Paper Piecing Group

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Kris — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:09:35 GMT

Jen,

I love that you're putting so much thought into this. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:28:44 GMT

Well, today I learned it takes a long time to pick three machine embroidered letters out of a finished book block and that I don't want to do that again. lol I guess I'm pushing the limit of just how small you can make letters before the thread gets too stacked up and they start to go all lumpy. I got a few suggestions from the sewing store ladies and will try again Monday when the kids are out of the house.

On the good side, I found a streaky brown batik that I think will work for the bookcase. Now I'm searching for a fun "background" fabric for the bookcase that will look like an old wallpaper you might see in the Ravenclaw house. Thinking muted blue and bronze kind of thing.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Sat, 04 May 2013 19:07:31 GMT

Jan, Your plan sounds familiar! I was inspired by everyone who did the PoD week to week and decided to make one for each of my boys on the sly for Christmas. I almost have blocks pieced for one. It's so hard to not be able to work on it on weekends when they're underfoot and summer will be a slow go too. I've been tempted plenty of times to spill the beans, but have managed the mischief so far. I'll be in it for awhile yet. Can't wait to see your blocks!

jen

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Jan — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:39:04 GMT

Jen

Just starting Harry Potter. DH loves him so I am doing a Christmas quilt. The major problem is due to an electrical issue my sewing machine is in the living room so I have to be careful what I have laying around. I am also beginning to do some applique, so he has actually picked out some of the colors he thinks are for applique that he likes that will be for HR. Hope to get a few done and pics up soon.

Jan

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Kris — Sat, 04 May 2013 03:19:52 GMT

Oh Jen,

I can't wait to see what you came up with.

I've been so bad at getting going with a lot of projects I won't make promises to get back to this just yet.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Sat, 04 May 2013 02:46:00 GMT

Whoo hoo! I'm closing in on having the blocks pieced and having to start tackling the book titles. I went off plan and slowly worked my way through doing a Hungarian horntail off a web sketch. The last block will be a combo of items from the first book. That part of the story just seemed to be missing in the quilt. I've been browsing for a nice streaky brown batik for the bookcase too without any real luck. I love how Max did hers. Anybody still plugging along on Harry? It's been kind of quiet in HP land lately! :o)

jen

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Dara — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 23:26:00 GMT

MNJen:

I wish I'd taken your approach and laid out the pieces of the Howler...it would have saved me alot of time and frustration.

Well Jen, live & learn. I didn't that that approach until I couldn't manage any other way. LOL Then I sorted it all out and went from there. It did teach me to take that approach the next time I run into something similar.... ha. and this is how we learn... nice to know I'm not too old to learn....

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Kris — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:36:59 GMT

OK Jen. I thought I was losing it looking at the pattern. I know about the howlers. I have all the movies and books.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:04:52 GMT

Kris, you're right, there is no howler in the original PoD. It's a magical object that has a 5" finish pattern on Fandom that I thought the kids would get a kick out of if it was in their quilt(s). Ron Weasley gets a howler note from his mom in the movie, and it's basically a magical tonguelashing. Very funny if you've time to check it out on YouTube. I have to beleive the clip is out there.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Kris — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:09:11 GMT

MNJen:
Has anyone tried the Howler pattern?

Jen,

is this from another design? I don't see a howler in the PoD.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:50:57 GMT

Dara, the Riddle diary does look confusing. I wish I'd taken your approach and laid out the pieces of the Howler...it would have saved me alot of time and frustration. I traced all of its pieces "together" to see how the seam lines came together and, yes, indeed, Section B is wonky. So I reworked B, C and E and am going to give that a try. My fear is that I'm going to have a stacked seam bumpy mess as a bunch of points come together. Maybe that's what the designer was trying to avoid with her version out on Fandom, but the result just looks too off to me. I'll report back!

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Dara — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:40:47 GMT

No. I've not tried the howler yet. The Riddle Diary sure did drive me nuts tho.... I cut the sections out and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle then I'd pick a piece and sew the pieces on and put it back where it came from with the fabric side down so that I could see the lines. I'd do one piece, turn it back over and put it back where it came from, then do the next one. I did the same as I followed her instructions on the order to put the pieces together.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:14:35 GMT

Has anyone tried the Howler pattern? I thought it'd look good tucked in that open book in the fourth row, but I've made two attempts at assembly and sections A/B/C just don't seem to line up right. So it's put away out of sight and I did a plain book block to get my sanity back. Next plan is to revisit a new printout of the pattern and check it. Maybe I was doomed (no pun intended) from the start.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

Kris — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:33:45 GMT

Jen,

I've used the fonts on my machine without hooping and they came out fine. I like hand embroidery since I can vary the thread thicknesses and colours easier than by machine.

For hand embroidery type what you want in your word processing program print then trace onto your fabric. There are so many cool fonts out there. I bought some transfer paper (Saral) but haven't had a lot of luck with it. Sulky transfer pens work well but are permanent (can't erase mistakes). I trace using my light box.

You can find these products at JoAnn Fabrics and Michaels if they're close by.

Embroidery thread should hold up fine when you wash the quilt. Just make sure you secure the ends well. I don't make knot but I do a few tiny backstitches on the back of the work at the beginning and the end then weave in the tail before cutting.

Don't let it stress you out too much. Hope this helps.

Re: Harry Potter Paper Piecing Project of Doom: General Chat

MNJen — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:16:54 GMT

So I'm starting to fret over how to put on the book titles. I'd like to use the fonts on my machine but haven't done this ever before. Hooping and getting it all aligned so it will be straight looks to be a hassle but will make a few more font styles available. I don't want them all to look the same, so that would put me into hand embroidery, which I've not done before either on a quilt. I think someone posted of having used the PC to use the millions of fonts there to print the titles to paper or a transfer paper (but I couldn't find it again when I dredged through posts last weekend). If I do by hand, how do I make sure it won't come out over time and washings? Pushes in the right direction most appreciated!