More Cats, More Quilts...

If one cat quilt is fun, why not double the fun and make another? After finishing the wallhanging shown in the previous post, I needed to make yet another cat quilt. That's because my original intent for "Live, Love, Laugh... and Feed the Cat" was using it as a donation for the silent auction. We're having one as part of the Country Road Quilters' upcoming show this fall. But I got to liking the quilt so much, I couldn't part with it! So while thumbing through a quilt magazine on a recent bus trip, I spotted the pattern for this quilt... "This Flower is for You!"... and decided it was perfect for the silent auction. 



The pattern is from Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, the Jan/Feb 2003 issue. It's a nice size (about 19" x 23"), and makes use of fusible applique. The pieces are buttonhole stitched to secure them, and the project is machine quilted. By me. I find I'm improving in this department, and small projects like this one boost my confidence in free-motion quilting.

Isn't this just typical cat behavior though? And I love the expression on kitty's face! This time was the first that I got a very slight build-up of adhesive on the machine needle while completing the buttonhole stitch on the pieces. I used Wonder Under, and have not had this happen in the past. It didn't cause a problem, and I changed the needle to machine quilt. But I did notice. I'm wondering if the iron temperature while fusing might have made a difference. Have you experienced this? Wonder Under is still my fusible of choice for fabric projects though. I find it to be light-weight, easy to use, and it produces flexible pieces so there's no "boardy" feel to the quilt. 

Live, Laugh, Love and Feed the Cat...

Many quilters love both cats and quilts, and I'm no exception. So when I saw this "Feed the Cat" pattern in my local quilt shop, I just had to make one! Kitty is machine appliqued using fusible web and a buttonhole stitch along the edges. The pattern is from Cheryl Gunn, Waltzing with the Bears. I used some squares from a Moda charm pack for the border pieces, and for the spots on the cat.

The big photo is a bit dark, so you can't see the magenta spots very well. This detail photo shows them better, and you can see Kitty's expression, too. I began the quilt as a donation for our guild's silent auction. However, I got liking it too much, so it's going to hang in my home. I've started another cat quilt for the auction.... that one will be coming here soon!

Quilter's Challenge... The Long, Skinny Point

I had to sharpen up my piecing skills this week when I needed to make several blocks from my favorite block pattern. I like stars, and chose this Sun Ray block. However, it has long skinny points that require some careful cutting, stitching, and pressing to allow for a 1/4" seam around the block edges and still preserve a sharp point.

While I prefer rotary cutting, I knew that using this method for the Sun Ray block would be chancy. So I decided to make this sample unit, just to see how well it would work. Nope... can't go this route! This will never do. Two different lengths of the points... how on earth did that happen?

So I resorted to a method I have not used in a long time.... I made templates. They provided the accuracy and consistent results I was looking for. And once I had the pattern pieces drawn, I glued them to heavy cardboard. That allowed me to place them under my ruler and still cut the pieces with the rotary cutter. The templates even had the points shaped for easy matching and no trimming, so they saved a little time there. All in all, I think I had given templates a bad rap... there are piecing tasks for which they are the best solution. I was happy with the blocks I made.

This Tennessee Waltz quilt is also composed of blocks with long skinny points. I made this one several years ago using a book by Eleanor Burns. With her method, I sewed larger units, and then trimmed them to the proper size, which also ensured sharp points. This is the queen-size quilt we use on our bed during the winter months.

And it's been one year since Lily the cat came to reside here. She was a foundling on a bike trail and once we saw her, we just could not leave her behind all alone. She seems to like it here just fine! You can see how much she's grown from her kittenhood by looking at this post.

But I'm the only one who witnesses Lily's "other side". She can get a bit wild as you can see when she "helped" me to put away the Christmas decorations by beating me to the storage tote. See that garland with Lily right next to it? See that loose flower ripped from the garland? Lily's handiwork. But no one believes me because by the time they see her, she's looking very innocent, fast asleep on a quilt ... where else??

Thought I'd Never Finish...

Phew! This donation quilt turned into a long, longterm project for me. I pieced the top on a quilting retreat in the spring, using all green prints from my fabric stash. And I decided to machine quilt it myself. This was a big decision since I quilt small projects myself, but usually send larger tops to a longarm quilter. Quilting friend Jean calls this "quilting by check." I've only machine quilted one or two larger quilts on my own. So it's still relatively new territory, and I truly admire those who accomplish beautiful, award winning quilting on their home machines. I'm improving, but still have a long way to go.

I learned plenty of things about machine quilting while completing this project. Some of them I'd read or heard, and my experience confirms them. Others were simply discoveries I made. Here are the top five:

1) Set up is important- I used a countertop behind the quilt, a long table to the left, and the Gidget II sewing table from Leah Day. All of this supported the quilt nicely and kept drag to a minimum.

2) The right tools help- the machine quilting gloves... I used Machingers... are comfortable, lightweight, and give the necessary grip for manipulating the quilt.

3) Don't worry about the whole quilt, just focus on what is under the needle- things had a way of working out well when I did this. As long as I kept the small area where I was sewing under control, the entire project fell into place nicely.

4) Stay relaxed- while I like listening to recorded books, trying to follow the narrator while quilting just didn't work out. I kept missing sections of the story. So instead, I streamed the "easy listening favorites" from Tampa's station The Dove on my desktop computer. Nice!

5) Make a new plan- originally I'd planned on making one of these quilts from each colorway of fabric in my stash. The idea was to use up fabrics, and to make quilts that will be used by those in need. Our quilting guild actively supports several charitable organizations with lots of quilts every year. But I can't say I enjoyed the machine quilting experience, nor was I fully happy with the results. Plus, I'm very s-l-o-o-w. So maybe I'll make quilt tops, and have them professionally quilted. Or maybe I'll bring fabric to the free table at guild. Quilt small projects? yes... quilt larger ones? Not so likely. The fabric stash of greens is nicely reduced though.

Here's one reason I was so slow... Lily. I see blog after blog which shows quilters' cats, and even dogs, hovering around the sewing room to offer advice and assitance. Lily is no exception. What a great helper! Quilt comes out... she gets on! She even made a cocoon for herself out of the quilt while I tried to sew on the binding! To say nothing of the biting of batting. All work comes to a halt when it's her nap time. She can sure wreak havoc in the sewing room.

And look how perilously close I came to running out of the variegated thread I'd chosen for the project. Yikes!

Quilters Who Love Their Cats...

What is it about cats and quilts? It's almost as if one was made for the other. Not only do we quilters love our cats, but I, for one, permit all sorts of mischief in the sewing room. Even when she disrupts a project, I'm tolerant of, and even amused by, Lily's antics. I'm pretty careful with pins and thread, and have otherwise tried to cat-proof the room. But I've finally accepted that very little is sacred to her.. she's taken a bite out of batting, knocked assorted small objects to the floor, and tunneled into fabric.

Quilters love their cats so much that they can't resist depicting them in their work. At quilt shows there are often cat-themed quilts on display. The designs range from realistic to whimsical, like the ones shown here. The remarkable quilt at left, was exhibited at the recent Friendship Knot Quilters' Guild Show in Sarasaota, FL. It's a "distance quilt", meaning that when you stand close to it, the design is obscure. But when you stand back, the image of the cat emerges. I'm sorry I don't have the title and maker's name, but the work is exquisite. The lively folk art cats are blocks in a quilt displayed at The Villages Quilt Show. I'm always drawn to quilts like these.

And what's better after a day hard at play in the sewing room than a relaxing nap on a quilt?

Fast & Easy Scrappy Border with a String-Pieced Look



This "Harvest Chicken" quilt was made using a magazine pattern called "Chicken and Pumplings" by Mary Lou Weidman for the center. I decided to border it with a scrappy border made using fall fabrics. it was a fun project... so much so that I made three of these, giving two as gifts. The border goes together quickly, and is quite easy to complete. The quilt was thread painted and machine quilted. I did a demo on the border for my quilt guild, so will share the steps here as well.


• Cut 4 fabric squares of determined size (demo uses 9" squares)

• Place the squares right side up on a cutting surface, edges aligned.

• Make three slightly-angled cuts through all 4 layers, using a ruler and rotary cutter. Make one cut near the mid-point of the squares, and the other two about halfway between the first cut and the edges. Vary the angle of the cuts, but do not make them sharply angled to avoid unevenness and fabric waste. You'll have four groups of four fabric slices.


• Begin with the first group of fabric slices, working from left to right, and move the top slice to the bottom of the group.

• Move the top two slices from the top of the second group, to the bottom. Similarly, move the top three slices from the third group to the bottom.

• Leave the fourth group as it was cut.

• Keeping the groups in the same positions as they were cut, place all four on a small mat to carry to the sewing machine.

• Pair the top slices from group one and two, right sides together, and sew. Continue, pairing the remaining slices from group one and two, chain sewing them. Clip the pairs apart, and stack them on the mat, maintaining the original order.

• In the same manner, pair and sew the slices from group three and four together. Stack them on the mat next to the sewn pairs from the first two groups.

• Join the pairs to complete four border units.

• Press the units, using sizing and directing seamlines the same way.

• Trim the edges of the units, and sub-cut them depending on the border width required. These could be cut in half lengthwise to create two border units, each about 4 1/2" wide.

• Join enough units to make four border strips of the desired size. Trim to length and sew two of these to opposite sides of the quilt top. There are a number of options to finish the borders. You can simply sew another border length to the remaining sides of the quilt. Or use cornerstones, as in the photo quilt.

A Purrrr..fect Helper



While reviewing the handout and packing up the various pieces for the demo, Mary Belle the cat strolled into the sewing room, looking for the best place to lounge. Where might that be? On top of the handouts I was reviewing. She has a knack for intuitively knowing where my focus is, what pile of fabric I'm working with, or what pattern I'm reading. And that is where she flops down! It's a gift.