Lord of the Rings quilt

FINALLY! The blocks are sewn together with sashing between. The large dark space is for the recipient's name which will be quilted in. It begins with a J so that will drop down into the left as if it is lower case. I found the perfect font for this spot. 

I am thrilled with this quilt so far! Just needs two more borders and some backing... and lots of thread to quilt it.It will be about 67" x 80" and will belong to a real hobbit fan.

The patterns came from Regina Grew, however I changed the sizes for some of them (and the colors). It took a long time to piece it (the white tree is applique), but whose counting?!

Hobbits ready for sashing

The last block is finished for the Lord of the Rings quilt. It is a view looking out from Bilbo's home, like a porthole. I also did two others. Here is the photo. Sorry it is crooked, but I'm always in such a rush these days...

I've put up a few colors for the sashing. So far, this "denim" blue seems to suit all the blocks and will definitely suit the recipient (age 14 boy). Now to buy that fabric and start cutting strips!

I'm still here...

Oh, my last course was a tough one... now it is over and I'm taking Beginner Greek, which is even worse. However, so glad that the sewing machine (and relief for an over-taxed brain) is just a few steps away. Also that some bright fellow posted a youtube that helped me learn the Greek alphabet in less than 10 minutes. It is corny, but it worked. Learning how to write the letters is another story.**

I only finished a couple more blocks for the Lord of the Rings quilt so will take pictures when the third one is finished... it is close. There are two more after that, then comes the challenge of selecting fabric for the sashing/borders, and arranging the blocks. What a journey this has been. I wonder if the time it took has any relationship to the length of those movies?!  :-)

Now and then, Pinterest attracts me away from doing any work. Can you believe all the marvelous quilts that are out there! I've been saving those that inspire me, and have very itchy fingers when I look at them. Btw, I graduate May 15, so hope all that ambition and my sanity are still with me so I can turn some of the vision into reality.

In the meantime, here is a photo that makes me want to sew a tree ...

** I'm finishing a Masters degree online, started it in 1993 so it is a huge UFO project!

Lord of the Rings Quilt

Here are four more blocks finished (I didn't move the lower left one out of the picture, but it was finished last post.) 

I've one left to sew together which is J. R.'s initials, and another one that so ugly that I'm going to pitch it (no photo of that one!) 

These are scenes from the movie, and I love the one with the blue mountains, Grey Havens. My plan is to do some quilting 'reflections' on the water so that vertical line of contrasting tones isn't quite so prominent.

I'm also glad that I didn't have to put eyes on Gollum. That character gives me the creeps!

I do have a question... if anyone has any paper-pieced patterns that are Lord of the Rings, but different than these, I'd be very interested. I need a couple more blocks and don't want to make duplicates. I might be able to make patterns, but it would be nice to find some already made.

I'm now planning the general layout for this quilt. The plan looks good so far. Choosing the background color and fabric is a challenge though. I'll take pictures of my options and see what you think. 

And another three . . .

These 7" paper-pieced blocks are time-consuming, but I like the precision and the ease of 'pick up/put down' without forgetting what I am doing from one sewing session to the next. 

They represent scenes from the Lord of the Rings movie, including Merrie and Pippin. They are not totally accurate in color because the movie had a lot of dull gray and black which does not make discernible or eye-pleasing contrast for a quilt. I've plans in mind for quilting them in ways to enhance the shapes, etc. I'm still undecided on sashing. 

Three more blocks

Here are the most recent finished blocks for the Lord of the Rings quilt. Again, they will finish at 7" and are foundation paper-pieced. I do love the technique so am having fun. My plan is to quilt-as-you-go if the arrangement will allow it.

Eighteen blocks finished

Progress on this hobbit/Lord of the Rings quilt is slow as I am still taking a degree program online and putting most of my time into that. However, this foundation paper-piecing is fun and easy to put-down, pick-up. 

Here are the 18 blocks on the design wall, in no particular order. Note that some of them are bigger than the 7.5 size. Also, I didn't like three of them, so redid them. One is the prancing pony. I checked it out online and realized I should have done that first with all three. This one is the sign for a pub named The Prancing Pony... and the sign was green with a white horse. 

The hobbit home and the beer mug had the same values all over and were hard to identify. As for that white tree, there was no way I was going to do it at 7"!

The next photo shows the top of my work table with the next block about half finished. It is handy to my desk so easy to just stop reading and writing and go sew.

The photo below it is my folding table loaded with bits and pieces of the colors that are being used. Not sure what I'll pick for the sashing and borders, but there is lots of time for that. 

The pattern calls for 29 blocks, but with the resizing, it may need some more to make it work out. I'm still not sure what size either, but it looks like it might be a queen.