swish and flick

this is my wand for the Letters From Hogwarts Stitch-Your-Own-Adventure...

the wood that i was trying to emulate is beetle kill pine
when i looked for examples of beetle kill pine
 i found this 
and lottsa pictures of furniture that has been made from the lumber that has been harvested from our mountain forests
 which used to be gorgeous greens, but are now stained with hundreds of thousands of the red skeletons of pines the killing beetles have left behind...

anywho...
the current governor of our great state gives a COVID-19 update almost daily
and sometimes i listen to him 
if the tv happens to be on and i happen to be in the same room
which i was the other day
he stands behind a lectern and presents a PowerPoint slideshow
that shows the numbers of those infected
which is misleading, since testing is by doctor-authorized prescription and performed only on those who are presenting symptoms because, big surprise, there aren't enough tests
or the capacity to process the tests that there are - just sayin'
and those hospitalized
and those in ICU
and those who have died...
it's disturbing and i try to not listen
especially when he says, "Next slide, please"
because it sounds like he's saying, "Next lie, please"
it's true - try saying those words quickly and see if you don't hear the same thing
sometimes we hear what we hear, even if we don't want to hear it...

anywho...
the other day when he was saying
we're all in this together
 we will get through this if we stay home
 and practice social distancing
 and wear our masks
i looked up and saw this...

screen grab from Channel 7 news

and then focused in on this...

the lectern has beetle kill pine panels!!!

yep, that was my take away - which is pretty doggone cool, innit?!?

and that's the look that i was going for when i stitched my wand

the floss is DMC 4065 morning meadow and it is backstitched with DMC 898 very dark coffee brown

and i really, really like it!!!


What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does.
Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

i solemnly swear

that i am up to no good...

we've listened to all seven of the Harry Potter and the Fill In The Blank books 

and this is how much i've stitched...

in 117 hours and four minutes, give or take a minute or two...

liberties have been taken with the original design, lemmetellya

i've changed the castle

 and the wand

 and Chapter One's banner

and i'm gonna change the top border's owls 

and Chapter Two's quidditch 

and the bottom border's letters

and that's okay cuz this IS a Stitch Your Own Adventure

so far the stitching has been a lotta fun!!!

I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed', my ol' dad used ter say, 'There's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.'

Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

necessary evils

outward bound

for NoJo

outward

i've wanted to try my hand at a convex quilt since Molly's visit to this quilt show... 

so i bought a pattern

and promptly forgot about it...

last year i started a purge of the Great Pile of Stuff

 with the thought in mind that i would no longer just go through stuff...

 i would put up or shut up...

no more shuffling patterns and fabric and project boxes from one pizza box to another 

or from one shelf to the closet to under the ironing station

  if i put my hands upon it 

it was either going to become something or it was going out...

before you ask 

and how's THAT going for you?!?

the answer is slowly...

one of the first patterns that i picked up from the GPS was Convex Illusions 

and, having placed my hands upon it, knew that it was then or never...

so i grabbed two big enough pieces of fabric from the batiks and put this together...

and it wasn't as difficult as i was afraid it would be

 lots and lots of seams 

and lots and lots of corners to match

but kinda fun...

but then i was at a loss of what to do with it cuz it took all but a few inches of those two fabrics and there wasn't anymore to work with...

so i went back to purging...

and two months later 

as i said, it is going slowly 

i found a piece of fabric taking up space on the shelf next to Sven the Viking that looked like it was made just for the purpose of surrounding the center...

cool, huh?!?

i added strips of the center's brown for an inner border

and more of the trees for an outer border...

and used leftovers from the stash for the backing...

the binding is ready to go

 cuz that's another thought i've had - no sending off a quilt top and backing for quilting unless there is a binding waiting for it when it gets back home 

when this comes back after Liz the Most Auspicious Longarm Quilter works her magick...

so ... YAY!!!

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

Marcus Aurelius

H is for Hogwarts

we've stitched and listened long enough to save Sirius Black!!!

and now, on to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...

and

 at last 

something Harry Potterish is stitched...

woo hootie hoo!!!

What's got your wand in a knot?

Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

aw, come on!!!

still listening to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban...

and still no sign of Harry Potter...

Melissa's stitching already has an owl and most of Hogwarts...

That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.

Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban