Finished Hogwarts pillow

I finished the Hogwarts crest pillow last week, but I've been so busy I forgot to post the picture!  I promise I will put up the details soon, as well as pictures of a new Harry Potter related project I did yesterday.

What do you think? I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I put the background together hoping it would resemble a stone wall, but I wasn't sure how I liked the contrast of the light and dark pieces. It seemed too busy.  Once it was all put together though, I think it looks just as I'd hoped!  Detailing the shield in black was a good idea.

I'm in the process of moving, so except for catching up on photos of current and past projects, posting will go pretty slowly for the rest of the month.

Another pillow preview

I had really hoped to have the whole thing finished by now, but it has been slower going than I expected.  I'm finally at the point of putting all of the pieces together, though, so not much longer!

For the shield, I sewed the quadrants together and then ironed on the mascots and big H.  I covered the raw edges with fabric paint because that seemed to be the fastest and best way.  The alternative was doing a satin stitch over the raw edges (by machine) and then hand embroidering the articulation on each animal in matching thread, and I just don't want to take the time.

I wasn't sure if I wanted the contrast, but I think the black outlines work well!  It gives a unified look.  Ultimately, I might fill in the entire H with paint, to make it look more substantial.  Any thoughts?