slytherin kitten pillow

and now, we enter the phase of christmas gifts.
i'm trying to catch up, i promise!
after having a lot of fun while making the slytherin hazel hedgehog pillow for a coworker that was leaving, i thought about the idea of making something similar for my roommate who is also a slytherin.
spoiler alert, i am also in the slytherin house.
since we are both slytherins and cat ladies alike, i figured this would be a perfect time to test out one of elizabeth hartman's "the kittens" quilt blocks.  i had bought the pattern awhile ago, and lisa and i had strong plans to make them one day, so why not give it a trial run and make a kitten?
i chose to use the "daisy" kitten, because i liked her two tone color scheme.
granted, she's two shades of green, but it was just enough to amp up her cuteness.
we have a gray couch in our apartment, so having the gray fabric in the background helped tie in with our current decor.  well... we also have a red couch... so i guess this helps keep things festive during the holiday season as well?
i kept the quilting simple to not detract from the cute kitten face. plus, a small little pillow is easy to knock out with a walking foot and a ruler!
i used slytherin fabric for the backing and made an envelope style closure.
if i was to do a pillow like this again i would consider doing a zipper backing, just to try something new.  having the slytherin fabric on the back helped tie everything together.
so now that i've made a slytherin kitten and hedgehog, what animal might be next?  ha!
pattern: the kittens by elizabeth hartman

slytherin hazel hedgehog pillow

i cannot believe we are officially in to october at this point!
it felt like it was taking for-ev-er for summer to end, and now here we are getting ready for halloween.  well... our apartment has had bits of halloween since stores started selling things in august.  no shame.  along with those fall/halloween vibes came this little guy!  we (the preschool staff) found out our awesome theater coordinator was leaving us for a new AMAZING job that she couldn't pass up at all.  ever since i made my civil war hazel hedgehog and she had commented on it, i knew someday i would make her a little something when one of us left the program for new adventures.  well... we found out on a wednesday and her last day was a friday.  oy!
two of her well known favorite things are harry potter and hedgehogs, so i couldn't help but combine them in the most perfect way.  i was at joann's anyways to buy a stamp pad and impulsively decided that this project NEEDED to be done.  she is all about those slytherins, so finding these two greens were PERFECT for his spikes with a subtle but coordinated harry potter themed background.  originally i got to the check out line with plans to make it a simple mini quilt that she could choose to hang on her wall, use as a mug rug, etc... but then i decided to transform this little guy in to a pillow!
i always forget how easy it is to transform things in to pillows.  my pillow form was a little big bigger than the "block" alteration in the pattern, so i added a few more inches prior to quilting and trimming.  cross hatch seems to be my jam right now - i did take a walking foot class and still have yet to bust out some new motifs on quilts... someday, right?
since i've also been in apron mode, i used my rolled hem foot to edge the two pieces for the back "envelope" portion of the pillow to give it a fancier edge.  i had originally purchased a different fabric for the back, but it clashed a bit too much color wise, so it found a new home.  i had the perfect amount to use this same fabric from the front on the back!
and here's that other fabric!
since she's a slytherin, i knew this fabric would be perfect.  sure, it is hidden inside, but should it ever need to get washed (she's also a cat owner) then she'll get a little peek at slytherin crest hiding inside.  the white with the tan just wasn't working for me.  i'm sure you'll all understand :)
now that i've made a hedgehog quilt and a hedgehog pillow, i feel very strong hedgehog making vibes.  i posted about wanting to make pillows to cover my apartment and everyone agreed there was no shame in that, including my roommate lorien.  my mom asked if i was going to make a hedgehog for each hogwarts house... and not gonna lie, that sounds like a lot of cuteness!  do i keep going with hedgehogs, or use a different elizabeth hartman animal for each house?  do i just elizabeth hartman our whole living room?
also, i appreciate our leaf covered patio REALLY amping up the fall vibes for these photos.
pattern: hazel hedgehog by elizabeth hartman

the bucket list

well over a year ago, ariana brought up the idea of a bucket list. so i started throwing random things on there. things i wanted to happen, things i knew would probably someday happen, and hypothetically ridiculous things that i wasn't sure that would really happen. in the beginnings of my 365 project, i took this photo, which was well before i started to read the series. now i can say this:bucket list #15: read the harry potter series complete
yeah, i know i'm a couple years behind the game... but better late than never, right?
when looking through my "bucket list" book, i found that i have done other things without even realizing that i can cross off... things like:

#26: raft down a river (tube... raft... same diff)
#92: see the beach boys in concert
and well, with all the weddings that are coming up, this one is sure to be crossed off soon:
#83: make a bed sized quilt
there are a few more that i had forgotten about, and oddly enough are a plan in the works, so maybe one day i'll have more of them crossed off the list... but in the meantime, i challenge you readers to make a list... 5 things, 10 things, 100 things, whatever! things you might do, things you think you would NEVER do, random things! try it, see how many you bring yourself to do, and then cross them off when they happen!
and now, i need to figure out what to read next. please don't say twilight... i may break your thumbs