Kitty Potholders

I love little projects! In our busy lives, there's always time to quilt something small. I also love log cabin quilt blocks. I have never designed anything using this simple block until now... enter the Kitty!

I wanted a quick & easy project that would use up some of my fabric scraps, that I could sew multiples and not get tired of it, that I could practice some free-motion quilting and not feel pressured, and that my family would love. My family members seemed to have one thing in common... they all love their cats!

I used fusible web for the cat and nose appliques, and the block is quilted entirely by machine... even the cat's face.

My favourite was the black cat for which I used a warm black plaid wool. Yummy!

The white cat was for my Mom. Unlike the others, I used an overall free-motion quilting design on this one.

The beige cat was for my brother. I had fun practicing different free-motion quilting designs in each section.

And the orange cat was for my daughter who loves our large orange Maine Coon. His whiskers swoop up at the ends and he is always purring... very loudly! She is an illustrator and has been working on her Copic marker collection which is why I chose the colour chart fabric for the back. That and it matched perfectly!

Everyone loved their kitty Potholders, and on Facebook they received lots of comments and pattern requests so keep your eyes open for this this one :o)

*I forgot to mention that my label tutorial can be found HERE.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Stacked China

I made this stacked coins quilt for my friend Maya using blue & white to go with her living room decor. I think it looks like stacked China dishes. I quilted her favourite quote into the quilt...

"What we desire for ourselves,

we wish for all."

by J.S. Woodsworth

(photo by Selep Imaging)

I decided to go with linen for the long strips and binding because it set off the blue & white beautifully. I love linen. It looks good with everything! I free-motion quilted meandering lines and the words, and hand-embroidered a running stitch along the edges of the linen strips.

I found the perfect fabric for the back. It is a blue & white Asian style cotton print of birds on branches. I lost track of where I purchased it online. I used every last piece in the quilt. It wasn't quite large enough for the back after using some for the front so I added a large white border of text fabrics including a fabulous newspaper print.

Maya and her kids loved the quilt. Both of my cats thought that the quilt was extra comfortable too! Get off the quilt, Opal! I still need to embroider it...

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Forest Friends

It seems like everything I make recently has mushrooms in it! If it's not a cake decorated with meringue mushrooms or a little painting of mushrooms then it's a quilt!

I always start my projects with a sketch that I scan into the computer and print it out the actual size. This usually means taping a bunch of paper together.

Sometimes I change small things like adding an extra flower or removing the ferns. In the original drawing, the tree was slanted and the ground was curved but for ease of making a pattern I decided to make the tree & ground straight.

Then I lay my pattern on the ground and start playing with fabrics! This is where my studio becomes a hurricane! For this quilt, I used the Freezer Paper Applique technique.

I trace the reverse of my pattern pieces onto the paper-side of the freezer paper and iron them to the back of the fabrics. Starch helps a lot when pressing the fabric around to the back. The entire quilt was free-motion quilted including attaching all the appliques.

I embellished the quilt with details such as hand embroidery & stamping, and fake felt buttons so it would be baby-safe.

It's just so cute that I can't stop taking pictures!!

I must admit that I fell in love with the finished quilt like I do with practically everything I make! It was difficult for me to give it away but it was totally worth it after all the smiles it created! I think Max likes it!

I feel like this quilt needs a better title... Any thoughts?

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)