Whiskas N Catnip Update

 I've been making great progress on Whiskers N Catnip. At this point, I have all the blocks together, except for the block corners which you will see soon! This piece measures 48" square. It wasn't very difficult to piece together since there weren't a ton of matching seams.

I'm finally using the flying geese strips I've been making as I was working on the blocks. The flying geese finished up at 4.5" X 48.5". What I forgot is that a pieced border can stretch a lot so I had to be very careful adding those 4.5" strips onto each side of the flying geese. I had to start over a few times and pin very carefully!

This is where I added those corner blocks. I think those blocks add so much to the overall look of this quilt. The quilt now measures 72.5" square. I had to orient those corner blocks a few times before I got them correct. I don't think it would have made a huge difference but I wanted to get it right.

The last border makes this quilt top measure 80.5" square, so far! I have to make 80 cat's cradle blocks for the next border. Those will definitely take awhile. But I love working on this quilt and will truly enjoy myself! 

It's getting hot out there so I'm happy to stay in and sew! Stay cool!!!

Two Projects

I had a busy week. I had a few appointments and just never had the time to get much sewing done. Today was much quieter so I finally got to sit at the sewing machine. I sewed the center part of the Whiskers N Catnips quilt. This portion measures 24" X 48". I have to add 6 more blocks so it won't be staying this size for long. The quilt will end up being 97" square. I still have quite a few borders to add!

I enjoyed working on this cute little cross stitch pillow. This was last month's free pattern from Primrose Cottage. I left 1/2" all around the cross stitch but I should have left a little more at the top. I'll have to remember for next time. Otherwise, I like how it came out. It's a cute little addition for my summer decorating!

Have a great weekend! It's been very warm up here but no humidity which I love!

The Last Blocks

 I'm working on the last few blocks of the Whiskers N Catnip quilt. I had made the middle portion of this block earlier. You can see the split cat's cradle that I featured in a previous post. I started with a 12.5" square block that become a 24.5" square block! I really love the colors of these fabrics. The piecing around the center block really transforms the whole look. It will make a great focal point for this quilt. 

These are the 4 corner blocks that each measure 12.5" square. They will be part of a border. This quilt has multiple borders. I hope I have enough fabric to make them all! I did have to recut a few strips so we'll have to see! That's one thing I don't like about kits. They never figure in your mistakes1

I Like Thursday #315

It's Thursday once again and time for things we like. Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. I went for a walk in my neighborhood last week and came upon this mallard swimming peacefully in a rather murky pond. He didn't seem to mind! It was a warm spring day and I think he was enjoying himself!

I'm working on 4 corner blocks on the Whiskers N Catnip quilt. They will measure 12.5" square once they're all sewn together. This is just the middle portion. The 4 blocks in the middle of this strip are cat's cradle blocks. They look so different when all sewn together.

I made another crustless custard pie last week. They don't last too long in my house! It was a nice dessert to have on hand over the long weekend.

The conversation starter this week asks us if we ever did anything to our hair that ended up into a disaster. Well, I was home from college way back in the 70's and went out to buy a product called Highlights for Brunettes. My mother got it ready and saturated my hair with it. Unfortunately, I had put a henna rinse in my hair a few weeks earlier so my hair turned orange. I had to go to the drugstore and buy a brown hair dye to cover the awful color orange my hair had become. I had to keep coloring it for months since the orange would show through as my hair grew out. What a mess! Since that time, I have never colored my own hair. My hairdresser does a great job and I'm not orange anymore!

Have a great weekend!

Summer Blessings

 I finished this month's free cross stitch from Primrose Cottage. I think it's close to 4" X 6". It's so nice that they offer these free cross stitch patterns on a monthly basis. This one was quick and took me about a week to stitch.

I've been searching through my stash and I think I'm going to use this fabric to finish the cross stitch piece into a pillow. I still have a few more bins to look through but I think this fabric would look nice.

I'm making 16 cat's cradle blocks for the Whiskers N Catnips quilt. I've sewn everything together but all the blocks need to be cut, ironed and trimmed. These blocks are a little fussy so I'm taking my time. This block is very new to me. I'm using the special cat's cradle ruler which has been wonderful and definitely improved my blocks. a 

Hope you all had a nice Memorial Day!

Kitty Block #9

 I'm moving right along on the Whiskers N Catnip quilt by Deb's Cats N Quilts. This is the 9th block in the quilt and it uses that block in my last post, a split cat's cradle. Each corner has a split cat's cradle as well as flying geese in between the corners. It measures 12.5" square. There are 9 blocks in the main part of the quilt but I'll also be making 4 identical blocks for each corner of the flying geese border. I'm getting there!

As I work on the blocks, I also make flying geese for the borders. These borders measure about 36.5" X 4.5" so far. I still have more to go! I'm really enjoying working on this quilt. I'm taking my time and enjoying the process, which is not what I usually do. 

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend! It's supposed to rain Sunday but I'm hoping Monday isn't too bad.

A New Block

It feels like the middle of summer today! We've been having sort of cool weather until the last few days. I opted to stay inside today so I could keep comfortable. The humidity is pretty awful as well. They expect cool weather for the Memorial Day weekend. Figures!

This block is new to me. I've had to make many Cat's Cradle blocks for the quilt I'm working on. This one is called Split Cat's Cradle and has that little background triangle added in the corner. It seems to change the whole look of the block. I use a Cat's Cradle ruler to make my blocks. I tried without the ruler but the blocks weren't very accurate.

And my socks ae done! I don't think I'll be using them in this weather but they'll be ready for me when it gets a little cooler!