Quilting WNC Quilt

 I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! It was a hot day but we had a nice cookout with lots of great food. I did manage to start machine quilting the Whiskas and Catnip Quilt. The outer border is made up of swags with ribbon candy inside and straight lines finishing up the area. It's hard to see since my thread blended so well with the fabric. 

Once the outer border was done, I started on the border made up of cat's cradle blocks. I quilted arcs around the inner area and a variation of arcs in the larger triangles. I hate making decisions on how to quilt different areas, but since this is such a large quilt, I'll be doing lots of that! It may slow me down but I like taking the time to figure out which motif to stitch.

Ooh, I almost forgot! I quilted stars in the corner blocks. This is so quick and easy but always looks great! I'll post more pictures as I make more progress.

Heat and Projects

 It was a hot day today and it's only getting hotter. I finished making the Whiskas N Catnip quilt top last week and I really don't want to start a new quilt. I started to load the quilt top on the longarm. Since it's so big, I've been loading it very slowly! I loaded the backing yesterday and the quilt top today. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll get to it. I'm just taking my time. I bought a light grey Fil-tec thread for quilting. I'm looking forward to custom quilting this top. There's some nice open areas that will be fun to quilt!

I started a pair of socks for my daughter-in-law. We bought the yarn together when we went to the yarn show a few months ago. It's a very pretty lace weight Berocco Vintage Sock yarn that is pink. Hard to tell from this picture.

I hope to stay home and keep cool!

I Like Thursday #317/Two Finishes!!

It's time for I Like Thursday! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. I finished Whiskas N Catnip yesterday as a quilt top. It measures a whopping 96.5" square! It was hard to fit into this picture so this was the best I could do. I can't wait to start quilting it. I already have a few ideas! I'm not sure how long a quilt this size will take to quilt but I don't think it will be quick. I expect it will be a lot of fun to come up with quilting ideas.

I finished my shawl yesterday too. It still has to be blocked but I think you get an idea of how it will look. The points will be much sharper after blocking. This was a fun project to make and I'm looking forward to making another one. I think I may give this one as birthday gift to someone.

We we warned that a storm was coming and the wind started up. I went out on the deck and took this picture of the clouds. It was a little scary! We had thunder and lightning but the air was dryer once the storm was gone.

The prompt this week asks us if we went to the beach as children. We went to Salisbury Beach State Reservation for years as kids! We were allowed to bring friends with us. My mom would pack up the car and off we'd go. It was so fun. My brother would bring his fishing rod and fish off of the Black Rocks. I got to wear a bikini and felt quite grown up for only being 12 or 13! Those days at the beach made our summers so fun. I still have great memories of those times. We bought a summer pass and went as often as we could go.

Have a great weekend! Can you believe it's 4th of July next week??? Time is flying by!

Pieced Border

I'm working very slowly to complete these borders. I think making 80 blocks is a daunting task so I seem to be slowing down but I'm still making progress, just very slowly! I have 16 more blocks left to make. I'm hoping I finish this week. We'll be having a Father's Day cookout tomorrow so I'll be busy but I'll get there next week.

This is the fabric I bought for the back of this quilt. Isn't it just purr-fect?!?! As soon as I saw it, I just had to buy it! It's a wideback so no seaming needed. Love that!

Since Jo-ann's is no longer around, I had to change battings. I always used to buy The Warm Company cotton batting. I like batting that's a little thicker. I've been buying this one instead and it's pretty close to what I used to buy. It quilts up very nicely.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Have a great weekend!

 

Cat's Cradle Border

 Now that the blocks have all been sewn together, it's time to get that pieced border done. These cat's cradle blocks measure 4.5". They look different when oriented this way but they do make a nice border. The directions help with making nesting seams so it's easier to join the blocks together.

I put the border on one side. I wasn't sure if it would fit easily but it did! It's always nice when things fit together nicely without much effort.

I made enough blocks for the second border. I love how it looks! I'm halfway done making cat's cradle blocks. I have made 40 blocks with 40 more to go. I know that sounds like a lot but they're quick to make. Using the cat's cradle ruler, you make two at a time. After this border, there is one plain border left and this quilt top will be complete! Phew!!

I Like Thursday #316

It's time once again for Thursday Likes! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. Our peonies are just starting to blossom. I cut these 2 and brought them in the house. They're so pretty! I wanted them to be indoors so I could admire them more. And they smell good too!

My daughter-in-law took me to a yarn show back in April and I bought this great hand dyed yarn. I decided to make a shawl for a friend's birthday. This design is from Jen Lucas and is called Juniper. You start off with 349 stitches but I'll be decreasing soon. Thankfully!

I recently changed a quilt on my couch. This is Moondance by Beth Ferrier. This was a free block of the month that I made way back in 2006. It's all hand quilted. I wasn't machine quilting at all at the time. It's full of applique and I love it! It looks great in my family room. The batiks are so pretty. I think I displayed this quilt in a quilt show when I was in a quilt guild. Long ago now!

That's it for me this week! Have a great weekend and stay cool!

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!

 

I Like Thursday # 314

 It's time for Thursday Likes! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. This is block #7 for my Whiskers N Catnip quilt. Once it's all sewn together, it should (hopefully) measure 12.5" square. I'm really enjoying making this quilt. The directions are well written and the fabric is gorgeous!

My second sock is almost done! Once the heel is turned, the hard part is over and you just have to keep going to finish it up.

I had a great Mother's Day, hope you did too! My husband got this cake and it was wonderful! Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting is always a great combo.

The conversation starter this week asks us if we wore a mini skirt, halter and fish net stockings. Yes, I surely did! I also wore body suits and hip hugger pants. I sure more those days. I was very thin back then and felt I would always stay the same. Wrong!!! Those were great times and I have great memories of my younger self!

Have a great weekend!

 

My Second Cross Stitch Kitty Pillow

 This is the second cross stitch kitty pillow I made. The first one I made for a gift. I really loved it and just had to make one for me! However, there are quite a few steps before you get this cute pillow.

After cross stitching the cat, I had to iron on a lightweight interfacing. After the interfacing was done, I had to make dots 1/2" around the cat as well as a parallel 1" around the cat. The outer line was the cutting line and the inner line was the sewing line. Makes sense!

At this point, I had to choose a backing. I knew I wanted to use a cat themed fabric so I had to look through my fabric bins to find one I liked. I ended up using this fat quarter.

I cut on the outer line and sewed on the inner line. I left a few inches to turn it inside out. I wish I'd left a little more than 2" but I got it to work.

Here's the kitty right side out and ironed. It just has to be stuffed at this point. The hard part is done!! This cute pillow is sitting on my couch watching TV with me!!

Whiskers N Catnip

I'm not sure why but I just haven't had the time to sew lately. It just seems like this past week has been so busy. I thought this would be a good time to share what I've been doing. I received this quilt kit from my son and his wife years before they got married. It's an adorable quilt with a ton of fabric included. It finishes at 96" square which is huge! I've had it in my sewing room for a while now so I thought it was a great time to work on it. 

I've made these blocks so far. They measure 12.5" square. The directions are clear and very easy to follow. It's been fun to make these blocks. I'm working at a slow pace since I have a few unfinished projects I'm trying to get to. 

You work on the border at the same time while making blocks. This is how far I've come on the flying geese border. As you work on a block, you make another color of flying geese. These flying geese measure 2" X 4" finished. 

I did manage to sew on the binding on Facets this morning. I love that polka dot fabric! I'm glad I found it when I visited my local quilt shop. Now, I just need some time to sew down the binding!!