The foundation pieced quilt I made of Harry Potter images is on the wall. Although I finished it over a year ago, it has been folded on the couch or hung on one of my five quilt stands. Hence it is as if I am seeing it for the first time. 

The white stag block pleases me. Which was not the case when I was dealing with eighty nine ridiculous scraps crowded into a five inch square. None of them were remotely symmetrical, or predictable. Just random triangles and trapezoids trying to hold it together. One of the hazards of paper piecing is that you chop the pattern into sections to sew them. Out of the context of being whole they lose meaning. I actually had to recruit John to help me make sense of the puzzle, since spacial intelligence is one of his strengths. He is of the ilk who fit jigsaws without referring to the lid. I know. Annoying.

Harry himself was no slam dunk either, as the designer felt committed to accuracy, down to the loose strands of black hair on his forehead. His tie is the proper Gryffindor colors, and his green eyes have the clear determination of a wizard.

I had fun putting prints of children in the windows of the train headed for the platform, and a rock fabric for Hagrid's hut. The Monster Book has pointy teeth, and the Sorting Hat announces from on top of a stool.

There are parts I am resigned to live with. Places where the edges don't quite line up, or the color choice seems off. Like most quilters I feel an almost irresistible urge to point them out to you. Almost.

When it was time to embed the blocks in sashing of trademark Harry Potter fabric, I took care to orient the pictures. I didn't want Hermione to be upside down. The whole conglomerate is surrounded by a castle of brick fabric, and bordering that is the sky from van Gogh's Starry Night. 

You probably cannot decipher these details from the small photograph provided here. No matter. 

There were days when I doubted that it would lie flat. Convincing each block to behave takes more than a magic wand. But enjoying it as I am now, it seems that uncertainty is not always accompanied by defeat.

There are other circumstances in life when we don't notice the noteworthy. Yet standing back, it's as if we are seeing it for the first time.