Monday, August 21, 2017

Cat Nap Quilt


This Cat Nap quilt for our granddaughter's 14th birthday was created around a Cats in the Library panel made by Timeless Treasures. She loves kitties and recently rescued a cat from a shelter, so I wanted to make her a quilt to cuddle with "Griffin" the kitty.

Griffin

Close-up of some of the cat panel blocks


I was able to cut 8 blocks from the cat panel and had originally intended to make these Scrappy Susannah blocks to surround them, but I decided to do regular 16-patch blocks instead. In retrospect I wish I had done the Scrappy Susannah blocks or at least placed the white squares inside the blocks for more interest, but I still like the way it turned out.


For the back I framed blocks of leftover fabric in navy.


The quilt shrunk 2 inches in width and 4 inches in length when I washed it




Quilt size: 46w X 61h
Fabrics: Pool and Moutarde Grunge, an orange Grunge (Burnt Orange?), PB&J Daisy Mae Picnic in floral yellow, and white and navy grunge-like fabrics purchased at Hobby Lobby (I will find the names and update them here). The white reminded me of Basic Grey Grunge White Paper, but it is soft and almost gauze-like.
Backing: Mostly white "grunge" by Hobby Lobby plus leftover fabrics from blocks
Binding: Navy "grunge" by Hobby Lobby
Quilting: Diagonal straight lines on two corners and wavy lines for the remainder
Thread: Superior So Fine #50 Genoa Gray
Things I Learned: Washing a quilt prior to giving it away is important. I haven't washed a quilt prior to gifting it since 2013, when the bright fabrics on a quilt I intended to give away "bled" badly onto the white fabric. I kept the quilt and tried in vain to remove all the spots of color. I don't even notice the spots now! So I washed this quilt first and was very happy with the result. There was "no bleeding"! The navy softened to a dark faded denim-look after laundering and the quilt became very soft and snugly.

Friday, August 4, 2017

Scrappy American Flag Finish

The Scrappy American Flag was completed a couple of weeks ago, but I am late getting a blog post up!


I have yet to sew a hanging sleeve on the back, and it is currently "tacked" onto the kitchen wall.



Many thanks to Julia at Running Stitch Quilts for a great pattern! And thanks to Amy of Diary of a Quilter for her American Flag Quilt tutorial (another great pattern!), where I learned the proper way to hang an American flag vertically is with the blue/star field in the upper left corner.


Jack loves the new backdrop to his handsome-ness!


I primarily used 2-1/2 inch scraps of Moda's Freedom by Sweetwater and filled in with scraps from stash. I loved fussy-cutting a couple of my favorite states!


The back is from a layer cake of Moda Independence Trail.


Binding is a nice navy grunge-ish fabric I found at Hobby Lobby!


Currently working on a quilt for our soon-to-be 14 year-old granddaughter!