- Current Mood:
excited
Five wee leprechauns were sitting by my door.
One danced away and then there were four.
Four wee leprechauns were giggling with glee.
One left to check his gold and then there were three.
Three wee leprechauns, just a busy few.
One hid in a shamrock patch and then there were two.
Two wee leprechauns were having lots of fun.
One climbed up the rainbow and then there was one.
One wee leprechaun left to explore.
Now how many leprechauns are sitting by my door?
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone :0)
So, this first picture is Piper. The picture looks like it is crooked but it is the way I cropped the photo. In real life it is straight and square :0)
This is Wishbone. I am still not sure about her eyes. I traced my pattern directly over a picture. Her face on the picture was at a slight angle (not true head on) so her eyes were not even. In real life her eyes are a bit protruding. She is a mini fox terrier but her eyes remind me of a Chihuahua's. I didn't really think about it until I had them stitched into place. I figure I will live with it for a while and if it still bugs me, I will re-do them at a later date. I will let my husband decide but this is for his Christmas present and he won't be seeing it until then LOL.
Sometimes I am hyper critical of my own work and it helps to get an outside opinion so if anyone has any suggestions I would be very happy to hear them too :0)
Sometimes I am hyper critical of my own work and it helps to get an outside opinion so if anyone has any suggestions I would be very happy to hear them too :0)
- Current Mood:productive
- Current Mood: grateful
(Sorry for the bad picture. I took it with my phone.)
I had come across this great video that explains how to make a Turkish Love Knot bracelet. Turkish Love Knot Bracelet - YouTube
It doesn't show how to finish it though just how to make the body of the bracelet. I didn't want to make the adjustable square knot that is usually used on this type of bracelet so I made it adjustable with the ends threaded through smaller beads. I think they turned out ok. I have 23 of them to hand out on the 17th :0)
I have to say, these were very easy to make and I can see where I may call this pattern in to service for other occasions just by changing the color of thread and beads.
I have a problem. I LOVE to see pictures of what people are making and hear the stories behind why they made it and little tid bits of information about it. I have found that there are a few people out there, like me, that are interested in that close a look as well so for the brave of heart, I am posting a ton of pictures behind the cut :0)
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My husband picked an episode today that we watched while eating dinner and I had forgotten how funny it was. A true classic. If you have 8 minutes to spare, this video has the highlights of the episode. It is called Opie's Charity and in it he gives a measly 3 cents to the Underpriveledged Children's Drive and Andy is trying to explain to him why it is important to give to people who may not have as much as they did.
Enjoy :0)
- Current Mood:
nostalgic
First, let me say, I am a big Harry Potter fan. ( The books are a cherished shared childhood memory for my son and myself.) I wanted to find other fans who loved to craft Harry too and found the Harry Potter Crafts group on yahoo. I met the most wonderfully creative and supportive people there. The most friendly of all was Jennifer. Through her, I was introduced to paper piecing. I quilted but had never done paper piecing before, it looked interesting. I had followed Jennifer's blogs for a long time and she had announced on her H P Paper Piecing blog that she was starting a block of the week mystery quilt called The Project of Doom( http://hp-paperpiecing.livejournal.com/9
I am an extremely busy woman with Real Life running me in circles all of the time with minimum time for me so, I made a New Year's resolution to take a few hours each week just for ME :0) I decided that this project was exactly what I needed. I knew that at the end of the project I would have a Harry Potter quilt. What I didn't know is that I would become a part of a wonderful community of quilter's. Through her blog, I had learned that Jennifer goes on a quilt retreat with friends and she shared how wonderful it was and how much she looked forward to it. I remember feeling that I might be missing out on something there. It really sounded like a rejuvinating experience for her. I don't have that opportunity where I live to go on a retreat (as there are none) but The Project of Doom actually turned out to be a "virtual" quilt retreat for me :0) Not only were these quilter's inspiring, creative, supportive and lovely people, they were also from all over the world! The physical distance between us vanished in our collective quilting bee. We were all connected in this one space and time :0)
Jennifer posted a new pattern each week and it was so exciting waiting for the reveal. It made my week. Then she asked that we submit pictures of the blocks that we did and she would post them. I don't know who was more excited to see them her or us!! It was amazing how the same patterns could be interpreted so differently by each quilter. Having the pictures posted each week gave us an opportunity to "Oooh and Ahhhh" over everyone's work. It was a bonding experience and an inspiration to all of us :0)
Each week Jennifer also had a Prize Pack that anyone submitting a picture of their block would be entered to win. Jennifer sure new how to keep things exciting and there by, keeping us all coming back for more. I was very lucky to be the winner of one of the fabulous Prize Packs!!! All of the prizes were donated by other quilters. It was awesome.
Although this project was suppose to be a relaxing experience, I can't say that it was all of the time. There were a few occasions when I was sewing in the midst of a Real Life hurricane (ok, maybe more than a few) but the feeling of accomplishement was well worth the pushing I had to sometimes give myself. I think I only missed one or two weeks when I didn't have a block to submit.
A feat I am very proud of :0)
After all of the blocks were revealed, the final installment of the PoD was the actual placement of all the blocks we had made. It was exciting and sad at the same time because this awesome experience was coming to an end :0( Jennifer also wanted to give everyone incentive to actually finish piecing their tops and to that end she offered another give away.
This time it was a random drawing for free long arm quilting of your quilt top done by the absolutely awe inspiring Shannon of Rock Creek Quilts. I had decided not to try to push myself to meet the deadline but then I thought, with the size of this quilt and the age of my 1977 sewing machine, there was no way that I would be able to machine quilt this quilt and hand quilting would be something I would have to hope to get completed sometime before my 80's (I'm 52 LOL) Also, I wouldn't have the funds in the immediate or realistically far future to have it done. My only chance was to push to finish the top and throw my hat (quilt) in the ring, cross my fingers and hope for the best.
I was extremely nervous waiting for the date when the winner would be announced. My son would sit with me each week we were making the blocks to see each new pattern. It was so nice that he was joining in and sharing this Harry Potter experience with me too! It is something that makes all of this even more special for me. Finally the day came and with my son sitting with me we logged on to Jennifer's blog. I said, "well here we go I know that I am never going to win but it will great to offer congrat's to the person that did". When I scrolled down and saw "The Winner is" and scrolled down some more and saw "Woozelmom" pop up, I let out a squeal and my son jumped!!! I couldn't believe that I had won!!! I can't tell you how greatful I am to Jennifer for her patterns, support and constant availablility to answer so many questions and to Shannon of Rock Creek Quilt for her awesome prize!!!
I had taken the Hedwig label that I had won in the Prize Pack and had both Jennifer and Shannon sign it as they were just as big a part of this quilt as any work I had done. When I got my finished top back from Shannon, I opened the box and my breath was completely taken away!!! The work is absolutely stunning and I can't recommend her enough if anyone reading this needs a quilt top quilted. I had used a stone print fabric as my border print and the back of the quilt was what was showing when I opened the box. The first thing I saw was that Shannon had quilted around ALL of the stones in the fabric!!! I screamed "I can't believe she did that!" when I realized the detail that she put into my quilt!!! I took my quilt to where I work and all who saw it couldn't stop touching it and running their fingers over the stones in the border!!
I am truly Blessed by all of the friendships and generousity of this experience and it is a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It is one of the high points of my life and it came at a time when things were pretty rough in my Real Life (my husband was going through cancer treatment at the time. He is fine and in remission from the cancer Thank God) This project was my sanity hold on the world and it kept me going and looking forward to something positive in the middle of a whole lot of negitive.
Thank you Jennifer from the bottom of my heart. I love you, you are my dear friend :0) And thank you to Shannon for doing such detailed work and making my quilt so special. I can feel the love that you put into it. I am so happy to know you and to have made a new friend :0)
Anyway, sorry for such a long post LOL. Here are pictures of my Project of Doom:
Front of my finished quilt. I had decided to add a few books to the top of my bookself and what would any self respecting bookshelf at Hogwart's need but it's own sleeping dragon. I had never really done applique work either but I gave it a shot LOL. Remember, Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon LOL.
I don't know if you can see all of the work that Shannon did on this quilt. You can see the "stones" on the border!!! I will be posting closer pictures later in the week.
As a Thank You to Jennifer, all of the paticipants made a signature block using fabrics from our quilts. Jennifer put them together and made a Signature quilt as a rememberance of the PoD. I made an extra of my block for myself so that I could remember it as well :0)
Here is my Hedwig label and I wanted to add a paper account of this quilt for my Great Great Grandkids LOL. I made a faux Harry letter "pocket" to hold the paper. I have a dear friend "bfd" from another group that I belong too, who was kind enough to supply me with his hand drawn graphics for the envelope. I printed it out on muslin and made the front and flap of the envelope which I then sewed to the back of the quilt. Bfd, I thank you so much for letting me use your envelope in this way.
If you reach into the back of the envelope, you can pull out a flap that folds over the paper to hold it in place. I think it adds an unexpected touch to the back of the quilt :0)
So, this is my PoD. If anyone would like to try one for themselves please check out Jennifer's new site Fandom In Stitches . All of the PoD patterns are there. You will discover so many awesome patterns, not just Potter patterns and there is an entire crew of awesome designers that submit all of their creative goodness as well :0)
Thanks for hanging in there and reading all of my ramblings :0)
- Current Mood:accomplished
- Current Mood: content
Anyway, I finally put the finishing touches on my Project of Doom quilt top!!!! Ofenjen ( Jennifer) who is the creator of Project of Doom had decided to have a drawing for free long arm quilting from Rock Creek Quilts as a prize for finishing your PoD quilt top. I was completely shocked and floored when I was chosen from a random drawing as the winner!!!! Believe me I am normally not this lucky.
So, the quilt top is done and is ready to be shipped. I will definitely be posting pictures when the quilt is completely done but in the mean time, here is the sashing and top of my quilt:
I had decided that I really wanted a a dragon resting on the top of the book case. This dragon is appliqued. I have never really done applique before and I don't know if I will be rushing to do it again anytime soon LOL. I had realized that there were a few more titles that I wanted to add to the quilt so I decided to add 3 more books to the top with a Chocolate Frog. You can't have Bertie Bott's Beans without a Chocolate Frog LOL.
I titled the top book "The Philosopher's Stone" in a nod of thanks for the book that started it all. The middle book is "The Scottish Book" in hopes that JKR will still come out with a book of all the bits and pieces left over. She had mentioned in an interview that she was calling it The Scottish Book as it is bad luck to name a book before it is done. The last book is "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon" because of the nodding dragon next to it but also because it is the motto of Hogwarts.
I am hoping to offer it as a display for the library in the school that I work for and possibly our public library.
Now on to my next big project LOL. Pictures to be coming soon ;0)
