Harry Potter Quilt-Along Week 2 Giveaway - $25 Gift Certificate to Pieces by Polly on Etsy

I have been blown away by the response to the Harry Potter Quilt Along.  I am so excited about how many people are participating and how many people are still signing up.  Here is some of the progress that's been posted lately:

Sorry I've been a bit absent.  We were out of town in Hawaii for over a week for a family reunion and it took a few more days to recover from all the fun and get caught up on things.

The winners of the 1/8 Yard Bundle Fabric Giveaways are:

Kellye C @kcarnold05 and Sara A @Sparkles2611
Both of these lucky ladies have been contacted and their fabric has been mailed off.  I  know Kellye has received hers and Sara's is likely still on the way, since she lives all the way in Australia.  Ther'es also already been one surprise package and Hogwarts Letter that's gone out to one of our lucky participants, and I'll be sending out another surprise Hogwarts Letter today, so keep an eye on your mailboxes.

If this is your first time hearing about the Harry Potter Quilt Along, this is a chance for us to encourage each other and share or progress.  It's free to participate in the Quilt Along, but you do need to purchase one or both of the Quilt Patterns we're using.  Go to Pieces by Polly Quilts on Etsy and purchase either the Hogwarts Crest 4-House Quilt or the Single Hogwarts Crest Quilt Pattern.  You can also purchase both patterns together for a savings here.  

It's not too late to sign up to sew along with us for the Harry Potter Quilt Along.  So sign up, see the form at the bottom of this post.

Harry Potter Quilt-Along at Pieces by Polly

To celebrate the release of my Harry Potter inspired Hogwarts Quilts, I decide to host a Harry Potter Quilt Along.

A Quilt Along is a fun way for us to encourage each other and share our progress on Facebook and Instagram, and keep ourselves on track.  Plus you'll be able to ask me questions and get feedback on your work, and there are going to be fun prizes and giveaways along the way.

Here's how it works:

1. Go to Pieces by Polly Quilts on Etsy and purchase either the Hogwarts Crest 4-House Quilt or the Single Hogwarts Crest Quilt Pattern.  You can also purchase both patterns together for a savings here.  Quilt Patterns are on sale during the quilt along and the price will increase in August.
2. Go here to fill out the form to sign up or sign up below.  Once you have purchased the pattern, signing up for the Quilt Along is free.
3. Follow Pieces by Polly on Facebook and @piecesbypolly on Instagram, so you can be sure to see announcements and keep up-to-date.  I'll send out check-in emails too.
4. Check-in on the blog once a week, to enter the giveaway for that week.
5. Share pictures of your fabric choices and quilt progress on Facebook and Instagram with #HarryPotterQuiltAlong2015 and tag @piecesbypolly in your posts, so we can all oohh and ahhhh over your work.

Each part of the Quilt Along will have it's own giveaways and prizes...and we'll even include some chances to win if you're not actually joining the quilt along.

• Check-in 1: - Sign-Ups - Harry Potter Fabric Bundle Giveaway -  Giveaway winners will get a bundle with 8 - 1/8 yard cuts of my favorite hard-to-find fabrics that I use in my Harry Potter Quilts.  These fabrics do NOT have Harry Potter on them...but rather are fabrics that work well for these quilts. One bundle will be guaranteed to go to a Quilt Along participant.  The second bundle can go to anyone who has entered (Quilt Along participant or not.)  Entries open until July 13th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Check-in 2: Post Your Fabric Choices -  $25 Gift Certificate to Pieces by Polly .  Post pictures to Facebook or Instagram of the fabrics you're using.  Include #HarryPotterQuiltAlong2015 and tag @piecesbypolly in your posts, so we can all oohh and ahhhh over your choices.  Dates: July 13-20th.
• Check-in 3: Your Hogwarts Crest: Twin-sized Black Noire batting Giveaway courtesy of Fairfield World.  Dates July 20th - 27th
• Check in 4: Finishing Your Quilt Top:  Odif Usa 5.6-Ounce 505 Spray and Fix Temporary Fabric Adhesive Giveaway.  Dates July 27th - August 3rd.
• Check in 5:  Completed Quilt  - $25 Gift Certificate to Pieces by Polly  Dates August 3rd-15th 

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Star and Nativity Appliques - Nativity in the Trees Quilt-Along - Lesson 6

Yeah!  We're almost done with our quilt tops.  Now we just need to add our Christmas Star an Nativity scene.

Uh...and can I just say...I feel really bad this didn't get posted earlier.  I had it all written up 2 weeks ago...like completely written.  It just needed the links to the templates which I totally forgot to do.  I'll admit that I bit off a bit more than I could chew heading up to Christmas, and I apologize that finishing up these instructions was one of the things I didn't get done.  I'll admit that I didn't even get my own quilt done.  It's just needed the binding added to it for about 2 months.  Anyway...on to the instructions...

If you need to review our previous lessons, you can find them here:

Lesson 1 - Fabric Selection	Lesson 2 - Sewing Your Greens	Lesson 3 - Cutting Your Triangles
Lesson 4 - Basic Applique	Lesson 5 - Sewing Your Triangles	Lesson 6 - Advanced Machine Applique

You'll need to print out the Stable and Nativity Template from here and the Star Template from here (or you can trace directly off your computer screen) and trace onto your Heat'n Bond Lite.  You can also download and resize these pictures if you want to be able to fiddle with the sizing.  If you want the sizing to be the same that I used, click on the PDF files above.

When you trace an image onto Heat'n Bond, it will end up being a mirror image when you put it on your quilt, so keep that in mind if you want Mary or Joseph on a particular side of the stable.  Here I'm tracing with Joseph on the left so in the finished quilt, he will be on the right.

Simple Machine Applique - Nativity in the Trees Quilt-Along - Lesson 4

Are you ready to learn how to machine applique?  If you've never done it before, prepare to fall in love.  I first learned to machine applique from The Ultimate Sunbonnet Sue Book (affiliate link) over 9 years ago.  Love the book...I think I ended up making nearly every Sunbonnet Sue in the book, and many of them appeared in the quilts we made for Katie's birth parents.  Anyway, it was love at first try for me with machine applique, and I've used it many times since.  I'm excited to pass my tricks on to you.

This is one place where the order is a little different if you're making a quilt versus a table runner.  If you're making a quilt, you'll applique your tree trunks BEFORE sewing your triangles.  If you're making a table runner you'll sew your triangles together first...so if you're making a table runner, you DO need this lesson, but you'll have to wait to use it.

If you're new to the quilt-along, it's not too late to get started.  You'll want to go here to see the first lesson and to sign-up.

And you can review the other lessons here:

Lesson 1 - Fabric Selection	Lesson 2 - Sewing Your Greens	Lesson 3 - Cutting Your Triangles
Lesson 4 - Basic Applique	Lesson 5 - Sewing Your Triangles	Lesson 6 - Advanced Machine Applique

Cutting Your Triangles - Nativity in the Trees Quilt-Along - Lesson 3

I had hoped to get this Lesson up by Saturday, but I had several deadlines converge and got a little behind.  Fortunately, this is the biggest lesson, so from here on out, they should come faster.

Are you ready to cut your triangles?  If you're just now joining us, be sure to check out our other lessons here:

Lesson 1 - Fabric Selection	Lesson 2 - Sewing Your Greens	Lesson 3 - Cutting Your Triangles
Lesson 4 - Basic Applique	Lesson 5 - Sewing Your Triangles	Lesson 6 - Advanced Machine Applique

Before we'll be ready to cut out our triangles, we're going to need to add some angle markings to your ruler.  I decided to make the angle at the tip of the triangle thinking we could use the angles already marked on our ruler...but it turns out we need to measure the angles at the bottom of our triangle.  None of the typical angle markings would give the look I wanted, so I just added my own.  And the good news for you, is that the lines are really easy to add using this template.

Sewing Your Greens - Nativity in the Trees - Quilt Along - Lesson 2

Hopefully you got a chance over the weekend to shop your stash and/or make it to the fabric store over the weekend.

I have to confess, I spent most of my sewing time this weekend exploring my sister's new book with my kiddos.  Simple Sewing: 30 Fast and Easy Projects for Beginners by Katie Lewis (affiliate link). Be sure to check out her book tour starting today on her blog The Red Kitchen for lots of project inspiration and chances to win your own copy...and her blog tour will be coming here on Friday, so I can show you what we've been working on.

Anyway,  let's get started!  Today's lesson is going to cover cutting and sewing your greens together.  If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our first lesson on Fabric Selection and requirements here.  Then our next lesson (which will hopefully be ready by Saturday) will focus on cutting out our green and white triangles.

If you need to review our previous lessons, you can find them here:

Lesson 1 - Fabric Selection	Lesson 2 - Sewing Your Greens	Lesson 3 - Cutting Your Triangles
Lesson 4 - Basic Applique	Lesson 5 - Sewing Your Triangles	Lesson 6 - Advanced Machine Applique

The instructions will assume that you're working with fabric pieces that stretch the whole width of the fabric (42-44 inches).  You can definitely use smaller scraps to start with, and I'll show you how to make those work at the end.

Cutting Tools

You'll definitely want a rotary cutter, ruler, and cutting mat.  If you don't have these supplies, then ask around and see if you can borrow them from a friend.  (And by the time you're finished with your quilt, you'll be in love with quilting and will want to buy your own.)  They can be kinda spendy...so when/if you do go buy these supplies be sure you're doing it during a good sale or with a coupon.

Fabric Selection - Nativity in the Trees - Quilt Along - Lesson 1

Welcome to Lesson 1 of our Nativity in the Trees Quilt Along!  The beginning of these quilt-alongs are always so exciting for me.  As of today, there are already 20 people signed up and I'm sure we'll be having more quilters join us along the way.

And you can see the other lessons in this series here:

Lesson 1 - Fabric Selection	Lesson 2 - Sewing Your Greens	Lesson 3 - Cutting Your Triangles
Lesson 4 - Basic Applique	Lesson 5 - Sewing Your Triangles	Lesson 6 - Advanced Machine Applique

Even though our quilt looks like it has a lot of pieces, because we'll take advantage of strip piecing, it's really very doable.  This might not be a great choice for your very first quilt, but if you've made a quilt or two before this is a great way to stretch your skills a bit, even if you still consider yourself a beginner.  Our finished quilt will measure approx. 39 x 59 inches.  Measurements for a table runner are at the bottom of the post.

First, a few general notes about fabric.  There is a lot of variety in fabric quality even amoung 100% cotton "quilt" fabric.  I used to think that the only difference in "designer" fabric and chain-store fabric was the price and a designer name, and I'm definitely a bargain-type shopper.  As I've become more familiar with more "designer" fabrics, you really can tell a difference.  The printing itself is crisper, the fabric is softer and thicker.  If you shop an an independent fabric store (such as my sponsors that you can see in my sidebar) you can be guaranteed that you're buying fabric that is high quality and will last.  In my experience shopping at chain stores, you want to really take a look at the fabric itself and not just at the print.  The chain stores often have some higher quality fabrics as well as some fabrics of lesser quality, so you want to be careful about what you're buying.  If you're investing your time into making a quilt, you want it to last.