Harry Potter At Last

Our copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finally arrived yesterday. My husband was convinced someone had taken it, but no, it had just gotten shipped to the wrong APO. I read a couple of hours of it last night and then finished it this morning. Sigh. I'm incredibly impressed with J.K. Rowling's writing ability and the fact that she maintained such a high quality throughout the series. I can think of so many books and movies where that isn't the case.

I only really bawled once. Pokey was sweet and stayed with me throughout. Cats may not be quite as empathetic as dogs, but they do have their moments. It started raining heavily last night and has continued to do so much of today. The weather echoing my mood.

Yesterday, before the arrival of THE book, I watched some first season of Remington Steele (my how I loved that series when I was in high school) and hand quilted on Cranky Witch. She's almost done.

The day before that I played more with Blooming Horrors. Pokey continues to insist I include a cat:

Lily getting in on the act:

Playing around with pieces. Do I put the devil head on the yellowlime flower?

Or the eyeball? I think I prefer this. Everything will be moved around more and stems and leaves added. I've been trying to decide if I should include spider bodies, but I'm leaning towards doing those in the quilting. Or maybe some embroidery. Don't have to decide yet.

As I do this, I can understand why some instructors suggest that you compose the work exactly how you want it and then recut the fabric pieces with the seam allowance included. That just seems wasteful to me. Remind me I said that when I'm bemoaning how small everything turned out. Then again, that's more room for quilting something cool in the background. I'm thinking spiderwebs.

I did get some more applique done. I decided to cut down the hand some and make it skinnier.

I'm doing this post in reverse chronological order. A couple of fun pics from Sunday's trip to the Marais. You know I can't resist fun advertising in unusual places. Les Simpson in front of the St Paul-St Louis Church.

The rain has let up. Time to dash out for groceries.