 50wt Aurifil so that it sits flat and doesn't take up as much room. (ie my 6.5" blocks ended up perhaps 6.25" using my generic white thread)

Craftsy BOM Block #5 - Foundation Pieced String Block

 I can't wait to finish the baby quilt so that I can move on to the second Craftsy BOM block, the Broken Spiderweb.. I'm really looking forward to making that block - I've seen it floating around blogland/flickr and I think it's most effective. I'm going to use the blue/green fabrics from the Delighted range for the Broken Spiderweb, having used the red/yellow fabrics for the String Block.

I also managed to complete my March block for the QCA bee - although it wasn't exactly a block! Jane from Quiltjane is the block leader this month and she wanted some strippy Dresden plates. She was even so good as to put together a tutorial and templates for us all to print, making Dresden plates look super simple! Jane asked us to alternate between horizontal stripes and vertical stripes for the wedges.

Horizontal strippy wedge

Vertical strippy wedge

 The wedges went together really quickly, especially once I had a bit of a chain production line going on! I thought these looked so effective once they'd been put together - I'm completely in awe of Jane's brain - I'd never have thought of making the wedges strippy (and then alternating the stripes).. I guess it's a good thing I can follow instructions at least!

Laying out wedges for fun, halfway through.

My block (left) and Phillipa's block (right)

 Phillipa and I ended up finishing our blocks off together at one of our regular sewing playdates (seriously, it's so awesome having 2 full days to myself now that Blossom is in Kindy.. I get to hang out with my girlfriends and sew! What more could a girl want??) The colours didn't come out quite as vibrant in the photos - they're both bright with homespuns like teal, lavender, peacock, coral, stone etc. It was so much fun going shopping for solids - for a start, they were on sale! But it was a pleasure to grab bolts and stack them up in these vibrant jewel tones.. it made me want to sit there and stroke them (which is a loony idea I seem to have picked up from someone on twitter I think! I mean seriously, who stroked fabric?? Apparently crazy people, like me.)

My completed Dresden plate block

Phillipa's completed Dresden plate block

So I'm linking up with TGIFF (Thank Goodness it's Finished Friday) because I'm glad that I've finished those blocks - the Dresden plates are in the mail, winging their way to Jane as we speak!