Presenting the finished Friendly Dragon Quilt

It's DONE!!! I had about four hours of sleep before leaving for Michigan because I desperately wanted to finish off my Friendly Dragon Quilt for my Cutest-Sweetest-Godson-Ever. And here it is:





And this is where it all started: July 2007. It's been a year.

Just click on either of the photos and you'll be taken to my new Flickr account that will hold all things quiltey-craftey. I've fed up with having to upload photos to my server and this way I can also join pools and groups and such without having to mix my photography photos with my crafty stuff.

Repeated Hearts

Still sticking with my heart idea, I have been browsing the web somewhat and found another good idea and pattern.

Now this one might be a challenge given the size of my swatches, but we shall see ...

Adding greenery

I'm happily quilting along, adding reed and grass around the dragon's



feet which is taking a bit more time than anticipated - when does it



ever not?

Last item on the agenda: adding a cloud in the shape of the name of the recipient ... if I can manage a design and transfer to the fabric.

Since using the label won't pull up the first post on this subject, I've gone back and did some research: It started in July 2007 - following a massive change of heart regarding theme and lay-out.

Embellishment

To ensure that the wadding doesn't start shifting and to add a bit more interest, I've started adding embellishments.



The size of the sun in my house? A dinner plate ... the sun is a "quick and dirty" rework of the sun on my recent Safari quilt.



All marked and pinned into place and ...



ready to be quilted. I must say that compared to a few years ago, my stitches are not necessarily getting smaller but at least less wonky on the back side.



And then it was time for bed ...

The (Lion) Emperor's New Clothes

After weeks of requesting a new outfit for her favourite little fella, I sat down and gave my girl what she wanted:



Can you see the difference in colour? Yep, that's the same fabric ...



all loved-up to within an inch of his life!



Shiney and new!

Repetition won

and will be treated to a holiday: I am taking 50 Kaffe 4 inch squares and some Makover pink spray fabric plus beads and a relative wide travel selection of yarns. I am currently planning on doing a lot of appliquéing but we shall see what happens.

Dragon on the Home Stretch

The front's looking good already, I will have to add some quilting to it to keep the wadding from slipping on the inside.



There are a lot of loose threads to take care of in the back, yikes, definitely one of my least favorite jobs.



Some of the quilting in the back ...



and the label is in place as well. Four evenings to go!

What to take on holiday?

I have been pondering this very existential question for weeks now. It's a toss-up between my crocheting and material for my Repetition class. Notice how neither are on the list of up-coming projects?

Currently I'm thinking my Repetition project might be more suitable for traveling because I would not have to take so much stuff in terms of volume and weight.

Blindly stitching

In my drive to finish Harrison's Friendly Dragon Quilt, I am blind stitching about a mile worth of border.



This is also an attempt at putting off the decision about adding some additional decoration like a name or some grass ...

I shall be soooo pleased when this is finished and I can move onto other things, namely finishing off my own kid's blankie.

All a girl needs

to feel like a princess is a massive pile of quilts!!!

This was taken from my elder daughters stationary. I wouldn't mind sitting on that many quilts, especially because that meant that I had realised quite a few of my ideas. In the meantime, I'll just continue planning.

I have to say though that despite enrolling in Tonya's summer class - with the best of my intentions - I have not done squat for it. I might take some material on holiday to work on it ... or I might take my crocheting.

Upcoming projects:

PIF

Coasters

Stashbuster Quilt for my God-Daughter

2 quilts in a day for new babies

a Big Zig quilt, based on Denyse Schmidt's pattern for yet another baby

Great Aunt Irma mini quilt from Stitchindye

Great Aunt Irma mini quilt - Originally uploaded by stitchindye



What a fabulous lay-out, a bit modern and crazy but definitely orderly enough to please *my* eye!



(OK, I'm slow, I only just realised that Flickr will add a blog post as a draft, not a proper post. Odd!)

Adding contour and personality

It's embellishing time for the Friendly Dragon:



I've finished quilting around all the spots and paws and am now adding little details and lines to give the creature more depth. I'm making quite good progress which is good because this quilt is supposed to accompany me to the US at the end of the month.

Not enough ideas yet?

in the knits.
Originally uploaded by sew-mad

Since I don't have enough projects pining for my attention, I'm adding another inspiration to my list. it's the storm scarf (top right photo, click on link for tutorial) that I'd love to make one day ... once I finish all the other things I want to be doing.