links from the second video:
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Happy crafting!
If you’ve been following my crafty blog for the last six months or so, you might have noticed a footnote at the bottom of each post.
And hey, look at that! The end date on the banner is July 5! Well I’ll be…that’s today!
If you have been working on a Harry Potter Paper Piecing challenge quilt top, this is it, THE LAST DAY to get those entries in. Please post a link to your photo on any of the challenge posts on Livejournal, email it to me or post it to the flickr group.
If you’re running a little behind, please keep in mind that I usually make the Tuesday post on hp_paperpiecing fairly early in the morning (usually 8 or 9 am Central Standard Time). As long as I have your photo before the Tuesday post goes up, your quilt will make it in for voting. If you are running really late, your best bet will be to email your photo directly to. After checking LJ and the flickr group, my email is the always the last place I look before I post on Tuesday! Once the poll goes up, it’s up (LJ does not allow changes to polls), so please make sure you get your photos in asap!
I really was going to make this my Wordless Wednesday, but I just can’t do it! I see photos all the time of quilts and quilt blocks that people around the world have made using my patterns and Guest Designer patterns from sewhooked. Seeing one in person? Absolutely priceless!
This quilt was made by Dianne Ferguson, owner of Honey Bee Quilt Store, for her teenage daughter. She’s hand embroidered quotes from the books all around the quilt, starting at the top left with the first sentence from book one and ending with the last sentence from book seven. She plans on quilting it soon, so I’ll definitely have to take another picture then!
Dianne is now my boss at Honey Bee Quilt Store…but she started this quilt well before I started working there. How’s that for cool?!
designs by Marissa Dinsdale, click for pattern
This week’s Guest Designer profile is of the awesomely talented Marissa, another gem from Harry Potter Paper Piecing. We’ve been online friends for a while now and I look forward to seeing what designs she’s working on next!
Marissa at the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science
Name and where you’re from:
The name they gave me is Marissa and I go by MKissa on the interwebz. I was raised in Costa Mesa, CA and now reside in the city of Orange, still in CA (7 minutes and 3 freeways from Disneyland).
Website/blog/online store or other place where your patterns or photos of your work can be found?
Public Blog (Mostly Craft Stuff)
Etsy
Livejournal (Mostly Friends Only, but I’m always looking for new friends)
How long have you been paper piecing and/or quilting?
I’ve been paper piecing since July/August or 2008 and have been seriously quilting for about just as long, although I recently found a quilt top that I made when I was 13ish… so really… about 14 years. 🙂 I started paper piecing when I came across the HP paper piecing community on LJ and immediately jumped in.
What do you use own your block designs for?
Quilt labels, contest entries, and my Buffy designs will be a wall hanging or in their own quilt.
When did you start designing?
April 2009
Was there a particular inspiration to draw your first pattern?
I needed a label for a pair of quilts I was making for a friend that was having twins… the quilts had monkeys and bananas on them, so I decided that a banana pattern would definitely do the trick.
Do you remember what your first design was?
See above
Do you have a favorite among your own designs?
I am currently working on some Buffy designs and am really happy to bring another of my favorite fandoms to the quilt world.
What do you use to design your patterns? Paper and pencil, a specific software, etc.
I was using Microsoft publisher, but I am switching over to Illustrator or Photoshop since I just got Creative Suite for my home computer.
How has the online community changed the way you craft/quilt/design, etc.?
Oh my gosh yes! It has taught me to take inspiration from everywhere. My online friends have taught me that if you don’t know how to do something and want to do it you can figure it out. My friends are always encouraging, willing to lend a helping hand, give some great advice, or point me in the direction of a favorited tutorial.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m 28, and live with my MAN and our two cats (Rupert & Dexter). I work full time as the Event Coordinator for a non-profit in the city of Orange (where we live) and I work part time as an assistant manager at a local pizza joint. Most of the time that I am crafting I am ignoring some other chore that should be done or staying up way past my bedtime, but I love it, and it is my ME time, which is oh so important.
Find Marissa’s patterns on sewhooked!
Happy Quilting!
The awesome organizers over at help_haiti on Livejournal have found a great way to get fandom (all fandoms!) involved in raising money for charity while getting fun stuff in return.
Crafters, graphic artist, writers and all sorts of other awesome people are donating their time and talents in return for charitable donations. You can bid in the comments of the item you’re interested in and once the auction is closed on noon (EST) January 20, 2010, the items will be paid for by donating to charity! Share your receipt and get awesome goodness in return. The charities win and you win, too!
I’m offering up one Custom Designed 5″ Paper Pieced Quilt Pattern. You can read the full details here. Be sure to bid in the comments at this link. I cannot accept bids here.
Also check out these awesome auctions by two of my crafty friends:
Amber (hp5freak) is auctioning off a 3’x3′ custom crochet blanket. She makes gorgeous and unique HP-themed blankets. You can see those here.
Mary (dragonsinger954) is the maker of many a fine Molly Weasley sweater. She’s offering a custom-made one up right here. You can see examples of her many lovely Molly sweaters here.
Also, the Queen of The Leaky Cauldron herself is auctioning off one autographed copy of Harry, A History. It’s a good thing, too, because you can’t have mine!
Happy bidding and thanks for supporting this wonderful cause!
This one is not to be missed…the biggest challenge ever at Harry Potter Paper Piecing with an unbelievably awesome prize! Click on the above image for full details.
Dianne Ferguson, owner of Honey Bee Quilt Store with her Harry Potter blocks
Since the summer of this year, I have had the great pleasure of being the Paper Piecing instructor for Honey Bee Quilt Store in Austin, Texas.
What I didn’t expect was that not would Honey Bee embrace me and my paper piecing classes (which several of the employees have taken!), but both the store owner (Dianne, shown above) and Kerry (who I will get a photo of with her blocks!) would both work on Harry Potter quilts using both my patterns and Guest Designer patterns from sewhooked! Every time one of them shows me their quilty progress, I get more excited about their future quilts. They’re both using gorgeous fabrics for their blocks and their stacks get a little taller each time I visit.
Tomorrow, I’m teaching Intro to Paper Piecing at Honey Bee to a full house!
Stop by the shop on December 6, 2009 at 1:00 pm for Open House to meet next session’s instructors, get a peek at the classes and sign up early before they fill up. I’ll be there along with other instructors for questions and just to hang out and meet potential students!
My intro technique class and a new class, Paper Piecing + Curves (New York Beauty block) will be offered in the Spring. Many of the wonderful kits and projects offered at Honey Bee include paper piecing, so if you haven’t learned yet and are anywhere near the Austin area, join me for a fun technique class in the spring.
Intro to Paper Piecing, February 20, 2009
Paper Piecing + Curves (New York Beauty Block) – Date TBA
For those of you that didn’t catch it earlier in the week, one of sewhooked’s own Guest Designers, Cat Magraith, was featured on the Honey Bee Blog after her visit here to the U.S. and some seriously quilty shopping at Honey Bee!
My shortest TTMT ever, in which I direct you straight to my video interview with The Leaky Cauldron’s Crafty crew as part of my Crafter of the Month honor!
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
I just received this lovely banner in my email and had to share with you all! After being nominated for Leaky’s Crafter of the Month and sharing the spotlight with some completely amazing and talented crafters, I’ve had the honor of being selected for November’s CotM!
Thanks Leaky and a huge THANKS to everyone that voted for me! It means the world to me to be acknowledged by my favorite fandom!
You can see the November feature here, including a video interview with yours truly or, if you’re a member of the Leaky Lounge, you can check it out here.
What an awesome honor!
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Congrats to the amazing Droxy on being the first Featured Crafter of the Month on Leaky!
You don’t know Droxy? I bet you do, even if you don’t realize it! Click on the link above and you’ll see what I mean.
Droxy is an AMAZING crafter, costumer and make up artist. And? She’s one of my online friends. I shall bask in the glow of knowing her and direct you all to read about her crafty exploits.
I expect to see loads of my crafty peeps popping up over the upcoming months because HP Crafters are made of WIN.
You can find out about FCotM more by clicking on the banner below…
Thanks Crafty Witches and Wizard for the awesome new feature!
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Sewhooked 